Alpha Flight "Homage Variant" by Dan Jurgens

Marvel's August solicitations were revealed earlier today, including that of the first issue of the upcoming Alpha Flight mini-series. The solicitation text was included in last month's release announcing the book, but we'll throw it down here again to keep everything in one place. 

ALPHA FLIGHT #1 (OF 5)

ED BRISSON (W) • SCOTT GODLEWSKI (A) • Cover by LEONARD KIRK
HOMAGE VARIANT COVER BY DAN JURGENS
MARVEL ICON VARIANT COVER BY JAVIER GARRÓN
MISS MINUTES VARIANT COVER BY RON LIM • VARIANT COVER BY Arthur Adams

SAVING CANADA…FROM THE MUTANT MENACE?!

GUARDIAN, PUCK, SNOWBIRD and SHAMAN return, as a terrestrial ALPHA FLIGHT bursts onto the scene! But what schism will pit these heroes against their former teammates AURORA, NORTHSTAR and NEMESIS, as well as Aurora’s beau, FANG? The FALL OF X has changed the game, and will Alpha Flight soar to new heights…or be crushed under the weight of an impossible mission?

Among the covers listed above, only the Homage variant includes Guardian. The Icon one features Fang and the Miss Minutes one by Ron Lim displays Snowbird.

I can't seem to track down the Arthur Adams variant but if I do and it includes Guardian, I'll be sure to add it to this post!

"IN THE WAKE OF FALL OF X, CANADA’S PREMIER SUPER TEAM UNDERTAKES A NEW MUTANT MISSION IN ALPHA FLIGHT!"

Credit where it's due, while I believe this was a press release, I first spotted it on First Comics News,  a site of which I'm a big fan.

Since 2019’s revolutionary HOUSE OF X and POWERS OF X series, mutantkind has experienced unparalleled growth and prosperity on the island nation Krakoa – but can it really last forever?

Following July’s X-MEN: HELLFIRE GALA #1, mutantkind will enter a thrilling new era of uncertainty, danger, and mystery known as FALL OF X! In the ensuing chaos, a beloved Marvel Super Hero team rises once more! ALPHA FLIGHT will reassemble to navigate the dark times that have befallen mutantkind.

Alpha Flight’s new chapter will be written by Ed Brisson, known for his current work on PREDATOR and as one of the creators who helped launch the Krakoan era to incredible success with NEW MUTANTS. Brisson returns to the world of mutantkind alongside Marvel Comics newcomer, artist Scott Godlewski. Together, they’ll introduce two conflicting Alpha Flight squads that are formed in response to the shocking events of this year’s Hellfire Gala.

Mutantkind’s actions have put Canada on the offense and in addition to crafting a new line of sentinels, they’ll assign a government-sponsored team with de-escalating the mutant conflict by any means necessary! But a second Alpha Flight team joins the fight, striking from the shadow. More secrets and conspiracies are revealed as classic Alpha Flight members and new faces alike become major players on both sides of the war that will define mutantkind!

SAVING CANADA…FROM THE MUTANT MENACE?! Guardian, Puck, Snowbird, and Shaman return, as a terrestrial ALPHA FLIGHT bursts onto the scene! But what schism will pit these heroes against their former teammates Aurora, Northstar, and Nemesis, as well as Aurora’s beau, Fang? The FALL OF X has changed the game. Will Alpha Flight soar to new heights…or be crushed under the weight of an impossible mission?

"Like every Canadian kid who grew up reading comics, one of my biggest dreams was to write for Alpha Flight,” Brisson said. “Growing up, I was a huge fan of the original Byrne run and have followed the team over the years and through every series. The original team of Guardian, Puck, Northstar, Aurora, Shaman, Snowbird, and Sasquatch holds a special place in my heart.

"Unfortunately, Sasquatch is currently indisposed, but the opportunity to bring the rest of the team together, even if they're split and fighting against one another, is an absolute dream come true. And for those of you wondering if I've forgotten anyone, rest assured, I haven't. There are a few surprises for Alpha Flight fans in the mix, but I won't spoil anything just yet.”

“As for returning for the Fall of X era, it feels like a perfect bookend for my work on X-Men,” Brisson continued. “Having been there for the launch of the new era, it's an honor to come back and help close out this chapter of X-Men history."

The above doesn't make it immediately clear, but this is a five-issue mini series. The first issue is scheduled for August 16th.

I have no idea why Sasquatch is indisposed, or whether Aurora being in a relationship with Fang is something I missed or a new aspect in this book. I look forward to being brought up to date, and while I found it a little uncharacteristic for Mac, hopefully Mr. Brisson revisits the "project" involving Heather from the story in True North. Either way, regular Flight content for the back half of the year is welcomed. 

In September, "Return to the Great White North with 'Alpha Flight'"

It's a day short of a year since my last post but this is a wonderful way to break the silent streak.

