Big(gish) News From The Big Two

I was expecting a big announcement from Marvel and/or DC to come out of Fan Expo, similarly to how a new Alpha Flight book and Justice League Canada were announced at past Expo events. Of course, Alpha Flight was scaled back to a mini and Justice League Canada was stripped of much of anything that made it Canadian, so any news would be looked at with a suspicious eye anyway.

Instead, the news came within the last 24 hours or so but predictably involves both of those properties.

First things first, Justice League United is done as of December.

Written by JEFF PARKER
Art and cover by TRAVEL FOREMAN
On sale DECEMBER 9 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T • FINAL ISSUE 

Artist Travel Foreman returns for this “trippy” trip to the House of Secrets to reveal at last how Adam Strange came to be trapped in the Zeta Beam! And just what will that mean for the mysterious, reality-warping Breakers that have brought so many disparate heroes and villains to the team?

Can't say I'm crushed, but I'm somewhat surprised. That I knew of, the book was selling well and DC had just installed a new creative team with issue #13. Perhaps early reactions to that new team and direction were not encouraging?

In any event, Equinox ultimately feels like a huge bunch of wasted potential and while I loved the Adam/Alanna Strange designs, I couldn't really think of them as Canadian. I'm sure they'll pop up again somewhere at some point but I won't agonize over it in the meantime.

And following JLU's exit comes yet another comeback by Alpha Flight. In some form, anyway. The Captain Marvel News Twitter account shared some info gathered at the Long Beach Comics Convention.

Let's get some specific quotes from the Comic Book Resources article referred to in the top tweet above.

"[Marvel] wanted to give her a specific mission," (co-writer Michele) Fazekas continued. "I think they wanted to give Carol her own thing that was hers, separate from the Avengers." 

This mission involves Carol being on a space station above Earth -- with some unexpected teammates. "One of the things that's exciting about the space station," (co-writer Tara) Butters said, "is Carol is starting to be Earth's first line of defense -- on the station with Alpha Flight."

Some familiar members, some new ones. Marvel's record with new Alpha members hasn't been very good over the past 20 years or so (Murmur, Flex, Radius, Yukon Jack, Centennial, Earthmover, etc, etc), so I can't help but be a little apprehensive there too.  But honestly, I'd pretty much given up on Alpha Flight so the bar is set pretty low at this point.

Ironically, as Marvel bends over backwards to provide "diversity", Alpha Flight is probably the most diverse team they've ever had. Yet they have been given little attention or respect throughout Marvel's newfound age of enlightenment. Go figure.

Logan Legacy #2 hits where Amazing X-Men #12 misses

Amazing X-Men #12, the final chapter of the World War Wendigo storyline which guest-starred Alpha Flight, finally came out yesterday.

I say "finally" not out of eagerness, but because I couldn't wait for it to end. I hated the story.  I found several of the Alpha Flight members to be out of character, references to their recent history to be completely inaccurate, and the silly dialogue from some of the X-Men completely irritating. I didn't know Rockslide before this story and I could live a great life without ever coming across him again. I also have no idea when Iceman became such a tool. At least Guardian had an extremely impactful, though completely predictable, moment.

Thankfully, reading Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy #2 afterwards offset a lot of that crap very nicely.

I'm not Wolverine's biggest fan (not even close), and I didn't at all follow the story leading to his "death", the reports of which are no doubt greatly exaggerated.

However, X-23, Logan Legacy's leading lady for this issue, is a character I've been curious about for some time. As the clone of Canada's most famous superhero, does she qualify as Canadian herself? The lady who carried this clone is an American, from what I can gather from internet research, so I'm not entirely sure. I was looking forward to finding out a bit more about her.

I'd also seen a few comments in social media about a pleasant surprise for Alpha Flight fans in this book. Of course, I assumed this meant that a current team member would appear, perhaps more than one. That was enough to provide the extra motivation I needed to make the purchase.

And I'm so glad I did.

I won't "spoil" it, even if the book came out yesterday.  A new(ish) character, referred to as The Chinook, appears and it is indeed a sweet treat, in my opinion.

If you look for it you can figure out from this post who our mysterious character is. But I can easily explain, without giving anything away, why I was so pleased at this story by making reference to the Amazing X-Men books.

