Nightmares in Red & White
Team Appearances: Alpha Flight (1st series) #1, Marvel Two-in-One (1st series) #84, Contest of Champions (1st series) #1, Incredible Hulk (2nd series) #277-279, Alpha Flight (1st series) #2-4, X-Men / Alpha Flight (2nd series) #1-2, Alpha Flight (1st series) #5-10, Rom #56-58, Alpha Flight (1st series) #11-13, Marvel Team-Up Annual #7, The Saga of Crystar the Crystal Warrior #11, Alpha Flight (1st series) #14-22, X-Men / Alpha Flight (1st series) #1-2, Alpha Flight (1st series) #23-27, Secret Wars II #4, Alpha Flight (1st series) #28, Incredible Hulk (2nd series) #313, Alpha Flight (1st series) #29
Before
- The mysterious alien Marrina was the first official member of the Gamma Flight training team, although she did not remain with Gamma Flight for long as she was quickly placed in Beta Flight. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #2]
- Eugene Milton Judd was an adventurer who in unrevealed circumstances was imprisoned for murder. James MacDonald Hudson was aware of Judd and visited him in prison, offering him to be paroled into working for the government, provided he never killed again. Judd took the name code-name Puck and, due to his experience, was immediately place in Beta Flight. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #15]
- In unknown circumstances, a brilliant scientist called Roger Bochs lost his legs from the knee down and became paraplegic. With his own company, Bochs Enterprises, he created a robot called Box, which he could control cybernetically, enabling him movement. However, Roger was mentally unstable and, after he came to the attention of Hudson, who arranged for him to have time in the Clinic for Maladjusted Super Beings, Roger was placed in Beta Flight. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #16, 46]
Chronology
With Alpha Flight and Department H officially shut down by Department H, the individual members of the team went back to their regular lives. However that was not to last very long, as unbeknownst to them a madman called Richard Easton had raised the unearthly being called Tundra, one of the Great Beasts, the ancient enemy of Snowbird’s people. Gary Cody, their now unofficial government liaison, became aware of strange goings-on and quickly informed Vindicator, who went to investigate, despite his wife’s protest. Not wanting her husband to go into possible danger alone, Heather summoned Alpha Flight, including two Beta Flight members whom Mac had decided were ready to come up to Alpha Flight - Puck and Marrina. One-by-one, everyone responded to the Alpha-signal on their computer cards and flew to aid Vindicator. Together, with their combined effort, the team defeated Tundra. Returning to Mac and Heather’s home, the heroes decided that they work well together and even without government funding, wished to remain as a team. Mac suggested a name change, only to receive an adamant insistence otherwise from the newly arrived Puck, who had been unable to arrive at the fight under his own power. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #1]
While on a camping expedition in Alberta, Sasquatch and Shaman encountered not only the Fantastic Four’s Thing but also a demon called Ranark. Vindicator, Sasquatch, Shaman, Northstar and Aurora, aided by the Thing, set out to stop Ranark the Ravager who had set about to rule modern day people; however, his plot was foiled by Alpha Flight and the Thing. [Marvel Two-in-One (1st series) #84]
Sometime later, as they were returning from a reconnaissance mission, Vindicator, Snowbird, Sasquatch, Shaman, Northstar and Aurora were mysteriously teleported away to a vast arena - along with seemingly every other hero on Earth. This was the doing of the cosmic entities the Grandmaster and Death, who each selected twelve heroes to pit against each other in a game. Sasquatch was chosen for the Grandmaster’s team. [Contest of Champions (1st series] The six original members of Alpha Flight, along with other heroes from all around the world, then took part in supporting the Hulk in his bid to become a free man. [Incredible Hulk (2nd series) #277-179]
The entire team, except Snowbird, took part in a training exercise, during which Vindicator decided to change his code-name to Guardian. Shockingly during the exercise, Puck was seriously injured by Marrina, who for no apparent reason lashed out at him, before fleeing. Leaving Puck in Shaman’s care, Guardian, Sasquatch and the twins tracked Marrina to the Arctic, where they were shot down by an alien base under the control of the prehistoric man calling himself the Master of the World - who was obsessed with Marrina’s race, the Plodex. Alpha Flight became separated in the complex and the blossoming relationship between Aurora and Sasquatch came to a blow when Aurora‘s multiple personality disorder became known to rest of the team, as the confident Aurora gave way to the repressed and meek Jeanne-Marie, who had no interest in Walter. Alpha Flight remained unaware that Snowbird had arrived, as had the Invisible Girl and Sub-Mariner, who had freed Marrina from the Master. In the aftermath, the Master seemingly escaped, while Marrina accepted the Sub-Mariner’s offer to live with him in Atlantis, believing his people were better suited to help Marrina uncover the questions surrounding her heritage. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #2-4]
