From: Dwayne MacKinnon <[910252 m] at [dragon.acadiau.ca]> Subject: DMK's Guide to Alpha Flight (Part 2 of 3) To: [n s pace] at [sd.cts.com] Date: Wed, 22 Nov 1995 00:32:47 -0400 (AST) Mime-Version: 1.0 GUARDIAN II Real Name: Heather McNeil Hudson Other Aliases: Vindicator II Group Affiliation: Alpha Flight (Current leader) First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #139 Creator: John Byrne Born into a rather large family, Heather McNeil had some rather interesting neighbours: Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen, his wife Kathryn and daughter Elizabeth. After Kathryn Twoyoungmen's death Elizabeth lived with the McNeils, and Heather and Liz grew up much like sisters. At a rather young age (17) Heather found herself working as a secretary for Jerome "Jerry" Jaxon at the Am-Can Petrochemical Corporation. [Note: Due to this information I've come to the interesting conclusion that Heather never completed high school. - Compiler] It was there that she first met James MacDonald Hudson. For Heather, it was love at first sight. When Hudson quit to protest the sale of his experimental armor to the American Military, Heather gave her two weeks notice as well. The next day she showed up at Hudson's apartment with a box of groceries. She quickly discovered that Jimmy had stolen the cybernetic helmet that operated the armor. Heather's response? "Well, a wife can't testify against her husband anyways." Although Hudson was rather shocked, he admitted an immediate attraction as well. It was at Heather's suggestion that Jimmy Hudson contacted the Federal government. This led to a "smoothing over" of things with Am-Can and Hudson receiving employment with the Department of National Defence. After relocating to Ottawa the two were soon married. During their honeymoon James and Heather came accross the wild man that the world has come to know as Wolverine. After Department H was disbanded by the federal government it was Heather Hudson who was responsible for Alpha Flight getting back together. Heather didn't want her "handsome hubby" going into battle up north all alone... so she activated Alpha's call beacons. Heather was present when her husband was seemingly blown to ashes after a battle with Omega Flight. However, she quickly bounced back from her tragedy. Heather eventually assumed leadership of her husband's team, first as a non-costumed operative and then wearing a copy of Jimmy's battlesuit. As leader of Alpha Flight she first used the code-name Vindicator and then adopted the name Guardian, paralelling her husband. Heather Hudson has since suffered through both a resurrection, a death, and then a second resurrection of her husband. [You could argue that she suffered through THREE resurrections, but the one in Alpha #25 was a hoax - Compiler] The two are currently apparently happy together, although there were some indications that Heather was becoming romantically interested in Alpha member Wildheart just before Jimmy's second "comeback." Heather Hudson's battlesuit enables her to fly at speeds up to Mach 1, has a protective force-field and can project beams of concussive force of up to 250 pounds of TNT. These beams can be used to tunnel through bedrock (the original purpose of the suit) at speeds of up to 25 miles an hour. The suit also has had a variety of other offensive options retconned in. [Kindly note the sarcasm - Compiler] The suit is capable of rendering Guardian "at rest" to the rotation of the planet, providing an immediate, extreme accleration westward. Finally, the suit is capable of creating funnels out of plasma, but this capability has not been used since the days of Byrne. JADE DRAGON Real Name: Dei Guan Group Affiliation: Member of 3-Peace, former member of China Force First Appearance: Alpha Flight #59 Creator: Bill Mantlo Dei Guan was a labourer in a Chinese re-education camp when he was approached by a mysterious being calling himself a "geomancer" - a wizard of the earth. This being talked of how dragons of old once lent their powers to warriors, their wisdom to priests and their ability to heal to physicians. Guan passed out at this point, but later discovered that he had gained the ability to transform into a dragon. He soon came to the attention of the State, and joined the State-run super-human team called China Force. Guan was on-duty with the Red Army when they attempted to capture a Buddhist monastery. This monastery was at the time being visited by Puck, who was searching for passage to other dimensions. What happened though is that Puck ended up returning his friends in Alpha Flight from the Dreamqueen's realm. When the Head Llama returned Alpha Flight to Canada, Dei was caught in the effect and taken too. There he became a "guest" of the Canadian government for some time. The Chinese government, believing him to have defected, sent China Force to get him back. [Hmnn. Shades of Uncanny #109, #120-121, eh? :) - C] After China Force was tricked into fighting Alpha Flight at the West Edmonton Mall [What is it with the W.E. Mall and Alpha fights? :) - C] Dei Guan willingly stepped through an interdimensional portal to China, hoping to prove himself innocent of the defection charges. In recent times however, Guan's politics seem to have changed. He most recently appeared as part of the super-human group of dissidents called 3-Peace. Dei Guan was mystically granted the ability to transform into a dragon. His secondary form has great strength, toughness, the ability to fly and the ability to