The 59th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast: Alpha Flight, Canada's Elite!

Canada's Elite! I like that.  I saw that once, it was how this team was introduced Alpha Flight, Canada's Elite Super Hero Team.  I remember the first team I ever read an issue of Alpha Flight.  I think an old buddy of mine and I shared this comic book.  Yeah we thought sharing comics was a novel idea those days, yeah it's not such a great idea.  I know when I had, I read it from cover to cover and yes, very much like the other comics this buddy of mine shared with me, I....well, I traced over the pages so that I could draw Vindicator of Guardian if you like.  I like both names.  Anyway I pretty much destroyed that comic but I still have it, guess I bought it entirely from my buddy, it's in terrible, terrible shape but that issue of Alpha Flight has so many great memories for me.  Okay, here we go, here's my first issue of Alpha Flight.

There it is, Alpha Flight Issue # 4.  Just looking at the cover brings back the memories of reading this comic.  At the time I wasn't familiar with the names of the writers or artists doing comics.  I just knew that this guy also draws the Fantastic Four and I couldn't be happier because at the time I was a huge John Byrne fan.  As time went by I learned that hey, there are names of creators in every comic book I bought.  So yeah, when I realized that this is a comic written and drawn by the guy who wrote and drew Fantastic Four, I was a happy comic nerd.  Welcome to the 59th Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast, this edition of the broadcast is all about Alpha Flight.  I loved this issue.  Which is evident in the state it's in.  I tore off the damned price tag (I hate store owners who put those damned price tags on comics) and unfortunately there were still some glue residue from the price tag on the cover.  The pages inside the cover is holding on by a thread.  The cover is very badly nicked and torn almost every inch of this comic is in BAD shape but I still LOVE it.  It's my first Alpha Flight comic and it'll always be special.

Okay, it took me a while but I realized that John Byrne was writing and penciling this title as well.  How did I know?  Well, genius that I am, I saw the first page and put two and two together.  what can I say, I was young, I was naive but man, I loved comics.

I was surprised to see The Invisible Woman in this comic and I was like, Wow.  The art was the first thing that hit me, as I mentioned, I am a huge John Byrne fan and for me this was beautiful.  To this day when I read this issue, I still enjoy this issue, the story and art by John Byrne.  Flipping the page, I found that there was another guest star in this issue, none other than Prince Namor of Atlantis, The Sub Mariner.  At the time I was learning all the names of the characters and starting to really get into comics, so seeing guests stars in other comics was a thrill, you see back in the day, guest stars in comics was a big thing, it was a special event. 

Okay before we go any further, some details on this issue, The Master of the World explains Marrina's alien origins to her; Alpha Flight rescues her and destroys the Master's base; Marrina meets Namor and decides to live with the Atlanteans for a while.  The issue marked the first meeting of Namor and Marrina (the two later go on to get married).

Why was this issue so special and memorable to me?  Well, because of pages like the one above.  I realized that if I wanted to know how they team landed where they were, I should probably find Issue # 3 but at the time I was just enthralled with Byrne's art here.  Sure I had seen his art on Fantastic Four but some how it was just different for me seeing him draw this team.

See Vindicator of Guardian on the top left corner of this page?  Well, I traced over that page with a pencil so many times that the page began to rip.  I can see the pencils all over the pages of this issue.  This was my introduction to a great series called Alpha Flight.

Alpha Flight is a team published by Marvel Comics, this title is noteworthy for being one of the few Canadian Superhero teams. Alpha Flight was created by John Byrne, now I read that someone said the team was created by Byrne and Chris Claremont but that's not correct, Alpha Flight was Byrne's creation.  The team first appeared in Issue #120 of The Uncanny X Men. 

Alpha Flight is described as "Canada's answer to the Mighty Avengers of the USA". Most team members have distinctly Canadian attributes, such as Inuit or First Nations heritage. Throughout most of its history, the team has worked for Department H a fictional branch of Canada’s Department of National Defense, a department that deals with super-powered villains.

The team was originally merely a part of Wolverine's backstory but, in 1983, Marvel launched an series featuring the group, which continued until 1994, lasting 130 issues as well as annuals and miniseries. After that there were revivals, If memory serves there were three short-lived revivals attempted but in my opinion none of them really came close of the run by John Byrne.

