Alpha Flight
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Image:Alphaflight1.jpg Alpha Flight is a Canadian team of super heroes, created for Marvel Comics by Chris Claremont and Canadian native John Byrne.
The team's first appeared in "Uncanny X-Men", #120-#121, and was first featured in its own series in 1983.
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Volume One
Though reluctant to take the job, Byrne wrote and drew the series for 29 issues before handing it off to another creative team. During that time, the series attracted fans with storylines that dealt with one or two characters at a time, seldom bringing all the members together. This unusual approach contrasted with other Marvel team series like the X-Men, the Avengers, or the Fantastic Four.
The initial makeup of Alpha Flight was pan-Canadian, including:
- Guardian, a scientist from Ottawa who wore a suit of battle-armor that lets him fly and have an energy field around him. Guardian was the leader, and wore a stylized maple leaf flag on his costume, marking him as the Canadian team's equivalent of Captain America. After Guardian's death in issue #12, his wife took the costume and became leader of the team as Vindicator.
- Marrina, an amphibious woman from Newfoundland. She was a former member of Beta Flight.
- Northstar and Aurora, super-speed flying twins from Quebec.
- Puck, a dwarf bouncer from Saskatoon who said "eh" at the end of every sentence. Puck was also a former member of Beta Flight.
- Sasquatch, a scientist from British Columbia who could transform into a giant furry creature.
- Shaman, a First Nations medicine man from Calgary.
- Snowbird, an Inuit demi-goddess from Yellowknife who could transform into animals of the north.
After Byrne left, the series was written by many others, including Bill Mantlo, James Hudnall, Fabian Nicieza, and Scott Lobdell. It continued for 130 issues, introduced dozens of characters and villains, and featured cross-overs with other characters in the Marvel universe. The series ended in 1994.
Volume Two
In 1997, Marvel restarted the series as a Volume 2, with largely different characters. This series ended in 1999 after only twenty issues and an annual. The new additions to the roster included:
- Flex, half-brother to Radius.
- Manbot
- Murmur, a young woman from Quebec City with mind-control powers.
- Radius, half-brother to Flex, able to create a forcefield.
Volume Three - "All-New, All-Different" Alpha Flight
In 2004, Marvel started a new volume of Alpha Flight, with the "All-New, All-Different" prefix. The first six-issue story arc, which shows Sasquatch attempting to construct the new team, is called "You Gotta Be Kiddin' Me." The series was cancelled again at issue #12 due to low sales.
The new team recruited by Sasquatch includes:
- Centennial, a 97-year-old man whose Supermanesque mutant powers manifested after being awoken from a coma by Sasquatch.
- Major Mapleleaf, the son of a WW2 super-hero of the same name and a stereotypical goody-two shoes (secretly a normal human who rides a superpowered horse).
- Nemesis, an old Alpha Flight adversary/ally.
- Puck, the daughter of the Alpha Flight member of the same name.
- Yukon Jack, a mysterious man from a primitive tribe, bought from his father by Sasquatch.
Other appearances
Alpha Flight was seen on the X-men animated episode Repo Man. Vindicator and the Canadian Alpha Flight capture Wolverine. The Canadian government demand their project back. Either he joins their team as originally planned or they repossess his indestructible, adamantium skeleton.
External links
Categories: Alpha Flight members | Marvel Comics superhero teams | Marvel Comics titles | Fictional Canadians
