The cover is pretty cool. A John Byrne piece, it depicts a smirking Aurora standing over a fallen man. Her pose and facial expression show menace, hinting she's the reason why the man is in the state he's in. It could also imply that she's not quite done yet, hence the captions. The only complaint is that the cover is misleading. An event like this happens in the actual comic, but it's not quite the big dea lthe cover portrays it as.
"The Importance of Being Deadly"
Writer: John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: John Byrne
Colorist: Andy Yanchus
Letterer: Michael Higgins
Editor: Denny O'Neil (RIP), Linda Grant
The story begins with Jean-Paul Beaubier watching his sister Jeanne-Marie emerge from a psychologist's office in Montreal.
Jean-Paul asks how it went, and Jeanne-Marie basically tells him "It's fine, I'm okay." However, the doc wants to talk to the skier-turned-mutant superhero in private. The doc hasn't been able to find anything mentally wrong with the schoolteacher, much to Jean-Paul's chagrin. Although to be fair, he's only had one meeting with her. Northstar knows Jeanne-Marie has a split personality, but fears he can't confess it unless he admits that they're members of Alpha Flight. Dude, you and your sister don't even wear masks! Also, Alpha Flight was created by the Canadian government. Wouldn't they have a psychologist on staff for stuff like this?
Anyway, with that a bit of a bust, Jean-Paul decides to treat his beloved sister to lunch. And he happens to know a great place to eat. There's a little restaurant owned by an old friend of Northstar: a monsieur Raymonde Belmonde.
Belmonde was a man who helped the superfast mutant through some...rough times in his life. A mugger snatches and tries to make off with Jeanne-Marie's purse, but Aurora manages to easily catch up with him.
Unlike the shy and timid Jeanne-Marie, the confident Aurora has no issue mouthing off the thief...and knocking out some of his teeth at super-speed. The two take the thief to the cop to get him incarcerated. However, it turns out someone had paid his bail. The thief works for a man known as Ernest St. Ives, aka "Deadly Ernest". Ernest is a known criminal mastermind in town, but they've never really been able to get any charges on him that stuck.
It's also believed that St. Ives has connection to the American Maggia, the Marvel Universe's version of the Mafia. You may know of them from my review of Avengers #31 (August 2000). Montreal in real-life does have some Mafia connections, so I can imagine that's what inspired Byrne here. It's here that we finally get to meet Northstar's old friend and mentor.
Northstar finds it odd that Belmonde's restaurant is so empty. After all, it's the lunch hour. It should be bustling with activity. Belmonde hints that St. Ives is responsible for this, but someone else reminds him its none of the Beaubier twins' concern.
Meet Danielle, Raymonde's daughter. Jean-Paul is shocked by this revelation. After all, he's known Raymonde for years...and the older man never told him he had any children. Well, that's because she only just returned to his life. Her mother had passed away a couple months ago, and she's been living with him ever since. She's a student at McGill University. Aurora is more interested in St. Ives. It turns out that St. Ives has been using local hoodlums to scare off anyone who wants to eat at Belmonde's restaurant. But why would a crimelord bother a restauranteur?
Well, we get to find out why. A pair of bodyguards enter the restaurant and grab Raymonde...and Aurora. They take the two to a waiting limousine. The presence of the vehicle seems to cause a chill in the street, like death was occupying it in a way. Raymonde tells Ernest that his café is not for sale.
Ernest takes off his glove, saying that he had offered Raymonde a gift. If Ernest owned the business, Raymonde could retire. Spend time with grandchildren. Enjoy his twilight years. But since Raymonde won't sell, Ernest has no choice. The crime boss reaches out...and touches the restauranteur's face.
Like the X-Men's Rogue, Ernest St. Ives has a toxic touch. Raymonde collapses dead in front of a horrified Northstar and Danielle. St. Ives takes Aurora hostage and drives off. Northstar is horrified. It can be interpreted here that not only was Raymonde the first person that Jean-Paul confided the fact he was a mutant to, he was also the first person that Jean-Paul came out as gay to. The story ends with the former skiing star vowing that the corpulent crimelord will die by his hand.
