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  1. #1696
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    Talking Happy 40th Anniversary 616 Alpha Flight!!! 1979-2019

    Uncanny X-Men #120 Apr 1979
    "Wanted: Wolverine! Dead or Alive!" Part 1 of 2. Guest-starring Alpha Flight (First appearance cameo)
    Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: the super hero known as Vindicator (formerly Weapon Alpha)
    meets with the Canadian Prime Minister to review footage of the X-Men’s battle with the Mandroids in Japan.
    The P.M. demands that Wolverine be captured and forced back into service for the Canadian government.
    Vindicator promises he won’t let him down as he did after his first failed attempt to capture him.

    Vindicator sends an alert out to five “very special people”, the members of a new, Canadian-based super-team called Alpha Flight:
    Jean-Paul Beaubier (Northstar), Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen (Shaman), RCMP corporal Anne McKenzie (Snowbird),
    Dr. Walter Langkowski (Sasquatch) and Jean-Paul's twin sister Jeanne-Marier (Aurora).

    Meanwhile in Japan, the X-Men bid farewell to their ally Sunfire who is thankful for the groups aid in stopping Moses Magnum.
    Before leaving, Wolverine says goodbye to Mariko by presenting her with a white chrysanthemum and telling her his real name: Logan.

    The X-Men take a private DC-10 plane back to the States with Colleen Wing and Misty Knight,
    but as it passes by Alaska, the plane run into turbulent weather all along the west coast. The pilot alerts Scott
    (noticing that he and Colleen have been together for the whole duration of the trip, and that they’ve fallen asleep in each other’s arms).
    Ororo awakens and senses something wrong about the storm. She tries to use her weather-control ability to rectify it but can’t.
    She realizes some intelligent force is directing the storm, resisting her. Meanwhile, Wolverine also awakens and becomes aware of the situation.
    The pilot is forced to set the plane down in Calgary. Those onboard the plane are unaware that its “emergency” landing is anticipated there
    and that a special operations team awaits them. They’re surprised to see a man on the runway, awaiting them.
    It’s Vindicator, demanding to see Wolverine. Cyclops tells the pilot to take off immediately.
    She wants to comply, but the plane is standing still at full throttle.

    By now, the rest of the X-Men are awake and suiting up. Nightcrawler peers out the window
    and through the heavy snowfall he sees the outline of a large hairy man gripping the hull of the plane, holding it in place!
    That same hairy creature hoists the plane in the air and hurls it the length of the runway into an empty hangar.

    Vindicator chews out his teammate Sasquatch, who apologizes and states he doesn’t know his own strength.
    Vindicator flies toward the plane but finds it has already been abandoned.
    The blizzard picks up in ferocity and Vindicator questions Shaman.
    He replies that one of the X-Men must have elemental powers like him.

    Under cover of the storm, the X-Men & co. sneak away and blend in with the crowd at the airport.
    Wolverine reluctantly explains that their main opponent is James-MacDonald Hudson, a.k.a. “Major Maple Leaf”,
    who was in charge of putting together a team of Canadian superheroes and his earliest recruit was Wolverine.
    He was out in the field while the rest of the team was being assembled
    and doesn’t know (apart from Hudson) who they are or what their abilities are.
    Cyclops splits the team up and rendezvous downtown.

    In a shopping mall, Banshee, Storm, and Colleen have stopped so that Storm
    can buy some clothes better suited to a low profile than her X-Man costume. While she’s changing, Vindicator tracks them down.
    Banshee recognizes him as the man who injured Moira (#109)
    and attempts to sonic scream at him, only to keel over in pain.
    Genuinely concerned, Vindicator is about to call a doctor, but Storm instead attacks him.

    Wary of a combat situation in such close quarters with civilians, he retreats.