Marvel.com - Brace yourselves, committed connoisseurs of the Commonwealth—the entire creative team is composed of cunning and cuddly Canucks! Written by clever creatives Jim Zub, Jed MacKay, and Ed Brisson⁠, the comic has art crafted by co-conspirators Max Dunbar, Djibril Morissette-Phan, and Scott Hepburn with a kinetic cover by compatriot Nick Bradshaw! 

So... Grab your hat and come travel light because adventure lies just around the bend! Featuring three brand-new tales no one has ever told before, ALPHA FLIGHT: TRUE NORTH #1 sees Canada's greatest creators unearth the secret history of squad stalwarts Puck, Snow-bird, Talisman, Northstar, Marrina, Guardian, and Vindicator! 

"To celebrate the Toronto Raptors winning the NBA Championship," notes comical comic editor Chris Robinson (sadly, not Canadian), "we’re bringing back the greatest of the Great White North, Canada’s premiere super-team Alpha Flight! And we’ve assembled a super-team of Canadian talent behind the scenes for extra authenticity. Trust me, these guys are going deep into the Deparment H files to tie-up those loose Alpha Flight story threads that have been keeping you all up at night. You wanted dip with the chips? Here it is!"

Unless I'm mistaken, it will have been five years since Guardian had a significant appearance in any book (and that was in an X-Men book at the time and it sucked). I was initially concerned about the "secret history" stuff but I'm not sure I would trust any other writing team to do right by these guys.

Alpha Flight (and therefore Guardian) cameo in Fantastic Four #643

The images below were revealed exclusively on avclub.com on February 19th.

The book's villain (whose name escapes me now) has unleashed a worldwide invasion of some sort (bear with me, I don't read the book) and we are shown the impact in various parts of the world. Naturally, that means that we get a brief window on Canada and therefore Alpha Flight, and therefore Guardian.

Looks like two-page spread...

...and here's the page with Guardian specifically (third panel, to the left):

Based on the 2-page version, looks like Guardian is getting a save from the wife. Or ex-wife. Who knows anymore?

May as well take the opportunity to display another such occurrence. The partial page below is from the third issue of the Citizen V and the V-Battalion mini series from mid 2002.

Lol...I never really read this book so I didn't really acknowledge that Flag-Smasher is a part of it. Pitabow Comics has spoiled that character for me forever (not that it would have taken an awful lot, since F-S is not particularly accomplished in villainy). Flag-Smasher is a recurring villain in Pitabow's Alpha Flight comic strip and he's not very successful in that, either. Blow up the image below for an example.

Check out more Alpha Flight strips here.

"COMIC LEGEND: Peter David shared photocopied pages of the death sequence in Alpha Flight #12 at a convention before the issue came out."

More than 30 years after Alpha Flight #12 (first volume,  'natch) hit shelves, that book's conclusion is the subject of a "Comic Book Legends Revealed" segment on Comic Book Resources.

As you can piece together from the subject line, writer Peter David is accused of spoiling the end of Alpha Flight #12 in which Guardian dies (for the first time). Read the full report on that claim over at Comic Book Resources.

...retailers at the get together had no idea that the sequence actually indicated that Guardian really died. I know this because when John showed up at the get-together, he looked at the material, screamed at me at the top of his lungs, “How could you be showing this to retailers?!? It gives away the fact that Guardian dies!” and stormed out of the room, slowing only long enough to kick over a standing ashtray on his way out. At which point stunned retailers said, “Guardian DIES?,” started looking at the xeroxes again, and were muttering, “I thought it was just a dream sequence…”

Oh, look, there's another report of John Byrne acting like a complete jackass.

Being that this was before social media, and the moment remains iconic in Marvel history, I think it's safe to say that any concern about "spoilers" was ultimately unfounded.

The surprise death's importance is not based on my personal opinion as a fan of this character, I might add. Comic Book Resources themselves named it the 75th Most Memorable Moment in the publisher's history, behind the death of Captain George Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man #90 (and further behind still to "Frog Thor", so draw your own conclusions).

My recollection at the time (bearing in mind I was barely a teenager then) was that most folks thought Northstar would buy it. It seemed unnecessary for the team to have two characters with the same abilities and his sister Aurora was considered the more interesting of the two.

To the best of my knowledge, regardless of what may have been handed out at conventions or any other event, Guardian's demise took the greater majority of folks by surprise, as intended.

Guardian on the Cover of Strange

The following came as both a reminder and a discovery.

I knew about the magazine in question and that several issues featured Alpha Flight but I don't recall seeing the cover below, displaying Guardian rather prominently, in the past. It was posted, with several others, on Dork Review yesterday but no particular reason for doing so is stated. Dork Review, meanwhile, credits alphaflight.net for the original material (though I must admit I can't recall where I got my scan of the cover).

