Cannonball (comics)
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Cannonball (Samuel Zachary Guthrie) is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero, associated with the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bob McLeod, he first appeared in Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982).
Cannonball is a mutant who possesses the ability to fly at jet speeds while encased in an invulnerable force field. The eldest of a large Kentucky coal mining family, Cannonball is one of few X-Men from a southern, rural background and has maintained the values of civility, hard work, and a strong commitment to his beliefs throughout his career as a superhero. Several of his siblings are also mutants and have joined X-Men-related teams, including his sisters, Paige and Melody, and brother Jay.
Cannonball was a founding member of the X-Men's junior team The New Mutants. He joined The New Mutants' later incarnation X-Force, serving as second-in-command and field leader. He joined the X-Men, becoming the first member of a secondary team to "graduate." His tenure was complicated by clashes with superiors and he eventually rejoined X-Force. He is currently a member of the X-Men once again.
A "salt-of-the-earth", honest, well-mannered and responsible young man, Guthrie is a natural leader. Guthrie is a fan of science fiction, especially the works of Robert A. Heinlein.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
[edit] Origin
Sam Guthrie was born in Cumberland, Kentucky. As a young boy, he attempted to help out his family, by working in a coal mine, after the death of his father. Given the dangerous nature of this work, Sam found himself trapped in a collapsing mine shaft. While trying to rescue his fellow worker, a friend of his father's who had introduced him to the job, Sam subconsciously activated his mutant ability and used it to escape with him. This incident led to Sam being found by Donald Pierce, who used him in a plot to attack the New Mutants. Sam eventually came to his senses and turned against Pierce. Professor Charles Xavier saw the good qualities inside Sam and asked him to join his New Mutants. Cannonball left his large farming family in Kentucky to join the team. In later years, several other Guthrie kids would be revealed to be mutants, including the future X-Man Husk.
[edit] New Mutants
Art by Bob McLeod
In 1983, the New Mutants were granted their own monthly series and Cannonball remained with the team for its entire existence, forming close friendships with his teammates, Sunspot and Wolfsbane, who developed somewhat of a crush on him. Sam had an ongoing rivalry with Danielle Moonstar as the two acted as the team co-leaders. He also supervised other teamates, including Magick, Karma, Douglas Ramsey, Magma and Warlock.
Cannonball saved the life of international rockstar Lila Cheney, whom he became romantically involved with. Due to the nature of Lila's career, their relationship went slowly. Cannonball helped lead the team through many adventures, which took them across time and space, from ancient Scotland to other galaxies, even back home in Kentucky. There, he even teamed up with long-time X-Man Dazzler.
The New Mutants had to step into the role of leader when the X-Men were regressed in age, body and mind.[1] Sam even had to fight Longshot, a confrontation in which he lost badly.
After an adventure in Asgard, the New Mutants found themselves under the guidance of a new teacher, Magneto. They did not stay under his leadership very long, unofficially leaving soon after the death of Douglas Ramsey, which Magneto had blamed on humanity.
Around this time, Sam also met the Avengers, Power Pack and the Impossible Man.
The team also met and fought their much older selves in an adventure they found very hard to remember.
After a second adventure in Asgard, Sam's team found themselves merging with the X-Terminators. They fought through the horrors of Inferno together. One of the new members, Boom Boom, soon became a primary romantic interest.
Soon after, Sam learned of the death of Warlock by forces on Genosha. He also participated in a rescue mission to rescue other mutants there.
[edit] X-Force
Cannonball and the other New Mutants left the X-Men's supervision and joined forces with the mysterious Cable to become the hard-edged X-Force. Cable made Cannonball Second-In-Command of that team. It was early during this time that Sam was impaled and killed by the mutant Sauron during a clash with an incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. However, only a few minutes later, he was miraculously alive again. It was revealed that Cable had chosen Sam to lead the New Mutants initially because he suspected Cannonball to be an External - a particularly rare type of mutant who is virtually immortal. Cable had come to train Sam to fight Apocalypse, another External who, in Cable's future time, had conquered the world. Many other Externals, such as Saul and Gideon, also came to believe Sam was one of them. It was also around this time that Sam's sister, Husk, was revealed to have mutant powers.