shoot fire. Enough said. JEANNE-MARIE Full name: Jeanne-Marie Beaubier Group Affiliation: Alpha Flight First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #120 Creator: John Byrne Jeanne-Marie Beaubier was orphaned as an infant and separated from her twin brother, Jean-Paul. While Jean-Paul was adopted by a family named the Martins, Jeanne-Marie ended up in a Catholic girls school that adhered to the strict discipline of the Victorian era. Such an environment was ill-suited for a child with such a delicate spirit as Jeanne-Marie's. Finally, after enduring years of psychological and physical abuse, the young girl could stand it no longer. At the age of roughly 14 she went up on the roof of the school and flung herself to her death, even though being Catholic she considered the act to be a mortal sin. However, Jeanne-Marie did not fall. Tapping into her mutant abilities for the first time ever, she instead flew. The deeply religious Beaubier considered this to be a miracle. When she came down, she went to Soeur Anne, the head nun at the school, and told her everything. The nun considered the child to be blaspheming, and administered the worst beating the child had suffered yet. Later on, while crying in the bathroom, Jeanne-Marie looked in the mirror and saw... another face. Her own, yet not her own. That night Beaubier flew away from the school and entered the night life in the nearby city. This was the first manifestation of Beaubier's problem with Multiple Personality Disorder, and the first appearance of the personality that would become known as Aurora. Upon her return the next day, Beaubier once again was severely punished. However, Beaubier stayed on at the school, eventually rising to the rank of teacher. Her second personality had stayed buried for years. But on the eve of her greatest triumph (her gaining her teacher's position,) Aurora once again made herself known, and Beaubier took off to check out the night life in Montreal. While there, Beaubier's purse was grabbed by a mugger. She proceeded to knock the man out with super-speed punches. A second mugger was "persuaded" to leave by the man known only as Logan. Realizing the girl was more than she seemed, Logan persuaded her (quite easily, as Aurora had quite a taste for adventure) to travel to Ottawa to meet James MacDonald Hudson. Beaubier then became part of Department H. The Aurora personality remained dominant for most of Beaubier's original stint in Alpha. However, Jeanne-Marie's personality did surface from time to time, usually in periods of great stress. One such case was Alpha Flight's original encounter with the Master of the World. Another was after Aurora and Sasquatch's encounter with the alchemist known as Gilded Lily. After that encounter Jeanne-Marie used her superhuman abilities as "herself" for the first time since she jumped off of her school's roof-top. Shortly thereafter though, the Jeanne-Marie personality remained shoved firmly in the background while the Aurora personality stayed in firm control. It was almost as if the Jeanne-Marie persona had disappeared from Beaubier's psyche. Indeed, the Aurora personality evolved so that it took on some of Jeanne-Marie's better traits. This continued through Aurora's retirement from the team after seemingly giving up her powers in the realm of the Asgardian Dark Elves. Indeed, this was the case until Aurora became the victim of the psychotic telepath known as Headlok, after rejoining the team during the conclusion of the Sorcerer affair. The end result of the encounter with Headlok is that Beaubier is back to her original split-personality. It must be noted, however, that Jeanne-Marie and Aurora fight each other much less these days, and that neither of them fight the personality switches. Jeanne-Marie has come to the conclusion that since her life will never be normal, she might as well become more of a participant in the abnormal parts of her life. Hence, she acts as a member of Alpha Flight even when Aurora is not in control. Shortly after joining Alpha Flight Beaubier became romantically involved with fellow member Walter Langkowski. This relationship has continued on-and-off for the past several years. Recently, just before the team was suspended, it became evident that Langkowski was attempting to revive the relationship once again... but this time with the Jeanne-Marie personality. More recently still, it was revealed that Aurora entered a relationship with Kyle Gibney, a.k.a. Wild Child. That relationship is currently on the rocks. Whether the Jeanne-Marie personality had anything to do with the Gibney romance, or whatever became of the Langkowski angle, is unknown at this time. [This appearance also had Aurora describe herself as having mood swings and being shizophrenic, not to mention having her act utterly insane. Three inconsistencies that I'm not likely to forget or forgive. Hey Corvese, I'd like to have a discussion with you on the responsibilities of being an editor... - C] Jeanne-Marie Beaubier is a mutant capable of moving at extreme super-human speeds, whether by flight or by running. She can also swim at high speed by "flying" through the water. Beaubier also has the ability to emanate light from her body at will. She has used this light for a variety of purposes, whether to blind opponents, hypnotize them, or even in some strange way heal people. It has been shown that there are differences in the light powers of the Jeanne-Marie personality and the Aurora personality. In a recent issue of