Kind of nice, eh? Although it looks like Namor just happens to be doing laps nearby.

That particular issue reprinted Alpha Flight (original volume, naturally) #4. The team was known as "Division Alpha" in France. It also included Amazing Spider-Man, Daredevil and Iron-Man stories. 

Alpha Flight continued to appear regularly in Strange, including getting occasional cover treatment. Those occasions became rather few as the book got further and further from the John Byrne material, not surprisingly.

Guardian kind of, sort of, appears on the cover to book number 208 as well, but that book reprint the 27th issue of Alpha Flight's first volume. Therefore, that Guardian is actually Delphine Courtney's impersonation of our hero, unfortunately.

This page provides great detail about Strange. If your tastes run up and down the the Marvel line, you'll probably enjoy scrolling through the original-yet-inspired covers for the company's other books as well.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Alpha Flight / Fantastic Four connection

In the previous post (assuming you're reading this chronologically), I mentioned that Guardian has something of a habit of being starstruck, and that there was another example of it coming.

In reading the material again, starstruck may not be the right term.  It may be more accurate to say that he's a little quick to defer to those with more experience.  Or at least he was in his early days.  The partial page below is from Marvel Two-In-One #84.

Man alive.  When I read that, I wished that the next panel was of Guardian kicking The Thing right in the pebbles.  But no. Of course not.  Four panels later, Guardian is preparing to call the rest of the available members of Alpha Flight to help.  'Cause that's what he does.

But as was often the case back then, it ultimately leads to Alpha Flight being given the "rub".  Sort of. At the end of the book, Thing tells the team "Say, now that it's all over, I gotta say you guy really have it together...for a bunch of amateurs".

High praise indeed.  Weird way to sell one of your properties, Marvel.  But at least the possibilities of Guardian's suit are displayed a fair bit, including its ability to interrupt the effect of earth's gravity on the wearer.

Here's where we get another opportunity to flesh out Guardians' background somewhat.  Around the time that the second volume of Alpha Flight was coming out, Marvel Comics had a "Flashback" event by which they released "-1" issues of their books.  Alpha Flight received such treatment with a story specific to the events leading up to Mac and Heather's wedding.

Not surprisingly, Wolverine also had such an issue, and Mac and Heather appeared in that (briefly) as well.  But don't take my word for it, let Stan Lee describe it.

Good of ya, Mac!  Who's flying this experimental plane of which you speak?

Ha!  That's neat!

There actually was a small window of time in which Wolverine was found and the Richards family became the Fantastic Four.  Good job of working that in by writer Larry Hama.  I guess turning into a rock monster also turned Ben Grimm into a prejudiced prick, but who knows what kind of effect gamma rays can have?

Back to Marvel 2-in-1 #84, Alpha Flight's Shaman also has a bit of a fanboy moment when he speculates that maybe one day, his team might meet the Fantastic Four.  Before long, Sue Richards does pop up in Alpha Flight (first volume) #4 as does Namor, the SubMariner.  Of course, polite Canadian that he is, Guardian makes sure to refer to Namor as "your highness", bless 'im.  :-)

The two teams do meet much later during Alpha Flight's first run, in issues 93 and 94, while Guardian (using the Vindicator name again, if I recall correctly) is in the middle of his short-lived android phase.

I doubt that "era" is thought of fondly by Alpha Flight fans, but from a Guardian-specific perspective, there are at least some interesting tidbits within that two-issue storyline.

The story's villain, Headlok, has psionic abilities.  Guardian is half man half machine and Headlok can sense this. As such, Headlok provides some insight while scanning Guardian's mind.

"What do you have to show me, James Mcdonald Hudson?  Clean.  Precise.  Logical.  Like the rubber man's mind, but even MORE structured.  You see EVERYTHING in absolutes, James?  How limiting.  Even I pity you, your rigid, mathematical method of seeing life!"

"Peeking into your mind is like looking under the hood of a car, James.  You know what's going to be there, but you never know what's going to be wrong."

Not a bad way to work in a little character building in your stories by writer Fabian Nicieza. Why he chose to do away with Guardian again just half a year later, after seemingly putting in a certain amount of effort into explaining his personality, remains a mystery to me.  If anyone has any info or suggestions in regards to that, I'm all ears.

Alpha Flight in Marvel Adventures

While writing about the recently-released Guardian Heroclix from the Invincible Iron Man set, I questioned how Alpha Flight came to be considered among Iron Man's allies.  No doubt they've met but they've never had any significant ongoing interaction.

I was reminded of an Alpha Flight appearance in an issue of Marvel Adventures Iron Man (#11, published in March of 2008), however.  It's not in continuity; Marvel Adventures was geared towards a younger crowd.  But Alpha Flight and Iron Man do meet briefly in a story that takes place during a training session in Nunavut.