The scene shifts to the newly-constructed Southbrook Mall in Winnipeg. A man there is holding public chess matches against anyone who wants to play the Game of Kings. But, it's time for him to have some lunch.
This is Alec Thorne, aka Smart Alec. Once a member of Gamma Flight, he had created a special helmet that allowed him boosted intellect and increased perceptive abilities. But thanks to the Canadian government shutting down the Flight programs (As shown in Alpha Flight #1), Alec's been left to do mental stunts like the public chess game. And he hates it. He's smarter than everyone else in that mall put together, yet he's reduced to tricks like this. However, things may be looking up for him.
This woman, a Miss Delphine Courtney (with that haircut), has an offer for Alec. One that he finds too appealing to turn down. There's also a second story included with this issue.
"Origins of Alpha Flight: Let a Child Be Born"
Writer: John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: John Byrne
Colorist: Andy Yanchus
Letterer: Michael Higgins
Editors: Denny O'Neil (RIP), Linda Grant
We next travel to an archaeological dig above the Arctic Circle, 15 years in the past. One of the people working at the dig, a Richard Easton, finds a strange metal headband.
That night, Easton tries to sleep. However, he hears strange voices calling to him to put on the headband. When he does...
Easton gets visited by the gods of Inuit myth, particularly Nelvanna, goddess of the Northern Lights. As I said in my review of Alpha Flight #1, I don't think there was an actual goddess named Nelvanns in Inuit myth. She was likely inspired by a Golden Age Canadian heroine. Nelvanna is given the form of a beautiful blonde woman.
Why is she doing this? Well, there are great evils coming in the future, and humanity needs a champion to face them. Nelvanna and Easton can create the future champion by...hopping off the good foot and doing the bad thing, as Austin Powers would say.
After what seemed to be one night, Easton returns. He's a bit confused, but he's found by a couple of his fellow dig workers. Easton wonders what happened to the dig, as it's all covered up. It's been nine years since he took his little trip. Easton's mind then unravels, fleeing into the harsh Canadian wilderness. Yeah, remember the crazy guy that summoned Tundra in issue #1? That was Easton.
A year passes, and a certain Tsuut'ina shaman has arrived. Michael Twoyoungmen was attracted here by the strong mystical forces permeating the area. He conjures up Nelvanna, who is ready to birth the child she conceived with Easton. With his help, the birth is successful. The story ends with Michael holding a little blonde baby demi-goddess in his arms, the future Snowbird.
Remember when Nelvanna was given the form of a blonde woman earlier? I think this was meant to explain why despite Snowbird being the daughter of an Inuit goddess, she looked like a white woman.
This comic was pretty good. It was really cool that we got a bit of a window into the past of Northstar, a peek of the experiences he had that helped mold him into the man he is today. I would have loved to have learned more about him and Raymonde together. I can imagine that maybe Jean-Paul's first job was working at Raymonde's restaurant. The Marvel Appendix's entry on Raymonde interpreted their relationship as maybe they were lovers at one point. Personally, I found that rather...squicky. Northstar was presumably very young, likely in his early-to-mid teens when he and Raymonde met, and Raymonde is clearly two/three decades older than Jean-Paul. Yeah, you can imagine why that's...yeah. The story implies that maybe Raymonde himself was a member of the LGBTQ+ community as well, considering his dialogue.
I also enjoyed the backup tales, particularly the one depicting the origin of Snowbird. However, I realized something from this. The story was set fifteen years before "the present". Easton spent nine years in Nelvanna's company (although from his perspective, it was one night). A year later, Narya was born. Do the math. Snowbird would have been five years old in "the present". Demi-god genetics are weird.
John Byrne turns in some great artwork for this issue. One detail I thought was pretty clever was in the beginning. He showed the visual difference between Jeanne-Marie and Aurora with their clothing and hair. Jeanne-Marie's hair is slicked back and she looks proper and buttoned up. When she switches to Aurora, her hair is a bit wilder (eventually undone), and her shirt is unbuttoned, showing a bit of skin. A good visual way to show how different the two personalities are, character-wise.
If you want to read this for yourself, hunt down the 2007 trade paperback Alpha Flight Classic Vol. 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay home, stay healthy, wash your hands often, and please wear a mask. Join me next time, when we look at a most...unusual superteam...
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