Synch (Everett Thomas) is a mutant superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Scott Lobdell, he first appeared in X-Men #36 (September 1994). Synch was killed in Generation X #70 (December 2000), but resurrected during the Krakoan Age in 2019. In 2021, Synch joined the X-Men team roster in the relaunched flagship book X-Men (vol. 6) written by Gerry Duggan. He would remain on the team during the Reign of X, Destiny of X and Fall of X publishing phases and become the team leader in the final phase. The character also appeared in other related books such as the Immortal X-Men (2022) series and the Rise of the Powers of X (2024) miniseries.
Publication history
Synch first appeared in X-Men (vol. 2) #36 (September 1994), part of the "Phalanx Covenant" event, and was created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Andy Kubert.Cronin, Brian. Look Back: The Phalanx Covenant Introduced the World to Generation X. CBR: Comic Book Resources. Original date: July 31, 2019. Retrieved: April 18, 2021.
Synch was killed off in Generation X #70 (December 2000). At the start of the Krakoan Age, as part of the Dawn of X relaunch of all X-Men related titles, Synch was brought back via the mutant resurrection protocols in House of X (2019) #6. During Jonathan Hickman's X-Men (vol. 5) run in 2021, Synch goes on a mission into The Vault.X-Men (vol. 5) #17-19 Synch then appeared, debuting in the Hellfire Gala (2021) during the Reign of X relaunch, on the first team roster for Gerry Duggan's X-Men (vol. 6) run. He remained on the X-Men team through the rest of Duggan's run during the Destiny of X and Fall of X phases.
During X-Men: From the Ashes, Synch reappears as the narrator of NYX (vol. 2) #7.
Fictional character biography Generation X Everett Thomas was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He was first introduced when the mechanical collective race known as the Phalanx had assimilated the X-Men and attempted to wipe out what was to be the next generation of mutant heroes: Husk, Jubilee, Monet, Skin, and Blink, all of whom, with the exception of Blink, would eventually become members of Generation X.Generation X #1 (November 1994) Synch synced with Banshee, 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 and Sabretooth, and then quickly helped them prevent yet another Phalanx attack on the White 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.X-Men (vol. 2) #36 (September 1994)
When Emma Frost's sister Adrienne 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.Generation X #70 (December 2000)
Krakoan Age
Synch is among the many mutants resurrected on Krakoa after it is established as a mutant nation. He is one of the earliest mutants resurrected because his powers allow him to stand in for any of the Five, the group behind the resurrections, if necessary. While physically he was fine, he struggled psychologically with reintegrating into a vastly changed world with peers who have moved on in life. Skin is 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.
Synch assists in exploring the Vault, the base of the Children of the Vault, alongside Darwin and Wolverine (Laura Kinney). Darwin is captured and experimented upon by the Vault's artificial intelligence to create an evolved batch of the Children, forcing Laura to sacrifice herself to let Synch escape. 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 is resurrected by the Five, but without her memories of her time inside the Vault or the relationship she had developed with Synch.
During the Reign of X phase, at the inaugural Hellfire Gala X-Men elections, both Synch and Laura are selected to join the team.X-Men (vol. 5) #21 (August 2021) 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.X-Men (vol. 6) #4-8 (December 2021 - April 2022) At the next Hellfire Gala, Synch decides to stay on the X-Men team while Laura decides to leave the team.X-Men: Hellfire Gala #1 (July 2022) Meanwhile, Forge initiates a rescue mission to retrieve Darwin from the Vault.X-Men (vol. 5) #15 (January 2021) During the rescue mission, Forge and Caliban discover that Laura survived the mission and was kept alive by the Children of the Vault. Forge takes the original Laura back to Krakoa, where she is reunited with Synch. Afterwards, the two move into the X-Men's Treehouse in New York City and resume their relationship. This Laura, known as Talon, also joins the main X-Men team. During the Destiny of X phase, Synch is forced to take Hope Summers's place in the Five to resurrect her.
During the Fall of X phase, Synch and Talon would go on to lead the X-Men while they were part of the mutant resistance following the attack on Krakoa by Orchis. Together they successfully steal technology to nullify Orchis' poisoned medicine from the High Evolutionary, who retaliates and kills Talon. When Synch later teams up with Wolverine, they mourn Talon together.
Post-Krakoan Age Synch spends time wandering before arriving in New York City at a community center for mutants called NYX which is run by Prodigy. Believing Prodigy's idealistic approach will bring more harm to mutants, Synch challenges him to a Circle Perilous, a duel that ends when an opponent dies or yields. Prodigy convinces Synch of his intentions and fights him to a stalemate so Synch relents.
Powers and abilities 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 utilize Chamber'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. In House of M, he was able to retain powers permanently as a junior member of S.H.I.E.L.D.
After Synch's resurrection in Dawn 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.
Relationships Laura Kinney During the Krakoan Age, Synch along with Laura 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 by The Five without her memories of her time spent in The Vault with Synch. It is later revealed that the original Laura was kept alive by the Children of the Vault when Forge goes to rescue Darwin. Synch and Laura are reunited and move into the X-Men's Treehouse in New York City together. 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. 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 of Krakoa, 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.<ref name="Synch Powers" / The characters were together for over 1,000 years in the Vault.
Alex Schlesinger, for Screen 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 an X-Men comic fans of the couple shouldn't get too hopeful, as the future of this tragic romance is still yet to be revealed". Following the death of Talon's body in X-Men #30 (January 2024), Robert Wood of Screen 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". Jonathan Jones of AIPT highlighted the "ominous" use of The 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". Jones, in his review of X-Men #31 for AIPT, 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. 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 artist Phil 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".
Reception In 2022, Entertainment Weekly ranked Synch 53rd in their "Let's rank every X-Man ever" list.