In an attempt to procure funds to start Department H up again, Gary Cody had previously sold the plans for Mac’s original prototype battle suit to Baron von Strucker, the man behind the terrorist organization called Hydra. Strucker was seeking vengeance on the X-Men and used the battle suits to capture the mutants. Guardian was sought out by Professor Xavier and agreed for Alpha Flight to assist in stopping Strucker and rescuing the X-Men. Alpha Flight did so and, after freeing the captive X-Men, the two teams worked with each other to stop Strucker. Though the villain disappeared, all of Mac’s prototype battle suits were recovered. [X-Men / Alpha Flight (2nd series) #1-2]
With no fixed headquarters, Alpha Flight only united when necessary and each member of the team had their own personal adventures. Puck investigated drug trafficking at the hospital in which he was recuperating, while Snowbird encountered Kolomaq, the second of the Great Beasts. Northstar and Aurora dealt with the villain Deadly Ernest, a man who had gained apparent immortality by rejecting Death itself, an effect of which also gave him the power to kill on contact. It was while battling Deadly Ernest that the twins met the anti-hero Nemesis and their troubled partnership was ended by a misunderstanding, as Northstar had suspected Aurora had used sex to free herself when she was captured by Ernest, which Aurora did not take kindly to. Around the same time, Sasquatch battled the alien called the Super Skrull and Aurora, the dominant personality, returned to him to continue their relationship. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #5-10]
One instance of the team needing to unite occurred when Snowbird, Sasquatch, Shaman and Marrina were called upon to investigate the polluted waters by the town of Beaver Falls. As it turned out, the water was not only being polluted by a local mining company, but also by the deadly aliens called Dire Wraiths. Uniting with Rom the Spaceknight and his associate Starshine, both enemies of the Wraiths, Alpha Flight was able to prevent the town from being taken over by the aliens. However, in revenge, the Wraiths unleashed a massive tidal wave of poisoned water - which ripped through Beaver Falls, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. The Alphans and Rom did the best they could to save as many people, but there were just too many people and not enough heroes. [Rom #56-58]
During the time Alpha Flight spent on separate adventures, Mac received an invitation to take a job at Roxxon Oil in the States, and planned his move south. After settling in, he went to pick Heather up from the airport in New York, only to get a shock when he learned that Jerome Jaxon, his old boss, was behind his move to New York and that Heather had been taken by a mysterious woman called Delphine Courtney. Over the past few weeks, Courtney had been recruiting the former members of Gamma and Beta Flights who were not invited to join Alpha Flight when Department H shut down. Now calling themselves Omega Flight, the five rejected would-be heroes were waiting for Mac at the office block that Mac was lured to. Finding himself in danger, Mac sent out the signal to his teammates back in Canada. Snowbird, Sasquatch, Shaman, Northstar, Aurora and Puck gathered together, however Marrina was busy with the Sub-Mariner and did not hear the signal. Shaman teleported the team to the States just in time, as Guardian was struggling against Omega Flight. Alpha Flight battled their former associates, with injuries being sustained on both teams. However, the worst was to come when Box - controlled by Jaxon, who was keeping Roger Bochs prisoner, took Guardian from the battle and seriously injured him. In the battle, Mac managed to tear some circuits from the Box robot, which resulted in psychic feedback leaving Jaxon brain-dead. Mac’s battle suit was severely damaged, though, and he concentrated hard to stop it from exploding. Unfortunately, having freed herself from Delphine Courtney, Heather entered the room at a crucial moment and distracted Mac, who died in an explosion before her eyes. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #11-12]
With Guardian dead, Alpha Flight was seemingly all but over. Shaman and Puck rallied around Heather as she dealt with her grief and learned that she would not get compensation, because the government had swept the entire history of Department H under the rug and, at the time of his death, Alpha Flight had been operating without government support. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #13] But the world still needed Alpha Flight, for Marrina, along with Spider-Man, was soon captured by the cosmic being the Collector, who already had acquired himself a large collection of Plodex and planned to use Marrina and Spider-Man to repopulate the species. Sasquatch, Northstar, Aurora and Puck journeyed to New York and, despite their own inner conflicts, managed to defeat the savage Plodex and rescue both Marrina and Spider-Man. However, after the Collector departed, they were too slow to stop Marrina from leaving them again and she returned to the depths of the ocean. [Marvel Team-Up Annual #7]
Shaman, Northstar and Puck were the only members of Alpha Flight who showed up to confront a strange giant who mysteriously appeared in Canada. This lead to them being transported to the planet of Crystalium, where they aided Crystar in his battle to reclaim control of his kingdom. [The Saga of Crystar the Crystal Warrior #11]
At a loose end for what to do, Heather spent time with Puck and they soon began investigating a series of water-based murders in Toronto. Puck summoned Marrina after concluding that it was one of her Plodex race who was the murderer. Marrina began a search under water, taking her to a deep cavern, only to return to Puck a savage beast. The Sub-Mariner arrived and was forced to battle his love, before all three were captured by the Master of the World, who had located Marrina’s genetic mate in an attempt to have them breed and create more Plodex. Puck and the Sub-Mariner battled the Master and, eventually, Marrina was freed. However, she made it appear as if she disappeared. Thinking herself a monster, she didn’t want the Sub-Mariner to see her anymore. She made Puck aware of her situation and quit Alpha Flight. Meanwhile, Snowbird revealed her true identity to her RCMP colleague, Doug Thompson, who professed that he loved her. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #14-16]
