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| Synch | |
|---|---|
 Synch as depicted inGeneration X #6 (August 1995). Art by Chris Bachalo. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | X-Men #36 (September 1994) |
| Created by | Scott Lobdell Chris Bachalo Fabian Nicieza |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Everett Thomas |
| Species | Human mutant |
| Team affiliations | X-Men Generation X |
| Abilities |
|
Synch (Everett Thomas) is amutantsuperhero appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics. Created byScott Lobdell, he first appeared inX-Men #36 (September 1994).[1] Synch was killed inGeneration X #70 (December 2000), but resurrected during theKrakoan Age in 2019. In 2021, Synch joined the X-Men team roster in the relaunched flagship bookX-Men (vol. 6) written byGerry Duggan. He would remain on the team during theReign of X,Destiny of X andFall of X publishing phases and become the team leader in the final phase. The character also appeared in other related books such as theImmortal X-Men (2022) series and theRise of the Powers of X (2024) miniseries.
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Synch first appeared inX-Men (vol. 2) #36 (September 1994), part of the "Phalanx Covenant" event, and was created by writerFabian Nicieza and artistAndy Kubert.[2]
Synch waskilled off inGeneration X #70 (December 2000). At the start of theKrakoan Age, as part of theDawn of X relaunch of all X-Men related titles, Synch was brought back via the mutant resurrection protocols inHouse of X (2019) #6.[3][4][5] DuringJonathan Hickman'sX-Men (vol. 5) run in 2021, Synch goes on a mission into The Vault.[6][7] Synch then appeared, debuting in theHellfire Gala (2021) during theReign of X relaunch, on the first team roster forGerry Duggan'sX-Men (vol. 6) run.[8][9][10] He remained on the X-Men team through the rest of Duggan's run during theDestiny of X andFall of X phases.[11][12][13]
DuringX-Men: From the Ashes, Synch reappears as the narrator ofNYX (vol. 2) #7.[14][15]
Everett Thomas was born inSt. Louis, Missouri. He was first introduced when the mechanical collective race known as thePhalanx had assimilated the X-Men and attempted to wipe out what was to be the next generation of mutant heroes:Husk,Jubilee,Monet,Skin, andBlink, all of whom, with the exception of Blink, would eventually become members of Generation X.[16] Synch synced withBanshee, who was in the area, to defend himself from the Phalanx. However, as a side effect, he shattered all the windows nearby, which drew the attention of the local police. Even as they surrounded him, a few officers had already been infected by the Phalanx and again tried to capture Everett. He was saved by Banshee andSabretooth, and then quickly helped them prevent yet another Phalanx attack on theWhite Queen and Jubilee, who had helped locate Everett. The White Queen linked her mind with Everett's and Jubilee's, which allowed Everett to synch with Jubilee and use her powers to a degree she had been afraid to, defeating the Phalanx for the moment.[17]
WhenEmma Frost's sisterAdrienne Frost comes to America, she forces Emma to re-admit her back into the school. If not, Adrienne would release information to the parents of the human students that the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters was a secret training ground for mutants. When Adrienne plants bombs around the school, Synch sacrifices himself to save the students.[18]
Synch is later temporarily resurrected by means of theTransmode Virus to serve as part ofSelene's army of deceased mutants. Under the control of Selene andEli Bard, he takes part in the assault on the mutant nation ofUtopia.[19]
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During theDawn of X phase, Synch was among the many mutants gathered on the island ofKrakoa, after it was established as the new sovereign nation for mutants.[3][4] He was one of the earliest mutants brought back following the implementation of the mutant resurrection protocols because it was believed his power set could allow him to stand-in for any ofThe Five if needed. While physically he was fine, he struggled psychologically with reintegrating into a vastly changed world with peers who have moved on in life. Skin was brought back ahead of schedule to act as a companion for Synch and test if mutants from similar time periods should be brought back in clusters.[5][4][20]
