Monday, December 10, 2007

The Omega of Alpha ...

..... ALPHA FLIGHT, that is!

(pictured) Aurora, Guardian, Marrina, Northstar, Puck, Sasquatch, Shaman, Snowbird (not pictured) Box & Heather Hudson. What a team!

Created as a cast-off, even one-shot concept, and originally intended to simply survive a battle with the mega-popular mutants in the now classic X-Men #120 & 121 [from April & May 1979], the Great White Norths heroic representatives of Canada's Department H took on a life of their own and still retain a high degree of affection all these years later.

And that is despite numerous shoddy efforts from various Marvel creative teams to tread a path wholly different from the one laid out by originator John Byrne after he was asked to spin the characters off into their own series. A Canadian himself, Byrne eventually grew tired of what he viewed as a limited property and moved on to other successful series following his 28th and final issue in November 1985.

Still after almost twenty-three years, Alpha Flight's legacy remains a vital part of the eXtended family of the mutant corner of the Marvel Universe and whether dead or just temporarily in hibernation, its inevitable that the first Alphans return at some point to set right the mess that has cropped up in recent efforts to milk the concept.

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