X-Factor [#116 - C] Aurora was shown to posess a concussive energy blast. Whether or not Jeanne-Marie is able to use such a blast is unknown at this time. [Compiler's note: Furman had Jeanne-Marie/ Aurora pulling new abilities out of a hat time after time, so the concussion bit isn't TOO much of a stretch. Not NECESSARY, imho, but not too much of a stretch.] Beaubier was originally only able to project light by clasping hands with her brother. This would cause an extremely bright light to be radiated in all directions. After Aurora's genetic structure was altered by Walter Langkowski in an experiment, she gained the ability to project light on her own. Her touch would also cause both her powers and her brother's to be temporarily nullified. In recent times however, the twins' mutual power seems to have returned. Jeanne-Marie retains the ability to project light on her own, however. LLAN THE SORCERER Real Name: Unapplicable Group Affiliation: None First Appearance: Alpha Flight #71 Creator: James D. Hudnall Llan is an ancient source of mystic evil which is apparently bent on the corruption of humanity. He pops up every ten thousand years or so, and each time is faced by the bearer of the Talisman. Each encounter is apparently done under some form of rules; who drew up these "rules of engagement" is unknown. In his most recent try, Llan took the form of a super-villain, since it seemed appropriate to the time. He then proceeded to trick Talisman into striking at him first, which freed him to act as he pleased. Llan then trapped Talisman (along with the rest of Alpha) in a series of back-water dimensions for three months of real-world time while he made and implemented his plans. The Canadian government had previously planned to create a new, government controlled super-team (Alpha was at the time acting as free agents, based out of Edmonton.) Llan took control of this project and influenced the leaders to outlaw Alpha. This would lead to violence, and it was violence of epic porportions that Llan needed to open the "Gateway of Night" and release an army of demons on Canada and then the rest of the world. Talisman eventually succeeded in defeating Llan by opening the counterpart to the Gateway of Night: the Gateway of Day. [I know, I know. What a cliche, huh? It's not as bad as it sounds here though. - C] Apparently according to the rules of engagement, the two opposing armies cancel each other out if they exist on the same plane simultaneously. With Llan's defeat everything returned to normal. Llan is one of those fun characters that have too much power to quantify or qualify. So there. :) MANIKIN Real Name: Whitman Knapp Group Affiliation: Beta Flight First Appearance: Alpha Flight #43 Creator: Bill Mantlo Whitman Knapp first became known to Alpha Flight while he was working as an intern with Lionel Jeffries. Knapp stated at the time that he had decided to work with Jeffries because of admiration for Jeffries' capabilities, despite the fact that Jeffries had lost his medical license years before. When Jeffries' sanity finally snapped for good, he turned on Knapp, transforming him with his abilities. He revealed that the only reason he had allowed Knapp to be around was because Knapp had potential super-human abilites; as these abilities had never manifested Scramble gave up on the young man and left him to die. The stress of these events caused Knapp's abilities to manifest themselves. He split into four beings: a blob of protoplasm, an early speciman of humanity, a form identical to his own and a highly-evolved humanoid. Each of the four had an individual personality, with Knapp's consciousness inhabiting his "base" form. (It should be noted that the transformation removed all signs of Scramble's transmutation from Knapp.) Knapp went on to aid Alpha in their final battle with Scramble, who had changed into the composite creature known as Omega. After the battle he joined the Purple Girl (with whom he shared a mutual attraction) in the newly reformed (at that time) Beta Flight. When Alpha rejected funding from the Canadian government and disbanded for the second time, Knapp went back to medicine, severing his relationship with Kara at that time. He had one more encounter with Alpha before the events leading to the reformation of Department H. At that time Knapp joined H as a resident physician. Knapp continued to stay away from superhuman activity until the return of Kilgrave, Laura Dean, Witchfire and Goblyn from a distant dimension. While out for a night on the town with the above-mentioned ladies, the group encountered the Master and his new Omega Flight. After the battle Knapp and his companions (including the injured Alphan Talisman> formed the new Beta Flight, which acts as a "secondary" team of adventurers. WHile on Beta's first mission, Knapp was injured by the poisoned claws of the second Jackal. [Compiler's note: I'll bet the creative teams over in Spidey's corner of the MU are trying REAL hard to ignore this guy... and hoping most people never heard of him.] As a result, his body spontaneously developed a protective cocoon. [Shades of Adam Warlock! -C] While in the cocoon Knapp entered telepathic communication with his "evolutionary counterparts" for the first time. When the cocoon was damaged by super-human hating zealots, the counterparts sacrificed themselves to heal Knapp (reasoning that if he died, they all died anyways.) Knapp believed his super-human abilities to be completely gone until a battle with his team-mate, Witchfire,in