Synch, along withWolverine (Laura Kinney) andDarwin, were tasked by the X-Men to infiltrate aChildren of the Vault base inside a Master Mold as only they have the powers to adapt to the changes needed to infiltrate the base security. The X-Men created a diversion to ensure that the three would be able to enter undetected, to which they succeeded. As soon as the three entered the Vault, they lost contact with the X-Men, and because time moved much quicker inside the Vault, the trio were stuck within for centuries.[6] Unbeknownst to those who were left outside the Vault, the three were immediately classified as unidentified subjects. During their first day, while engaging the Children of the Vault in battle, Wolverine and Synch killed most of their foes while Darwin's head got caught in a water bubble from Sangre. After seeing her teammates killed, Aguja angrily killed herself by projecting a force field that destroyed everything around her in an attempt to kill her foes.[21]
However, due to their unique powers, the three recovered and went on to survive as centuries went on, fighting different iterations of the Children of the Vault; Synch and Laura became close before developing a romantic relationship. Eventually, Darwin was captured and experimented upon by the Vault's artificial intelligence to create an evolved batch of the Children, forcing Laura to sacrifice herself to give Synch enough time to escape and reach Xavier. Outside of the Vault, Synch telepathically contacts Xavier and passes on all of his knowledge before he is killed; he is then resurrected with his memories intact. With her status in doubt, Laura was also revived by The Five but without her memories of her time inside the Vault or the relationship developed between herself and Synch.[6]
During theReign of X phase, at the inauguralHellfire Gala X-Men elections, both Synch and Laura are selected to join the team.[22][8] There are some awkward encounters between the two because Laura is aware of the missing memories and relationship Synch had with the original version of her; Synch decides to not use Jean Grey's abilities to share his Vault memories with Laura.[23][24] At the next Hellfire Gala, Synch decides to stay on the X-Men team while Laura decides to leave the team.[25] Meanwhile, Forge initiated a rescue mission to retrieve Darwin from the Vault.[26] During the rescue mission, Forge and a cloned copy of Caliban discover that Laura had survived the mission and was kept alive by the Children of the Vault. Forge takes the original Laura back to Krakoa, where she was reunited with Synch. Afterwards, the two move into the X-Men's Treehouse in New York City and resume their relationship.[6] This Laura, now going by Talon, also joins the main X-Men team. During theDestiny of X phase, Synch is forced to takeHope's place in The Five to resurrect her; while not as capable as Hope and done with great strain, Synch is able to get the vital job done.[27]
During theFall of X phase, Synch and Talon would go on to lead the X-Men[28][29] while they were part of the mutant resistance following the attack on Krakoa byOrchis. Together they successfully steal technology to nullify Orchis' poisoned medicine from theHigh Evolutionary, however, he retaliates and disintegrates Talon's body. Synch houses a psychic imprint of Talon's mind that he can communicate with but without a way to download it into a new body, there is no way to bring Talon back to life. The Talon in Synch's mind convinces him to let her go so that he has the power to fight Nimrod.[30][31][32][33] When Synch later teams up with Wolverine, they take a moment to grieve the loss of Talon.[34][35]
Synch spends time wandering before arriving inNew York City at a community center for mutants calledNYX which is run byProdigy. Believing Prodigy's idealistic approach will bring more harm to mutants, Synch challenges him to a Circle Perilous, anArakko-style duel that ends when an opponent dies or yields. Prodigy convinces Synch of his intentions and fights him to a stalemate so Synch relents.[14][15][36]
Synch's mutant power equips him with a bio-energetic aura that allows him to duplicate the effect of the powers of any superpowered being in or out of his vicinity and sometimes the power itself, essentially becoming "in synch" with that person (or more specifically, their bio-energetic aura). When Synch uses his powers, a multicolored aura appears around his body, created by the energies he is absorbing splitting the ambient light around him. Synch seemingly had greater mastery of his mutant abilities than his peers, often displaying more control over whatever powers he copied than that person. For example, he was also able to utilizeChamber's powers to fly, something Chamber was never able to do. It had been theorized that in time, Synch would have been able to permanently retain any powers he acquired. However, he is not always able to synch with purely physical abilities or abilities that exceed his physical makeup. InHouse of M, he was able to retain powers permanently as a junior member ofS.H.I.E.L.D.
