Proudstar brothers Appreciation thread 2024

[taozen]

Warpath by Billy Tan. Tan draws a great Warpath!!

warpath billy tan.jpg

[taozen]

Warpath Statue:

warpath statue.jpg

[taozen]

Thunderbird by Raphael Kayanan

Thunderbird Raphael kayanan.jpg

Thunderbird Raphael kayanan 2.jpg

[Captain Britain of Earth 20]

Heard X-Men Unlimited issue 121 is going to star Thunderbird & Warpath can’t wait for the issue

[taozen]

Heard X-Men Unlimited issue 121 is going to star Thunderbird & Warpath can’t wait for the issue

When does that issue come out? I will definitely check it out.

[taozen]

Heard X-Men Unlimited issue 121 is going to star Thunderbird & Warpath can’t wait for the issue

Looks like it came out last month.

[Technopriest]

I have those classics. I was hoping there was some good stories with him in the past decade or so.

Oh, yeah, he hasn't been spotlighted much in the last few years. I think there are a few New Mutants issues (Krakoa era) where he was active, but I didn't really followed that series much.

[Technopriest]

Oddly enough, they're keeping the t-bird symbol for his belt buckle, at least in that image. I wonder if they ever considered renaming the character from Thunderbird to something else... like Black Sky or SoM (Slayer of Monsters)?

Yeah, and keeping the Thunderbird name as well, which I understand from a marketing perspective even though it is ignorant at best and racist at worst. I like Scout for him as it is both representative of both his Apache and military backgrounds, although Monster Slayer has a nice ring to it.

[Technopriest]

When does that issue come out? I will definitely check it out.

Came out about 4 weeks ago on the Marvel App. It is actually a continuous story, although Warpath was already sidelined in favor of his brother.

[JudicatorPrime]

Yeah, and keeping the Thunderbird name as well, which I understand from a marketing perspective even though it is ignorant at best and racist at worst. I like Scout for him as it is both representative of both his Apache and military backgrounds, although Monster Slayer has a nice ring to it.

The problem there is threefold for me:

1. To my mind, "scout" connotes an indigenous person that assisted the European colonists in "discovering"/mapping early North America, as well as those native tribes that assisted fledgling colonies in a military capacity going back to the 1600s, IIRC -- only to see their land taken and countless treaties and formal promises broken over subsequent generations. I'm not saying "scouts" were sellouts or anything like that, but it conjures up mistreatment of loyal people by others who saw them as inferior and therefore undeserving of honest brokering.

2. Scout happens to be the name of a character in the Sentry books. I realize names get re-used all of the time, but Proudstar deserves something unique and original.

3. Lastly, Scout is the name of Tonto's horse of the Lone Ranger renown. You risk reminding me that the Lone Ranger legend is really a blatant appropriation and replacement ("whitewashing") of the real-life African American lawman, Bass Reeves. The less unfavorable reminders that I encounter as it pertains to Marvel escapism, the better.

You're right, at the end of the day they'll likely stick to Thunderbird for marketing and simplicity's sake. I actually like that codename, but as several have pointed out in this thread and elsewhere, it only fits if you're tossing all of the indigenous tribes into one basket and generalizing about their identity and customs with little regard for history and reality.

What's really funny about this is that there actually are a number of North American tribes that feature(d) the thunderbird in their mythos/religion, but Marvel decided to pick the one tribe that doesn't. Come on, Marvel, get your act together.

[Technopriest]

The problem there is threefold for me:

1. To my mind, "scout" connotes an indigenous person that assisted the European colonists in "discovering"/mapping early North America, as well as those native tribes that assisted fledgling colonies in a military capacity going back to the 1600s, IIRC -- only to see their land taken and countless treaties and formal promises broken over subsequent generations. I'm not saying "scouts" were sellouts or anything like that, but it conjures up mistreatment of loyal people by others who saw them as inferior and therefore undeserving of honest brokering.

2. Scout happens to be the name of a character in the Sentry books. I realize names get re-used all of the time, but Proudstar deserves something unique and original.

3. Lastly, Scout is the name of Tonto's horse of the Lone Ranger renown. You risk reminding me that the Lone Ranger legend is really a blatant appropriation and replacement ("whitewashing") of the real-life African American lawman, Bass Reeves. The less unfavorable reminders that I encounter as it pertains to Marvel escapism, the better.

You're right, at the end of the day they'll likely stick to Thunderbird for marketing and simplicity's sake. I actually like that codename, but as several have pointed out in this thread and elsewhere, it only fits if you're tossing all of the indigenous tribes into one basket and generalizing about their identity and customs with little regard for history and reality.

What's really funny about this is that there actually are a number of North American tribes that feature(d) the thunderbird in their mythos/religion, but Marvel decided to pick the one tribe that doesn't. Come on, Marvel, get your act together.

I mean, the Apache themselves are not one tribe, but a collective of different ones that share a language, but of course Marvel has never really cared beyond John and Jimmy being "proud Apache". And the Thunderbird was worshipped all throughout the Pacific Northwest and Canada, but yeah, it was just one of those things that became synonymous with NA no matter who they were. It is my big issue with his original design (that Jimmy shared for years). Back in the 70s, when American media started to move away from the "indigenous savage" antagonist archetype and more into the "medicine, wise yet uncivilized " sidekick (Tonto is an early example of that, let's not even get into his name), characters like Apache Chief, Spirit Ironknife, etc started to appear, and they all shared the same basic design, no matter what tribe they belonged to (heck, most of the time even that wasn't defined, it's 2024 and we still don't know to what tribe Spirit belongs to). John was luckily redesigned to reflect more individuality and actual colors that are important to the Apache, but yeah, it seems the Thunderbird motif is going to be harder to replace.

[taozen]

Warpath by Tann:

warpath xmen b tann.jpg

[taozen]

How has Thunderbird's story been in X-Men: Red? Did he have a prominent story or just in there briefly?

[Chris0013]

I had great hopes for John's return. He knocked the crap out of Vulcan...then it just seemed like they went nowhere with him.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

How has Thunderbird's story been in X-Men: Red? Did he have a prominent story or just in there briefly?

He's been a tertiary character.