Guardian of...Orchis?

One post in each of 2018, 2019 and 2020...and I couldn't even manage that much in 2021. The simple truth is that I seldom see any evidence that Guardian is showing up anywhere so my interest is directed elsewhere.

I don't know what possessed me to look for recent Guardian appearances earlier today but I did come across at least a minor one in a book called S.W.O.R.D. The image below is from the sixth issue, cover dated August 2021 and released in June. 

Presumably like Guardian, I've never heard of Orchis either. According to Marvel Comics' website...

Orchis may have been formed out of the fear of humanity’s impending extinction, but the scientific minds behind it are more than just hate mongers. They truly believe that Orchis is the only hope they have to keep mutants from ascending to control of the Earth within the next few generations. That belief has allowed disparate factions from Hydra, A.I.M., S.H.I.E.L.D., Alpha Flight, S.W.O.R.D., S.T.R.I.K.E., A.R.M.O.R., and H.A.M.M.E.R. to come together under a united banner.

Sounds somewhat genocidal-leaning, though I'm sure it's being sold in a far different way to our hero who does end up joining, based on the preview material for issue #9.

I know Guardian appears in issue #11 as well, which I believe was the final one in the series. Granted the perception is only based on previews but it doesn't seem like he does much besides act as a sounding board for this Gyrich guy.

If these go cheap during a sale at some point I might get them but in the meantime, they don't appear to be essential material. Perhaps as Orchis grows as an enemy to the mutants, Guardian's role will be expanded? We'll see. For all I know at the moment, he's given this guy the finger and gone home. 

Old Man Logan 46/47

Please indulge me as I correct an error I made 18 months ago.

In a post from June 2019, I stated that the Alpha Flight special called True North was the first significant appearance by Guardian in the previous five years. That was actually not the case.

Guardian and a few members of Alpha Flight (the real one) appeared in a two-part story in the Old Man Logan book in 2018. I either whiffed on it or ignored it at the time, assuming that it would have been some future or alternate version of the team.

I'm glad I gave it a longer look, even if it was more two years later. It was arguably the character's best guest appearance (as opposed to a single panel cameo) in quite some time. And you don't need to know the Old Man Logan back story to follow it.

Here are some highlights, if you did too. As usual, click on the images to enlarge them. 

Mac shows up early on in the issue for a scheduled pick up of Logan.

Sweet ride! 

They head to the town of Shag Harbour in Nova Scotia. It has been overwhelmed by some sort of purple plant creature. 

Mac finds the source and collects a sample from it to study on the ship. 

So he exits from the story for a spell. While he's studying away, the actions of the rest of Alpha Flight, Logan and a handful of remaining townspeople cause the creature to stir to life and lash out.

We move on issue #47 after Mac is called back down to help out. 

Whoa, slow down on the technical jargon, Poindexter! 😄

They discover that fire can cause the plant creature harm (that hardly seems like a leap of logic). Logan jumps in the middle of it and lights a number of gas cans in order to kill it.

Of course, getting out of the middle of that conflagration is a more difficult deal, unless you have the country's top petrochemical engineer and his awesome flight suit around.

In a number of ways, this book was similar to Alpha Flight's appearance in a few issues of Amazing X-Men in 2014. That one also started with the team investigating a mystery in a small town in Canada.

This Logan story, written by Ed Brisson, was far more coherent and, in my opinion, respectful. In the X-Men issues, you'd have sworn that the writers had no clue as to what Alpha Flight had been up to in the past decade, and didn't much care.

While I am personally not particularly crazy about the direction in which Brisson took Guardian in True North, that is not the case with either that story or these two Logan books. The team's recent history is acknowledged and built upon. I'm thankful to Mr. Brisson for keeping the character in circulation to some extent.

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 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.

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.

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".

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.

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.

Guardian Year One

Not being particularly interested in Wolverine's early days aside from his interaction with James MacDonald Hudson, I was a little unsure as to how much I would enjoy this book.  Now that I've read it, I'm still not certain I do.

The book describes itself as a "contemporary retelling" of Wolverine's formative years, but since much of that period was spent with, and impacted by, the Hudsons, it is nearly inevitable that their history will be affected by any modification or modernization to Logan's.  That includes the sudden revelation of an early model of the Guardian armour.