World War Wendigo was sloppy in handling Alpha Flight's history, even a very recent, high-profile event like Northstar's wedding. In Legacy, writer Tim Seeley makes reference to characters we have either not seen in years, and had no reason to expect to, or whose most prominent appearance came way back during John Byrne's Alpha Flight run.

Said simply, it's a matter of respect. Amazing X-Men did not display much of it, Logan Legacy does.

As for The Chinook, it's unlikely (but not impossible) that we'll see much more of him, but I welcome any future appearances.  He and X-23 make a pretty sharp team, don't they?

Alpha Flight Guest-Appearance in June?

When Marvel's solicitations are released every month, I scan them for any mention of Alpha Flight or their individual members.

It was pointed out, on the Comic Book Resources forum, that they are expected to appear in June's Amazing X-Men #8.  That wasn't immediately obvious in the solicitation, though the reference to Canada should have caught my eye, really.  Here's the teaser:

AMAZING X-MEN #8
CRAIG KYLE AND CHRIS YOST (W)
ED MCGUINNESS (A/C)
• Wolverine takes a trip back to Canada…
• But when he discovers that an old friend is missing, his visit soon transforms into a hairy situation.
• New writers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Apparently writer Chris Yost confirmed Flight's appearance on Twitter, though I was unable to find the comment in question.  And the hairy problem referred to above looks to be of the Wendigo variety.

The mention of the discovery of an old friend being missing is interesting.  I wonder if they're going to end up looking for Guardian's ex, Heather (Vindicator) McNeil Hudson.  It would be about time...

ICYMI Art: Alpha Flight by Marcelo Mueller

I particularly like the way Guardian came out on this:

It's been up on deviantart since August 20th, but only has a little over 100 views at this point.  Criminal. ;-)

Box Jr.

Credit to the alphaflight.net, through their Twitter account, for drawing my attention to "a classic Alpha Flight character's legacy" appearing in Marvel Comics' "Infinity: The Hunt" book.  Even assuming (accurately) that the character's contributions would be minimal, I had to pick up the book out of curiosity.

And I have to admit I was rather surprised.

Roger Bochs Jr studies at the Braddock Academy.  He represents the Academy in what is meant to be a version of the Contest of Champions mini-series from 1982.  In this story, various schools (including Avengers Academy, the Future Foundation, the Jean Grey School, etc.) are preparing to compete against one another for "the ultimate title of...champion!"

While never a personal favourite, to the best of my knowledge the Box character was quite popular.  It was refreshing, and easy to appreciate, having a paraplegic character on a superhero team.

But like many Alpha Flight characters during Bill Mantlo's run, much of what made Roger Bochs appealing was gradually striped away.  He was killed off in issue #49 of the original series.  The Box armour lived on through Madison Jeffries and his abilities to control metal, but Bochs was a one of those rare deaths that actually stuck.

That the Box armour would resurface is not cause for surprise, but that Roger Bochs had a son is, at least to me.  I'm going to look, but I can not recall any mention of a significant relationship in his background, much less having a kid.   Hopefully the series touches on that during its remaining three issues.

It also leads me to thinking of what could have been.  In the insultingly stupid third volume of Alpha Flight, it was revealed that Puck had a daughter.

Yeah, aside from that, you couldn't tell them apart.

Now "Puck II" appeared to be among the Flight characters killed in Avengers #16 (2006) but we all know how that goes.  Hell, Guardian alone has died about five times.

Shaman's daughter Talisman has already been a member of the team (and of Omega Flight, for that matter).  If the second Puck were to be revived, that would already be three second-generation characters.  And a varied bunch at that.

According to this Hunt series, there are "super schools" in Japan, England, Wakanda and in a number of locations in the United States.  Why not Canada?  If Marvel is fairly convinced that the Alpha Flight "brand" is dead, then perhaps a team of youngsters, many of whom have ties to the original team, is the method by which they can rejuvenate it.

Let your hearts be gladdened...Nelvana will return!

One of the original goals of this blog was to shine whatever small amount of light I could on some of the Canadian superhero characters from the 40's.  This country's history in the genre appeared to be sadly overlooked and under-appreciated.

