Story and Script Chris Claremont and Joe Pruett
Pencils Brett Booth and Ron Lim
Inks Scott Elmer, Michael Kraiger, Rich Perrotta, Cliff Rathburn, Rod Ramos and Vince Russell
Colors Kevin Somers
Letters Sharpefont and PT
Cover Dated June 2000
Thunderbird’s, Neal, Origin issue! X-MEN 100 is his first appearance, but chronically, this issue comes before that one.
I suspect Lim did the flashback pages and Booth did the present day pages. I only think that due to the flashback pages being a cleaner style.
Scotland. Neal Sharra is waiting to leave the dock to go to Moira MacTaggert’s Muri Isle. Jean Grey shows up on a speed boat, along with a very sea sick Cable. Neal wastes no time hitting on Jean. He doesn’t know this, but Jean has recently lost Scott – who was combined with Apocalypse at the end of The Twelve storyline. I’m surprise to see Cable being so sick, I’m sure that isn’t continued from here.
Seven Months Ago. The Port City of Calcutta, in Eastern India. Neal is from a very rich family, who owns a very prestigious tea plantation. Neal’s brother, Sanjit, has gone missing. Sanjit is a reporter and was looking into the impoverished of the city. Neal wants to go, but his father forbids it. His father is the Chief of Police. Neal doesn’t listen and takes off. Neal seems, to me, to be in his late twenties, so he isn’t a mere child.
Muir Isle. The three of them are greeted by Wolfsbane and Colossus. Neal hits on Rahne, so he has a thing for red heads. Colossus states that he is only visiting the island. Colossus is on his way to Cape Canaveral, setting up X-MEN 100, which Neal will come along for that mission. Neal is impressed with Colossus, as he has never met an astronaut before. Colossus mentions that his brother, Mikhail, was the astronaut of the family – we all have one of those, right? Colossus does state that he has been to space, which is an odd thing to just throw out there.
Neal picks up on the hint that Mikhail is no longer in the present, and he can relate to a lost of a brother – hinting at where the flashback tale is heading.
Calcutta. Neal runs into some thugs, who attack him. Neal is saved by Karima Shapandar, Omega Sentinel, making her first appearance! That’s pretty cool that I own her first appearance, I didn’t even know that! PLUS, I bought this for under two dollars on Mile High Comics, so you can own it as well and not pay too much. She isn’t Omega Sentinel, at this point.
Muir Isle. The group of five are relaxing. Cable, as he got distracted, his metallic arm starts going haywire. Jean tries to calm Cable down, and we see the Phoenix Force aura around her. Rahne is going to get Moira and turns into a werewolf, which is the point when Neal freaks out. As Wolfsbane runs into the other room, Blue Ape Beast drops all of his books, but he gets to say that they are, The X-Men. Colossus armors up, a good thing, as Neal throws a flameball at Colossus. All of this seems odd, as he knows he is a mutant, at this point. Did he not do any research before going to the Muir Island Research Facility? Neal human torch flies away.
Calcutta. Neal and Karima are flirting, and slowly falling in love.
Bullpen Bulletins. Available May 3rd. There are six oneshots coming out, all of them are from the vantage point of What Are Comics Like Within the Marvel Universe? I own all of these, at one point and I still own the X-Men one by Mark Millar and Sean Phillips. Comicbookdb refers to these comics as Marvels Comics : X-Men, I will reveal it one of these days.
Neal and Karima kiss and are shot with darts at the command of . . . Bastion!
Muir Isle. Neal is embarrassed by his over reaction. He is also naked. Jean is the first to find him in the woods. Rahne lead her to him, she also brought a spare X-Uniform. She is confused why, until she sees the very naked man. Jean opts out of having to explain the science of the uniform. This, though, he has researched. He goes on about how Reed Richards created these unstable material on a molecular level.
Calcutta. Neal is the first to wake up. He sees his brother, Sanjit. Bastion explains that Sanjit is no longer human, instead, he is a Prime Sentinel – a human / Sentinel hybrid. Operation : Zero Tolerance was three years ago at this point (1997) but he is still around. Claremont takes this opportunity to explain his name. His goal is to stand as humanity’s final bastion against the forces that threaten to destroy it.
Bastion gives the signal and Neal and Karima are electrocuted. This process reveals two details. Karima would make a perfect candidate for the Prime Sentinel program and Neal is a mutant, which disgusts Bastion.
Muir Island. Neal narrates that his family and Moira’s have been family friends for decades. He is there to be tested on. Colossus forgives Neal’s attempt to burn him. Moira hugs Neal, which I wouldn’t have done unless he actually successively hurt Colossus. Neal looks around, realizing that these people know each other so well, and he is an outsider.
Colossus reveals his origins, so we get to see Illyana – one of the reasons why I bought this issue. Actually, I’m pretty sure that this is the sole reason why I bought it. Kitty being shown in the lost pages of X-Archives, was a bonus.
Calcutta. Neal is trying to fight off a slew of Prime Sentinels. Sanjit dies and Karima is in the beginning phases of becoming a Prime Sentinel. Neal has been running ever since.
Muir Island. So Neal’s powers were awaken, from a dormant state, which is why he is so much older. He needs help controlling his powers. This is why he is joining the X-Men.
. . .
There is also a section of unused art from the X-Archives!
Including this unused page from X-Men 100!
Art by Leinil Francis Yu and Mark Morales
Letters are from – Gabe Kveton / Doug Cook / Scot W. Myers / Paul Slattery
Shadow and Flame with Magik 