{"id":7851,"date":"2022-05-04T22:08:10","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T21:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=7851"},"modified":"2022-05-04T22:08:10","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T21:08:10","slug":"giant-size-x-men-thunderbird-1-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=7851","title":{"rendered":"Giant-Size X-Men: Thunderbird #1 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>GIANT-SIZE X-MEN: THUNDERBIRD #1<\/strong>
\n“And When There Was One”<\/strong>
\nWriters: Steve Orlando & Nyla Rose<\/strong>
\nPenciller: David Cutler<\/strong>
\nInker: Jos\u00e9 Marzan Jr & Roberto Poggi<\/strong>
\nColourist: Irma Kniivila<\/strong>
\nLetterer: Travis Lanham<\/strong>
\nEditor: Sarah Brunstad<\/strong><\/p>\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1:<\/strong> Well, that’s Thunderbird – in his recognisable 1970s costume, rather than the one he debuts in this issue.<\/p>\n

That caption in the bottom right hand corner must be gunning for some sort of prize for the least prominent promotion of a celebrity co-writer.<\/p>\n

PAGE 2.<\/strong>\u00a0Flashback: John Proudstar is resurrected.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is a scene from\u00a0X-Men: The Trial of Magneto<\/em> #5. John Proudstar is the first person to be resurrected through the Scarlet Witch’s “Waiting Room”, which magically extended resurrection to mutants who had died before Cerebro started keeping back-up copies.<\/p>\n

PAGE 3.<\/strong>\u00a0John Proudstar walks home.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nice establishing shot with him dwarfed by the landscape.<\/p>\n

PAGE 4.<\/strong> Recap and credits. The small print just says “Thunderbird” and “Krakoa.”<\/p>\n

PAGES 5-6.<\/strong>\u00a0John reflects on his situation.<\/em><\/p>\n

“I was the first mutant to die for Xavier.”<\/strong> In\u00a0X-Men<\/em> vol 1 #95, part of his second published adventure. If you’re being technical about it, he’s not actually the first. The Changeling died in\u00a0X-Men<\/em> vol 1 #42 while impersonating Professor X (as revealed in issue #65), though he was terminally ill anyway. And per\u00a0X-Men: Deadly Genesis<\/em>, Petra and Sway both died on Krakoa.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But John doesn’t necessarily know any of that. Besides, what matters about John is that he’s the one who everyone\u00a0remembers<\/em> as the first X-Man who died. The paradox of writing Thunderbird as a resurrected character is that, as he acknowledges, he’s best known for being dead.<\/p>\n

Krakoa.<\/strong> John sees the parallels between Krakoa and a reservation, and seems instantly suspicious about the whole enterprise. An obvious difference is that Krakoa was the mutants’ choice, but you can see his point. On top of that, John knows hardly anyone on Krakoa, and those he did know have changed drastically since then – even the X-Men he knew were mostly rookies at the time, and it’s not like he was ever that close to Professor X. (Even Wolverine has changed dramatically since 1975 continuity.)<\/p>\n

“Tried talking to my<\/strong> brother…”\u00a0<\/strong>In\u00a0New Mutants<\/em> #24. As John says, his younger brother James (now Warpath) was a kid when he died; James’s reaction to John’s death is covered in a back-up story in\u00a0Classic X-Men<\/em> #3.<\/p>\n

“Most of the Proudstars are dead…”<\/strong> The tribe living on the Proudstars’ reservation were slaughtered in\u00a0New Mutants<\/em> vol 1 #99, which was James’ motivation for joining X-Force as Warpath. The original story implies that they were killed by the Hellfire Club as punishment for James trying to leave the Hellions. That was then retconned in X-Force\u00a0<\/em>#-1 and\u00a0X-Force<\/em> vol 1 #73, which reveal that scientist Edwin Martynec (an ally of Stryfe) was experimenting on the locals, and wound up killing everyone as part of a cover-up when one of his experiments escaped. In the original stories, Martynec is more of a mad scientist experimenting on the people he can get away with, but he certainly seems pretty indifferent to their wellbeing. John and James do in fact cross paths with him in\u00a0X-Force<\/em> #-1, making him one of the very few villains out there that John actually has a direct history with.<\/p>\n

Lozen Proudstar.<\/strong> A new character – an unnamed paternal grandfather appears in\u00a0X-Force<\/em> #-1, so apparently she’s his estranged wife. “Lozen” was the name of a 19th century female Apache warrior.<\/p>\n

Camp Gozhoo.<\/strong> “Gozhoo” is an Apache word, translating as something along the lines of happiness and balance.<\/p>\n

PAGES 7-8.<\/strong>\u00a0John arrives in Camp Gozhoo.<\/em><\/p>\n

Aside from the obvious, John’s death is so long ago that it doesn’t even carry iconic status to these kids. And of course, we’re doing the story where having not felt at home in Krakoa, he’s out of place here too.<\/p>\n

Are there really enough mutants hanging around in Camp Gozhoo to make this plan work? Apparently so.<\/p>\n

