Alpha Flight Fans: Gather

[Sutekh]

It's a pity that Radius and Flex were never really used again.

Not a huge fan of claw-dude #73681, but Radius seemed cool. Force field powers are more typically a 'girl power' at Marvel (Invisible Woman, Skids, Unuscione, Armor, Cecelia Reyes) so it's neat to see a dude with that more defensive / reactive powerset. Also, him being possibly a child of Gunther/Angelo 'Unus the Untouchable' Bain/Unuscione (seriously, could a dude who has appeared four times in fifty years have a more complicated backstory? We're not talking Psylocke here!) meant that he might eventually meet his sister, Unuscione, one of my favorite third-tier never-to-be-seen-again mutants.

Ghost Girl was a fun sort of Kitty Pryde / Doorman expy, and Earthmover? An 'Omega-level mystic?' Oy. (although the basic idea of a shaman type who draws power from the earth, is neat)

The notion that there were an actual race of Sasquatches (probably no relation to Tanaraq, or.... was there? Dun, dun, dun, dun!) out there was kind of novel.

[Cold Water]

I love that my Alpha Flight thread is over 50 pages long.
Not a lot of team appreciation threads have gotten that many pages since the reboot. <3
YAY ALPHA FLIGHT!!!
This says something: We want more Alpha Flight. We want GOOD Alpha Flight. WELOVEALPHAFLIGHT.

[Nevets]

It was later played up during the Exiles, to great effect.

spoilers:

On a world that had been magically subjugated by Kulan Gath, who had bound the demon Zarathos (the power behind the Ghost Rider) as his enforcer, the Exiles, including a version of Heather Hudson, who is the Sasquatch of her universe, are defeated, and Heather, who has avoided transforming into Sasquatch because of control issues lowers her head and says, 'I surrender.' Zarathos laughs and says that surrender was not an option, that they were going to kill everyone anyway, and she says to him, 'I wasn't talking to you.' She'd just surrendered to the Great Beast she'd been fighting all those years, who immediately takes control and beats the crap out of everyone! Zarathos is all 'demon lord!' and Tanaraq is like, 'god!' and smashes him to bony fragments! Tragic, since it's the end of that Heather Hudson, and yet kind of badass that she's pretty much saved a world from magical demon badness in the process of saying 'I surrender.'

end of spoilers

I think I remember that! I've only read Exiles once though.

Many eons ago (we're talking over 12 years ago!) back in 2002, I started a thing called "Alternate Marvel." It was a shared universe, that pretty much asked, "What if the heroes had defeated Onslaught and Heroes Reborn never happened?" (I hated Heroes Reborn!) I pulled some people who I knew were fanfic writers, and then had them recruit some people as well - and we started writing after we hammered out who lives, who dies, in the Onslaught battle - and then, we used eGroups (now Yahoo Groups) to talk about each of our titles, so we could reference one another's work and went on to write our stories. I wrote several - I wrote Uncanny X-Men for many years; as well as Defenders; a Starjammers Limited Series (two or three of them), and even did two Alpha Flight limited series stuff. My attempt to "fix" Alpha Flight from being broken - but one of the elements I used, was Walter in Tarnaq's body. If you're ever, extremely bored, you can read it on AlphaFlight.net. I cringe reading it these days - so many things I would do different, in terms of my writing style, because it's changed and grown... but I am still pretty proud of the stories I told, and how passionate I was to "fix" Alpha Flight (at least how I thought it should be fixed).

Ha, that sounds fun. I'll check it out...I love AlphaFlight.net.

These guys were my introduction to Alpha Flight.



Really enjoyed that short lived series.
It's a pity that Radius and Flex were never really used again.

I think Radius was used a tiny bit afterwards...in an X-Corps story. The others...nope (as far as I can remember at least).

[JackalsIII]

Heather was one of my favorite Exiles members towards the end, though I always had to remind myself of all the things that made her different from the proper Heather. Such a departure but such a great character too!

[anthony_lynch15]

Not a huge fan of claw-dude #73681, but Radius seemed cool. Force field powers are more typically a 'girl power' at Marvel (Invisible Woman, Skids, Unuscione, Armor, Cecelia Reyes) so it's neat to see a dude with that more defensive / reactive powerset. Also, him being possibly a child of Gunther/Angelo 'Unus the Untouchable' Bain/Unuscione (seriously, could a dude who has appeared four times in fifty years have a more complicated backstory? We're not talking Psylocke here!) meant that he might eventually meet his sister, Unuscione, one of my favorite third-tier never-to-be-seen-again mutants.

I always liked that Flex (aka: claw-dude #73681) didn't really want to be fighting anyone and was pretty much roped in to being a superhero.
Radius was great too. The fact that he couldn't turn off his forcefield (at least in the beginning) was a nice touch.

I think Radius was used a tiny bit afterwards...in an X-Corps story. The others...nope (as far as I can remember at least).

I vaguely remember that.
Isn't that the story where Banshee goes a bit extreme and ends up having his throat slit by Mystique? - ouch!

