Guardian the Versatile Petrochemical Engineer

Because Guardian's appearance in Wolverine #91 is only about a page long, I didn't include it in the appearances page above. However, as soon as I finish this post, I'll be adding the subsequent issue.

In a story entitled "A Northern Exposure", Mac and Heather assist Professor Charles Xavier and Hank "Beast" McCoy in studying Wolverine's current state of mind. There remains some concern that Logan may struggle to maintain control of his more animalistic tendencies.

The book is written by Larry Hama, as was the previous issue, but art duties are handled by Adam Kubert and Dan Green this time around. It has a cover date of August, 1995.

Heather has a larger role than Guardian does,but even though their presence is strictly in a observational role, they are present throughout the entire story. They recreate the scene in which they found Logan in the woods and they monitor his activities after he runs out of the facility with the virtual-reality equipment still attached.

Mac does display some knowledge of the effects of having a metal spike driven through your head as the group discusses Sabretooth's condition as well. Again, Wolverine stabbed Sabretooth in the face with one of his claws a couple of issues earlier.

Well, for a petrochemical engineer, Mac's got the neurosurgeon lingo down pretty good, even if his conclusion is basically "I have no idea what's going to happen".

I praised Larry Hama in the previous post for his frequent acknowledgements that Mac and Heather are a huge part of Wolverine's life. Hama displays his understanding of Wolverine's past by again having him make reference to the couple as "the best friends I have in the whole world". So while Mac doesn't really get his hands dirty, this book belongs in the collection.

Guardian, The Distinguished Colleague

With Amazing X-Men's World War Wendigo recently completed, I turn my attention back to Guardian's past appearances.

Today, we're having a look at Wolverine (volume two) #91.  The book has a publishing date of July 1995.

The story takes place shortly after Wolverine has lost the adamantium that laced his skeleton (and from which his claws were made, of course). As a result, it appears that he's losing control of his "beast mode", something which happens about as frequently as Mac dying, but is worrisome nonetheless. It seems that he drove one of his claws through Sabretooth's head in the previous issue which, saying it "out loud", doesn't seem like such a terrible thing, when taking into account what a colossal asshole Sabretooth is.

A significant portion of the issue is your standard X-Men hand-wringing about how they should handle the situation. But as part of his fact-finding mission Professor Xavier takes the time to check in with "a distinguished colleague in Ottawa".  Nice rub, to appropriate a wrestling term.

I'm not sure that makes any sense even when applied as "comics science" but whatever...We'll let Wolverine bloggers deal with that.

Larry Hama wrote the book, and I appreciate how frequently he included Mac (and/or) Heather in the Wolverine series while it was in his care, even if it was in small roles. They're supposed to be among Logan's best friends so involving them is entirely logical. As I write this, Wolverine is supposedly dead and they have no significant involvement in the aftermath of his murder.  That doesn't seem right.

In the above page, I like the use of the proper honorific for Beast ("Dr. McCoy") while being on a more casual first-name basis with Storm. Not only would Mac know Ororo better, but the respect shown for someone's status is consistent with past meeting with Namor, Reed Richards, etc.  Nice touch, Mr. Hama.

There was another surprise in the credits.  Duncan Rouleau pencilled this story.  About two years later, Rouleau would take over pencil duties for the back half of the second volume of Alpha Flight (issue 12, then 14 through 20, which concluded the series).

I found his Alpha Flight work difficult to follow and personally disliked the exaggerated features on some characters (bulbous noses, protruding chins, huge flowing hair, etc). Comparing his AF work to the above, perhaps he changed his style to be more distinctive, but it may just be that some inkers are a better match for him. The inker for the Wolverine issue was Joe Rubinstein.

Guardian sticks it to Tamaraq

The final part of the World War Wendigo storyline, guest-starring Alpha Flight, was released yesterday and while Guardian's panel-count is small, his contribution is quite significant and spectacular.

The book starts with a hybrid X-Men/Alpha Flight team confronting the Great Beast Tamaraq. And our man stands tall. Briefly.

Yikes. Whatever plan Mac may have worked out in his head, I'm fairly certain that wasn't it.