which his new abilities manifested themselves. Whitman Knapp was originally able to manifest three "evolutionary counterparts" of himself: a blob of protoplasm, a primitive human, and a highly-evolved humanoid. Beyond manifesting the counterparts, Knapp himself had no super-human powers. It should be noted however that Knapp was seemingly able to heal himself by the "release" of the counterparts. Each counterpart had its own personality, although all would follow Knapp's spoken orders. The blob of protoplasm, nicknamed "Proto", could "eat" through most substances. "Ape-Man" was quite a bit stronger and more agile than a normal human. "Highbrow" posessed numerous mental abilities, including telepathy and teleportation. It is possible that the full range of High- brow's abilities have yet to be seen. Knapp is now able to transform himself into any of his counterparts. He has lost the ability to have them manifest separate from himself. It should be noted that Knapp does NOT retain his normal intelligence when he transforms, although each counterpart seems to maintain a general idea of what he intended to do when he transformed. The source of Knapp's abilities appears to be natural (aka a mutant), since from Scramble's remarks it was apparent that the potential for such abilities was noticeable before they manifested. MARRINA Real Name: Marrina Smallwood Group Affiliation: Alpha Flight, associate of the Avengers, former member of Beta Flight. First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 Creator: John Byrne Thousands of years ago a colony ship of the alien Plodex crash landed on Earth. Standard operating procedure for the Plodex was to discover the dominant lifeform of a planet, imprint the thousands of eggs in the colony ship's hold with the genetic data, and then send the new Plodex out to breed and conquer. In this case, something went wrong: All the eggs were expelled on the crash landing, before imprintation. One night roughly twenty or so years ago, Thomas Smallwood, a Newfoundland fisherman, was washed overboard in a storm and tangled in his nets. He thought he was dead until he grabbed a strangely glowing object on the sea bottom. The object had sufficient buoyancy, once free of the sea muck, to carry him back to the surface. Curious, Smallwood took it home with him. There, his wife Gladys noticed what seemed to be a form inside, and broke open the object. Although she thought for a moment that the form was not human, when she lifted it out, it was humanoid, and female... albeit a bit strange looking. The object was a Plodex egg, and Gladys Smallwood imprinted it with her genetic code, rendering it female. One thing happened though... as a result of being underwater for a few thousand years the being developed amphibious traits. Marrina grew up quite happily, as the community she was in was quite small and clannish. However, on her sixteenth birthday she demonstrated that her non-human traits went beyond looks. The Smallwoods decided to have it checked out, and eventually Marrina came to the attention of James MacDonald Hudson. She soon joined Department H as part of the training team known as Beta Flight. Marrina moved up to Alpha shortly after H's original disbanding by the Federal Government. Marrina came to know her complete origin during Alpha Flight's first encounter with the being calling himself the Master of the World. Indeed, the encounter happened because of Marrina. It was after this adventure that Marrina first encountered Prince Namor, the Sub- Marriner. Intrigued by the notion of an underwater civilization, Marrina accompanied Prince Namor back to Atlantis, where the two soon fell in love. Marrina remained in Atlantis for some time, until summoned by her fellow Alphan Puck to investigate a series of murders on Toronto's waterfront. During the investigation she found that the murders were being done by another Plodex, who, having "hatched" without being imprinted, was "sampling" every genetic structure it could find. This Plodex was Marrina's genetically designed mate and its presence unleashed an uncontrollable animalistic rage in her. The beast was under control of the Master of the World. This time around the Master was defeated by the efforts of the Sub-Marriner (who had followed his love) and Puck. Full of shame over her inbred reactions, Marrina avoided Namor afterwards and began wondering on her own. Shortly thereafter Marrina was captured by the Atlantean warlord Attuma who had captured Atlantis. He used Marrina's then-monstrous appearance (a result of her encounter with her mate) to turn public opinion against Namor. She was freed by a joint rescue effort of Alpha Flight and the Avengers. However, Marrina once again fled from Namor. Encountering her mate once again, nodules resembling Plodex eggs formed on her body. Marrina was apparently pregnant. During Alpha's battle with the Plodex though, she rejected her heritage and the nodules disappeared. She and the Sub-Marriner were then married. Their happiness was not to last, however. Marrina's association with Namor was apparently enough to activate her reproductive system. She spawned three eggs, and transformed into a monstrous Leviathan to protect them. Namor was finally forced to kill her, using the Black Knight's Ebony Sword. In Alpha Flight #78 the being known as Llan the Sorcerer informed the Master that Marrina was merely "sleeping a false death beneath the waves." This is a plot thread that was never picked up again. [Compiler's notes: Marrina's