Being that there are currently far more Canadian characters, publishers and creators than I'd originally expected to find, I inadvertently deviated from that goal.  Most mentions of Nelvana refer to her appearance on posters and the like, though the basics of her origins are included in the "Superheroes to call our own" post from February 2012.

I mention this now because of recently-announced plans to reprint Nelvana's adventures of the time.

Lost Heroes researchers Rachel Richey and Hope Nicholson (Richey also manages the Comic Syrup blog, while Nicholson is listed among the Lost Heroes producers as well) have acquired the rights to reproduce Nelvana's stories.  They plan to do so following a crowd funding campaign which will begin on October 1st.  You can follow their progress through this Facebook group.

Nelvana creator Adrian Dingle is said to be have been inspired to create Nelvana by Group Of Seven artist Franz Johnston's stories from the latter's travels to the Arctic.  Nelvana, in turn, was at least to some degree the inspiration for Alpha Flight's Snowbird character.  Snowbird's mother is named Nelvanna, with an extra "n", presumably to avoid legal issues.  Her grandfather is named Hodiak, similar to Koliak above.

Nelvana was often assisted in defending the north by her far less celebrated brother Tanero who shared dad's inability to have his true seen by "whites".  Tanero would usually avoid this by changing shapes to that of a flying Great Dane.

Well, that's ONE way...

These books are a lot of quirky fun and having them properly collected would be a real treat.  I'm excited to see this project move forward.

Hurry Up and Perk Up!

While writing about the New Recruits fundraising campaign last week, I mentioned a particular perk that they offered which I found to be a convincing encouragement to contribute.  Basically put, they offered something up front, which is a nice change from having to wait several months before seeing the benefits of your donation.

There are two other fundraising campaigns in which I've participated that feature(d) interesting perk ideas.

I need to hurry up in regards to the one that is currently ongoing.  The F1rst Hero campaign has a first-day contributor bonus which enables you to get a little more bang for your buck.

For that pledge, someone living in Canada can get the trade paperback version of the 4-issue series with extras shipped to him or her and if he or she is quick enough, the above preview book.  Not a bad deal at all.

Oh, what's F1rst Hero about?  I'm glad you asked!

What if everyone who ever had superpowers had gone insane and become a threat to society?  What if, after decades of this, one man gained abilities "far beyond those of mortal men" but kept his sanity?  Recently discharged from the Army and faced with a society that fears superhumans, a government that hunts them down and growing numbers of crazed supervillains all around him, JACOB ROTH must decide to either put himself at risk by using his powers to help people or do nothing and remain safe while innocent people get hurt.

The Canadian content appears to be among the creators.  Creator/Writer Anthony Ruttgaizer and Colourist/Letterer KT. Smith are both Toronto residents.  The book will be published by Pittsburgh-based Action Lab Entertainment.

The other perk that I thought included a cool feature is the one I originally selected for the Heroic campaign from Zenith Comics.

CANADIAN HERO - You get everything at the Reservist range, as well as a printed copy with the cover that will ONLY available for this Kickstarter! This tier is for Canadians only, all others use HERO tier.

Nice way to work in the extra shipping charges, since the "regular" hero tier is $15, as opposed to $25 for the "Canadian hero" one.

I might have taken this one a step further (though granted, there'd be an extra cost involved on the part of the publisher, so that's easy for me to say) and offered a Canadian-exclusive cover.  Zenith has a Canuck character named The Grenadier who was talked about earlier (look for the label at right).  A fan art pin up by a gentleman named Marvin Law was added to the Zenith Facebook page recently.

I am thinking along the lines of the rather awesome Phil Jimenez variant cover for Avengers #4.  The contents of the book were the same, but Marvel made an Alpha Flight cover specifically for the Canadian audience.

I doubt that the Kickstarter-specific cover will include the Grenadier, but I would gladly have plunked down a couple of extra couple of bucks for one that did.  Seems appropriate enough for the "Canadian Hero" perk.

ICYMI Art: Alpha Flight by Paul Pelletier

Still stalling while I catch up on my reading.  :-)

The image below was tweeted by the Alphaflight.net's Twitter account and originates from this tumblr page.