So Guardian appears to die, and of course, no one really reacts beyond Firestar's exclamation above. In fairness though, when you've died so many times, people might get a little jaded.

But as we know, it takes a whole lot to kill this guy off. And the manner of his demise makes the manner of his eventual return rather obvious. So we bear through idiotic dialogue from Iceman and Rockslide, as well as the Wendigoverine bit, for our money shot several pages later:

That's got to hurt.

So Mac ultimately drops the killing blow on Tamaraq, and the X-Men are understandably impressed. It was almost worth slogging through all five issues of their book for that one glorious moment alone.

We later find out that Heather "turned up' (oh, OK...) when the Wendigo curse was eliminated, that Mac has been by her side since her reappearance (yet the panel which states this displays Mac as bed-ridden with Heather by HIS side) and, according to Wolverine, that they haven't looked happier in quite some time. They'll probably be even happier when (if?) they remember they have a daughter together.

So that's that.  As much as I found this story sloppy and irritating overall, viewed from the perspective of a Guardian fan specifically, I can at least be pleased with his part in it.  Looking forward to seeing what the future brings for him.

Art Page Additions

Guardian did not have much of a presence in the most recent issue of Amazing X-Men, #11, the fourth part of World War Endigo.  He was around, but didn't get in on the action so much, and only had a few lines of dialogue (though one was pretty comical, to the effect that he's never doing Dept. H any favours.  Sure you're not).

So while we're waiting for that story to finally come to an end in October, I've added some eye candy to the Art page.  Specifically, the works by Brett booth, Mike McKone and "Spiderguile"/Pascal Verhoef are new. To the page, that is.  The first couple have been floating for a while, but have very few views on the comic art forums that I visit which makes me think that perhaps they're not as frequently seen as I might have thought.

Also pretty great is the warm up sketch below by Geraldo Borges. I'd be ecstatic if I could make that my final product, never mind a "warm up".  Splendid.

Guardian as Inspiration

While sorting through Marvel Comics solicitations for November recently, I came across a mention of a Deadpool variant cover for one of the books to be released that month (or perhaps Deadpool variants are a cover theme in November, I don't recall).

It reminded me of a cameo appearance by Guardian from 1998 in an annual called "Deadpool and Death". Much of the book's content is flashback of a terminally ill Wade Wilson visiting a Weapon-X facility.  During his visit he is given an unusual pep talk by a military figure, with the cherry on the sundae being a convenient Guardian (then Vindicator) fly-by.

Wilson agrees to join, taking one of the first steps to becoming Deadpool.

Nice to see a character referred to as Canada's version of Captain America serving as inspiration.  In typical Weapon-X fashion, it's with a dark edge, but it's inspiration nonetheless.

I Guess He's OK!

When last we saw Guardian in X-Men #8, he had been taken by surprise by a Wendigo in Forrest, Ontario, and not heard from by friends, family or employers since.  Or at least, that was Wolverine's interpretation based on how the town of Forrest...smells.

It was easy to assume that he had been bit and became a Wendigo himself, but that's not the case.  He was apparently busy doing what Heather was unable to do, and Puck was too stupid to do despite a direct instruction to do so; he gathered Alpha Flight.

He's been in a fight, that much his clear.  I guess we're to assume that he took two days to recover, based on the amount of time that Heather said he'd been gone.  But he did take the time to change his suit before joining the X-Men later in this issue (got one with a bigger leaf).  A leader's got to look good in front of his troops!

On a side note, Aurora at some point tells Northstar "They told me you were married...".  Did they?  Did they tell you that YOU WERE AT THE WEDDING?

While they were chatting, Guardian decided to put on his red pants.

Anyway, for the most part, this book blows.  It's nice to see the characters but there's very little consideration for their recent history.  Heather and Mac being together goes against the former's last on-page appearance, when she drove off with their daughter to parts unknown.  Aurora "forgetting" that she attended Northstar's wedding, mentioned above, is further evidence of shoddy research.

