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.

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.

Guardian Cameo in The Hunt For Wolverine One-Shot

He lives!

No, not Wolverine...We all knew that and I couldn't care any less anyway.

But while searching for something else altogether I found out that Mac is still around to some degree. Yeah, Alpha Flight is some sort of space defense team working with or for Captain Marvel but apparently a Canadian superhero team is still using that name as well.

In Hunt For Wolverine, a group called the Reavers travels to "Alberta, Canada" to attempt to recover Wolverine's adamantium-encased body to sell off. If there was an explanation as to how they knew about its location, I overlooked it (and don't care). Their appearance triggered some kind of alarm, the X-Men show up, defeat the Reavers and hand them over to the Canadian authorities in the form of Alpha Flight.

That is all as far as Guardian is converned. The X-Men's leader (I assume) is Kitty Pride at this point and she seeks out the help of Daredevil and Tony Stark to help find Wolverine. Storm is standing in front of one of, if not the, best friends Wolverine ever had, but let's not let him in on this. He's only died about four times himself. Let's ask Daredevil.

Ah well. It had seemed like Mac had blinked out of existence again in recent months so I'll take whatever crumbs I can find. Maybe it's for best that Mac wasn't around when Marvel went around replacing most of its characters with shitty, shallow replicas.

Speaking of replicas, Alpha Flight appears in the Champions book this month but, sadly, Guardian does not seem to be involved. Too bad.

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.