spirit made a recent appearance in Namor, in which the Ebony Blade was made out to be a copy of Katana's Soultaker (Read the Outsiders for more details.) True Marrina fans should forget this storyline exists. Trust me.] MASTER Real Name: Unknown [I think even HE'S forgotten it. - C] Full Title: Master of the World Other Aliases: Joshua Lord Group Affiliation: Leader of Omega Flight First Appearance: Alpha Flight #2 Creator: John Byrne Remember the Plodex ship that brought Marrina to Earth? [What? You didn't read Marrina's entry?!? Back up and do it now! - C] Well, just because all the eggs got dumped before imprinting, doesn't mean that it didn't start looking for Earth's dominant lifeform... The ship sent out a telepathic signal that forced a number of lifeforms to travel north. Among them was a nomad who was SO nasty his tribe forced him out. Through sheer orneriness (and eating the remains of the animals who didn't make it...) the nomad made it to the ship. Where he was captured, and dissected. While still alive. Eventually, however, his strong willed mind took control of the ships systems. He made the ship recreate his body, and then discovered that... he was still trapped. He was too tightly integrated to have the ship let him go. Then, the Master discovered Marrina's existence. And formulated a plan. First, he used a device that made Marrina go berserk and head for the ship. This of course, brought Alpha in hot pursuit. Where he managed to trick Guardian into destroying enough of the ship that he could escape into a specially prepared submarine. When next the Master popped up, he had a plan for taking over the world [Naturally... with a title like his, what do you expect? :) - C] using Marrina and another Plodex. This Plodex turned out to be Marrina's mate, by an incredible coincidence. Since then, the Master has completely reformed himself into what he calls "the ultimate human being" by using an enzyme from the blasted remains of Scramble, the Mixed-Up Man. He has also formed a new version of Omega Flight and attempted a behind-the-scenes political take-over of Canada under the name Joshua Lord. [For "lord and master", get it? - C] The Master has unknown super-human abilities that he gave himself with the Scramble enzyme. He also has a wide variety of offensive and defensive weaponry built into his armor. NEMESIS I Real Name: St. Ives Group Affiliation: None First Appearance: Alpha Flight #8 Last Appearance: Alpha Flight #32 Creator: John Byrne The woman known as Nemesis was the daughter of Ernest St. Ives, and watched as her father accidentally killed her mother with just a touch. Somehow the daughter managed to create an incredible sword just a atom thick, using both science and magic. With the blade, she was able to fly (not to mention cut through just about anything.) Nemesis popped up during Aurora & Northstar's first meeting with St. Ives. At this meeting she cut St. Ives into pieces. Strangely enough, this didn't kill him... Nemesis also popped up when Alpha again encountered Ernest. This time, her sword, in Puck's hands, was capable of killing him. (With a little help from a subway train.) Afterwords she told her story and crumbled into dust. [Compiler's notes: I would have just as rathered that Mantlo never used Ernest and never added the backstory... Nemesis is one character that could've stayed mysterious...] NEMESIS II Real Name: Jane? (Diamond Lil calls her Jane ONCE, in Alpha #76) Group Affiliation: Associate of Alpha Flight, former leader of Gamma Flight First Appearance: Alpha Flight #76 Creator: James D. Hudnall Next to nothing is known of the second woman to call herself Nemesis, including how she got the original's sword. Apparently she has some ties to a cult-like group called the Children of the Night [according to Simon Furman] and past history with a nasty super-human called Roc, but nothing else. This Nemesis has also used a teleporter at times. Other than that, no differences to the original's abilities. NORTHSTAR Real Name: Jean-Paul Beaubier Group Affilation: Alpha Flight FIrst Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #120 Creator: John Byrne As an infant Jean-Paul Beaubier's parents were killed in a car crash, and he and his sister were seperated. Adopted by a family named Martin, Jean-Paul led a rather lonely childhood. At some point he attempted to steal from a man named Raymonde Belmonde, who ended up taking the youngster under his wing. Belmonde helped the young Jean-Paul deal with his emerging super-human powers. [Compiler's notes: Presumably Belmonde helped him deal with his sexuality as well. This has never been stated, however. I WILL state my position on the "Belmonde as J-P's first lover theory" - Nope. Too old, and Byrne wouldn't show a pedophile as a positive character. Father-figure, definitely though.] For a time, Beaubier left Belmonde's company and journeyed to France. He also joined a circus as an acrobat for a time. (It should be noted that Jean-Paul apparently abstained from using his powers while with the circus.) Returning to Quebec, he became involved with a more radical sect of Quebec Nationalists. Beaubier left the group when one of their bombs almost killed a busload of people. (J-P himself had had to stop the bomb.) Beaubier then turned his attention to skiing, a sport he had always loved. Using his powers he became a champion at both the amateur and professional levels. It was then that he was contacted by James MacDonald Hudson. Hudson had already met Jeanne-Marie