At least Guardian wasn't killed again (yet).  Apparently writers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost have a history of killing off characters but so far so good for our flag-bearer.

The premise is pretty cool, though like the rest of the non-X-Men portions of the book, I'm not sure that it's supported by past events.  I don't believe that "accidental" cannibalism qualifies one for the Wendigo curse.  For that matter, I'm not sure that the Wendigo curse is transferable through biting or scratching. Bah, why be burdened with continuity when you think you have a neat idea?

Oh, and that kid the X-Men saved in the previous issue?  I predict she'll be revealed to be vegetarian.  I haven't somehow read ahead, it's just as predictable as the rising sun.  Otherwise, her parents are starving her, because she hasn't eaten in almost two days.  But these writers don't seem too concerned with details, so who knows?

Guardian Propaganda Poster

While we wait to see how Guardian made out against the Wendigo in Amazing X-Men #8, let's take a look at a little piece of art I acquired recently.

I was drawn to this print right away, if only for its war poster style.

I only know the artist as "Jason T" on Twitter (I've been on his Facebook page as well, but for the life of me I can't remember his full name).  He has several other prints of Guardian, at least one of which involves Heather as well.  Get a hold of him if you're interested in getting a little decoration for your comics area. The man is quite accommodating.

And speaking of guest-appearances earlier, it doesn't seem as though Guardian will appear in a coming issue of Deadpool after all.  The Alpha Flight team that will be featured will be the early 90's one from prior to one of Mac's many resurrections, so no go.

Hopefully he plays a significant part in the X-Men books then, but I could see it being similar to "Mayan Prophecy" Hulk story from a couple of years ago.  Guardian was most prominent in the first part, but far less so in later issues.  We'll have to see.

Double Dose of Guardian in September

Marvel revealed their September 2014 solicitations this morning.

To begin, World War Wendigo continues in Amazing X-Men #11 (part four of five) and finally the members of Alpha Flight that are involved get a little cover love, Guardian included.

Mild love, mind you, but love nonetheless.

Something that was a bit more surprising was a mention of Alpha Flight in the solicitation for Deadpool #34.

DEADPOOL #34
BRIAN POSEHN & GERRY DUGGAN (W) • SCOTT KOBLISH (A)
Cover by MARK BROOKS
SPECIAL 3D Motion VARIANT COVER BY MARK BROOKS
• Flashback to the 90’s as we learn the darkest secret of Deadpool’s past!
• See the events Deadpool’s friends learned about it Original Sin FIRST HAND!
• Guest-Starring 90’s Sabretooth, 90’s Alpha Flight, and 90’s artwork!
40 PGS./Parental Advisory …$4.99

Argh...I hate Deadpool...

This does beg the question though...Which Alpha Flight's appearance and if so, which Guardian will we see?

We should get some Guardian content.  Despite his many absences from the Marvel Universe over the years, odds are pretty good if it's 90's Alpha Flight.

Guardian wasn't around much early in that decade.  The android version of the character died (or something) in 1991 but he returned ('cause that's what he does) in the series' final story arc, entitled "No Future" in the summer of 1994.

Team members popped up in other books from time to time until a second volume of Alpha Flight hit shelves in the summer of 1997.  And that one looked designed to fit in with what was considered hot at the time.

Gadzooks...You younger readers may not believe this, but at one time, that was actually considered pretty cool...

Now that's the cloned, or de-aged, version of Guardian.  "Mac Classic" didn't return until the following year.

But the story of Guardian being cloned, de-aged and shot into space to be later miraculously, randomly found by Sasquatch in the North Pole is so ludicrous that I can't imagine a comedic book like Deadpool avoiding it.  And because Alpha Flight resembled the typical 90's book most in that series, I'm guessing that that's the version we'll get.

I may not care for Deadpool, but the book will have my curiosity come September.

Guardian in Amazing X-Men #8!

It was pretty well confirmed weeks ago that Guardian would be included in Alpha Flight's guest appearance in Amazing X-Men, but the degree of exposure couldn't be determined until today.  I only saw him in one panel in the preview material that I'd been able to find but I'm pleased to see that he was involved in several pages and that he looked pretty sharp.