    Cyclops and Colossus see him speeding away. Cyclops realizes that, since many of Vindicator’s teammates are mutants,
    then it stands to reason he has technology similar to Cerebro, able to detect and track mutants.
    That means while the X-Men thought they were giving Alpha Flight the slip by splitting up,
    they only made themselves more vulnerable targets.

    Elsewhere, Wolverine is lost in thought about Mariko and an old flame “Cracklin’ Rosa”
    when Sasquatch gets the jump on him, knocking him out and carrying him away.

    The remaining X-Men regroup. Misty and Colleen have left to get in touch with their lawyer boss Jermyn Hogarth for legal advice.
    Cyclops tells his team that the X-Men didn’t start the fight, but will finish it…even if it’s over Alpha-Flight’s dead bodies.

    This story is continued next issue....

    Story by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Art by John Byrne and Terry Austin.

  2. #1697
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    A few french Alpha Flight covers by Jean Frisano (in french "La Division Alpha")

    Couv_13130.jpg

    Couv_13126.jpg

    Couv_13152.jpg

    If you like it, find more on my thread about the late Jean Frisano:https://community.cbr.com/showthread...44#post4306344

  3. #1698
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    A few more because I had none with James or Talisman, a shame!

    Couv_13122.jpg

    Couv_13144.jpg

    Couv_13145.jpg

  4. #1699
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    Alpha Flight #9 Apr 1984
    "Things aren't always what they Seem!" Part 1 of 2.
    Walter Langkowski and a handful of other researchers analyze a bizarre radiation
    pattern being picked up at an isolated research station in the snowy Rockies.
    Activating a modified satellite dish teleports in the unconscious body of who appears to be Ben Grimm, The Thing.
    Sasquatch decides to reveal his secret identity to the other researchers in order to carry the heavy superhero into the infirmary.
    Not long after, a commotion draws the staff to the infirmary

    where the Thing has disappeared and the doctor has been immolated, with evidence of other powers used in damage to the room.
    At first they think others had come to abduct the Thing and Walter heads out into the snow to track them,
    but he realizes too late that the powers involved were all in one individual.
    Before he can return, a nova blast back at the lab kills the rest of his colleagues.
    Walter gets back to the smouldering wreckage to confront the true culprit,

    the one that had taken the form of the Thing to protect himself on re-entry from space, the Super-Skrull.

    Story and art by John Byrne.

  5. #1700
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    Back-up feature: The Origins of Alpha Flight.
    "A Stranger in my Mirror!" Starring Aurora.

    At thirteen, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier discovers her ability to fly during a suicide attempt jumping from the roof of her school.
    At first this lightens her heart, but relating the event to her headmistress only earns her punishment for blasphemy.
    In her mounting depression, a more rebellious and outgoing alternate personality begins to form.
    Five years later, when Jeanne earns a spot on the teaching staff at the school and her own bedroom, allowing her more freedom,

    she ends up giving up control to her other self enough for her to head out to a nightclub

    and afterwards uses her powers to fend off some muggers.
    The altercation is witnessed by passerby Wolverine, who helps her out

    and later over coffee offers her a chance to get a job with Dept. H.

    Story and art by John Byrne.

  6. #1701
    Extraordinary Member Uncanny X-Man's Avatar
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    I recently read Pak & VanLente's Alpha Flight maxiseries that spun off the Fear Itself event. What's everyone's opinion on it? I must say I enjoyed it quite a bit, loved the way they wrote the characters, loved having the original team back and Eaglesham always brings the goods with his art.

    I'm disappointed nothing more came out of it and it wasn't followed up by an ongoing series. Especially because, bluntly put, that's as good as it can get for Alpha Flight. They're not the X-Men, they won't get a Jonathan Hickman relaunching their book anytime soon, and if they fail at sustaining a series with a pretty solid creative team (not superstars mind you, but all creators involved had pretty high-profile gigs at some point or another) spinning out of an event and with the original team in tow... what hope do they have?