Beaubier and discovered Jean-Paul through her. Fascinated by the revelation he had a sister, Jean-Paul joined Hudson's Department H. [Notes: Jean-Paul was forced to return his amateur medals after the fact he is a mutant became public knowledge. - C] Jean-Paul did not join up with Alpha after Hudson's seeming death due to the fact that he had quarreled with his sister. However, he was forced to join Alpha at the Eye of the World due to a mystic summons from Talisman. He almost left again immediately, but Snowbird forced him to stay and help. Beaubier stayed with Alpha for quite some time after that, until a mysterious disease caused him to seek the mystic artifact called the Firefountain. This adventure led into the depths of Svartalfheim, realm of the Dark Elves of Nordic myth. There, Aurora seemingly sacrificed her powers to save her brother. Having been told by Loki that he and his sister were half-elves, Northstar vanished into a portal to the realm of the Ljosalfar. Problem is, Loki is the God of Lies... Northstar was trapped in Asgard due to that realm's separation from Earth (the Rainbow Bridge had been smashed.) He was rescued when Talisman, decided she needed all the help she could get in her battle with the Sorcerer. So, she sent Persuasion, Laura Dean, Goblyn and Aurora to Asgard after him. Northstar remained with Alpha up until the time the team was put under suspension by the Canadian government. In recent years he has "come out" twice: first about the fact he is a mutant, and second about the fact that he is a homosexual. Jean-Paul Beaubier is a mutant [The sentinels were obviously malfunctioning in Alpha #43, ok? - C] capable of movement at high super- human speeds, whether in flight or running. He can also swim at high speed by "flying" through the water. Beaubier is able to create extremely bright light by clasping hands with his sister. His sister is also capable of creating light on her own. The only time Beaubier did this was when he entered the portal to Asgard. It is possible that Beaubier has the ability, but just fails to utilize it. [This is what makes J-P's energy blast ability in X-Factor #116 just too much to take. I mean, c'mon... - C] OMEGA FLIGHT First Appearance: (I) Alpha Flight #11 (II) Alpha Flight #110 Last Appearance: (I) Alpha Flight #27 Creators: (I) John Byrne (II) Simon Furman (with help from Scott Lobdell) Roster: (I) Box II, Diamond Lil, Flashback, Smart Alec, Wild Child (II) Bile - Has disease infection and immunity powers Brain Drain - Posessed of mind-control powers. Ms. Mass - Very bulky, strong and tough. Sinew - Typical Marvel berserker/animal-like type. Strongarm - Cybernetic super-strong arm. Tech-Noir - High tech weaponry The original Omega Flight was created by Jerome "Jerry" Jaxon to wreck revenge on James MacDonald Hudson. Jaxon died in Omega's first attempt, but his work was carried on by the robot called Delphine Courtney. After being forced into retreat on the second attempt, Omega was stopped and Courtney destroyed by the metal-manipulative powers of Madison Jeffries. Once away from the influence of Courtney, the surviving members of Omega Flight reformed. The second Omega Flight is a group of superhuman operatives of the Master of the World. In their first appearance they were defeated by the novice team of super-heroes called Beta Flight. In their second appearance they were whomped on by the combined efforts of Alpha and Beta. PATHWAY Real Name: Laura Dean Group Affiliation: Beta Flight First Appearance: (Cameo): Alpha Flight #48 (Real): Alpha FLight #53 Creator: Bill Mantlo You know what? Most of Laura's history has already been covered under Goblyn. I think in the interest of bandwidth I'll refer you to her entry. It should be stated that Dean has completely overcome her former problem with autism, and served as a highly capable member of Beta Flight until the team's suspension. It should also be noted that she only adopted the Pathway codename around issue #112. Laura Dean is a mutant capable of opening passageways to different dimensions. She can also make passageways to different locals on Earth, as she did when she sent China Force home to China. PERSUASION Real Name: Kara Kilgrave Former Aliases: The Purple Girl Group Affiliation: Beta Flight First Appearance: Alpha Flight #41 Kara Kilgrave led a mostly normal life up until the time of her thirteenth birthday... when she abruptly turned purple. It seems that about 14 years before, the mind-controller known as the Purple Man decided to visit Canada. While in our great country he went bar-hopping, and on a whim forced a woman named Melanie to marry him. However, in time, he came to love his hopeless slave [Sarcasm - this is Mantlo's work we're talking here - C] and released her. She rejected him, and he left, heartbroken. However, she was pregnant by that time... Unable to cope with this abrupt change in her life, Kara ran away. She ended up attending a professional meet that was featuring the return to skiing of her idol, Jean-Paul Beaubier. While in the washroom Kilgrave manifested her mind control powers for the first time, telling a person who was banging on the door to "go jump off a cliff." Northstar saved the young lady, in the process revealing his secret i.d. to the world. Realizing her powers, Kara did what any thirteen year-old with a crush (with her idol right in front of her) would do: she got Northstar to take her to a desert island. After a number of misunderstandings with Northstar and the rest of Alpha, Kara