Hey, we can add Ed McGuinness to the short list of writer who can actually draw a maple leaf properly on this suit.

The solicitation for this issue made reference to an old friend of Wolverine's being missing.  Based on the ending of the 2011 Alpha Flight mini series, I assumed it would be Guardian's estranged wife, Heather.  But it seems that at some point the two reconciled to a certain degree. Heather explains to Wolverine that she and Mac split after a bad argument and haven't talked in two days.  He went on a mission for Department H a couple of days prior and has yet to return.  The rest of his involvement is told in semi-flashback as Wolverine pieces together what's gone on.

The Wendigo Wars will run for five issues.  Alpha Flight presumably will be in all of them (they are confirmed for parts two and three thus far) and that means more Guardian, unless he's gone and died again. It'll be great to have him on a regular basis again at least temporarily and while some of the Alpha Flight content seemed inconsistent, Mac himself seems to be in pretty good hands at the moment.

Amazing X-Men 8 preview

Some anticipated good news was recently confirmed.

The solicitation for Amazing X-Men #8 indicated that Alpha Flight would appear in some capacity in the book, but the cover did not reveal which members.

This June, fan-favorite X-writers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost join blockbuster artist Ed McGuinness for an all-new arc of Marvel mutant mayhem in AMAZING X-MEN #8! 

Though Nightcrawler has returned to them, there is no rest for the X-Men. A return trip to Canada leads Wolverine to a hairy situation as the search for a missing friend brings him face to face with a horde of bloodthirsty Wendigo! 

One Wendigo is enough to stop even the strongest heroes dead in their tracks. What hope to the X-Men have against an entire army?  Even the combined strength of  the X-Men and guest stars Alpha Flight may still not be enough to stop the coming assault! 

Don’t miss both teams prepare for battle as the pulse-pounding new ‘World War Wendigo’ arc kicks off this June in AMAZING X-MEN #8!

There was no reason to doubt that Guardian would be included, really.  He was still the leader of Alpha Flight when they last appeared in Hulk's Mayan Prophecy storyline.  Still, you never know what can happen off-panel (Avengers 16 reference) but the preview art below makes it official.

Oh dear.

That almost looks like a variant cover, but I haven't been able to find confirmation either way as to whether that's the case. I also don't know how many issues the story runs for, but it may not matter.  The solicitation for #9, obviously the second part of the arc, refers to "members of Alpha Flight" being involved.  So it may be that some of the characters from the first issue do not appear in part two.  It's possible that Guardian is not among them.

We'll have to see, but for now I'll be satisfied to have Guardian on active, present-day duty in almost two years.

Wolverine / Cable: Guts and Glory

Guardian doesn't appear in the book below, but James MacDonald Hudson does.

In Guardian's early appearances, right up to his first "death" in Alpha Flight #12, he seemed like a decent guy.  Sure, he was considred the antagonist when he twice attempted to recover Wolverine for the Canadian government, but he clearly wasn't evil, he was just a good little soldier doing his job. In fact, he was doing a job he didn't really want.

But from time to time, that hasn't been enough.  Writers have, on occasion, painted Mac as being so concerned with making Department H work that he would make highly questionable decisions for any shred of success.

This is such a book.

Guts and Glory has a publishing date of October 1999, as if the exaggerated musculature and huge-ass firearms weren't enough of a clue that it came out in the 90's.  As stated on the cover above, Stephen Platt provided the pencils with seven (??!!!) credited inkers completing the art.

The story takes place prior to Alpha Flight really becoming a thing.  Wolverine appears to be the only official agent at this point.  He is in "Northern Canada" (that covers a lot of ground, doesn't it?) enjoying a cigar after getting laid (I'm serious) when Mac interrupts his afterglow.

The "disturbance" is caused by a big bastard called D'Von Kray who followed Cable through time to kick his ass. Wolverine takes him out in no time and Department H hauls him in. To what end?  Well...

Sure.  He wiped out Moose Jaw, but we'll just give him Canadian citizenship so he can be in Alpha Flight. 

