Art by Billy Tan
- Name: James Proudstar
- Code Names: Warpath, Thunderbird
- First Appearance: New Mutants #16 (June ‘84)
- Powers: Enhanced physical attributes (strength, speed, endurance, ect.), Owns two really big Vibranium knives
- Team Affiliation: X-Men, X-Force, Hellions, New Mutants
About
Apache James Proudstar always looked up to his brother John. Life on the reservation wasn’t easy and James was going to join the Marines, like his brother, and forge a better life for himself. The two wouldn’t be statistics, they would be men that made the Apache name proud. James was excited to hear that his brother would be joining the X-Men as the hero Thunderbird and crushed to discover that John would be killed on his second mission. The young Apache was consumed with anger and vowed vengeance for his beloved brother. This began the journey of legacy in the X-Men family that would grow into one of the most complex characters the franchise has to offer.
Portrayed by Booboo Steward in X-Men: Days of Future Past
James was created by Chris Claremont and Sal Buscema as a member of the Hellion’s. These magenta clad teens were a team run by Emma Frost out of her Hellfire Club sponsored Massachusetts Academy, used often as a foil for the New Mutants. In their first fight with the New Mutants, James (having taken the name Thunderbird in honor of his brother) challenged Emma saying he had no interest hurting these kids, he only wanted revenge on Xavier and the other X-Men he held responsible for John’s death.
Art by Sal Buscema
Thunderbird attempted the get this revenge in his next appearance. With the help of his fellow Hellions Firestar (who was naive), Roulette (who liked trouble), and Empath (who was straight up evil), James kidnaped Banshee and took control of the Cheyenne Mountain base where his brother died. The X-Men staged a rescue mission in which Thunderbird proves he earned the title by taking out Wolverine in hand to hand combat. James made his way to Professor Xavier, the man he held responsible for John’s young death. Claremont and artist John Romita Jr. do such a good job with this confrontation that I am just going to post the two pages.
Art by John Romita Jr.
The X-Men offered to let Thunderbird stay at the Xavier Institute but James chose to return to the Massachusetts Academy. He had a desire to be loyal to his friends there and was done with walking in his brothers footsteps. He would go on to lead the Hellions in their later appearances, continuing to rein in their less desirable qualities.
After becoming disgruntled with the team, James would leave and return to the reservation to find his entire tribe murdered and a Hellfire mask as the only lead. James, yet again, vowed vengeance and aligned himself with Cable and X-Force, taking the new code name Warpath. It should surprise no one that character development wasn’t the strongest part of X-Force and Warpath was just the teams’ angry strong guy until they disbanded. He made a brief appearance in Morrison’s New X-Men as a member of the Mumbai branch of X-Corporation where he was one of the few X-Men to retain their classic costume. Apparently the Indian population liked yellow spandex more than black leather.
Art by Rob Liefeld
Warpath was one of the 198 mutants to stay powered after the decimation of M-Day. He joined the other refugees at the Xavier Institute where he developed a friendship with the Morlock Caliban. He was very dissatisfied with the conditions at the institute, they reminded him too much of the reservation, and didn’t hesitate to join Professor Xavier on a mission to Shi’ar space to track down Vulcan (the lost Summers brother). When he returned be began to develop a relationship with Hepzibah, a member of the Starjammers who had come back with them. During Messiah Complex, Warpath, Caliban, Hepzibah, and others were tasked to track down and eliminate the Purifiers, who were attempting to kill the first mutant child born since M-Day. In the ensuing fight, Hepzibah was seriously injured. Worse Caliban sacrificed himself to save James’ life. He would be buried alongside John, having died a warrior’s death and Warpath would again walk the path of vengeance.
Cyclops recruited Warpath to become a member of the new X-Force. This team would be led by Wolverine and take out threats to the mutant race before they become threats. Their first target was the Purifiers and Jimmy was all too eager to become a weapon for someone else if it meant his vengeance would be fulfilled. In their first mission, Warpath would bathe himself in Purifier blood and make an enemy of Eli Bard, a man who would focus on making his life a living hell.
