OXBOW
Real Name: Sam Matonabbe
Identity/Class: Human mutate, citizen of Canada, Chippewa nation (pre-modern era)
Occupation: Adventurer
Group Membership: First
Line (Black
Fox/Robert William Paine, Blackjack,
Doctor
Mime, Effigy,
Eternal
Brain/William Carmody, Firefall,
Flatiron/Russell,
Frank
(see comments),
Katyusha/Anya, Liberty
Girl/Beverly, Major Mercury/Makkari, Mister
Justice/Tim Carney, Morph,
Nightingale,
Pixie,
Positron/Veronica,
Rapunzel,
Rebound,
Reflex, Squire,
Templar,
Vulcan,
Walkabout, Yankee
Clipper/Pat Carney, Yeti);
partner of Pixie
Affiliations: Mary Carmody, Eternals, Jim Fitzpatrick, Gadfly (T. Ruth MacRae), the Hipster/Captain Hip (Fred MacRae), Princess Khadijah, Cassandra Locke, Mako, Riot-Act, Sunshine (Autumn MacRae), Thor Odinson, Venus (Aphrodite, see comments)
Enemies: Axis,
Howler
(Luke Garrow), Kang the Conqueror (Nathaniel Richards), Warlord Kro and
his Deviant army, Nocturne,
Nocturne's
Zombie Invaders & Red Skull, Rumor,
Scimitar,
the Scythe,
Skrull invasion forces, Typhoon,
Princess
Zafina, Zankor;
formerly: Blackjack,
Positron,
Venus
(Aphrodite)
Known Relatives: Unidentified mother, unidentified father (both presumably deceased)
Aliases: "Oxie," "you big silly ox" (nicknames given by Pixie), "Lummox" (nickname used by Positron), "Half-breed" (nickname used by Reflex)
Base of Operations:
Unrevealed;
formerly Carmody Institute, New England;
formerly First Line Headquarters, Colorado Rockies;
formerly a Chippewa reservation outside
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
First Appearance: Marvel:The Lost Generation I#12 (March 2000)
Powers/Abilities: Sam Matonabbe possessed super-strength (class 10, possibly higher) and durability, allowing him to lift a sizable tree trunk with very little effort. He also seemed resistant to temperature extremes and was apparently immune to Skrull blaster fire.
A gifted archer, Oxbow had a variety of arrows in his quiver. Some had concussion shafts (nicknamed "can-openers" by Pixie), others contained steel netting to trap enemies on impact. Oxbow's superhuman strength ensured that even ordinary arrows still did substantial damage.
Born of a Native American mother and a Caucasian father, Matonabbe endured considerable name-calling while growing up on the reservation. Fiercely loyal to his partner Pixie, Oxbow was prone to bouts of unreasonable anger if he felt she was threatened or disrespected in any way (see comments).
Height: 6'4" (by approximation)
Weight: 300 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
History:
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#4 (fb) - BTS) - Sam Matonabbe was born on a Chippewa reservation outside Yellowknife in
the Northwest Territories of Canada in the mid-1940s. Raised by his
Native American mother, he was teased by the other Indians on the
reservation for being a half-breed without a father. During his teens,
he developed a muscular physique, while discovering he had superhuman
strength and durability. In the early-1960s, Sam caught the attention
of the Eternal Pixie, who had been looking for a suitable partner. She
started observing him from a distance to decide if he was right for
her.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#4) - On November 21st, 1963, Sam was on the reservation carrying a tree trunk only wearing a tank shirt despite the freezing cold. Matonabbe was spotted by a group of Indians who started to verbally abuse him,, thinking he was trying to be a show off by carrying the log. When Sam refused to engage them, they started pelting him with snowballs while hurling even more insults. Fed up, Sam swung the log around menacingly, which caused the crowd to run off in fear. Sam was then startled by the sudden appearance of Pixie, who introduced herself and asked him to flex his muscles. Satisfied with what she felt, Pixie picked Sam up and flew off with him, telling the astonished Matonabbe he was ready to become her partner.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#5 - BTS) - Shortly after Sam was dragged away by Pixie, the two became pretty much inseparable, with her telling him about her origins as an Eternal but swearing him to secrecy (see comments). He adopted the costumed identity of Oxbow. At some point during the early- to mid-1960s, they both joined the First Line. Around the Summer of 1967, Oxbow broke his left leg during a mission, putting him on crutches and out of commission for a considerable time.