But sure enough, just a week later...

That was one intense week of research!

As if you need me to tell you, D'Von Kray escapes and heads for the States to give Cable a good whuppin'. Wolverine is able to track him and the two heroes work together to take him down and...well...that's pretty much it.

As much as I dislike the notion that Mac might have done some pretty lousy things in order to keep his program going, I can't discount that it's happened a number of times in his history (always in flashback, mind you).  I suppose it's not outrageous that when the possibility of the department being dropped presented itself, Mac may have taken an "the ends justify the means" approach for the greater good, but it clashes with his personality as it was displayed by Chris Clarement in the early New X-Men books and by John Byrne in the first dozen Alpha Flight issues.

Enemy of the State II

A couple of posts back, I wrote about a cameo appearance by Guardian in the Wolverine book that was being published at the time.  In that appearance, the Hudsons announced to Wolverine that they were expecting their first child.

That same month (April 2002), Wolverine played a large role in a five-part story called Enemy of the State II in the Black Panther title.  Alpha Flight, and therefore Guardian, also popped in briefly.

Why are Wolverine and Alpha Flight involved at all?  Seems Black Panther produced old paperwork  which reveals that an island on Lake Superior actually belongs to Wakanda and he wants it back.  The following partial page is from issue 43, the third installment in the arc, and the cover to which can be seen at above left.

Alpha Flights' reaction to the above was actually displayed at the end of the previous issue:

I've seen people on social media and message boards be thrown off by the red stripe on Guardian's helmet. It seems to cause people to assume that the character being shown is the younger clone version from the second volume of Alpha Flight.

Highly unlikely; that Mac died almost three years before in Wolverine #143.  The "real" Mac wore it for a while too; I believe he ceased to do so in Scott Lobdell's brutally painfully dumb third volume of Alpha Flight from 2004.  At least something good came from that atrocity.

Back to Panther #43...The Wakandan king and Wolverine do end up meeting with Alpha Flight.  Showing a little consistency and continuity, Wolverine even takes the time to ask Heather how she is and she updates us on her pregnancy.  Nice touch.  Then they get down to business.

Can't get nothin' past our boy.

Unfortunately, that's about the extent of Guardian and Alpha Flight's involvement.  They do appear in one poorly drawn panel later in the story to interfere with Iron Man's plan to stop Panther's plan, but that's it.

Still, it's nice to see the team's existence acknowledged when something major happens in Canada (and not show up to be jobbed out), even if a blurb in issue #42 makes reference to "Sault Saint Marie".

Origin Recap in Marvel Saga #1

My folks were cleaning out their basement during the holidays and stumbled into boxes full of some of my old comics.  Many are filled with crap, but one box did include some Alpha Flight issues from late in volume one and the book below, which I'd forgotten I'd ever owned.

If you're unfamiliar with Marvel Saga, published in December 1985, its goal was to tie the various aspects of the Marvel Universe history chronologically.

A significant portion of the first issue was devoted to the origins of the Fantastic Four, and since the FF were the in-story inspiration for Alpha Flight, their segment leads to Guardian's own origin.  It is told by patching together panels from the back-up stories in the early issues of Alpha Flight that provided background details about each team member.  The installments in issues two and three focused on Mac and Marvel Saga summarizes them in three pages.

This Saga ran for 25 issues then spawned more character-specific series, such as Spider-Man Saga and Wolverine Saga. Since they figure prominently in his history, it's no surprise to see Mac and Heather show up in the first issue of the Wolverine book as well.

We'll just assume that Expos line is an attempt at humour by Mac...

The second issue of Wolverine Saga covers Guardian's (Weapon Alpha at the time) first attempt at recovering Wolverine for the Canadian government (originally depicted in X-Men 109), as well as the scrap between the X-Men and Alpha Flight in Calgary from X-Men 120 and 121.

The first few pages of the third issue recap Wolverine and Nightcrawler teaming with Guardian (still known as Vindicator), Shaman and Snowbird from Alpha Flight to stop the Wendigo (X-Men 139 and 140) in northern Ontario.