Such "touch ups" don't have to be a bad thing.  For example, the "Hudson hunting honeymoon" has ceased to be.  The Hudsons don't shoot Wolverine in the wild and nurse him back to health, but rather recover him following his devastating battle against the Wendigo.  The hunting aspect is not specifically important to the scene so its  removal doesn't negatively affect it.  Really, it arguably improves it as the Hudsons have never shown an interest in hunting since, that I can recall.

What does seem out of place is Mac's dialogue throughout much of the book.  Many of his actions that appear to be out of character can be explained as the result of his patriotism being abused by his superiors.  That's historically consistent so not difficult to accept.

But his words towards Logan are often malicious and petty.  A lot of them are spoken after Wolverine has put Heather in harms way, so the anger is understandable at that moment, but it persists well beyond that point and is far worse than the trash-talking type of dialogue in X-Men 109.

The other inconsistency is in Mac's confidence.  Mac's reluctance to wear the battle suit is well documented.  In this story, not only does he do so without a second thought, he takes to it like a fish to water.  During a scrap with Wolverine in which he has the upper hand, he even states "I could do this all day".  He seems more comfortable with the suit in this book than he does in his next chronological appearance (again, X-Men 109).

While a lot of gaps in Wolverine's (and by association, Guardian's) background are filled in, because some of the story is inconsistent with other works, it feels like it's out of continuity.  But based on the pitch as a retelling (not re-imagining), it doesn't seem like that should be the case.

As a stand alone book, both the story and art are quite good.  If you're detail-oriented, those little inconsistencies may get on your nerves.  I found myself trying to consolidate parts of the book with what I know has gone on since that period in Wolverine's life until I realised that it's not my job to do that, it's the writers'.

To be fair, my focus was on Guardian.  Theirs was on Wolverine.  My criticism might be a touch more valid if this book had been "Alpha Flight: Season One" which, regardless of my opinion of this book, I would buy in a heartbeat.

Of Clothes Not Making The Man

I really don't like Wolverine.  This is why I had no idea that Mac (and Heather) are both quite prominent in the recently released "Wolverine: Season One" book until it was reviewed on alphaflight.net.  I sought out the book at Chapters and gave it a quick flip which, combined with the above review, convinced me that it was a worthwhile purchase.  I saved a few bucks by purchasing it online instead of in the store, so it's in the mail and I should have it by Monday.

The part of the review which was particularly attention-grabbing was the mention of a Guardian suit prototype being tested (click on the link above to see a small scan of one panel on which the suit is displayed).  I suppose it makes sense that the path from the original clunky mining suit to the micro-circuitry uniform that we've come to know would be achieved gradually, but it seems like this one came out of nowhere.  We'll see.

In the meantime, seeing another version of the Guardian armour triggered an idea.  Much like the "About Guardian" page was expanded to include information about the character's creation (and not just his fictional history), details about other armours worn by James MacDonald Hudson will be added to the "The Suit" page above.

Most of the alternative suits are completely brutal, true, but they are part of Guardian's muddled history so they should be acknowledged.  I guess.

"I Strike for Earth!"

Shortly after stating that I would only include "significant" (in my estimation) Guardian involvement on the Appearances page (above right), I'm changing gears a little bit.

I stumbled into Super Mega Monkey's Comics Chronology page recently and was reminded of a couple of cameo appearances by Guardian / Alpha Flight from the early 80's.  They were, looking back, my first exposure to Guardian (Vindicator at the time).

It could be argued that they helped him and the Alpha cement their place in the Marvel Universe. They established that Alpha Flight didn't just happen to be present when the X-Men had business in Canada.

The following actually trigger some fond memories for me.  French is my first language.  I used comics to help me learn the English language.  I did buy some X-Men books at the time, but began to do so only shortly after Alpha Flight had made their debut.

I do recall getting Contest of Champions in 1982, one of the series that SMMCC fits into continuity.  In this 3-part book, all of Earth's heroes, Alpha Flight included, are gathered to basically act as gladiators for the Grandmaster and his mystery opponent.  Sasquatch is actually the most prominent Alpha Flight team member throughout the 3-issue series, but Guardian shows up in a couple of panels (one of which is at right).

Later that same year Guardian (still Vindicator) and Alpha Flight appeared in three Incredible Hulk issues, numbers 277 to 279.

