Back in July of 2019, I looked at the premiere issue of Alpha Flight, a team of superheroes based out of the Great White North, America's Hat: Canada. It gave us a further introduction to the team and its members, and in a twist, it showed that the team had already been disbanded by this point. But the group still vowed to continue protecting Canada despite this. After all, as it was shown, Canada still needed Alpha Flight. So, where did the group go from here? Let's find out in Alpha
The story begins twenty miles southwest of Fort Albany, Ontario. this place has a secret area where the Canadian military tests their top-secret weaponry. However, the skies above the old trading post are not being graced by some new bullet or rocket, they're being graced by a man. In particular, James MacDonald Hudson, the Vindicator. He's just flying along, when he's attacked by the Beaubier twins: Aurora and Northstar.
Page 46, Panel 2
"No fair! I wasn't ready!"
The two managed to send Hudson on a crash course to the ground. He ends up getting caught and tossed by Walter Langkowski, the Sasquatch. He tosses the Vindicator away. There's...a bit of a problem, though. You see, the Beaubier twins' attack messed up the protective forcefield in Vindicator's suit. And considering that Walt is super-strong in his Sasquatch form, and he tossed James very hard...yeah. James is a dead man.
(uh oh)
Not quite! You see, Michael Twoyoungmen, aka Shaman, is able to save the scientist by magically sprouting a tree. You see, Alpha Flight is doing a bit of training. Sasquatch points out that considering what Alpha Flight does, people are going to get some bruises. He gets a bit of karma courtesy of Marrina, and presumably the Albany River.
Page 47, Panels 3-4
"Blast it, Marrina! I just showered last month!"
Eugene Milton Judd, aka Puck, is getting a good laugh out of this, which leads him to get chased by an angry Sasquatch. With this session over, Shaman and Vindicator do a bit of talking. James feels that he doesn't have what it takes to be leader of Alpha Flight, or even be a superhero in general. Not to mention that he's also still haunted by the events of X-Men #109. He does accept that Alpha Flight needs a leader, and that he must play that role. Shaman gives him...an attempt at a pep talk about it. The group get ready to take five.
(break time)
Puck notices that something is up with Marrina. She seems to have a bit of a headache. But then she angrily roars for Puck to not touch her, slashing at his chest.
Page 50, Panel 2
Marrina flees, nightmares and strange images in her head. She feels a powerful urge to return home...wherever that is. She jumps into the river, swimming away at a ludicrous speed. The Beaubiers try to catch up with their own super-speed, but she had too much of a head start. She's still wearing her signal medallion, so she can be tracked. The priority is Puck right now. Marrina hurt him bad, and he needs a hospital.
(call a doctor)
Luckily, Shaman is also a legit medical doctor. The Alphans head to the hospital. Shaman's done all he can, but he's apparently stable for now. With that out of the way, James, the Beaubier twins, and Walt go to find Marrina. Over in Yellowknife, RCMP recordkeeper Anne McKenzie hears Shaman summon her. You see, the young lady is the civilian form of Alpha Flight member Snowbird. She transforms into her super form and leaves as her new boss, Chief Inspector Hamilton, arrives in the room. He's angry about her disappearances due to her activities as Snowbird, as he is unaware that McKenzie is Snowbird.
Real subtle, John. Real subtle.
As she heads out, the other Alphans continue their search. Walt, Jean-Paul, and Jeanne-Marie want to know more about Marrina, and James tells them what he knows.
(story time)
18 years ago, a raging storm hit the seas near Newfoundland. This storm caused problems for a fishing boat known as the Mary D. The boat's captain, Tom Smallwood, tried to get the fishing boat's nets in, but ended up swept out to sea. He was a strong swimmer, but he was tangled in the nets, and the nets' sinkers were pulling him down. As he struggled, he found a glowing object on the sea floor.
Page 57, Panel 2
"A golden egg! I'm RICH!"
The egg ends up being rather buoyant, allowing Smallwood to get up to the surface. He's rescued and the ship returns to port. Tom took the egg home to his wife Gladys and grandson Daniel. Gladys thinks the egg is hatching, so she tries to help whatever it is in there.
Page 58, Panel 3
"Do we...do we eat this?"
The strange child had an appearance as odd as its origins, but it didn't matter to the Smallwoods. They raised the little girl as their own, naming her Marrina. Her community was also welcoming to their new little arrival. Marrina was a born swimmer, often doing so with them. At the age of sixteen, she also had a moment like this. Her adopted brother Daniel called the Canadian Ministry of Defense, and she was brought to Department H, and put in Gamma Flight. You see, unlike the Avengers or many other American super-teams, Alpha Flight works on a tier system in levels of readiness for superhuman defense of Canada. Think a superhero version of a baseball system, going from the minor leagues to the majors. She was one of the first members of Gamma Flight. From there, she went to Beta Flight, and now she was in Alpha Flight. All in a matter of months.
(woo-hoo)
Walt worries that Marrina was put in too quickly, that she wasn't checked out enough. James assures she was and she passed with flying colors. Whatever has gotten into her isn't something you can find with a regular psyche exam. That is what worries James. So, where did Marrina swim off to?
Well, she's headed up north, to the freezing waters of the Arctic. There is something calling to her, a siren song that she not only hears, but cannot resist its call. She walks into a cavern, finding an advanced technological lair in the ice. Every step she takes further inward, she finds herself calmer, more at peace. It's like she belongs here. She then hears someone calling to her. It's a man in a black, white, and red armored suit. He claims he revealed to her what her true nature and purpose is...and to refer to him as the Master. Marrina feels an urge to destroy.
Backup tale time! We go back ten years. A decade ago, James Hudson was working for the Am-Can Petroleum Company, based out of Edmonton. Hudson is not a happy boy, as he learned this experimental new suit he has spent the last four years working on is being turned over to the military. The American military.
(jawdrop)
Yeah. You see, much of the funding that Am-Can has gotten for James's new invention was American, and they have made deals with the American army before. This was explained by future Alpha Flight villain Jerome "Jerry" Jaxon. Hudson is enraged by this as he created the suit for peaceful measures, for exploration, not for combat. As he storms out, he encounters the future Mrs. Hudson, Heather McNeil.
Page 63, Panel 1
"I spent all my rainy day money on this suit!"
That night, James heads to Am-Can, thinking about how he thought Jerry was a friend, someone he could trust. But that turned out to not be the case. Hudson uses the suit to break into the company's vault, and destroys the plans for the suit. He then flies off, the suit using the earth's natural electro-magnetic field. It also comes with a forcefield, which allows James to not only survive the crash landing of the suit in one piece, but ensure the suit itself remains undamaged. James is willing to accept that the suit is Am-Can's, but there is one part they can't have: the special helmet that allows the suit to be run with the wearer's mind. That is his, as he designed and built it before he came to Am-Can. He leaves the suit, taking the helmet with him. After all, the suit is basically a man-sized decoration without it.
Page 66, Panel 5
"I'll make my own suit! With blackjack! And...aw forget it."
If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2007 trade paperback Alpha Flight Classic Vol. 1. Thanks for reading this blog entry!
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