After Synch's resurrection inDawn of X,Cecilia Reyes noted that Synch's power no longer has a dormant and active state but that his Synchronistic field constantly seeks live connection to other power sets. Also, while before he seemed limited to mimicking only other mutants, he was found to now be able to copy powers from non-mutant sources as well.[21][37][38][33][39]
During theKrakoan Age, Synch along withLaura and Darwin spent centuries in The Vault where Laura and Synch eventually developed a romantic relationship. Laura presumably dies after sacrificing herself to give Synch enough time to escape The Vault and reach Xavier. Laura was then revived byThe Five without her memories of her time spent in The Vault with Synch.[40][7][41] It is later revealed that the original Laura was kept alive by the Children of the Vault whenForge goes to rescue Darwin. Synch and Laura are reunited and move into the X-Men's Treehouse in New York City together.[42][43] They join the X-Men roster with Laura now going by the codename Talon while Laura's younger duplicate, keeping the Wolverine codename, shifts to X-Force.[30][44] When the High Evolutionary disintegrates Talon's body, Synch is initially able to support and communicate with a psychic imprint of Talon's mind. However, this occurs after the fall ofKrakoa, so there is no way to physically resurrect this version of Laura. Laura convinces Synch to relinquish the strain on his powers and let her imprint go so that he can fight Nimrod.[32][45][31] The characters were together for over 1,000 years in the Vault.[46]
Alex Schlesinger, forScreen Rant in 2022, called their reunion "a truly heartwarming one, with the intense and ancient love between Everett and Laura on full display, but because this is happening in anX-Men comic fans of the couple shouldn't get too hopeful, as the future of this tragic romance is still yet to be revealed".[43] Following the death of Talon's body inX-Men #30 (January 2024), Robert Wood ofScreen Rant commented that "Synch and Laura's relationship has been filled with heartache and tragedy, and this final twist of the knife confirms things will get worse before they get better – if they ever do".[43] Jonathan Jones ofAIPT highlighted the "ominous" use ofThe Lovers tarot card in the issue as Laura only remains alive as an imprint within Synch's mind – "The Lovers is a card of choice, sacrifices made for or at the cost of relationships; a test that impacts the partners' ability to remain in sync".[47] Jones, in his review ofX-Men #31 forAIPT, felt the "emotional beats" of Laura and Synch's final conversation was a bit empty and that the creative team's focus was on addressing the problem of Talon's existence as a character.[13] Jones opined that the arc of their relationship "has ended for the time being, and in the end, it served no one, developed no one, and has not left a lasting impact on the story moving forward. On top of that, the majority of their romance before and after the Vault took place off-panel, making it even harder for readers to find a reason to care"; however, Jones was more positive about artistPhil Noto's portrayal of the characters in the issue as "even if readers don't especially care about Talon and Synch's relationship, the emotional subtleties in their faces are worth a look through. Everett's heartbreak hits even harder as he rises stone-faced against Nimrod while syncing Storm's powers".[13]
In 2022,Entertainment Weekly ranked Synch 53rd in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list.[48]
Charles Pulliam-Moore, forGizmodo in 2020, highlighted the spotlight on Synch's emotional state following his resurrection as unlike characters such as Jean Grey, "Synch hasn't spent most of his life living and dying and living again. Thus [Cecilia Reyes] believes what is hitting him hardest is to see the ways in which his contemporaries left him behind and have often gone on to deal with their own brushes with death that they've been able to overcome. [...] Coming back this way has to feel bittersweet—not just because it's taken his friends this long to even try a resurrection, but because making up for all that lost time is the sort of feat that not even he could manage".[5] He thought the "seemingly small details like this" are what makes "Dawn of X feel distinctly refreshing and fascinating".