In that story, the U-Foes make a very public attempt to kill the Hulk.  After managing to escape and defeat the U-Foes, the Banner-brained behemoth asks for help from his fellow heroes to petition for a presidential pardon.  And wouldn't you know it, the collection of heroes is attacked by aliens (or they appear to be) right on the White House lawn!  And that collection includes Guardian (although you may need to squint to see him in some panels).

Mac appears in other group shots and in a "diplomatic greeting" in the final issue with Alpha Flight behind him.

A selection of his early appearances is included on this page of the Comics Chronology.  Again for the sake of giving proper credit, the images above are cropped from scans that are displayed on the SMMCC pages.

They are only brief appearances, but potentially of interest to some.  Therefore, they (as well as an even earlier one from Fantastic Four #220) are now included on the Appearances page for the sake of being thorough, but are simply identified as cameos.

Hulk-Buster Guardian

Over the past few months I've been working on acquiring the Guardian appearances that are missing from my collection.

The difficult part is knowing when an appearance is actually worthwhile.  I don't want to buy a book if Guardian and/or Alpha Flight only appears in the background in one panel.  Or as corpses.

So confession time: On occasion I obtain "free" version of digital books to see if they're worth adding to the pile.

Now I was fully prepared to get the "Rules of Engagement" and "The Draco" storylines from the X-Men books in 2003 and 2004 respectively.  From what I could gather from reviews, Alpha Flight was prominent enough in them that they would be worth the expense.

I could also gather that the books, written by Chuck Austen, sucked.  It seemed like a near consensus among X-Men fans that this was a terrible period in that team's history.  Whatever.  It was just a couple of issues anyway and it's not as though all of the Alpha Flight books are gold, either.

Even approaching these books with that mentality however, it's difficult to conclude that these books are anything but crap.

Let's start with the atrocity at right.  You'd be excused if you didn't recognize him, but that is our Guardian in his appearance in X-Men #432 (2004).

We are meant to believe that, fully expecting to encounter Juggernaut, the team (Guardian, Heather as Vindicator and Sasquatch...where was everyone else??) wore specially-designed armour for the occasion.

The only thing dumber than Sasquatch wearing armour is Guardian wearing (traditional) armour, since his usual suit allows him to create a force field anyway.  So what is the point?

Well, there may have been one (does Marvel still award no-prizes for fixing their mistakes?).  In the team's earlier appearance (#422) Northstar completely punks Guardian.  He (Northstar) uses his familiarity with his former teammate to disable and strip Guardian's standard armour.

Let's give the benefit of the doubt, assume that Guardian reacted accordingly (which even if true, wouldn't explain why Sasquatch would wear armour too) and replaced his usual attire with an outfit that Northstar knows nothing about.  How did that work out?

Not so great then. In the previous page, Guardian gets a few solid shots in, but then a suit of armour supposedly designed to combat Hulk-type characters actually makes it easier for Juggernaut to whoop on Guardian.  "Convenient hand-grip" indeed.

Ah well.  I got to read this book for free and I got my money's worth.  Maybe I'll patiently wait to find it in a dollar bin one day.

Boulevard of Broken Teams

I had a little cottage time this past weekend and brought a few comics to read for chilly mornings and evenings.  Among my batch, three involved appearances by Guardian and they were all issues from Wolverine's book from the mid-90's; numbers 83, 84 and 95.

I've owned these for a while and I dig them up from time to time when I get on a Guardian and/or Alpha Flight kick.  They take place between that team's volumes one and two.  Heather also guest-stars in all three issues.

All are written by Larry Hama.  What is peculiar is that while Mac is written as the standard "ordinary guy" in the first two issues, he's actually quite the jackass in #95.

He and Heather are in Manhattan to keep an eye on Wolverine for fear that he might have lapses in self-control and become violent.  Mac is irritating throughout most of the book as he feels responsible for whatever damage Wolverine may cause by flipping out.  He seems entirely out of character, but at least this is acknowledged in how Heather is constantly telling him to calm down and trust Logan.

Personality discrepancies aside, I always get a kick out of this panel:

An apparent reference to Boulevard of Broken Dreams, I always forget it's coming and it cracks me up to see Mac and Heather in full gear in a coffee shop. Maybe Logan could have gotten the java "to go", eh?

No real sign of Mac's Antiguard persona, though Mac feeling slighted at being described as "distant" might be residue from that story.  I believe the next time we saw Mac, he had been de-evolved into a 19-year old at the beginning of the Alpha Flight, volume two, number one.