Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, the character first appears in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975).

[1] Thunderbird was a short-lived member of the Second Genesis group of X-Men gathered together in this issue, as he died on their second mission, where they tried to chase down Count Nefaria.

An Apache Native American and Human Mutant, John Proudstar possesses superhuman athletic ability.

Since his death, Thunderbird was temporarily brought back to life during the Necrosha and Chaos War storylines, before being permanently resurrected after the establishment of Krakoa.

Writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum created Thunderbird for the new X-Men, specifically to be a member of the team who would fail the entrance exam.

"[3] Chris Claremont, who scripted the story, confirms that it was Wein who decided to kill the character, and added, "He figured there are two ways to do this.

[6] In 2000, for the 25th anniversary of the introduction of Thunderbird, writer Scott Lobdell and artist Aaron Lopresti did a two-issue series about the character, with a cover by Art Adams.

After defeating the creature, with the aid of Ghost Rider, he learns that former Purifier Eli Bard has dug up Thunderbird and everyone else buried there.

[C 8] During the "Chaos War" storyline, Thunderbird is among the fallen X-Men members (along with Banshee, Moira MacTaggert, Esme and Sophie of the Stepford Cuckoos, and three deceased dupes of Multiple Man) to return from the dead after what happened to the death realms.

Thunderbird leads the revived X-Men members to looking for a diary written by Destiny that might hold the key to defeating Amatsu-Mikaboshi while evading Carrion Crow, Eater of the Dead.

[21] However, his resurrection is explicitly shown on-panel in the concluding chapter of the Trial of Magneto arc (during Reign of X) as a consequence of the Scarlet Witch's magic.

One hiding police officer contacts Edwin Martynec of the Heritage Initiative (which is secretly funded by Orchis) while mentioning that they are being attacked.

Upon Thunderbird finding the detained people, Martynec arrives with some Heritage Initiative operatives where they plan to harvest the X-Genes from the Native Americans that he freed.

[11] Thunderbird is a mutant who possesses superhuman strength (sufficient to rip apart a fighter jet with his bare hands), speed (he is fast enough to outrun a bison, possibly much faster), and stamina due to his dense musculature.

In Native Americans in Comic Books - A Critical Study, Michael A. Sheyahshe compared John Proudstar to Tupac Shakur, noting that "Thunderbird becomes even more popular, posthumously, than he ever was while living.

When Nightcrawler had the mission to travel to Avalon and bring back the mutant known as Destiny, he forced Proudstar to provide them passage.

[C 11] Betrayed by Danielle Moonstar, the Madri learned of Proudstar and the Infernal Gallop's location at Ghost Dance.

[C 14] An alternate version of John Proudstar is an original member of the Exiles, a group of superhumans tasked with fixing damaged realities.

His skin is covered by retractable armor plates that harden when he enters battle, considerably increasing his durability, and even at the base level, his power statistics are above his main continuity counterpart.

[C 22] He helps Psylocke and Cat regain control of the Panoptichron during Doctor Doom's assault,[C 23] and is later reunited with Nocturne when the Exiles and New Excalibur team up to save Roma and the Captain Britain Corps.

"[C 26][26] Proudstar eventually made a deal with Wilson Fisk to bring in Luke Cage's gang as both a matter of pride and to end his criminal activities.

[C 28][27] The Ultimate Marvel version of John Proudstar operates as Shaman appears as a member of Alpha Flight debuting in Ultimate X-Men #94 and this version of Shaman is a mutant who possesses superior strength, speed, agility, and senses which have been boosted through the mutant-enhancement drug Banshee instead of the magical abilities of his Marvel Universe counterpart.

which is a series of comic books whose stories explore how the Marvel Universe might have unfolded if key moments in its history had not occurred as they did in mainstream continuity.