joined them as the first member of a new Beta Flight. She also became romantically involved with the next trainee to come along, Whitman Knapp. When Knapp left the team to go back to medicine, that relationship ended, although there has been evidence that Kara still cares for him deeply. [A relationship that was one of the few things I liked about the Mantlo era, as a matter of fact. - C] Kara at one point left the team in disgust after feeling she'd been abandoned in the West Edmonton Mall. Goblyn and Laura Dean, wanting to try "normal" life, went with her. However, she had decided to return to Alpha (with her new code-name) when she got shanghaied into going after Northstar by Talisman. Kara has been a part of Alpha's organization ever since. Kara Kilgrave inherited her father's mind-control powers, with a strange variation: When she controls somebody, they literally turn purple. [This apparently makes her a mutant, but I *STILL* say those Sentinels in # 43 were malfunctioning. So there. - C] It has been shown that she can create a mindlink with Goblyn, but that's more due to Goblyn's part, IMHO, then hers. If a victim is cut off from Kara's pheromones (the airborn chemicals that are the basis of her power) by water, or a plastic bag, or distance, etc... the victim quickly returns to normal... but with a splitting headache. PESTILENCE Real Name: Captain F.R. Crozier Group Affiliation: None First Appearance: (Cameo): Alpha Flight #35 (Real): Alpha Flight #36 Creator: Bill Mantlo Captain F.R. Crozier was doctor and chief science officer on the expedition of one Sir John Franklin to the high arctic. Franklin's two ships ended up frozen in the arctic ice. Taking half the crew, Franklin went for help. He did not return. With supplies runing out, Crozier mounted an expedition south with the rest of the crew, but privately he despaired of making it. Due to that despair, he used the ship's medical supplies to create an ace in the hole: a potion that, when combined with the artic cold, would place him in suspended animation. Late one night, he downed it. Unfortunately the crew, out of respect, buried the captain deep in the permafrost. Without the warmth of spring sunshine, he would never come out of his coma-like state. Pestilence remained in S.A. for many years until spirits were ordered by Talisman to con Shaman into going to his island. Shaman needed a "place of power" to serve as a birthing place for Snowbird's child, and Talisman wanted to humiliate her dad. [Talisman was at the time suffering from extremely bad characterization. - C] Once the birth took place, Pestilence was able to posess the child and gained superhuman control over the forces of decay. Alpha fought him until he ran away. After tracking him down, Alpha fought him again, until Pestilence realized that the child's "innate purity" was corrupting HIM. So he took control of Snowbird and forced her to kill the child. Vindicator killed Snowbird a split-second too late (having realized what was happening.) Pestilence's spirit than grabbed control of Snowbird's body (which was in Sasquatch form.) He attacked Alpha just after Snowbird's funeral, and was met by Walter Langkowski, who was once again animating Box. Langkowski forced Pestilence out of Snowbird with a jolt of electricity from the robot's inner storage. Vindicator then managed to toss Shaman's medical pouch in front of Pestilence's "ghost." Being pure spirit, Pestilience was sucked into the pouch, hopefully never to return. Pestilence was able to control the forces of decay. As examples, he was able to make Box rust, aged Aurora, and sped up a disease in Northstar. PINK PEARL Real Name: Unknown First Appearance: Alpha Flight # 22 Creator: John Byrne Pink Pearl first came into conflict with Alpha Flight when she took over a carnival run by an old friend of Jean-Paul Beaubier's. Pearl was using the carnival as a cover to plant a bomb at an icognito meeting between the Canadian Prime Minister and the President of the United States. Unfortunately Northstar and Aurora interfered, and Pearl went to prison. Pearl popped up again when Heather Hudson and Jeanne-Marie/Aurora took Lillian Crawly out for a "bachelorette party." Aurora booked the thre reservations at an exotic-dancer "ladies club" and while there Aurora started dancing with the male dancers. Abruptly she was attacked by Pearl. After a brief fight the three Alphans were arrested for disturbing the peace. Pearl, it seems, is now a legitimate businesswoman and owner of the club the party was held at. PUCK Real Name: Eugene Milton Judd Group Affiliation: Alpha Flight, former member of Beta Flight First Appearance: Alpha Flight #1 Creator: John Byrne Eugene Milton Judd was born about the turn of the century (i.e. early twentieth century.) As a soldier of fortune, he did many things... until the day he was commisioned to steal the Black Blade of Baghdad. The Blade was a prison for an ancient sorcerer called Raazer, and Judd accidentally freed him. Judd managed to trap the sorcerer once again, using the light from his life force and a few tricks learned from eastern mystics. However, by the time he was done the Black Blade had shrunk him down to about 3' in height. However, Raazer's presence in his body rendered Puck immortal, although in near-constant pain. Through the years he eventually free-lanced for a number of intelligence agencies, encountering the likes of Wolverine and Natasha Romanova, the Black Widow. However, at one point he slipped up, and was convicted of murder. That's