SASQUATCH I: Page 4 of 4

BIOGRAPHY - Page 4

When Alpha Flight’s leader, Guardian, was kidnapped by A.I.M., Alpha Flight and Wolverine (or actually the Skrull imposter posing as him) entered the secret base to get him back. On their way out, the heroes were in for quite a surprise, as they happened upon a holding tank containing their deceased friend and teammate, Snowbird.  Naturally, they freed her and took her along to Department H, where excessive tests revealed her to be the real deal. While the exact circumstances of Snowbird’s mysterious resurrection remained unexplained, Walter’s exams of her revealed that Snowbird’s unique genetic heritage provided her with an advanced form of cellular rejuvenation, not unlike Wolverine’s own healing factor. [Wolverine (2nd series) #142-143]

[Note: The explanation provided for Snowbird’s being alive, that her body’s regenerative powers kicked in while she was lying in her grave, can’t be true, as her grave is empty and her body is still inhabited by Walter Langkowski, aka Sasquatch. Evidently writer Eric Larsen had no knowledge of this. Bitter irony that it is even Walter himself who states this wrong explanation in Wolverine (2nd series) #143. Still, there’s a number of no-prize theories to explain the error away: For example, it could be the case that A.I.M. had dug out the corpse of Snowbird’s baby and worked off the child’s DNA. Another idea might be that, when Snowbird’s spirit helped Walter to “transform” her body into a simulacrum of his old one, she did actually replace it – recreating a new body for Walter to inhabit whereas her own one was sent back into the grave for A.I.M. to find. Whatever the case, Marvel themselves have yet to provide an explanation. So far, it’s only been hinted at in Wolverine (2nd series #172) that the Arctic Gods had a hand in Snowbird’s resurrection.]

Shortly after Northstar left Alpha Flight for good, Walter and Aurora restarted their relationship. However, during a battle with the evil Mauvais, her already fragile psyche was further screwed up by the villain, up to the point that she collapsed after the fight. It was decided that she needed to be taken care of in a medical facility and Walter wanted to accompany the ambulance, which was transporting Aurora there. Unfortunately, en route, Sasquatch was called away because of an emergency and, mere moments after Walt’s departure, the ambulance was attacked and Aurora kidnapped by operatives of the revamped Weapon X program. To this day, neither Walter nor anyone else knows the exact location of Aurora or what precisely what happened to her, except for a few rumors. [Wolverine (2nd series) #172-173]

Sasquatch continued to serve Alpha Flight, now consisting himself, Snowbird, Guardian, Vindicator, Puck and Earthmover. They ended up confronting the X-Men a couple of times on request of the government, due to the fact that some of the students at Xavier’s were Canadian citizens and the Juggernaut, who had recently moved into Xavier’s mansion, was hardly considered a good role model for these minors. The Juggernaut having lost some of his strength, and Walter upgrading his own with a special battle armor, Sasquatch managed to gain the upper hand in battle against the so called “unstoppable” foe. [Uncanny X-Men (1st series) #422, 432-434]

Some time later, Alpha Flight investigated some strange goings-on in the Arctic Circle, when everyone except Sasquatch was captured by the alien Plodex. Knowing that he couldn’t face this threat alone, Walter embarked on a recruitment drive, assembling Nemesis and four newcomers - the new Major Mapleleaf, the new Puck, Yukon Jack and Centennial – to help him find his missing teammates. It is unknown what sparked his decision to recruit total strangers, as opposed to former members and other affiliates of the Flight Program.