Art by Clayton Crain
On a visit to his brother’s grave to confess his sins, James was attacked by the Demon Bear (if you don’t know what the Demon Bear is go read New Mutants #18-20 right now, it won’t explain things more than it is a demon that looks like a bear but it is just the best arc). James fought the beast saying that if he was going to die he would die like an Apache. The Demon Bear seemed more than happy to oblige. Lucky for Warpath, the Arizona desert is a great place for riding and Johnny Blaze came to the rescue, the Ghost Rider would ward off the beast. Blaze told Warpath how the Apache were among the first to blur the lines between the physical and spiritual worlds, the lines between the living and the dead. Covering his body in ash, the Ghost Rider showed James how to walk between these two worlds, using the Ghost Dance they could defeat the Demon Bear. They confronted the beast again and Warpath was able to find the source of the animal’s rage, a bone dagger oozing black magic. James chose not to be a killer any longer and simply removed the blade from the Bear. White light flashed and the old Apache spirit gods burst from the now purified Bear and gave James a vision. A man had corrupted the Bear and dug up the bodies of Johnny, Caliban, and the rest of the tribe that was buried there. Eli Bard found a way to hurt James Proudstar.
Art by Mike Choi
It became clear the Eli had been working for Selene for centuries. In the Necrosha event, Selene would resurrect the entire mutant population of Genosha, many dead mutants, and all the Apache that were exhumed. She wanted to absorb their life essence to become godlike in power. She sent many resurrected mutants to attack the X-Men’s home base of Utopia to stop the X-Men from interfering with her plan, and to capture Warpath. Apparently the dagger that was corrupting the Demon Bear could be used to kill Selene and Eli was pleased to be the one to return it to Selene’s safe keeping. He was less pleased when she plunged it into his chest. Warpath was rescued by his X-Force teammate Vanisher but not before Selene could finished her ascension. Worse she had resurrected someone just for James. He would have to kill his brother to get to Selene. Proudstar did not hesitate and snapped John’s neck.
Art by Clayton Crain
Using the Ghost Dance and her own dagger, Warpath killed Selene and brought peace to his tribe’s souls, John’s included. He would leave X-Force and stay around Utopia for a few years, joining a couple of field squads but nothing major. It doesn’t matter though, James Proudstar went from a vengeful, young kid to a hero willing to let go. I’m ok with letting him finally relax.
Must Read
The must read on this is a no brainer, X-Force by Craig Kyle & Chris Yost with art by Clayton Crain, and Mike Choi for the most part. This is the run from Messiah Complex up till Second Coming and it is way better than people remember it for. It suffers from, what I like to call, the Batman Begins problem where the sequel (Uncanny X-Force) was such an accomplishment and resonated with so many more people that it gets overlooked. This series explores all the themes that Uncanny would later explore but with a deeper tie to classic X-Men mythos and a cast filled with forgotten B and C-List X-Men. The art is amazing but none better than when Clayton Crain is drawing the book. He has a very photorealistic style that works to covey the dirty job this team has been call on to do. The series is available on Marvel Unlimited and in two collections of X-Force By Craig Kyle & Chris Yost: The Complete Collection wherever books are sold.
Art by Clayton Crain
Ranking
The more I wrote this the more I remembered how much I like Warpath. He gets what so few characters end up with, a full character arc. He is a minority that isn’t turned into Captain Ethnicity, he is a hero who decided maybe violence isn’t the best answer for everything, he is a friend who wouldn’t give up just because some people made the wrong choice. After everything that has happened with him in X-Force, I’m not even mad that he has been underutilized recently. When the right creative team has the right story for him I will be excited for his return. I like him more than Glob and, while he is less important, I think he ends up being a better character than Rachel. James Proudstar is the new number 1 ranked X-Man for the Xavier Files.
Art by Clayton Crain
Requested by /u/moose_man on reddit! If you have a request I have an Ask Box and I can get them on my list. I am trying to avoid the super popular ones for now so any requests like that might get pushed. Fair warning.
Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.
