Cannonball

Cannonball (Samuel Zachary Guthrie) is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero, associated with the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bob McLeod, Cannonball first appeared in Marvel Graphic Novel #4: The New Mutants (1982).

Cannonball is a mutant who uses the ability to fly at jet speeds while encased in an impenetrable force field. The eldest of a large Kentucky coal mining family, Cannonball is one of few X-Men from a southern, rural background and has maintained the values of civility, hard work, and a strong commitment to his beliefs throughout his career as a superhero. Several of his siblings are also mutants and have joined X-Men-related teams, including his sisters, Paige and Melody, and brothers Jay and Jeb. Other siblings include a brother named Lewis, and four more sisters: Joelle, Elizabeth, Cissie and another unnamed sister.

Cannonball was a founding member of the X-Men's junior team The New Mutants. He joined The New Mutants' later incarnation X-Force, serving as second-in-command and field leader. He joined the X-Men, becoming the first member of a secondary team to "graduate". His tenure was complicated by clashes with superiors and he eventually rejoined X-Force and later the X-Men once more.

A "salt-of-the-earth", honest, well-mannered and responsible young man, Guthrie is a natural leader. Guthrie is a fan of science fiction, especially the works of Robert A. Heinlein.