Boy, that’s 90s. And look who’s doing it, Pat Broderick, one of the guys who did cartoony and hyper detailed way before the Image guys made it the default. I’ll be totally honest, I bought this because I needed a few other things and up to a point, more comics justify the shipping cost. It had Spider-Man in it, it was dirt cheap and it made the box heavier, ‘cuz shipping was $7 regardless. Alpha Flight is Canada’s government funded hero team. They were created in the pages of X-Men as part of Wolverine’s history, most likely because John Byrne is Canadian. Beyond that, I’ve never known too much about them. I recognize some of the people on this cover. Sasquatch and Puck, of course, old school members. I think the redhead is probably Heather Hudson, she and her husband being old friends of Wolverine. He was a hero called Guardian, and he died, and she took up his mantle. They had better outfits in the 80s, tho. Now it appears the team has been forced into a matching scheme, except for what I believe is Wild Child down there, who I only recently learned used to be part of “Gamma Flight.” I knew him as Sabretooth’s similar, more feral little buddy in 90s X-Men, so I guess he’s not made that transition yet. This issue comes to us courtesy of writer Simon Furman, probably best known for his long runs on Transformers, and a guest art team (Not that I know who the main team was) of penciler Craig Brasfield and inker Frank Turner, packed by who else, Bob Sharen on colors. And this issue is surprisingly relevant right from page 1. Usually Spider-Man or Wolverine is just awkwardly tossed into someone else’s title to goose sales, but this comic begins with a team of scientists excavating the site of the Hero Killers story in the Spider-Man and New Warriors annuals of 1992. The team is attacked by obscured figures that look like super zombies. 2 nobodies from Alpha Flight were the only heroes killed by the so-called Hero Killers. I have accidentally stumbled into the continuation of that. Kinda neat, actually. Well, we’re told it’s then 2 weeks after the scientists are attacked, and we’re at the funeral of those nobodies, Silver & Auric. That lady on the cover is, indeed, Heather Hudson, aka Guardian. And you know who else is at this funeral?
I mean, this is a surprisingly well-founded guest appearance. And he didn’t even have to go to Canada!
I did not know Wild Child ever went by Wildheart, but it seems like they’re kinda interchangeable. Well, not satisfied with just a Spider-Man guest spot, Alpha Flight goes to the closest available source of assistance: The X-Men. Heather has Professor X try to sense their missing teammates, but he can only scan for living mutants. Heather wonders why someone would steal their bodies.
Puck means he wants Spider-Man to take him to a seedy bar to fight everyone in it as a way of getting info about this Chess Set, like Daredevil. Spider-Man even says he should introduce the two as he & Puck fight their way through a bar. A pretty OG looking Spider-Man here, despite the more 90s-y cover. No one knows anything, so they go to another bar, and we skip ahead to Alpha Flight and Spider-Man in a helicopter, checking out a supposedly abandoned airstrip that has a lot of weird sci fi planes on it, and on closer inspection, The Rhino.
That is a bold costume. To put it mildly.
Quite an array of villains. Jack O’Lantern, Klaw, The Grey Gargoyle, an AIM guy, guy I don’t know, Fixer, in the front row. Stilt-Man, Mandrill, Taskmaster, Doc Ock, The Fenris Twins I think, and Beetle in the next. Constrictor, Trapster, one of the U-Foes, Arcade, not sure who the armor guy is. Controller, is that Molecule Man?, Cobra, don’t know, Ringmaster. And some Hydra goons, Mysterio, and some guy in a hood in back. Villains from all over the Marvel U. And that’s not even getting into this goofy Chess Set. Killer Queen looks like the dream of a basically nude woman Dansen Macabre seemed to be finally realized by the more extreme 90s. So absurd. Over-Knight? Speaking of absurd.
Caliber is not renowned at all, I would say. Never heard of him. So we’re really following up on the events of New Warriors Annual 2 here, which makes it odd this came out so much later. I have trouble pinning down just when most annuals came out, but I would guess this issue is around a year after the Hero Killers. A bit late.
The image of Ock just bookin’ it is pretty funny and out of character, but they had to get rid of most of these villains quickly, one assumes. That’s not even discussing his outdated wardrobe. It’s pretty quickly just Alpha and Spidey vs. The Chess Set. That naked lady is constantly striking hilarious, sad poses. Hey, why is a chess-themed villain team led by the bishop? Well, some of the other villains are still there, like Taskmaster and Klaw, who zaps Guardian pretty bad. Then I learn Brass Bishop can teleport and has a “sixth sense,” sort of like Spider-Man’s danger sense, and he uses both powers to get the drop on our hero. Spidey heard about this from Puck. How is Puck the only one who’s dealt with these jokers, I don’t think he did much solo stuff.
Look, lady, we all need room to sow our death dust, just do your best. With Nemesis having cut open the thingy, combat is stopped by the emergence of a glowing, powerful, very 90s looking guy who claims to contain the essence of the scientist guy and Silver and Auric.
And that, rather jarringly, is the last page. A very 60s “run-out-of-pages” ending. Still, I’m pleased this thing I bought almost at random was more relevant than expected. This comic sure didn’t feature some of the characters on the cover. The letter col says Pat Broderick & Bruce Patterson were the regular art team, and that they’ll be back next issue for the beginning of Alpha Flight’s tie-ins to the 3rd part of Jim Starlin’s increasingly misnamed Infinity Trilogy, The Infinity Crusade. And next post, we check out Web’s tie-in to same!