PAGE 9.<\/strong> Data page. A note from John to Jumbo Carnation (the mutant fashion designer) with ideas about his costume. Pretty much explains itself. He wants something that’s a bit superhero, but a bit more authentically Apache than what he was wearing in the mid 1970s. As we’ll see on the next page, what Jumbo comes up with is basically a more practical update of the traditional costume in more appropriate colours; John also seems to be wearing face paint in the place where his domino mask used to be (which might suggest that he’s not\u00a0quite<\/em> so hostile to the mask as some of his dialogue suggests). It largely retains the stylized Thunderbird motif from the original costume.<\/p>\n

PAGES 10-14.<\/strong>\u00a0Thunderbird confronts the corrupt police.<\/em><\/p>\n

This version of Thunderbird is rather more reflective than the mid-70s original – who was, well, mid-70s, and got himself killed by trying to beat up a plane. But his solution to problems is still, shall we say, extremely direct. He’ll be called on this later on in the story, but he really doesn’t seem to have a plan here beyond hitting things until the problem goes away.<\/p>\n

The Heritage Initiative.<\/strong> An anti-mutant think tank who were the main villains in\u00a0X-Men Gold.<\/em> They’re a parody of the Heritage Foundation.<\/p>\n

PAGE 15.<\/strong>\u00a0Data page. Edwyn Martynec emails his new supporters in Orchis; apparently, he was already associated with the Heritage Foundation before they tied up with Orchis. Martynec’s main motivation in earlier stories is set up as being Mr Sinister-style scientific research, but it’s fair enough to have him regarding the mutants as a resource (as he did with the Apache in earlier stories). He’s being used here as a villain who sees both of John’s identities as equally exploitable.<\/p>\n

Revelation.<\/strong> Steve Orlando really likes his obscure characters. Revelation was indeed a mutant with an out-of-control death aura; her only appearance was in the 1999 Marvel Knights miniseries\u00a0Wolverine \/ Punisher: Revelation<\/em>, from the period when the Punisher had angelic powers.<\/p>\n

PAGES 16-22.<\/strong> Thunderbird fights Martynec.<\/em><\/p>\n

Straightforward. The flashback on page 21 is to\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #95; the dialogue is all from the original, though it’s streamlined slightly. (Most obviously, Banshee is kept out of shot, to avoid cluttering up the moment.)<\/p>\n

PAGES 23-26.<\/strong>\u00a0Lozen arrives.<\/em><\/p>\n

Obviously, John is listening to the wisdom of his elders here. In general terms, Lozen’s point is right – just smashing stuff up is going to have consequences that won’t solve the problem, and killing the bad guy he’s just defeated is not going to help. On the other hand, if there’s going to be blowback from the anti-mutant authorities then that’s probably coming anyway. And it’s a bit odd to be giving a speech about how “your mutant gifts might protect you from the consequences of your actions” to Thunderbird, given that he’s mainly famous for precisely the opposite. This sort of “punch it until it stops moving” approach is what got him killed in the first place. I can’t quite figure out if this is meant to be ironic – Lozen presumably doesn’t know exactly how John died.<\/p>\n

PAGES 27-29.<\/strong>\u00a0John and Lozen talk.<\/em><\/p>\n

John seems to be setting up a permanent gate so that he can visit his surviving family member. Lozen gets to validate him as a member of both the Apache and mutant groups, and accept his mutant resurrection as legitimate.<\/p>\n

PAGES 30-34.<\/strong>\u00a0James arrives to join the reunion.<\/em><\/p>\n

The photo that James has on his phone shows him and John at the fair in\u00a0X-Force<\/em> #-1.<\/p>\n

“Titania or Screaming Mimi from<\/strong> UCWF”. <\/strong>Well, we had to mention wrestling somewhere. The UCWF was the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, a wrestling federation for superhumans that was introduced in the 1980s\u00a0Thing<\/em> solo series. Titania and Screaming Mimi were both member of the Grapplers. This is a different Titania from the She-Hulk villain introduced in\u00a0Secret Wars<\/em>; as best as I can tell, she was last seen in a Rick Remender\u00a0Punisher<\/em> arc in 2009 (as one of a large number of victims of Scourge who were resurrected by the Hood). Screaming Mimi went on to become Songbird from the Thunderbolts.<\/p>\n

PAGE 35.<\/strong>\u00a0Thunderbird runs with buffalo.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is a call-back to his introduction scene in\u00a0Giant-Size X-Men<\/em> #1.<\/p>\n

PAGE 36.<\/strong> Trailers. The art in the “X” is the cover of\u00a0X-Men Red<\/em> #3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition. GIANT-SIZE X-MEN: THUNDERBIRD #1 “And When There Was One” Writers: Steve Orlando & Nyla Rose Penciller: David Cutler Inker: Jos\u00e9 Marzan Jr & Roberto Poggi Colourist: Irma Kniivila Letterer: Travis Lanham Editor: Sarah Brunstad COVER \/ PAGE 1: Well, that’s Thunderbird […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7853,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7851\/revisions\/7853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}