Guardian / Captain Britain by Toni Solanes

There's your dream Marvel team-up book.

This picture has been floating around for a while, but the comicartfan version had only 17 views when I came across it.  Can't have that. ;-)

All I know about artists Toni and Javi Solanes is that they are from Spain (and that is based on their deviantart profiles).  Guardian shows up in other artwork pieces from Toni, though unfortunately that does not include the "all-time favourites" folder.  It does, however, include the Alpha Flight pinup below...

...and an interesting one of a number of heroes teaming to take down Namor and Cyclops.

But then, as you can see, Toni uses Guardian as his avatar so perhaps we have more Guardian / Alpha Flight art coming.

Canadian Heroes all over the map

Added a new toy!  Hope it works!

There's a new button at the end of the bar under the banner.  It is rather unimaginatively called "Map".  If you right click to open it in a new window, you will be taken to, well, a map which displays the birthplace and/or base of operations of a number of Canadian comic book characters.  They are separated by categories at the bottom left, that you can choose to isolate or remove from view using the legend at top right.  Use the scale at top left to zoom in and out.

Some notes:

• Daydreamer is not a member of Alpha Flight but I couldn't have her in the Indy category either, so she's with the Marvel team.
• Credit to Heroes of the North for eschewing the obvious choices for home towns.  For example, Acadia is in New Brunswick, but rather than make her a Moncton native, she is from Bouctouche.
• Look WAY up to find Snowbird.
• The old South Park gag about "downtown Canada" could well have been based on DC Comics.  Not a single character has a defined place of birth.  Plastique is clearly from Quebec, but where?  And in the case of a character like Sparx (whom I suspect has faded out of continuity with the New 52 anyway), her home town of Timberton is in British Columbia, but fictional.

There are some glaring omissions due to lack of info, or perhaps of clarity of that info.  Even though he is bar none the most prominent Canadian character in comics, Wolverine's actual birth place is actually quite vague.  I have seen it referred to as both southern and Northern Alberta, making it somewhat hard to guess.  I've also found one source which claims he was born in New York state.  Strange that this wouldn't have been determined by now.

In many other cases, there is consensus, but not specification.  Marrina was born (hatched?) on the coast of Newfoundland, but I don't know where on that coast.

Anyway, I have 30 characters currently listed, but it's still being worked on.  If the map does not display properly for you, please slip me a word at jf4nier@gmail.com to let me know.

Puck's Got Better Things To Do.

Unresolved issue.  That's the other thing that has bugged me about the news that Puck would join X-Force.  Never mind that his motivation to join such a group is unclear, he has a clear option if he's looking for a hobby.

Here is the "team" Puck should be on.

Mug shots lifted from the impressive uncannyxmen.net site

Guardian, Puck, Madison Jeffries and, yes, Wolverine.  Of course, Wolverine.  But aside from milking his popularity, he would have a specific cause to appear.  Their mission should be to locate/apprehend...

Disclaimer: This is said not having read any of Jeffries' appearances in the X family of books.  I don't even know if he's of sound mind or what.  For that matter, I have no idea about Puck's mental state either (or how he got out of hell.  But I digress).

These are the four gentlemen who are closest to Heather/Vindicator.  But there are also close friendships within the group.  And those could be strained depending on individual motivation.

If it wasn't bad enough that Heather took off with Guardian's daughter, she also killed two people to snatch her.  Maybe the intention was to resolve that issue in future issues when Alpha Flight was expected to be an ongoing series, but regardless of the reason, it's a dangling loose end I find irritating.

This doesn't have to be a team as such, just a bunch of guys with the same goal but perhaps different motivation.  Guardian needs to step up the search for his kid.  Among the others, one might feel she needs to be apprehended for her crimes, another may feel she can be restored to her "old self".  Another might actually want to defend her ("she wasn't responsible for her actions") and take her side.  There are plenty of possibilities there.

If the recent Alpha Flight title didn't sell all that well, then it's difficult to believe that Marvel would release a limited series in order to give closure to an unfinished storyline that relatively few people read.  This might be addressed in one of Wolverine's twenty-something books as a multi-part arc.  The storyline is an obvious one, but the motivation and character dynamics are what could make it outstanding.