So no new material to speak of, just old panels/pages reorganized to abbreviate a little convoluted history.  Still, in light of how poorly treated Alpha Flight and Guardian have been in the past, it's nice to see their place in Marvel history recognized.

Guardian cameo in Wolverine: The Logan Files

Alpha Flight fans are likely aware of the team's appearance in Wolverine (volume 2) #172 in 2002.

The cover to the next issue (at right) does not display it quite so bluntly, but the book also has some decent Alpha Flight content.  It mostly takes the form of a heart-to-heart between Wolverine and Shaman, but there is also a significant cameo appearance by Guardian.

Quick back-story; the story opens with Wolverine's X-Man partner and friend Nightcrawler being attacked by two of Logan's long-time villains in Omega Red and Lady Deathstrike.  The villains get the best of him.

We flip to Shaman attempting to determine mystically who might have it in for Wolverine (this time) but failing.  As they discuss the issue, they receive a transmission from Mac and his wife Heather.

If the dialogue is difficult to read, you can view a larger version of the page by opening it in a new tab (right-click option).

So Heather announces she's carrying a l'il Guardian as an engine goes dead.  Turns out that Red and Deathstrike are disabling the jet from underneath.  It is next seen exploding in the mountains.

Lest you think this might be one of Guardian's many, many deaths, fear not!  It is revealed in the following issue (we're now at #174, if you were losing track) that Mac and Heather were able to bail.

Well done, James, you heroic bastard!

That's about all we see of Mac.  But we see plenty of the suit!  Wolverine has discovered that his healing factor is no longer working properly.  So he needs to give himself an edge if he's going to survive trying to save his friends and family from Omega Red and Lady Deathstrike.  And he gives himself the coolest edge of all. :-)

All right, I really don't like Wolverine, but I admit that I marked out at that (to use a wrestling term). That's pretty neat.  And it fits him perfectly, even though Mac is approximately 11 inches taller!  Wolverine still gets kicked around, but at least he looks sharp while having it done to him.

So not a lengthy appearance by any stretch, but nonetheless significant if only for the announcement of Heather's pregnancy.  Mac and Heather's daughter would be born 14 months later in X-Men Unlimited #45 (June 2003 cover date).  That must have been one difficult labour.

Guardian appearance in X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse

Here's a neat thing I stumbled across this past weekend; Guardian had a brief appearance in an X-Men video game in 2005. Unfortunately, he's not available as a playable character, but it's still kind of cool to see him involved.

The clip I include below was lifted from the Mikkel Frost Gaming youtube account.  Mikkel basically walks us through the game. You'll hear the occasional comment from him

You'll note that this is part 27 of the game walk-through.  Heather McNeil Hudson (in the green version of her outfit) was included in the previous part.  She explains to Wolverine and the X-Men that Guardian was sent on a mission to something called the Infinite Factory and has yet to be heard from since.  And, you know, in light of how often he dies, that's the kind of thing that you want looked into!  So she asks the team to investigate because it's not as though she'd ever been in charge of a team full of superheroes and mutants herself.

When the X-Men finally locate Guardian, he needs little convincing to get out of the way. If the video does not start in the right spot, fast forward to 3:18 or so.



Guardian provides additional instructions further along in the game but never gets directly involved in the action (that I know of). He was voiced by Jim Ward for this game.

Super-Team Family Presents...

Ah, if only...

The imaginary cover above is the creation of Ross Pearsall, who describes his work as reflecting "The greatest team-ups that never happened... but should have!"

No kidding.

Ross has a long-running blog on which Guardian and Alpha Flight has made a number of appearances. Check out another example below.

Fun stuff, eh?

Wonder what Green Arrow's problem is? ;-)

There have been a few Marvel / DC collaborations but I'm more reminded of the Justice League / Justice Society team-ups that took place fairly regularly.  Typically, members of either team would pair up, or form small groups, and each grouping would complete a task towards a common goal.  It's neat to imagine teams of Green Arrow / Aurora, Green Lantern / Northstar or Batman / Puck. But Superman / Guardian would be a geekgasm for the ages.