Though Cable did not stay with the team consistently, he and Sam developed a deep father-son type relationship.
Cannonball's existence as an External was disputed by Selene, who once claimed that he was not an External. However, she is not a particularly trustworthy source and no alternate explanation has been given for his surviving the wounds Sauron had inflicted. His immortality was recently brought up as the reason he survived 3 gunshot wounds to the chest in New X-Men #28, so his status as an External hasn't been completely forgotten by Marvel writers.
Sam's time in X-Force was not easy, as he was considered 'out of line' by the X-Men and X-Force were considered outright criminals by S.H.I.E.L.D.. This even devolved into a fight between a S.H.I.E.L.D. team led by Nick Fury and supported by veteran superhero War Machine.[2]
Later, any rivalries were put aside as Sam was instrumental in helping the other X-Men, paticularly Forge and Wolfsbane defeat the Phalanx.
Some time later, Sam and his friends had the unique experience of meeting their younger selves.[3]
[edit] X-Men
In the mid 1990s, X-Force re-established ties with the X-Men and Cannonball accepted an offer to join the latter team. He has the unique experience of traveling to the moon, to be a small part of an apocalyptic battle with Stryfe. During this time, he was also a supporting character in Wolverine's own comic. Cannonball's character seemed regressed during this period. He played the role of the inexperienced rookie of the X-Men, despite the fact that he had been training under Xavier and Cable for many years and had been the team leader of the New Mutants and X-Force, when their mentors were absent. He privately expressed these doubts to Iceman, causing the veteran X-Man much discomfort.
During this time, during a late Christmas shopping trip, Cannonball even defeated the Superman-like Shi'ar agent, Gladiator in single combat--a feat no X-Man has ever matched (indeed, only the Hulk and Thor can claim an equal victory). Eventually, he felt uncomfortable with mutants outside his peer group.
During his time with X-Men, Cannonball found his relationship with Tabitha strained. It was so strained she turned to Sam's best friend, Sunspot, for "support". Sam returned to the X-Men, for a brief period until he left the team to help his ailing mother. During his time with the X-Men, he also infiltrated the presidential campaign of anti-mutant candidate Graydon Creed, using the alias "Samson Guthry". Despite the rather transparent alias, Sam was able to remain undetected until Creed was assassinated on the eve of the election.
Sam was there when the mutant entity Onslaught erupted from Xaiver's mind. The entity, before attacking, had enjoyed several minutes of tearing apart Sam psychologically.
Cannonball rejoined X-Force, now independent of Cable and operating in San Francisco. Cannonball eventually became team leader again, after the injuries sustained by Siryn. The team eventually found a new mentor, by the name of Peter Wisdom, who introduced the team to the world of espionage. During this time, Sam and Tabitha had gotten back together. After Wisdom's alleged death, Sam led the team again and attempted to continue Wisdom's crusade.
Sam even came to care about trademark issues, as he and his allies confronted another version of X-Force.[4]
Eventually, Sam and other members of X-Force had to fake their deaths.
[edit] X-Corporation
After X-Force’s dissolution, Cannonball joined several of his former teammates and former members of X-Force and Generation X, in the Paris, France branch, of Professor X's international mutant task force X-Corporation. His time with the X-Corporation wasn't a pleasant one. Enroute to one mission later found to involve the Weapon Plus program, his teammate Darkstar poked fun at him for eating a sandwich that would have rather distasteful consequences for "everybody who went out without an umbrella in downtown Beauvais." This moment of levity at Cannonball's expense did not last, as on that same mission, Darkstar died. At the funeral of Darkstar, Xavier gave Cannonball a note, with the whereabouts of Lila Cheney. Sam decided to take time away from the X-Corporation, as the strain of his life began to get to him. He worked for a time cleaning up damages to the France-England tunnel, AKA the Chunnel, which was partially destroyed in the very same mission which killed Darkstar.
[edit] Return back to basics
While away, Sam rekindled his romantic relationship with Lila Cheney for a time. Sam couldn't find peace with his life so he was asked by Storm to join her X-Treme X-Men, a group of X-Men operating outside of Professor X's leadership. For a time, he even was partnered with his old friend Wolverine during an adventure where they pursued long time X-Man foe William Stryker. Sam also found himself having a reunion of sorts with former teammates, Sunspot and Magma.