[Nevets]

Another "From the beginning" summary, courtesy of David R on the old CBR:

Alpha Flight #25



"...And Graves Give Up Their Dead..."

A twist I didn't see coming. Guardian is alive?? But I have my suspicions.......

This bombshell issue begins with Northstar standing before Alpha Flight, under trial for accusations of his being a terrorist. Revealed in AF #22, we learned Jean-Paul was a member of the Quebec Separatist Movement earlier in his life. And did things he regrets now. Alpha want answers. Northstar mocks them and this "trial". We also learn that Box's creator, Roger Bochs, is the newest member of Alpha Flight. However, this trial comes to naught as Puck enters the room and mentions that villain Caliber has escaped! He has escaped from jail, and is causing damage downtown. Oh......and the hero fighting him is...........wait for it................................................ ............................... Guardian?!?!

In downtown, Talisman watches as Guardian (or someone dressed in his trademark Canadian super-suit) is busy fighting off Caliber. Talisman isn't sure HOW Guardian is alive, but she knows the real threat is this two-cent Iron Man rip-off, Caliber. Talisman saves the day by using her magical abilities to strip Caliber's entire mechanical suit off him. Caliber flops to the ground wearing his underwear, looking shocked and pissed off. The authorities take into custody. Alpha Flight hit the scene, and Guardian lands. Guardian doesn't recognize half the Alpha members, and Heather Hudson hesitantly approaches. Is it really her husband, James Mac Hudson?? Guardian says as hard as it is to believe, it really is him. To prove it, he takes her in his arms and kisses her!! Next thing you know, Heather faints! She awakens on a couch, with the rest of the team helping her. James has removed his helmet, and tells them all of his journey from death. In Alpha Flight #12, as his power pack was about to blow and destroy him, he gambled the blast would create a rupture in the space-time continuum. Guardian had hit the proper sequence, and the blast was internalized. It blew a hole in time-space, and James was catapulted thousands of millions of miles! His suit exploded, but his body did NOT DIE in #12! Guardian materialized again on one of Jupiter's moons!

Guardian nearly died from exposure to the inhospitable, alien climate of the moon. But there were aliens under the moon's surface, and they rescued James. For months, he was repaired by the unknown alien species, and brought back from death! James grew a kinship with these aliens, and soon he was ready to return to Earth. Unfortunately, his time-space jump had sent him centuries into the past. He had to enter suspended animation to reach 1980's, Earth time. But when he did, James took a spacecraft from the Jupiter moon, back to Earth. And now, he has returned to Heather. And Alpha Flight! Heather is emotional and says how her life was over when James died. She hugs him and is awash with emotion. James seems hesitant, stands and says that the aliens made some...."changes" when they saved his life on the moon. He rips off his Guardian suit, and reveals that part of his physical body is now made of armor. Heather is shocked!

[Nevets]

Another "From the beginning" summary, courtesy of David R on the old CBR:

Alpha Flight #26



"If at First You Don't Succeed..."

Looks like Omega Flight are egging Guardian to attack them. Or do they have something else in mind?? A shocker twist that may go down as one of the Best "I Didn't See That Comin'" moments in comics history!

This issue begins with Alpha Flight (Guardian, Puck, Talisman, Shaman, Aurora and Box) battling a squad of robots that have smashed up the Canadian army and are on the loose. There is one cool moment when the robots unite in a "Transformers" scene and combine into one large robot. They do a fine job smashing up on this thread...until we find out that the whole operation is merely a "testing sequence" for the "Macro System". A captain Mansfield approaches Alpha Flight and congratulates them on a job well done, testing out their "Macro System". They needed one last major test before the gov't would commit to it. But quickly enough, captain Mansfield is informed that there is a threat, and Alpha Flight has been called in to tackle it. So off go Guardian, Puck and Talisman!

Their target is the West Edmonton Mall, the largest shopping center in the world. At this point, even less as large as it's current impressive size. Talisman remarks it's larger than a small city. The 3 Alphans approach the crowd formed outside the mall, as all shoppers were chased out by Omega Flight! Guardian is raring to face them again, they the enemies who "killed" him in AF #12. They foolishly separate and each member confronts a different Omega Flight member. Diamond Lil, Wild Child and Flashback are the baddies here. However, it ISN'T Omega Flight which knocks out the heroes, but an unseen foe who knows Alpha very well. Puck, Talisman and Northstar are all taken out rather easily by the mystery villain. The issue concludes with Heather Hudson standing before a comic book shop within the deserted West Edmonton Mall. Guardian walks up acting rather odd. Heather is surprised by him and replies, "Mac! You scared me out of a year's growth!" Guardian's answers to her questions about the battle raise concern in her, and then suddenly his voice changes!! Guardian removes his helmet and Heather recognizes the voice! The voice is Jerry Jaxon, the man who tried to destroy Alpha Flight. But he's dead! "Dead? Like Guardian was dead?" the voice says. "Let me make it easier for you to understand!" This Guardian takes his hand and rips his face off!! Underneath is revealed......a ROBOT!! Guardian hasn't returned from the dead! He's a robot, and his programming is The Destruction of ALPHA FLIGHT!