Guardian sketch card by Mike Thomas

This is the e-bay purchase I made brief reference to a few days ago.

The card is from the 3rd series of Upper Deck's Marvel Beginnings set, issued in 2012.  Artist Mike Thomas has signed the back of it.  Thomas has a Facebook page specific to his sketch cards.

It is identified as being "1 of 1" so I didn't incude it on the Collectibles page since the only way to collect it would be to buy it from me and that's not going to happen. ;-)

I've seen one other Guardian sketch card from the Marvel Beginnings series on e-bay but did not pull the trigger on it because, honestly, I didn't particularly care for it.  It was essentially a mug shot in front of a Canadian flag. But there are a number of sketch cards displaying Alpha Flight characters so anyone who might be interested in starting a unique little collection has the opportunity.

Finally!! My friggin' Guardian Heroclix!

In the early morning hours today, the temperature began to dip to -26 "feels like -38" in Ottawa.  Yet I almost ran to the mailbox in pajama pants when I saw that the Guardian Heroclix I ordered was showing as "delivered" on the US Postal Service website.

Getting my hands on this thing has been a chore. I first ordered it in early November (on e-bay).  The person I purchased it from shipped it in no time, so I was pleased to see that.  I was tracking the package on the US Post site.  Everything seemed to be going fine.  Until it got jammed up somewhere.  It didn't move for over a month.

While seeing if I could order it from somewhere in Canada instead, I inadvertently ordered a second one from the States.  And then noticed that I did so from the same dude I bought the first one from.  Bloody hell.

Then the morning after my second purchase, I checked on my first more out of habit than anything.  Damned thing had apparently been released from the holding facility in which it was stuck and was on its way after all.  Bah.  Oh well, I guess at least I would get both rather than have one lost somewhere.

Not yet!  I looked closer and my first purchase has apparently ended up in Brazil.  In light of the temperature here though, I can kind of understand why it would do such a thing instinctively.

But my second one did make it, as promised by US Post!  I plucked it out of the mailbox this morning and I quite like it!

Except...

The front looks pretty great, at least compared to the original version of this game piece (shown on the Collectibles page above).  Here it is, blown up significantly.

Sure, there are slight paint flaws along his right arm.  But the actual piece is only about two inches tall so it's actually not very noticeable. On the flip side, the yellow eyes don't stand out very much on the actual figurine.

The problem is on the back.

Uhm...What the hell is that?  They'd done a pretty good job with the maple leaf in the front of the piece, how could they butcher it so badly on the back?  Gack!

If my first Guardian ever comes home from Brazil, I'll compare the two.  And as far as having two in the collection, I can paint a small red stripe on the above one's mask and pretend he's Mac's clone from volume two of Alpha Flight, and that the other one is Mac returned from being blasted into space by Department H. 

There.  Problem solved.

Save the date again.

Looks like Guardian will have at least a minor appearance at a wedding again this coming April.  Marvel has been releasing images of puzzle pieces displaying wedding attendees and Alpha Flight is among the guests.

It's a little surprising to see Mac's estranged wife in the shot. At the end of the fourth volume of Alpha Flight, Heather Hudson left the group with the couple's daughter and with clear intentions of not being found.  There was never any follow up to that storyline.  The next time we saw Alpha Flight was in Hulk numbers 53 to 57 and there was no mention of that incident.

Guardian and Alpha Flight do enjoy their weddings, mind you.  In the summer of 2012, they attended Northstar's nuptials to Kyle...something or other.  I forget his name now and couldn't care any less. 

Guardian didn't do much at that wedding, mind you.  He appears on the cover...

...and here and there in group shots inside the issue...

Way to dress for the occasion, Flight...

But the best among his very brief moments is his arm-wrestling match with Rogue.

Being that Alpha is the Marvel version of WWE jobbers, there's no way he won that even though he appears to have the better technique.

I have no idea who's getting married in April, and I suspect that Alpha Flight will have about the same amount of involvement in whatever book it turns out to be as they did in Astonishing X-Men 51 (if they have any at all), but it's nice to see that they're still on someone's radar, at least.