He and his teammates rejoined the central X-Men, after the events of Planet X. Sam became injured on a mission and once again decided to break for some peace. He used the time to work on his own farm, which he had bought with his X-Corporation paychecks. While on the farm, Sam found himself teaming up again with Cable and reformed X-Force against the threat of the Skornn.
Sam and former X-Force teammate, Siryn, went in search of Cable with the mercenary Deadpool, who could track the missing man via a unique teleportation bond the two shared. Deadpool derisively refers to Sam as "Cannonballs".[5]
Sam has once more joined the active roster of the X-Men, whose team is co-led by Nightcrawler and Bishop. For a while he literally and figuratively watched over the younger, more carefree students at the X-Mansion. He also functioned as a member of the XSE. He has already participated in helping the 198 and fighting the Shi'ar Death Commandos. He soon suffers the death of his brother Jay, who had been killed by William Stryker. In the first part of The First Foursaken story arc, Cannonball went with the X-Men to Central Park, where they fought the Foursaken, who then captured the X-Men and sent them elsewhere. After escaping, Cannonball accompanied the X-Men to Africa to help Storm. Cannonball is currently in Rogue's team.[6] After defeating The Children of The Vault, Rogue has announced the departure of her team from the mansion. In a conversation with Cyclops, he explains his personal feelings about leaving. He says that he feels he needs to leave because his brother Jay's death. He says the every time he walks through the door, he feels he's stepping on Jay's grave.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Cannonball possesses the ability to bodily generate thermo-chemical energy and release it from his skin. This energy is used as thrust to cause his body to be propelled through the air, like his namesake, at great heights and speeds with considerable maneuverability. He can control his speed and direction through sheer act of will. At first he could only release this energy from his feet and legs, but now he can fire it from almost any part of his body, to a wide variety of effects. This energy also manifests itself as an impenetrable and virtually indestructible "blast field". He can use this blast-field to: function as a personal shield or extending it to encompass others, shape the field around another person to imprison them, or absorb outside kinetic impact into his own energy supply, and then re-channel it to increase the bludgeoning power of his blows or create explosive shock waves upon impact. For example, in the final episodes of 90's X-men Cartoon series, Cannonball flew head on to stop a freight train and derailed it without effort.
His power levels have varied over the years - but at his peak, he has been able to defeat the Shi'ar Imperial Guard leader, Gladiator, and devastate several city blocks by plummeting to the ground from high altitude. It has been said that Cannonball may be one of the Externals, and therefore immortal (although this has been questioned).
[edit] Appearances in other media
- Cannonball made a small appearance in the original X-Men animated series along with his sister Paige Guthrie . The episode was titled Hidden Agenda. The episode featured Rogue learning about a new mutant that has been making waves in her hometown. However, his appearance caused a violation of continuity, as Cannonball had already made a cameo appearance, already employing his mutant power, and with blond hair.
- In the 2001 X-Men: Evolution animated television series, he appeared infrequently as one of the New Mutants and was voiced by Bill Switzer.
- He is an exclusive hidden character in the X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse video game for the PSP. His powers in the game revolve around his "blast shield," in the form of rushing attacks, powered punches, and shields.
- In the film X2, his along with his sister, Paige, names appears on a list of names Mystique scrolls through on Stryker's computer while looking for Magneto's file.
- In the novelization of X-Men: The Last Stand by Chris Claremont, he is introduced towards the end when Logan is giving a class for new potential X-Men.
[edit] Alternate versions
[edit] Ultimate Cannonball
Ultimate Cannonball was reimagined in the Ultimate universe as a member of Emma Frost's Academy of Tomorrow, a somewhat more pacifistic alternative to the X-Men. He is the newest member and has been seen in action thus far in situations such as assisting his peers to help Polaris escape imprisonment after they had discovered she was falsely arrested. Currently his powers seem to be virtually the same as his mainstream universe counterpart.
[edit] What If?
- In What If the X-Men stayed in Asgard? Sam, among several members of the X-Men and the New Mutants, decided to stay in Asgard. He eventually married Kindra and eventually became the new King of the Dwarves, after the death of Kindra's father.