Turned out that the Plodex creatures in the Arctic Circle weren’t hostile, as they all had just recently hatched. Following the original Alphans’ rescue, they departed for space to return the Plodex eggs and hatchlings to their home world, leaving Sasquatch and his new teammates to protect Canada. [Alpha Flight (3rd series) #1-6]

While his new teammates made themselves at home in the abandoned Plodex base in the Arctic Circle, Walt was supplicated by Nemesis, who didn’t want to be returned to her prison at Department H. She explained that, although she was long-lived, she was not immortal, and there were still a few things which she needed to tend to before her death. Walt agreed to help Nemesis, provided she wouldn’t kill anyone again, and severed his and Alpha Flight’s ties with the Canadian government. [Alpha Flight (3rd series) #7-8]

Alpha Flight’s first time-travel adventure occurred next, with former associate Flashback requiring their help to avoid his own death. After a seriously convoluted series of events, which involved past versions of several Alpha Flight members being brought to the present, the team was restructured when, apparently, the original Alpha Flight returned to Earth. [Alpha Flight (3rd series) #9-12]

The new Alpha Flight line-up made its debut when Michael Pointer, possessed by the Collective, caused a wave of destruction in Alaska. Tragically, the entire team except for Sasquatch was slain by Pointer. [New Avengers (1st series) #16]

Around that time, a shocking tragedy between super heroes and villains in the United States led to the passage of the super-human registration act.  This in turn divided the super hero community, resulting in a Civil War between two opposing factions of heroes. Even though it was quite similar to a law which Canada already had for years, the results of the Civil War caused countless super-powered criminals to flee to Canada.

This prompted the Canadian government to re-evaluate its current super human activity. One Agent Brown of the Canadian Secret Intelligence Services was placed in charge of organizing a new hero team to defend the nation. With most other former Alphans either deceased or incapacitated, Sasquatch reluctantly agreed to participate, even though he was somewhat surprised that the new team would be called Omega Flight. However, Agent Brown pointed out that they were to Canada’s last line of defense.

Sasquatch was not too happy when he was told who the other recruits into this team were - former Force Works members USAgent and Spider-Woman II (now calling herself Arachne), with one of them supporting and one opposing the American Registration Act, and Michael Pointer, the man who had killed Alpha Flight. Walt was asked to meet with Pointer and give him a modified version of the electromagnetic battle suit that James Hudson wore in an effort to help Pointer contain his energy absorption powers and to allow him to redeem himself. Sasquatch’s own choice for a teammate, former Alphan Talisman, the daughter of his close and now deceased friend, Shaman, flat out rejected Walt’s offer to join Omega Flight as well, arguing that it was the Americans’ responsibility to deal with the problems they had caused. [Omega Flight #1, Civil War: The Initiative]

Later, while reading the files on his new teammates, Walt got a call that there was trouble - the Wrecking Crew were in Canada. Investigating the situation on his own, Sasquatch was soon overwhelmed,  and distracted when he flashbacked to the deaths of his friends, enabling the Wrecking Crew to capture him. The villains taunted and abused Sasquatch while they went about their criminal activities. Eventually, Omega Flight and Talisman, who had learned of her friend’s abduction, witnessed Sasquatch being dragged along a busy street by the Wrecking Crew, showing off how easily they destroyed the last of Canada’s heroes. [Omega Flight #1-2]

Sasquatch was taken to the Realm of the Great Beasts, as the Wrecking Crew had allied themselves with the horrid demons who promised them great power. It was there that Sasquatch became possessed by Tanaraq once more, and a horde of demons was unleashed upon Canada. The possessed Sasquatch then proceeded to attack Talisman,  while the rest of Omega Flight did everything they could to protect the civilians, stop the Wrecking Crew, fight the demons and stay alive. Things took a strange turn, though, when Michael Pointer arrived and Sasquatch turned his attention to him, ready to kill him. Not willing to cause the death of yet another Alphan, Pointer held back while fighting the possessed Sasquatch. Eventually, Talisman summoned the power to help Walt resist the evil influence that had taken over him. While Omega Flight dealt with the remaining demons and the new Guardian showed he had what it takes to prove himself, Sasquatch confronted the Wrecker - the worst of his tormentors - and almost strangled him to death, before deciding not to, as that would truly make him a monster. In the aftermath of that incident, Walt and Talisman reconciled, before Omega Flight began the long clean-up process, proving themselves heroes enough to serve Canada. [Omega Flight #3-5]