I’ve been waiting for this collection to come to fruition and it has taken a long time for it to arrive, but it’s finally here. Alpha Flight is back! (I know there are many out there thinking “Who?”). Alpha Flight is Canada’s superhero team, created by legendary writer/artist John Byrne, a Canadian himself.

The team first made its debut in the pages of The Uncanny X-Men #120 back in 1979 for Marvel Comics. Alpha Flight was merely a devise used to further add to Wolverine’s back story, as he was once a member of this group (Wolverine is Canadian for those who forgot). But the interest and popularity of this team grew which resulted in Alpha Flight receiving its own regular monthly comic book series in 1983. Twenty-four years later, these stories are relived in Alpha Flight Classic, Volume 1 that collects the first eight issues (from volume one) of this popular series.

“New name? Hey, I busted my buns to be in Alpha Flight. I wanna be in Alpha Flight!!”
—Puck

Department H, a branch of Canada’s Department of National Defence dealing with superpowered individuals, is shutting down its Alpha Flight program, as the Prime Minister of Canada explains to James Macdonald Hudson, also known as the superhero Vindicator. He needs to inform the rest of his team of the situation. However, before that can even happen, they need to take care of a major threat. Tundra, one of the Great Beasts, has awoken and is causing havoc. This menace leads “Mac” Hudson to continue Alpha Flight’s existence without the government’s assistance.

Throughout the course of these first eight issues, John Byrne does something a bit different: he focuses more on the individuals and dealing with stories with one or two of them at a time; the team becomes more of a backdrop. Surprisingly, I found this to be a very interesting exercise at the time, and it worked. The individuals on the team didn’t have the same exposure as their peers, like the X-Men, Avengers and Fantastic Four. This was Byrne’s way of showing their personality traits, and boy were there ever some characters.

Vindicator (James Macdonald “Mac” Hudson) is the leader of the group. A scientist from Ottawa, his suit allows him to fly and manipulate the Earth’s magnetic field. He’s also the only one of the team who wears a version of the maple leaf flag on his suit. I guess you can call him the Captain America for Canada.

Sasquatch (Walter Langowski) is the Hulk on the team. A scientist from British Columbia, he can transform himself into a giant Wookie.

Shaman (Michael Twoyoungmen) is the magic man on the team. From Calgary, this First Nations medicine man is also a very skilled physician, when he isn’t practicing his sorcerer’s ways.

Puck (Eugene Judd) is short in stature but has a big heart. This dwarf-like hero from Saskatoon has enhanced strength and incredible acrobatic abilities. He reminds me of the Beast from the X-men, sans scientific mind.

Marrina is an enigma. Her origins were relatively unknown as she is not human, but has a humanoid form. Her amphibious nature makes her well-suited for underwater activity. She was adopted and raised by a family in Newfoundland and was a member of Beta Flight before becoming a full member of Alpha Flight.

Northstar (Jean-Paul Beaubier) and Aurora (Jeanne-Marie Beaubier) are twins from Montreal. Actually, they are mutants with the abilities of super-speed, flight, light generation, and molecular acceleration. Northstar is a quite arrogant in nature. His sister, on the other, is schizophrenic, alternating between her mousey Jeanne-Marie persona to the confident and sexy Aurora.

Snowbird (Narya) is an Inuit demi-goddess from Yellowknife. She possesses the ability to transform into any animal residing in the Great White North.

This series by John Byrne had a different feel. It was quite evident that it didn’t take place in the United States, as most comic book stories do, as it took advantage of its vast surroundings. At the same time, while it didn’t throw in the clichéd Mountie just to show the readers that this was Canada, other elements took its place, most notably tales that were influenced by the First Nations element.

Byrne was also one of the premiere pencilers of the 1980s and his style worked well with this comic book. He definitely shaped how Alpha Flight looked and gave them a distinct style. Ironically, Byrne never intended Alpha Flight to develop into anything more than what was presented in the pages of The Uncanny X-Men. He was very reluctant in tackling this team and creating stories for the new series. I think he succeeded, though I also feel he was struggling for ideas.

I also find it interesting that this book feels more similar in nature to The New Teen Titans, a book that came out a year later by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez for DC Comics. Both books really focused on the development of its characters, and that was the selling point.

Even though Byrne’s run was short (he only did the first 28 issues), it was perhaps the most memorable run of the team’s history. Alpha Flight Classic, Volume 1 is a nice blast from the past, complete with good storytelling and artwork. I guess it really did need a Canadian to tell a story about Canadians, superpowered or otherwise.


The Canadiana Write-Off party continues with a Canadian superhero team written and drawn by a Canadian. I couldn't make this up even if I tried.


Product Details
ISBN: 0785127461
Format: Paperback, 224pp
Pub. Date: Apr. 2007
Publisher: Marvel Enterprises, Inc.



Recommended: Yes