Whilce Portacio, one of the creators responsible for bringing Marvel's Bishop to life in 1991 alongside John Byrne and Karl Altstaetter, explained how his X-Men character is even more dangerous than Wolverine.
Speaking to CBR in an exclusive interview about the upcoming X-Men Legends, Portacio explained the thought process that went into creating the character of Bishop and the ways in which he's different from someone like Wolverine. "Bob Harras' only dictate to me was to create a badass new X-Man, like Wolverine," he said. "I thought, 'Okay, let's create an X-Men that can cross the traditional lines that Wolverine crosses, but can we make him psychotic?' Immediately, the Conan story came to mind, of him being born on a battlefield, and that's why he was born to be a warrior.
So, where in the X-Men mythology is a harsh reality that can birth a born warrior? Of course, that means something along the lines of Chris Claremont's Days of Future Past!!! So that is the essence of Bishop. Someone genetically born to survive in a harsh world. So much so that surviving is relatively easy for him, but socializing and relationships are hard. So, he treats fighting Sentinels like it is only a simple 9 to 5 job and looks forward to trying to figure out the opposite sex and relationships."
Whilce Portacio Returns to Bishop
Marvel announced in October that Portacio will return to work on a new Bishop story in X-Men Legends #5-6. The storyline will revolve around the time travel mission that brought Bishop from the future into the present, which then centers around the character's debut in Uncanny X-Men #282 (by Byrne, Portacio, Art Thibert, Dana Moreshead and Tom Orzechowski).
The synopsis for X-Men Legends #5 reads, "TWO SHALL FALL…THE FUTURE IS NOW! Legendary Whilce Portacio returns to his iconic co-creation in an all-new tale that finally reveals the genesis of BISHOP’s time travel mission that pulled him from the future into the X-MEN’s present! BISHOP, MALCOLM and RANDALL, who make up the elite OMEGA SQUAD, have discovered a dark truth about the X.S.E. After a mission goes sideways, how far will they be willing to go to make this right? To the past—and beyond! Bishop will make the most shocking decision in X-MEN LEGENDS history that will redefine what you thought you knew about mutantkind’s future and the reason behind Bishop’s collision with the X-Men!"
X-Men Legends #5 is co-written by Portacio and Brian Haberlin and features art and cover art by Portacio. The issue releases Jan. 4, 2023, from Marvel.
Source: CBR