[5]Screen Rant,CBR andComicBook.com noted that Synch's resurrection and time spent replicating the powers of Omega-level mutants would lead to the character having a huge power jump in theKrakoan Age.[49][50][51]Screen Rant highlighted that inVenom #14, Madelyne Pryor admits Synch "is the X-Men's 'most powerful member'".[49]CBR commented that changes in Synch's replication powers along with focused training have "taken Synch to the next level when it comes to his powers, allowing him to reach Omega-level powers as long as he's used an Omega-level mutant's power".[50]ComicBook.com commented that "evolving into an omega-level mutant would be a huge character development for Synch" and that "if Synch can truly master retaining different abilities he comes into close proximity with, then he has the potential to be one of the strongest mutants in the Marvel Universe".[51]
Brandon Zachary, forCBR in 2021, commented that the Krakoan Age "has been a good one for plenty of underutilized mutant characters – but perhaps none more so than the roster of Generation X, who've increasingly been given bigger places within the mutant nation" such as Synch who has "been formally elected to the X-Men – where he's repeatedly proven his sheer potential".[10] Rob Bricken ofGizmodo called Synch one of the "more unexpected members" to join the main X-Men team and wondered if Synch "has ever been an 'official' X-Man before".[52] Jones, in his review ofX-Men #34 forAIPT, opined that the penultimate issue reiterates how "this book remains the franchise's flagship title in name only, a feeling to which Synch ought to be able to sympathize with by now" and that while Synch is "the ostensible leader of the X-Men", his team is "either cleaning up loose ends or exiting the narrative altogether".[34] He highlighted "a nice moment grieving" between Synch and Wolverine who "have their first proper team-up since the loss of Talon [inX-Men #31], and Everett and Laura remain very respectful about the wild circumstances around their relationship".[34] Jamie Lovett ofComicBook.com similarly commented that "the issue does bring some closure to the Synch/Talon/Wolverine situation that has been at the heart of the book, but with even the considerable artistic talent involved struggling to make something out of what little the script has to offer,X-Men #34 feels like the tail-end of a story stretched too thin".[35]
In theAge of Apocalypse, Synch was one of the many mutants killed in the war withApocalypse. His death motivated Jubilee to joinGambit's band of mutant thieves, theX-Ternals.[53]
In theDays of Future Past timeline, Everett became Jubilee's lover, and aided her along with the X-Men of that time to rebel against their oppressors.[volume & issue needed][54]
In theHouse of M timeline, Synch was alive and a member of the junior S.H.I.E.L.D. division called "The Hellions", but was later killed during a battle with an alternate version of the Hellions, the New Mutants, and a Japan-based human resistance group founded by an alternate version of Laurie Garrison (Wallflower).[55]
A future version of Synch appears inRise of the Powers of X (January 2024), by writerKieron Gillen and artist R.B. Silva. Set ten years in an alternate future where Orchis is victorious against mutantkind, Synch leads a small group of survivors and is now known as the Professor. Synch has prematurely aged due to the strain of replicating powers by memory instead of limiting himself to replicating powers in his proximity.[56][39][57] Tristan Benns ofScreen Rant commented that "weakened by the containment of his tremendous powers, this timeline's variant Everett Thomas is confined to a hoverchair resembling Xavier's iconic chair from the Mutant Genesis era. Although this timeline is ultimately averted as part of Xavier's experiments with the Moira Engine, Synch's potential as Charles' replacement remains undeniable".[57] Benns called him "a rising star" of the Krakoan Age "with his inclusion in the lineup for the flagship X-Team raising his profile to incredible new heights. As such, seeing Synch finally replace Professor X as leader of the X-Men would ultimately be the culmination of this tumultuous character arc".[57]
Synch makes a cameo appearance inX2 inYuriko's computer files.
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