During the "Summer of Love," acting on a tip from Captain Hip and his partner Sunshine, Oxbow and the other members of the First Line decided to investigate a music festival hosted by Venus. Suspecting there might be mind-control at work, Pixie and Effigy joined Hip and Sunshine on a fact finding mission to the festival. There, Sunshine (and through her, Captain Hip) fell prey to the mental persuasion of both Venus and Rumor. Pixie learned of Rumor's involvement moments before running into Thor (who had been ordered to Earth by Odin to deal with the situation).
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#5) - Oxbow, supported by crutches, was waiting around the First Line's temporary command post for Pixie and the others to return. Revealing he suspected his old enemy the Nazi Rumor might be involved, the Black Fox was interrupted by the arrival of Pixie and Thor.--seeing his lover cozying up to another man infuriated Oxbow to no end. After they spotted a large mind-controlled mob running through the streets fronted by Sunshine and Hip, Mr. Justice led the First Line and Thor out to the streets, ordering the handicapped Oxbow to stay behind and hold the fort.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#6) - On July 20th, 1969, at 4:58 AM, Oxbow and the other members of the First Line answered a summons from their leader Effigy (Velmax), who explained that he had sufficient evidence the alien race that had built the ship the team had encountered back on Long Island in 1958 was planning to destroy Apollo 11, scheduled to land on the Moon. Oxbow and the others boarded the semi-restored ship to reach the Moon. While heading for Luna, Effigy used the ship's "lifeboat technology" (which temporarily supercharges the body's natural electromagnetic aura, while hyper-oxygenating its tissues, allowing anyone who uses it to freely operate in (outer) space) on his teammates. Oxbow asked Effigy where he had learned to handle the controls so well, but Effigy lied, claiming they were actually pretty straightforward. While on the Moon, Oxbow was pleasantly surprised the decreased gravity greatly increased his shooting range. Oxbow joined the others in fighting the super-villains Positron, Typhoon, Howler, Axis and the Scythe,who had all been hired by three disguised Skrull agents to destroy the Apollo mission. The First Line proved ultimately victorious, with Oxbow tying up the captive Scythe and Positron as the team headed home on the Skrull saucer.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#7 (fb) - BTS) - Sometime in 1973, Oxbow and his fellow First Liner Mr. Justice were investigating a lead on the team's archenemy Nocturne. Tracking him to an abandoned warehouse in Cleveland, the two heroes were surprised and quickly overpowered and captured by the vampire's unexpected allies: the Red Skull and the wartime heroes known as the Invaders (actually zombie versions, unbeknownst to the heroes). When they failed to report back in, Pixie (using her psychic connection to Oxbow, see comments) led the First Line to Nocturne's hideout.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#7) - After the First Line gained entry to Nocturne's base courtesy of Vulcan's fire powers, they spotted Oxbow and Justice tied together and hanging from the ceiling. While the team fought the Invaders, Justice tried to worm free even as Oxbow distracted the zombie Cap by kicking him in the head. During the confrontation, Reflex realized the Invaders and the Skull were actually zombies created and controlled by Nocturne, prompting Templar to kill them all with his enhanced broadsword. The team then briefly left Justice and Oxbow hanging while they searched the facility for Nocturne; coming up empty, they were at least satisfied they'd freed their teammates and stopped the zombies.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#8 - BTS) - Oxbow went to Canada to visit with family, leaving his partner Pixie alone for a while. This surprised their teammate the Black Fox, only to have Pixie clarify they weren't joined at the hip.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#9 - BTS) - Around 1980, Halwan's ruler Princess Zafina ordered her troops to capture three American diplomats stationed in her country. In response, US officials sent Mr. Justice to liberate the hostages. However, en route to Halwan, his experimental jet was shot down over the Strait of Hormuz. This led undersecretary Scott (Effigy/Velmax) to assemble a new incarnation of the First Line. Scott invited Oxbow, Pixie and several other former First Liners to gather at Professor William Carmody's institute off the coast of Maine.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#9) - Oxbow and the others agreed to Scott's proposal to go into Halwan and rescue Mr. Justice. Excited by the prospect of going on another adventure with her teammates, Pixie accidentally bumped into Reflex--this caused his reverse-kinesis field to activate, which sent the Eternal flying. Angered by this, the overly protective Oxbow was ready to punch Reflex out. Reflex tried to calm his teammate down by claiming he'd never mess with her--after all, she wasn't even his type. This misunderstanding cleared up, the First Line traveled to Halwan, unaware that the First Line's presence there was actually meant as a diversion (so CIA agent Nick Fury and a team of covert agents could carry out Operation: Clean Sweep to free the hostages). Watching them go, Professor Carmody and his associate Jim Fitzpatrick discussed the interesting bond between Pixie and Oxbow. Recalling how Oxbow couldn't have been much more than 18 when they joined the team in the early '60s, Carmody observed that the archer was clearly younger than Pixie then, while these days he was clearly the elder of the two.