Bishop burst into the world of the X-Men in the early '90s. Created by Whilce Portacio, Karl Altstaetter, and John Byrne, first appearing in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #282 in November 1991, the character traveled from the future to the X-Men's present. Time travel has become a staple in X-Men comics over the years. Thwarted futures, alternate timelines, and wilder timeline shenanigans are standard fare mutantkind. Time displacement is central to Bishop's story, but as developed as he has become over the years, the story behind his initial time travel has never been explored.
With the upcoming X-Men Legends #5, Whilce Portacio returns to his iconic co-creation to remedy this omission. Bishop has become a beloved member of the X-Men's roster throughout the years, and with this story, readers will finally learn what initiated Bishop's mission to the past. CBR had the opportunity to chat with Portacio about his return to Bishop's origins and his collaborative process with his cowriter Brian Haberlin. Portacio and Marvel also shared a look at some pages from the issue.
CBR: When returning to a character you co-created after so many years, did it feel like you hadn't missed a beat, or was some recalibration needed?
Whilce Portacio: Honestly, both. A lot has happened to the character since Karl [Altstaetter] and I created Bishop. So it took a little bit to research what other writers have done with the character. The biggest idea that Brian [Haberlin] and I had to work around is that by Bishop's timeline, all Sentinels were decommissioned. Big deal for us because Sentinels were a big part of our backstory for Bishop. Also, only a few months after we created Bishop, I went off to join Image. So, I had only a few issues of Uncanny to deal with Bishop's full origin story. Some of what Brian and I did with these two issues was to insert some of the original backstory.
This story tells the tale behind Bishop's journey back in time to the modern-day world of the X-Men. Was this an idea you always had in mind when the character was first introduced?
Bob Harras' only dictate to me was to create a badass new X-Man, like Wolverine. 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.
When dealing with a character from the future, what do you find is the most important thing to keep in mind?
We see it when the X-Men meet Bishop and Omega Squad for the first time. [In] contrast to our reality, Bishop is a cruel, horrible human being. For Bishop, having been raised in an extremely harsh world, there is no way he will not try to stop these criminal mutants from his time to be unleashed upon our present time. For Bishop, if he doesn't stop all these criminals, then he is a failure, and innocent people will die.
Bishop carries a tremendous amount of guilt with him. What was it like getting to explore that with this story?
That was the whole point of Bishop for me. Every good character is multi-layered. So, the intent with Bishop was to introduce him as a tough leader. Then Randall and Malcolm dying for Bishop because they are so loyal to him personally makes you ask yourself, maybe Bishop isn't just a jerk. Then when you see the kid in Bishop as he idolizes the X-Men and that he personally worships Storm, how will he deal with that when the X-Men thinks he is a criminal? That is Bishop's character journey!!!
What would you say is the most challenging and rewarding part of writing and drawing an issue?
Let me answer that this way. Brian and I work in the traditional Marvel way that Stan [Lee] and Jack [Kirby] pioneered. We talk about the basic big blocks of a story, very rarely any details. Brian writes it down with no specific page or panel counts. I draw how I, as an artist, see the visual story. So I am responsible for visually telling a clear story. Brian then takes all that and inserts word communication where the only intent is to make sure my storytelling is made clearer in places it may not be clear enough and to add extra idea/thought layers only when there is space for it.
So, I am free to add visual touches/props/moods where I feel it can enhance the story. Brian is free to add extra thoughts/dialogue where it can enhance the visuals. This forces us to make the best of what work we have in front of us, not what we individually originally wanted... Magic!!!
Bishop has become a fan-favorite character over the years. What has it been like to see that evolution for a character you helped create?
Many writers talk about characters being their Babies, their kids. I know how they feel. You can try to talk to them, try to guide them, but they eventually go where they go!!!
Is there anything else you'd like to say to the X-Men fans reading?
You all have allowed and are responsible for me to be able to reach into my imagination and place it down for you to all consume. It really humbles me when any of you react in any way to what you have afforded me to do. It makes me feel worthwhile!!!
X-Men Legends #5 goes on sale on January 4th, 2023.