Writer: Fred Van lente

The Living Laser is back, and having merged with the aurora borealis, he's laying waste to the Great White North. Iron Man had better call in the cavalry! Wait, no--the Mounties! No, better yet--Canada's greatest super heroes, ALPHA FLIGHT!

Here's a page that features Guardian in particular.  You can read the first few page of the book here.

Alpha shows up later in the book as well to provide an assist to Iron Man in defeating the Living Laser (and continue to bicker).  And Guardian didn't die, so that's always a plus.

I've said before that I'm not usually into alternate versions of the character but that one is kind of fun and pretty consistent with the original.  Guardian has a history of being a little starstruck around some of the bigger names in the Marvel universe.  We saw it earlier in a brief appearance in a Fantastic Four book when he unexpectedly met Reed Richards and the next post, up in a day or two, will display another such occurrence.

"And One Shall Surely Die!" T-Shirt

The shirt below appeared in the August Previews magazine among the merchandise that should be hitting store shelves (or racks) by the end of November.

It is unlikely that you would be here and not recognize this as the cover of issue #12 of the original Alpha Flight series.  It is not a personal favourite, admittedly, since the book concluded in the first of many deaths of my favourite character.  But it was undeniably impactful, if the fact that it generated a shirt almost 30 years after its release is not evidence enough.

So I'm a little undecided.

Alpha Flight, Volume Two, Issue Two, Variant Cover

I've just added the trading card at right to the Collectibles page.  As stated there, it is from a Wolverine card set entitled "From Then 'Til Now" from 1992.

The art is Art Adams and I believe Terry Austin.  It served as the cover to Classic X-Men #16, a reprint of Uncanny X-Men 109 which featured the first appearance of Guardian, then known as Weapon Alpha.

The Classic X-Men series not only reprinted the early adventures of the new version of the team after its popularity had begun to soar, but also included a few pages of new material as well.  The point was to, in theory, flesh out the stories a little more and/or add depth to certain characters.  The additional pages from that issue, that involve Guardian, are displayed in this post.

While looking for information about that book/cover, I came across another variant cover that I'd totally forgotten about.  It was for the second issue of Alpha Flight second series.

I forgot about it for the simple reason that I don't have it and probably have not seen it since the book came out in 1997.  Also, it is unusual for a book to have a variant cover for its second issue only.  The primary cover for this particular issue is at right and features frequent Alpha Flight villain The Master.

The second Alpha Flight book was a hit and miss affair for me.  I personally found the art to be difficult to follow most of the time, particularly in the later issues when Duncan Rouleau took over those duties.

When the series started again, with Guardian prominent on the cover, I was excited to pick it up.  But it's quickly revealed that James MacDonald Hudson was "de-evolved" by Department H since his last in-comic appearance and is now a 19-year old.

That would take some getting used to on its own, but he's entirely, frustratingly incompetent as a leader.  He has no respect or authority from his teammates.

The adult Hudson returns later in the book but behind such an idiotic storyline that it's difficult to take it seriously.  In fairness to the writers (Steven Seagle, and I believe Rouleau was assisting in that function as well by then), it seemed as though they got the news of the series' cancellation with rather short notice and wanted to tie up all their loose ends.  Perhaps given the time they could have made Guardian "senior"'s return a touch more palatable.

The young Guardian is killed off in a "now let's never speak of this again" fashion in Wolverine #143.  And that I know of, it was never spoken of again.  Thank you writer Erik Larsen for removing that unnecessary burden from a team and character that already have rather complicated timelines.

Edit Sept 26th: As requested in a comment below, here's the back of the card that I began this post about before rambling off.  It's simple but I quite like it.  I should have thought to include it myself.

Gutters #207

Just came across this funny piece on Twitter, though it's about a year and a half old.

Lol...some harsh words there...Click on the image for the originating page, or right click to view the image in a separate tab.

It cracks me up that Guardian is pissed at a "cancellation".  Now I am actually far from a Marvel Comics fan.  In fact, if they didn't publish Alpha Flight (on occasion) I wouldn't buy any of their material.

However, I give them a bit of a pass on the "cancellation" thing.  I know a lot of fans were annoyed by that, but going back a little further in time, the last Alpha Flight series was actually originally announced as a mini anyway.  It got extended to an ongoing, then Marvel changed those plans.

When the book was first announced as a mini, Alpha Flight fans were happy at the news.  When it went from an ongoing to a mini, fans were irritated.  But the end results was the same.  Really, Marvel would have benefited from not making a decision on the length of the series until a few issues had been released.

In any event, with Puck in X-Factor and Northstar in the X-Men, at the moment I'd be perfectly happy with a mini-series that featured Guardian.  Even if it was extended, then returned to its original mini-series status.