Not going to happen, but in terms of Alpha Flight, it's at the top of my wish list right now.

ICYMI Art: Snowbird by Jean-Louis Sanglan

An artist by the name of Jean-Louis Sanglan is selling this piece on comicartfans.com.  I'll have to be content with it as my computer background for a while.  Gorgeous...

Title:  Snowbird
Artist:  Jean-Louis Sanglan (Painter)
Media Type:  Paint - Watercolor
Art Type:  Pin Up
Added to Site:     8/29/2012

Alpha Flight strip from Pitabow Comics

Time to segue back from G.I. Joe-related (or similar) material into the more traditional superhero genre.  And being that the last entry was about a comic strip, may as well make this one about one as well.

This one is most definitely "rated E for everyone", especially compared to E.H. Joes.  Here's a sample (right click and open in a new tab or window for a better view)...

The rest of them can be found here.  I don't know that there's much of a story here, besides a guy making a strip about a team he enjoys.  It's been a few months since the last one was posted, but they probably just appear when inspiration happen to strike writer/artist James Duncan.

"Is Canada ready for its own screen superhero?"

Much gratitude to the Toronto Star for the article below and more specifically for not making the notion seem like an absurd joke.

I don't feel right about copying the entire thing and in fact, I don't believe I'm "allowed" to, so I've copied what I consider to be the most pertinent portion.  For the full version, click here.

...isn’t it about time we had our own man or woman in tights fighting on the big screen for truth, justice and the Canadian way?

That day might be nearer than you expect. If only we could get over our own modesty for once and let Canada save the planet.

Winnipeg artists Richard Comely and Ron Leishman noted this gap in the comics 40 years ago. “We felt there was a void — something lacking in our pop culture,” says Comely, who now resides in Cambridge, Ont. So in 1975 they launched Captain Canuck. Decked out in patriotic red and white, Canuck was a government agent battling terrorists and space pirates after garnering super-strength from a close encounter with aliens.

...

...the good Captain may finally get a shot at live-action glory. Saskatchewan production company Minds Eye Entertainment is developing a feature-film adaptation it plans to promote at Comic-Con, the massive comics convention that runs July 12 to 15 in San Diego, Calif.

The Toronto Star has learned that Arne Olsen, who wrote the 2010 Canadian sci-fi film Repeaters, directed by Carl Bessai, will write the screenplay with input from Comely and executive producer David Cormican. While the budget will be a small fraction of The Avengers’ $220 million (figures U.S.), Cormican says he expects the movie will be “larger than any other Canadian independent film.” Minds Eye’s most expensive title to date is the forthcoming $18 million French coproduction The Tall Man, starring Jessica Biel.

...

Captain Canuck wasn’t the only Canadian costumed crusader. Lost Heroes, a documentary now in the works, reminds us that during the Second World War, a ban on imported print materials meant issues of Superman and Batman could not cross the border into Canada, and publishers here took advantage by launching their own comic book do-gooders.

It was a Canadian golden age, however brief, for comic superheroes. Among those kicking Nazi butt were Canada Jack (strengthened by our clean air and water), Johnny Canuck (who nearly ends the war despite no superpowers) and Nelvana of the Northern Lights. Predating Wonder Woman by five months, Nelvana, female protector of the Inuit, was able to fly, shape-shift and turn invisible.

...

Artists have injected plenty of Can-con into the American books they’ve drawn. Dale Eaglesham, who works out of his home in Vankleek Hill, Ont., illustrated last year’s reboot of Alpha Flight, a team of Canadian heroes including Guardian (who looks an awful lot like Captain Canuck), Sasquatch and Northstar. The characters, created in 1979 by Edmonton-raised John Byrne, first appeared in the pages of Marvel’s The Uncanny X-Men, a group that numbers Alberta’s Wolverine as one of its members. The new Alpha Flight series lasted only eight issues.

Eaglesham believes the title wasn’t renewed because “There are no known superstars. We did bring in Wolverine, the most famous Canadian comic book character. But with Canadian superheroes you don’t get a lot of support, even from Canadian readers. They’ll still follow the X-Men and Batman.