  7. #1702

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    I wasn't a fan, despite the fact that Northstar got a very good showing. I despised Marrina's edgy make-over and going through yet another round of "let's play on all the bullshit DID tropes" with Aurora, literally making Sasquatch a furry Hulk was cute for about ten minutes, but should have been reversed by the end of the mini, and making Heather into a murderer was just inexcusable. It was obvious that Van Lente was very fond of the team (Pak wasn't that familiar with AF, iirc), but I just didn't care for his approach.

  8. #1703
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    I remember thinking during that relaunch that Marrina was ridiculously out of character, but also that she had the most potential story of all of them. Whatever happened to her marriage to Namor? Is she technically still Atlantean royalty, in a 'Princess Di is no longer married to Charles' sort of way? And what about that Plodex technology the Master uses? Shouldn't it recognize her as *more* of a 'Master' than the caveman it enhanced those centuries ago, being that she's actually a Plodex and not an upgraded monkey?

    There's also some potential for storylines spinning off of Sasquatch and his connection to the Great Beasts. What if some occult-types decide to recreate Walter's experiments at the sites were Tundra and Kolomaq the Snow Beast were defeated last, to attempt to 'Sasquatch' themselves into new super-powered entities with powers over earth and ice? (Perhaps a third could pick the site of a big fire in Canadian history to similarly imbue themself with a fiery form and power from Tolomaq, although I'm having trouble picturing someone crazy enough to want to merge with Ranaq or Kariooq...).

    Starting out as spellcasters (possibly native ones?), they might even use invocations (like Dr. Strange's classic 'Crimson Bands of Cytorrak' or 'Winds of Watoomb') that draw upon the Great Beasts, such as the Tinders of Tolomaq (flying fiery motes chase targets around to immolate anything they 'tag'), the Shaping of Somon (bony spears and cages erupt from the earth) or the Killing Cold of Kolomaq (conjures icicles and giant ice snowflake 'shuriken' that fly at foes), and give some old school Marvel spellcaster-y feel that's less generic and boring than magic shields and zaps.

  9. #1704
    Mighty Member sungila's Avatar
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    I've been reading through Alpha Flight issue synopsizes, character spotlights and a few expository studies on Indigenous representation, cultural appropriation, disability and the 'growing pains' of inclusive writing in comic books and AF's place in all that.

    From the outside it feels complicated.

    In your reading does Alpha Flight redeem itself in the longform or are the instances of insensitivity and whitewashing regarding the core characters' outsider identities as queer, native, feminine and feral mark the series as indelibly flawed?

    As fans, do these core characters develop most strongly within AF or outside in other titles? If so, who and where?

    If AF returned with its primary surviving core characters what would make for a 'better' ongoing? Who would you like to see creating and or recreating this cast and this story?
    Last edited by sungila; 04-24-2019 at 11:29 AM.
    “The reason of the unreasonableness which against my reason is wrought, doth so weaken my reason, as with all reason I do justly complain on your beauty.”
    ― Miguel de Cervantes Don Quixote

  10. #1705
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    Quote Originally Posted by sungila View Post
    If AF returned with its primary surviving core characters what would make for a 'better' ongoing? Who would you like to see creating and or recreating this cast and this story?
    I've always thought of Alpha flight as a deeply flawed team, full of characters with multiple issues they had trouble to deal with. sometimes manipulated by more than shady politics and militaries. With big problems of communication inside the team.
    Make it an asset.
    Alpha Flight could be the team that learns from its mistakes. They have a full-time psychanalyst on the team to help them cope with their issues and be the heroes Canada and the world needs. They have an expertise in the supernatural that few teams rival, a great amount of the team being linked to old spirits and gods.
    I'd like Alpha Flight to understand that despite their incessant bickering they are a family. And want to work together.