[edit] Age of Apocalypse
- In Age of Apocalypse, The Guthrie family was known to be a mutant terrorist family. Cannonball was a member of the Elite Mutant Force, Sinister's personal strikeforce, alongside his sister, Elisabeth, a.k.a. Amazon. He and his sister were particularly violent towards the prisoners of Sinister's breeding pens, as was their superior Havok, whom Cannonball was loyal to. When the Elite Mutant Force was taken over by Havok due to Prelate Cyclops' betrayal, Cannonball fought the Bedlam brothers, who sided with the older Summers brother. Cannonball and Amazon survived and eventually reunited with Husk and Icarus, and together they set out to fulfill Husk's revenge against the X-Men for Generation Nexts' abandoment of her in the Core.
[edit] Amalgam
- In Amalgam, Cannonball was merged with Wally West (the Flash) from the DC Universe, by Doctor Strangefate. He was also merged with Legion of Super-Heroes member Wildfire to form the character Cannonfire. As this character he was a member of the Legion Of Galactic Guardians 2099.
[edit] Mutant X
- In the Mutant X universe, Sam was drawn as a very overweight mutant while his sister had an ugly appearance. The two would constantly insult one another. Due to his increased weight, Sam couldn't stay in Cannonball mode for long.
[edit] House of M
- Cannonball had no House of M counterpart because he was traveling through realities with Siryn and Deadpool when the change wave occurred. However, Wolverine did beat up a young blond man for his motorbike, which was called the 'Cannonball X'.
[edit] Bibliography
List of titles
- Alpha Flight Vol. 2 #9
- Beast #1-3
- Cable #5, 14-15, 21, 36, 71, 73-75, 77
- Cable & Deadpool #15-18
- DC/Marvel: All Access #3-4
- Excalibur Vol. 1 #8, 82, 100
- Fallen Angels #1-2
- Factor X #1-4
- Firestar #1-2
- Incredible Hulk Vol. 2 #455
- Marvel Graphic Novel #4
- Marvel Team Up Vol. 1 #149
- New Mutants Vol. 1 #1-25, 29-40, 42-47, 49-62, 64-80, 82-91, 93-100
- New Mutants Annual #1-7
- New Mutants Vol. 2 #11, 13
- New Mutants Special Edition #1
- New Mutants: Truth Or Death #1-3
- New Warriors Vol. 1 #13, 31, 45-46
- New Warriors Annual #1
- New X-Men #128-130
- Onslaught: Marvel Universe
- Onslaught: X-Men
- Power Pack Vol. 1 #20, 40, 42
- Rom Annual #3
- Secret Wars II #1, 5, 7-9
- Spider-Man #16
- Thunderbolts #25
- Uncanny X-Men #167, 190-191, 193, 200-201, 230-231, 270, 272-273, 294-296, 323-325, 331-335, 338, 340-342, 350, 352-355, 368, 375, 379, 388, 444-447
- Uncanny X-Men Annual #8-10, 14-15, 1995 Annual, 1997 Annual, 1998
- Web of Spider-Man Annual #2
- What If...? Vol. 2 #12, 69, 92
- Wolverine Vol. 2 #54, 93, 96, 99-101, 115-118
- X-Factor Vol. 1 #41, 60-62, 77, 84-86, 106, 130
- X-Factor Annual #5-6
- X-Force Vol. 1 #1-4, 6-29, 32-45, 48, 51, 75-78, 83-87, 89-90, 92-115, 117
- X-Force Annual #1-3, 1995 Annual, 1997 Annual, 1998, 1999
- X-Force Vol. 2 #2-6
- X-Men Second Series #13-17, 30, 41, 48, 50, 54-55, 57-60, 62-66, 70-72, 75-79, 99, 157, 165, 188-
- X-Men Annual 1996 Annual, 1997 Annual
- X-Men Forever #2
- X-Men Prime
- X-Men Unlimited Vol. 1 #10, 23
- X-Men Unlimited Vol. 2 #3
- X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #3-4
- X-Terminators #4
- X-Treme X-Men #24-36, 40-46
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
- Cannonball II - A "Spotlight On" biography at UXN.
- Cannonball (Sam Guthrie) at the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