“That’s an issue for Canadian musicians, artists and moviemakers,” he adds.

Nonetheless, he insists Alpha Flight would make the ideal Canadian superhero flick “because of the variety and strength of those characters, and the fact they’re a team and it all takes place in Canada. It’s a rich tapestry for movies. I’m surprised no one’s even thought to do that. Maybe people think big things don’t happen in Canada.”

"In Case You Missed It" art: Puck, by Jason Copland

Jason Copland features almost the entire original Alpha Flight team on his deviantart page.  Puck is among his favourite characters and as such appears in three drawing.  This particular piece had fewer than 100 views so qualified for "in case you missed it" status.

Spring Vacation Reading part 2: Weapon-X The Underground TPB

I began picking up Weapon-X issues on the cheap for the simple reason that the series involves several Canadian characters, good and bad, including a few members of Alpha Flight.

I started with the Aurora and Wild Child "draft" issue, then gradually acquired issues 1-5 (The Hunt for Sabretooth) of the regular series.  I stopped by Silver Snail in Ottawa earlier in the week and, as they tend to sell their graphic novels at 20% of the U.S. price, could not resist getting The Underground.  It collects issues 6-13 of the series in one relatively inexpensive shot.

Is it any good?  Well, it depends...

If you're a big Alpha Flight fan, you likely already know all about the series.  Let's assume you are, but that you don't.

Will you get to see some of those characters that you love?  Sure!  In addition to the two named above, Madison Jeffries also appears.  He is not seen often, mind you, but his role is quite significant.

You just may not like what you see.

Keeping things relatively spoiler-free (and starting with the draft issue), Aurora starts as a drooling vegetable that the program attempts to rehab.  She is physically brutalized on two occasions.  Wild Child is little more than a recipient of both physical and mental abuse, depending on who happens to do the abusing.  Madison Jeffries is essentially brainwashed into assisting the Weapon-X program to commit atrocities.  Diamond Lil has a cameo...in which she is beaten into submission.  That's a lot of abuse to witness in only 14 issues.

So there are plenty of Canadian characters featured (Garrison Kane, while not a personal favourite, is another).  The story has a number of surprises, twists, betrayals, etc.  On that basis, I personally enjoyed the book a lot.

But if you are attached to these characters, you certainly won't see them in their best light.

Alpha Flight Eaglemoss figurines

Comics are not my life. They're not even my primary interest/hobby. So with every post I wonder if I'm not stating the obvious to people who know far more than I do about the subject matter. But I have found very little mention of this collectible so I'm forging ahead.

The Eaglemoss Classic Marvel Figurine Collection (there's a DC version as well) is a combination of a lead figurine, about 3 inches in height, and 16-page (at least in this case) magazine. Eaglemoss is based in the UK and do not ship to Canada, making the acquisition of their product a little more tricky.

It is, however, worthwhile in my opinion. I purchased the Snowbird one on e-bay and am very pleased with it.


Now truthfully, the figurine doesn't fully stand up to extreme scrutiny. For instance, here's the paint job around the top part of the boots on the one I bought.


A little sloppy. If you're anal about that sort of thing, then you might want to take that into consideration. And it may be that I got a lower quality one. Whatever.

I love the magazine though. Both facets of her history (creation by John Byrne and adventures since) are explained thoroughly. The tone is light but it is still done respectfully which, as any Alpha Flight fan knows, has not always been the case for our team.

The magazine also provides an overview of enemies and allies and a checklist of key and/or prominent appearances including, but not limited to, Wolverine First Class #5 and the Astonishing Tales digital comic.

Overall, it's a quality package. Besides, anyone who can untangle the continuity of any Alpha Flight member in a mere 16 pages deserves major respect on that basis alone!

There is a Guardian figurine available, a very hairy Sasquatch / Puck combo (see below), which I believe was only released last fall and Northstar and Aurora are apparently now available (I had read about an April in-store date)!


I think it won't be long until these decorate my nerd den.

Did Alpha Flight fans bother reading this?

I'm sure that following the end of the Omega Flight book, Alpha Flight fans were aware that Michael Pointer's story would be continued in Marvel Comics Presents issues one through 12 in eight-page installment. But were any of them actually interested in reading it?