  11. #1706
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    Quote Originally Posted by mogwen View Post
    Alpha Flight could be the team that learns from its mistakes. They have a full-time psychanalyst on the team to help them cope with their issues and be the heroes Canada and the world needs. They have an expertise in the supernatural that few teams rival, a great amount of the team being linked to old spirits and gods.
    I'd like Alpha Flight to understand that despite their incessant bickering they are a family. And want to work together.
    We have gotten a lot of family drama out of Northstar and Aurora, Mac and Heather, and Shaman and Talisman, but I would like to see more between Shaman and Snowbird (he did midwife her birth and raise her!) or Snowbird and Sasquatch (representing opposed extra-dimensional forces with all the awkwardness that ensues, like having an angel and a demon on the same team, and yet also fairly intimately connected after Walter spent some time living in her body!).

    We've seen the old beats. Show us something new.

  12. #1707
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sutekh View Post
    We have gotten a lot of family drama out of Northstar and Aurora, Mac and Heather, and Shaman and Talisman, but I would like to see more between Shaman and Snowbird (he did midwife her birth and raise her!) or Snowbird and Sasquatch (representing opposed extra-dimensional forces with all the awkwardness that ensues, like having an angel and a demon on the same team, and yet also fairly intimately connected after Walter spent some time living in her body!).

    We've seen the old beats. Show us something new.
    That's what I said, it's time for them to learn from the mistakes of the past and overcoming these family matters is part of the process.

  13. #1708
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    Northstar #1 Apr 1994
    "Fast and Loose!"
    General Clarke sends his personal super group, Department K’s Weapon P.R.I.M.E
    - Tigerstryke, Yeti, Killspree and Double Trouble - to remove Northstar from the public eye.

    Since resigning from Alpha Flight, Northstar has been living a life of luxury and is currently in Ibiza, where he is harassed by the paparazzi.
    One of them, Ritchie Ward, mentions Jean-Paul's terrorist past, so Jean-Paul warns him to stay away.
    Later that night, Jean-Paul is visited by an old friend, Raul, who gives him some advice, though Jean-Paul doesn’t particularly like it.

    Weapon P.R.I.M.E. have tracked Northstar to his villa, but end up killing the wrong man.
    The reporter, Ritchie Ward, decides to do some snooping around Northstar’s villa at the same time
    - but he also meets an unrelated untimely demise.

    The next morning, Heather Hudson contacts an unimpressed Jean-Paul,
    and after Jean-Paul reminds Heather he wants nothing to do with Department H or Alpha Flight, Heather tells him about Weapon P.R.I.M.E.,

    and informs him that she intercepted a priority call that was for Department K,
    and she learned that a reporter is dead, and that he is the suspect for the murder.

    Soon, Weapon P.R.I.M.E. break into Northstar’s villa, but Jean-Paul has left, and unexpectedly met up with Max,
    the only living relative of Jean-Paul’s foster father, Raymonde Belmonde. Max reveals to Northstar that he was recently threatened,
    and given a photo of Jean-Paul with a friend of his. Northstar sees his friend Mariel in the photo, with a target drawn around her.
    Jean-Paul realizes someone is trying to get to him by threatening his past. He reminisces about his childhood and Raymonde Belmonde,
    before telling Max to go to Department H, where Heather Hudson can organize some protection for him. Northstar is going to go to Paris,
    as that is where the photo of he and Mariel was taken, but before he can depart, he is attacked by Weapon P.R.I.M.E.

    Northstar manages to take them down temporarily,

    before realizing that he now has a new purpose and direction,
    so flies away at super speed, so that he can find out who is threatening his past.

    Unbeknownst to Northstar however, in Paris, Arcade, the creator of Murderworld, is watching his every move.

    Script by Simon Furman, art by Dario Carrasco, Jr. and Ian Akin with Jack Keefer

  14. #1709
    Relaunched, not rebooted! SJNeal's Avatar
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    I remember thinking the NorthStar mini was great when I first read it (20 yrs ago..?!), but seeing this here... I think I may have been mistaken.
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  15. #1710

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    It was middling. OK story by 90's standards, regressive in most other ways.

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