The Late Thunderbird Returns in Giant-Size X-Men

by Rebecca Kaplan · Published December 23, 2021 · Updated December 23, 2021

In an article posted to Games Radar on Thursday, December 23rd, 2021, it was revealed that the late John Proudstar, A.K.A. Thunderbird, will be returning to the panels of Marvel Comics in Giant-Size X-Men: Thunderbird #1 by a creative team that includes Nyla Rose, Steve Orlando, and David Cutler, with a main cover by Ken Lashley.

Return of Thunderbird

Thunderbird costume design.

The most devoted of Marvel Blog True Believers will already be aware that it’s unusual for a Marvel Comics character to remain six feet under, no matter how dead they seem to be. Just yesterday, we were discussing the fact that this characteristic seems to have been adapted from the panels of Marvel Comics (where The Death of Doctor Strange is an ongoing concern) onto the screen for Marvel Studios (you don’t really think we’ve seen the last of Kingpin, do you).

Thunderbird is just one more example of a late character coming back to life in order to take part in more Marvelous adventures. He made is initial debut in one of the biggest comics of all time, Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975) by Len Wein, Dave Cockrum, Glynis Wein, and John Costanza…

Uncanny X-Men #95. Photo Credit: Marvel Comics.

But then he died on the teams’ second mission, in Uncanny X-Men #95 (1975) by Chris Claremont, Wein, Cockrum, Sam Grainger, Karen Mantalo, and Petra Goldberg, Thunderbird made the ultimate sacrifice for his teammates.

In the intervening years, other characters utilized the Thunderbird name, including John’s brother, James Proudstar (who later changed his name to Warpath) and Neal Shaara. And while John has returned to the land of the living once or twice in the decades since his death, this time, it looks as though the resurrection may stick.