AF26.jpg

[Adam-X]

You love Snowbird, and while I really, really LIKE Snowbird, she's not my absolute favorite Alphan. But I DO like her a lot.
And I understand why you saw it this way.

Yeah. I guess that's why it never bothered me. But then, I am not a woman, so it may have glanced right over me.

These guys were my introduction to Alpha Flight.

Really enjoyed that short lived series. It's a pity that Radius and Flex were never really used again.

Have you read other volumes of Alpha Flight? Got any favorites of volume 2?

Not a huge fan of claw-dude #73681, but Radius seemed cool. Force field powers are more typically a 'girl power' at Marvel (Invisible Woman, Skids, Unuscione, Armor, Cecelia Reyes) so it's neat to see a dude with that more defensive / reactive powerset. Also, him being possibly a child of Gunther/Angelo 'Unus the Untouchable' Bain/Unuscione (seriously, could a dude who has appeared four times in fifty years have a more complicated backstory? We're not talking Psylocke here!) meant that he might eventually meet his sister, Unuscione, one of my favorite third-tier never-to-be-seen-again mutants.

Unus has a complicated history? Perhaps there's much I don't remember.

Ghost Girl was a fun sort of Kitty Pryde / Doorman expy, and Earthmover? An 'Omega-level mystic?' Oy. (although the basic idea of a shaman type who draws power from the earth, is neat)

Don't get me started on Earthmover...

The notion that there were an actual race of Sasquatches (probably no relation to Tanaraq, or.... was there? Dun, dun, dun, dun!) out there was kind of novel.

[/quote]

I thought this was pretty cool too. Nice touch to (Canadian?) legends being brought to life.

[Adam-X]

I love that my Alpha Flight thread is over 50 pages long.
Not a lot of team appreciation threads have gotten that many pages since the reboot. <3
YAY ALPHA FLIGHT!!!
This says something: We want more Alpha Flight. We want GOOD Alpha Flight. WELOVEALPHAFLIGHT.

Even post Byrne Heather Alpha Flight? And Purple Girl? And Manikin? And...

Ha, that sounds fun. I'll check it out...I love AlphaFlight.net.

The original (sites) these stories were hosted on, have unfortunately gone under.

I think Radius was used a tiny bit afterwards...in an X-Corps story. The others...nope (as far as I can remember at least).

Radius was probably the best thing to come out of Volume 2.

Heather was one of my favorite Exiles members towards the end, though I always had to remind myself of all the things that made her different from the proper Heather. Such a departure but such a great character too!

Proper Heather went away the moment she donned the costume in V1.

[Adam-X]

I always liked that Flex (aka: claw-dude #73681) didn't really want to be fighting anyone and was pretty much roped in to being a superhero.
Radius was great too. The fact that he couldn't turn off his forcefield (at least in the beginning) was a nice touch.

I thought Flex was interesting, because he has such an "vicious" power; because he's got these massive claw things; and yet he was extremely passive.
I liked Radius because he was this cocky guy, who came off sort of like Gambit; but the truth is, no woman could touch him and he could never touch woman.

[Nevets]

Even post Byrne Heather Alpha Flight? And Purple Girl? And Manikin? And...

I know they weren't Byrne creations, but I love both of them, especially Kara. It's part of why I feel there was so, so much good stuff after Byrne.

[Adam-X]

Another "From the beginning" summary, courtesy of David R on the old CBR:
Alpha Flight #25

"...And Graves Give Up Their Dead..."

I enjoyed this issue. I thought it was a great deception! Which leads to...

Another "From the beginning" summary, courtesy of David R on the old CBR:
Alpha Flight #26

"If at First You Don't Succeed..."

This was such a great issue! Omega Flight was like a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants or Masters of Evil. Even better that they took up the name Omega Flight, so it tied directly to the theme of Alpha Flight, Beta Flight, and Gamma Flight! I thought the team looked great - a wide variety of characters and powers - very dynamic! All together, a very awesome issue. I had mentioned this in another post - but I kept hoping that Omega Flight (as this team) would appear again, replacing "Guardian/Vindicator" (leaving it as is, so I don't spoil it on the rare chance someone hasn't read it!) - and bringing in Pink Pearl and Bones into the team, and having one of the other members of Omega Flight to step up as the new leader.

[Adam-X]

I know they weren't Byrne creations, but I love both of them, especially Kara. It's part of why I feel there was so, so much good stuff after Byrne.

You will find that Cold Water strongly disagrees with you, more so about Purple Girl than anything else...

[Cold Water]

Ugh.
I STRONGLY DISLIKE PURPLE GIRL.

[Adam-X]

Ugh.
I STRONGLY DISLIKE PURPLE GIRL.

Told you, Nev. LOL