This is the double sized first issue of Alpha Flight.  I love this cover, as Guardian and the rest of Alpha Flight tells the heroes of the Marvel Universe that this is a job that only Alpha Flight can handle.  The cover was penciled by John Byrne and Inked by Terry Austin.  In this double sized first issue, Canada's elite government superhero team is reunited to fight an ancient demigod that draws its power from the land itself.

 This issue was Alpha Flight's first solo Alpha Flight story.  Alpha Flight first appeared in X-Men #120.

 

The initial makeup of Alpha Flight was pan-Canadian, including:

Guardian,originally he was Weapon Alpha, then Vindicator, James MacDonald Hudson is a scientist from Ontario who wears a battle armor allowing him to fly and manipulate Earth's magnetic field. Guardian is sometimes the team leader, and wears a stylized maple leaf flag on his costume.

Northstar: Jean-Paul Beaubier, from Montreal, he's a mutant with powers of super-speed and light generation.

The Lovely Aurora Jeanne-Marie Beaubier is Northstar's twin sister who suffers from a multiple personalities disorder. Like her brother, she is also a mutant with powers of super-speed, flight, light generation, and molecular acceleration.

Sasquatch: Walter Langowski is a scientist from British Columbia who can transform into a giant fur-covered beast resembling a Sasquatch. This character originally developed his powers from a Hulk-inspired gamma radiation experiment that was affected by a solar-flare. Eventually, it was explained that Sasquatch is actually a mystical monster.

Shaman: Michael Twoyoungmen is a First Nations medicine man from Calgary. He is both a skilled doctor and sorcerer.

Snowbird: Also known as Narya, she is an Inuit demi-goddess from Yellowknife, who can transform into animals of the north.

Marrina: An amphibious woman from Newfoundland, she was a former member of Beta Flight before joining Alpha Flight. She is actually part of an extraterrestrial invading force known as the Plodex.

Puck: Eugene Judd is a dwarf bouncer from Saskatoon with enhanced strength and extraordinary acrobatic abilities.

It was actually reported that when the series was planned, Byrne was tapped to be the writer/ artist on this title, he was hesitant to do it.  I later found out that Byrne was hesitant because he felt that Alpha Flight was originally created to lose to the X Men.   Though reluctant to take the job, John Byrne wrote and drew the series for 28 issues before handing it off to another creative team. During that time, the series storylines generally dealt with the personal problems of one or two characters at a time, seldom bringing all the members together or confronting problems outside of the team itself, an approach which drew some criticism.

That's Tundra by the way.  Even thought the storylines drew some heat from fans, I liked it, it was a unique way of telling the story of a super hero team, one where not all the members would be in the same issue, it could be Sasquatch with Puck and Marrina or Northstar with Shaman and Guardian tackling a problem, it was to me different and unique which is why I loved Alpha Flight, well Byrne's run on Alpha Flight.  All 28 issue of it.

Take a look at Alpha Flight's powerhouse ripping away at Tundra.  In issue # 1 , the team took down Tundra thanks to the combined might of the team but there was one member who was unceremoniously left out of the action. Puck.

Yep, Puck was left out of the big adventure in Issue # 1 and he had his own unique way of dealing with it and getting the point across to Guardian that he wants to be in Alpha Flight.  I spent a few years tracking down the entire run of Alpha Flight but I still have not found all the issue of Alpha Flight especially Issue # 1.  This issue remains as one of my Holy Grail items.  One day I hope to be able to own the complete run of John Byrne on this title.  

While the creator of the team felt that they were put together to lose to the X Men those days, I believe that Alpha Flight was a great comic.  It had it all, great stories, beautiful artwork and a unique framework.  They were a team yes but they didn't always need to be together like say the X Men, Fantastic Four and Avengers.  The members could come and go and still be Alpha Flight.  I found that to be one of the attractions of this title.  After Byrne left the title in a title swap with the team from The Incredible Hulk, I kinda lost track of the team, a number of series were released over the years with costume changes, new members, returning member and so on but the title just wasn't the same for me anymore.  It just didn't seem like the Alpha Flight of old.  I guess you can't expect the title to stay in the old days, there needs to be changes and the team has to evolve but for me the original is still the best.

This is just the first part of my look at this great comic, I'll have more for you next time as I continue with my thoughts on Canada's Elite Super Hero team, Alpha Flight.  Thanks for dropping by for the Co(s)mic Comic Book Broadcast, see you next time, as usual thanks and take care!