New fan art of X-Men member Bishop captures the heart of what makes the character a '90s icon. A boisterous and colorful design, energy absorbing powers, and a time traveling backstory make the mutant a perfect representation of what the era had to offer.
Lucas Bishop was created by comic book writers John Byrne and Whilce Portacio and first appeared in their Uncanny X-Men #282 in November 1991. Bishop comes from a dystopian future in the Earth-1191 reality, one that was ruled by Sentinels and had all the mutants imprisoned in relocation camps. His power is energy absorption, which he can release as stronger energy blasts, or use to enhance his own physical capabilities. After chasing the criminal Fitzroy through a time portal and ending up in the present, Bishop met and became a member of the X-Men, whom had only been the subject of legends in his own time period. He is currently one of the military leads on the mutant nation of Krakoa.
Bishop's taken on many different looks and outfits since his debut, but his classic costume and energy powers are on full display in a fan art Twitter post from comic artist and writer Louie Joyce. Set amongst a blue background, the mutant poses in his blue and yellow costume, while pink energy surges around his left fist. He is standing on the rubble of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, most likely a reference to the doom and destruction faced by Charles Xavier and the X-Men in Bishop's original timeline. Aside from fan art, Joyce has illustrated for comic book publishers, as well as writing and drawing his own independent works.
The thing about Bishop's classic design is that it just screams '90s, which was a very tumultuous yet influential time period for comic books. It was marked by over-the-top versions of just about everything: artwork, character designs, confusing stories, violence, etc., and almost resulted in the death of the comic book medium as it is known today. Bishop represented all of that and is one of the more positive things to come out of an otherwise ridiculed time period in comic history. That being said, there seems to be a resurgence of comic book themes from the '90s era, and this Bishop fan art is proof of that.
Louie Joyce captured the spirit of Bishop and the eccentricity of the era he hails from in his fan art. If this resurgence of '90s comic book nostalgia is really happening, then it seems that Bishop is due for his own X-Men headline.
Source: Louie Joyce