Never mind the American-in-the-Guardian suit controversy for a while. Oh, and that to the best of our knowledge at the time, Pointer killed Alpha Flight, making them look foolish in the process, for no better reason than shock value.

The problem with Pointer is that he's quite lame. Even knowing that he inadvertently destroyed his Alaskan town, including his mother (I beleive, and can't be bothered to look it up) it's still hard to feel sorry for the guy because he's such a drip.

Still, I grabbed the trade a while after it came out. I don't know how long after, because I didn't even know it WAS coming out.

So if you haven't bothered with the continued adventures of Michael Pointer to this point, should you, now that most of Alpha has gone dark again?

The compilation includes the Omega Flight chapter of Civil War: The Initiative. So again, if you didn't pick that up because it was only a small part of the comic, it's available here.

In terms of appearances by Alpha favourites...Not much to report. Sasquatch appears most prominently in chapters three, nine and 12, if my memory is sound but very little in the other ones. Talisman, who was in the Omega Flight book, is a notable no-show, yet USAgent and Arachne (or whatever the hell her name is) are all over the book.

The story defines Pointer's abilities far better and provides what could have been a satisfying conclusion to his tale of sorrow (I understand he has resurfaced in Dark X-Men, at least briefly). It's a good enough read, but if you avoided it because you thought it would have too little to do with Alpha Flight, I see little cause for you to question your decision. This one is for extreme completists only.

OK, so maybe we'll talk about Wolverine a little...

I don't remember precisely when I started hating the X-Men so much.

It wasn't long after the Claremont/Byrne run, that much is certain. There was a spell there where even existing characters were suddenly said to be mutants (Cloak and Dagger come to mind) and Wolverine was in just about every Marvel book being publi...come to think of it, that spell is still ongoing. And it seemed that for a while they would throw out dozens of characters at a time with any power that the creative team could pull out of its collective ass. The whole mutant phenomenom became tiresome real quick.

That said, I would still get the X-Men or Wolverine books which featured significant appearances by Alpha Flight, whether it was the if the whole team or only one two members, if I happened to hear about them. That includes #414, when Northstar is offered a teaching position at Xavier's school.

Because it didn't seem as though Northstar was a significant part of the book, I generally ignored it beyond that one issue. But with Alpha Flight having come to an end, Northstar will return to the mutant team with Astonishing X-Men #48 (though technically he never left; he made it quite clear that he didn't consider himself a member of Alpha Flight in the 8-issue mini-turned-ongoing-turned-mini-again series).

Northstar's X-Men "return" isn't breaking news; his appearance in the book was first announced in mid-December.

What seems to have changed is his degree of involvement within. Here are the solicitations for issues 49 (April) and 50 (May):

• The Marauders Are Back! • Something From Northstar’s Past Has Resurfaced And Is Looking For Revenge. • Kyle Goes Missing – How Is He Connected To The Person Behind Everything?

• Karma is losing control of her mind, and taking control of the other X-Men! • When Kyle is put in danger, will Northstar choose him or his team? • Don’t miss the end of this issue – it’ll be the most talked about moment of the year!

And for what it's worth, he's rather prominent on the cover for the latter.


So we'll give the first story arc a try and see where things go. I've heard nothing but good things about writer Marjorie Liu so perhaps this will be a pleasant surprise. I just hope I can make sense of it being that I don't read any of the other dozens of mutant-based books that Marvel publishes.

Register Now - It's The Law!

Closing gaps in my Alpha Flight collection recently, I got my hands on the bagged #120 from the original series, which included the poster below. I could care less about potential future value; I buy comics to read them. So I tore into that sumbitch like Wolverine on Christmas morning.


If you're one of these people that don't open bagged books, click on the picture to see a larger version of what you bought two decades ago. ;-) There was some cropping required down the right side.

I like a flag-wearer, and I like a consistent look within a team...but I'm not sure I like the two together, at least in this case.

Puck should look like one; that was the point of his original uniform. And I doubt an in-character separatist Northstar would have worn that outfit with a gun to his head (perhaps he justified it within the book. If he did, I either am not aware of it or have forgotten it entirely).