when James MacDonald Hudson found him. Hudson arranged for Judd's release, on the condition that he never kill again. Hudson apparently believed that Judd's experience would be valuable in Department H, although Judd had no super-human abilities. [Note: Judd broke his vow once, to kill Deadly Ernest. - C] Eventually Raazer was released from Puck's body permanently when Judd came in contact with the Firefountain of Svartalfheim. Reverting to old age, Judd was transported to Tibet by Loki, who was trying to win the favour of They Who Sit Above in Shadow. Once there, Judd decided to try and find adventure on other planes of existence. To do so he sought out the High Llama of a Buddhist temple, a reknowned mystic. However, he did so as the Chinese military was attacking the temple. In the confusion the Llama offered Judd a choice: go to other dimensions, or save his friends, who were trapped in the dimension of the Dreamqueen. Judd chose his friends, and was instrumental in the Dreamqueen's defeat. However, Judd was captured by the 'Queen. She used her abilities to make him young once again and tortured him extensively. Then she abandoned him and attacked the Earth once more. She did not return. Judd remained stranded until Alpha passed through on their way home; the being known as Llan the Sorcerer had trapped them in another dimension. Puck accompanied his friends back. Once there, however, Puck began experiencing the effects of the Dream- queen's torture. (Puck had made himself well by mentally influencing the other dimension. That cure wore off on Earth.) While in the hospital, he was kidnapped by agents of the Master and used as a guinea pig for the Master's genetic experiments. Using the Master's equipment, Walter Langkowski was able to reverse most of the damage but the result was that Puck was once again 3' tall. However he was young, and super- humanly strong and tough. (The experiment made him short again, but with extremely dense flesh.) Since that time Judd has served Alpha Flight very capably. Puck's flesh has the density of rubber, rendering him super-humanly strong and tough. On top of that, he is an expert in espionage and language and has experience with some minor mystic rituals. He is also one of the best hand-to-hand combattants in Alpha Flight. [Compiler's notes: Do yourself a favour, and don't EVER get me started on what Mantlo did to Puck. Just don't.] SASQUATCH Real Name: Walter Langkowski Former Aliases: Box III, Wanda Langkowski Group Affiliation: Alpha Flight First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #120 Creator: John Byrne Walter Langkowski happened to meet Robert "Bruce" Banner while in graduate school. This was a meeting that would change his life. First off, however, Langkowski enjoyed a short by extremely profitable pro football career in the NFL that left him independantly wealthy. It also left him with an ex-wife, Veronica. After leaving football, Langkowski somehow became involved in Department H. It's unknown when exactly, but it is known that Walter was involved in a science capacity during the events chronicled in First Flight. Langkowski managed to talk Hudson into funding his pet project: reproducing the conditions that created the Hulk, but in a laboratory, and with a set test-subject: himself. Hudson agreed, and the lab was put in the high arctic to avoid potential radiation hazards. There Langkowski apparently met with success, gaining a large anthropomorphic orange-furred second form. (Langkowski attributed the fact he was orange (not green like the Hulk,) to heavy sunspot activity during the experiment.) However this was not the case. Instead Langkowski had briefly created enough physical energy to breach the barrier that held the Great Beasts. He entered into a mystic symbiosis with the beast known as Tanaraq. Even- tually the Beast gained control of their form, and Snowbird, hereditaru foe of the Beasts killed it, and Langkowski. Alpha Flight managed to rescue Langkowski's soul from the realm of the Beasts, and for a time it lived in the Box robot. However Walter eventually went looking for a new physical body, and found one in the crossroads of reality. It turned out to be the Hulk, however, and rather than condemn his friend Bruce to death Walter let himself drift away. Walter eventually came accross the mindless body of Smart Alec, and took up residence there. He then started searching for a way out... and did so, crawling out of Shaman's medical pouch just in time to reanimate Box and battle the villain known as Pestilence. After the battle he took up residence in Snowbird's Sasquatch form. He was quite perturbed when he switched back to human form... and it was female. Walter took it fairly well, even adopting the name "Wanda" for a time for fun. However, deep in his mind it bothered him... and the Dreamqueen was able to use this to manipulate him into stealing the Talisman. To prevent the Dreamqueen from gaining this powerful mystic tool, the spirit of Snowbird returned from the realm of the Eskimo gods and turned Langkowski's human form into a duplicate of his original one. [Right down to his need for glasses. :) She also apparently arranged for the Sasquatch form to be orange instead of white... - C] Since then Langkowski has served quite capably with Alpha. Walter Langkowski is able to transform into a large, orange-furred anthropod. In this form he has tremendous super-human strength and resistence to injury. Langkowski is also an expert in the field of biochemistry.