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#9 - BTS) - After the First Line traveled to Halwan and gained access to the Halwani royal palace, it soon became apparent Mr. Justice had already freed himself. Oxbow and Effigy then came up with an escape plan. Locating the real Princess Zafina, the duo overpowered her and locked her away while Effigy assumed her form.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#9) - Pretending to hold Zafina hostage, Oxbow put an end to the hostilities by showing his prisoner (though, sadly, after his teammate Blackjack had already been killed). The team used "Zafina" to escape Halwan safely, with Oxbow and Effigy only revealing the ruse after they were in the air and headed for Israel, where Mr. Justice was being treated at Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion Medical Center. There, Oxbow had to physically restrain the Black Fox, who was furious at Effigy for allowing the government to use the First Line as pawns. He later comforted Pixie when she was worried the First Line would fall apart after the Black Fox had quit the team.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10 - BTS) - Unbeknownst to Oxbow and the others, CIA operative Nicholas Fury was trying to infiltrate the Carmody Institute in an attempt to get a handle on the new First Line who were stationed there. At the same time, Deviant Warlord Kro decided it was high time to act on rumors he'd received about an Eternal (most likely Pixie, possibly Makkari) trying to encourage humanity's interest in "super-heroics." Kro took a small army through the subterranean tunnels in order to deal with the problem, even as 22nd century historian Cassandra Locke from Earth-700 time-warped into the First Line's Maine base.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10) - At roughly the
same time, the Carmody-created automaton Walkabout detected and
apprehended Nick Fury when he tried to enter the Carmody
Institute, Kro ordered his Deviant forces to attack the Eternal
(Pixie) he had detected on his gouger. Moments
before the Deviant troops entered the Institute, Pixie picked up on
their presence, which caused Oxbow to be on high alert. As Pixie
dodged the Deviants' blasts, Oxbow told her to go airborne while the
Carmody Institute's klaxons went off, alerting new recruits Morph,
Yeti and Rapunzel to the crisis; they came a-running, evening out the
odds. In the midst of this confrontation. Effigy confronted Pixie
during the battle, demanding to know if and how Pixie knew their
assailants. Enraged by this, Oxbow forcefully pushed the First Line's
leader aside, which caused the shapeshifter to threaten to retaliate.
Just then, Cassandra Locke ran out in an attempt to stop the fight,
surprising Oxbow and the others with her presence. Before they could
hear her story, Morph alerted Oxbow and the others that Yeti was
running wild. While Rapunzel calmed the feral First Liner, Oxbow shot
a net-arrow that covered the hole the Deviants were trying to retreat
back into.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10 - BTS) - Unwilling to have his
troops captured or interrogated, Kro decided they should not further
contaminate the gene pool and purified his forces, killing them on the
spot.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10) - Oxbow followed Pixie down the hole when the Eternal figured the Deviant commander would still be nearby. Finding neither hide nor hair of him, save for a deep tunnel, Oxbow asked his partner if they shouldn't inform the First Line about the Eternals and the Deviants; Pixie dismissed this, claiming mankind wasn't ready to handle the notion they shared the Earth with two other human races, one genetically deviant, the other immortal and eternal.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10 - BTS) - While Oxbow and Pixie were underground, the other First Liners listened to Cassandra Locke revealing their future fate at the hands of a Skrull invasion force. Moments after Cassandra's departure, however, Pixie and everyone else who met Cassandra instantly forgot about her due to a counter-effect set in motion in the 22nd century (designed to limit the risk of temporal divergences caused by visiting the past).
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#11 - BTS) - Oxbow was on a solo mission in the Far East when the First Line fought Nocturne in New York.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12 - BTS) - Oxbow joined the First Line and their allies in opposing a Skrull invasion army headed for Earth. The heroes went out into space to confront the aliens aboard the armada's flag ship. They encountered heavy resistance from the Skrull troops, and the Earthers soon found themselves outnumbered and outmatched. The Black Fox and Effigy tried to reach the ship's main control systems in order to activate the self-destruct. En route, Fox sacrificed himself, drawing fire from three Skrull soldiers to allow Effigy to continue on. Severely injured, he still managed to escape his assailants and secure the hatch behind him.
(Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12) - Oxbow and Pixie, convinced they were losing but bravely soldiering on, went to find Effigy. On the way, they encountered the three Skrull soldiers with which the Fox had dealt. After Pixie turned them to stone, Oxbow blew the hatch with a concussive shaft. They soon found the Fox slumped over in a corridor. Explaining what had happened to him, the Black Fox ordered his two teammates to continue on and help Effigy. They soon found Effigy rigging the ship's engines to overload and take out the entire armada. Effigy ordered Oxbow and Pixie to head for a nearby escape craft. Before they could comply, Skrull forces stormed their position and fatally wounded Effigy. While Oxbow dealt with the attackers, Pixie was stunned to learn the First Line's leader had been a Skrull all these years. With his dying breath, he instructed Pixie how to initiate the resonance overload that would wipe out the entire Skrull fleet. Unsure if she should go through with it, Pixie found strength and resolve in Oxbow's old motto "just beat the bad guys." After a brief encounter with Cassandra Locke, who had just arrived from the 22nd century to investigate the Skrulls' hidden history with humanity, Pixie threw the switch and destroyed the armada. Oxbow presumably perished along with the other First Line members.
(X-Men: The Hidden Years#16 (fb) - BTS) - Surviving the destruction of the Skrull armada via her virtually indestructible nature as an Eternal, Pixie returned to Earth.
(X-Men: The Hidden Years#16 (fb) ) -Several years after his apparent death, Oxbow was remembered by Pixie when she revealed the fate of the First Line to the X-Men, who had encountered wayward former First Liner Yeti on one of their adventures.
Comments: Created by Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks).
Don't call Oxbow a poor man's Hawkeye... He'll hit you. And with good reason--all he has in common with Clint Barton is the fact they fire arrows at people... Oh, and Roger Stern had both archers break a leg when he wrote them (Hawkeye's injury occurred back in 1983's Avengers I#231).
The identity of Oxbow's father remains a mystery. He's obviously Caucasian and possibly super-powered, if Oxie's powers are hereditary. Some have suggested Wolverine as Oxbow's baby-daddy, especially since he's been known to have a soft spot for Native American ladies (I'm looking at you, Silver Fox). But given Logan's established timeline, and Sam being born sometime during World War II, that's doubtful. Still, where's Maury Povich when you need him?
Oxbow's often irrational responses whenever he felt Pixie was threatened might be the result of him having become her Gann Josin shortly after they partnered up. As documented when the Black Knight and Sersi the Eternal were bonded that way, the Gann Josin grows obsessively protective of his mate. Gann Josins can be recognized by their burning, red eyes. Oxbow's eyes were always covered when he joined the First Line, perhaps for that same reason. Another bit of evidence: Eternals can psionically track their Gann Josins (and vice versa), which would also explain how Pixie was able to locate Oxbow and Mr. Justice after Nocturne captured them.
The Rumor profile in Thor: Asgard's
Avenger, erroneously notes the Venus who was involved with Rumor to
have been the siren. The Venus/Aphrodite/goddess profile in her
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe entry confirms this to have
been the goddess. The Rumor entry is in error.
--Snood.
Additionally, it's not clear whether
Frank from the First Line is definitely the Frankenstein
monster or not. The First Line and Frankenstein Monster profiles
in the OHotMU are contradictory in this regard, with the former saying
they are the same and the latter saying it is "unknown."
As the head writer of the Official Handbook of the
Marvel Universe at that time, I can tell you, the official policy is:
Frank of the First Line is apparently either a Frankenstein
monster (meaning a creature created in the manner of Victor
Frankenstein's first creation) or just a being with a similar
appearance and abilities who adopted the name Frank due to the notable
similarities. However, it as yet remains unrevealed whether Frank is
actually the original creation of Victor Frankenstein, aka "the
Frankenstein monster". Previous entries referencing Frank as "Frankenstein
monster" were unclear in specifying/clarifying this point.
--Snood.
Profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Oxbow should not be confused with
images: (without ads)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#10, p18, pan2 (main image)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#4, p11, pan1 (flexing for Pixie)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#6, p15, pan3 (shooting arrows on the Moon)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#9, p9, pan5 (ready to hit Reflex)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12, p18, pan2 (ready for a fight)
Appearances:
Marvel:
The Lost Generation I#12 (March 2000) - Roger Stern (writer),
John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel:
The Lost Generation I#10 (May 2000) - Roger Stern
(writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks),
Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#9 (June 2000)
- Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al
Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel:
The Lost Generation I#7
(August 2000) - Roger Stern
(writer), John Byrne
(pencils), Al Milgrom (inks),
Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation I#6 (September 2000) - Roger Stern
(writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio
(editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation
I#5 (October 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne
(pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel:
The Lost Generation I#4 (November 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John
Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
X-Men: The Hidden Years#16 (March 2001) - John
Byrne (writer, pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Jason Leibig
(editor)
First Posted: 03/25/2014
Last updated: 10/06/2019
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099
Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to http://www.g-mart.com/ for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!