Wolverine arrived to help Heather through her grief after losing Mac, which resulted in Heather deciding she would carry on Alpha Flight as its leader. With Puck at her side, Heather embarked on re-assembling the scattered members of Alpha Flight, starting with Northstar - who promptly shot her down and severed his ties with Alpha Flight. When she tried to contact Shaman, Heather learned he was elsewhere. Indeed he was, as Shaman had recently been reunited with his estranged daughter, Elizabeth, an archaeology student who had uncovered the third Great Beast. This had forced her to contact her father, after not speaking to him in years. Shaman accompanied his daughter to investigate the third Great Beast, Ranaq. During the battle with Ranaq, who possesses his host bodies, Shaman noticed that Elizabeth, engulfed in energy, easily repelled the energy back at Ranaq’s host form. Preparing to travel into the past to defeat the Great Beast, Shaman and Elizabeth were joined by Heather, Puck and Snowbird – who, upon seeing Elizabeth, promptly kneeled before her and addressed her as the prophesized one. Knowing that this meant his daughter was destined for greatness, Shaman had her look into his medicine pouch - something no mere mortal can do. She pulled from it a tiara, which, after placing it on her brow, transformed her into Talisman. They travelled into the past and eventually defeated the Beast. Talisman was promptly drafted into Alpha Flight, without any choice in the matter. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #15-19]
In an attempt to separate herself even further from her brother, Aurora had Sasquatch alter her genetic makeup and gave herself a new hairstyle and costume. Sasquatch and Aurora embarked on what was supposed to be romantic date - checking out Tamarind Island, a small island off the southern tip of Vancouver Island, which had been in Sasquatch’s family for years. With its isolated location and sprawling mansion, Walter thought it would be the perfect spot for Alpha Flight’s official headquarters now that Heather was keeping the team together. While exploring the mansion, they encountered Sasquatch’s great-aunt, the villainess Gilded Lily, an alchemist and disciple of Diablo, who seemingly perished in battle against them. Aurora’s multiple-personality disorder worsening, she fled to Northstar. Their brief reunion led them to a circus which Northstar was involved in during his wilder days - and in the process foiled the actions of the obese terrorist Pink Pearl. It was during this time, that Aurora learned that her brother was a member of the Sepratiste organization, a terrorist group who fought for Quebec’s independence from Canada, and told her brother that Alpha Flight would never want him back. During this time also, Heather had noticed strange uncontrollable behavior emerging in Sasquatch and, while out one evening with Talisman, believed she saw Mac - only when she tried to follow him, he fled from her. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #17, 20-22]
When Loki sought to win favor from the elder gods by creating peace on Earth, he erected the Fire Fountain in a deserted part of Canada. The Fire Fountain had the power to give people power according to their talents. There was a catch, though, in that magic users would all die and the imagination of those who use the Fountain fades. Alpha Flight was drawn into the conflict when the X-Men thought that Shaman had destroyed the cargo plane carrying Cyclops, Madelyne Pryor and a group of scientists. In truth, they were all transformed by the Fountain and as Alpha Flight, who were joined by Northstar for this mission, and the X-Men learned about the Fountain, they found themselves in a challenging situation - Heather, Sasquatch, Aurora and Puck were all transformed either by the Fountain or by the newfound healing power of Madelyne Pryor. While Snowbird and Shaman withered closer to death, only Northstar and Talisman were able to align themselves with the remaining X-Men. A battle ensued between the opposing groups and. when Loki appeared, those transformed began to reject his “gift.” Snowbird and Shaman were healed and Northstar departed once more. However, Alpha Flight going against Loki would have consequences for them in the months to come. [X-Men & Alpha Flight (1st series) #1-2]
Snowbird was tortured by her family for not completing her task of destroying the Great Beasts - namely for the fact that one of them, Tanaraq, had been in front of Snowbird’s eyes all along - in the form of her teammate, Sasquatch. Sasquatch, Aurora, Puck and Talisman found themselves going up against the armored menace called Caliber - however the battle was soon interrupted by Snowbird, who attacked Sasquatch. The Great Beast inside him finally took control over Sasquatch and not even Talisman could take him down. Snowbird was forced to take the form of a Sasquatch herself and battled her teammate - only to rip his heart out, literally. Thankfully, not all was lost, as Snowbird explained they could save Walter’s soul by entering the Kingdom of the Beasts. Snowbird, Aurora, Puck, Heather and Talisman took Walter’s body, which was turning to stone, to the Eye of the World, and soon Shaman and Northstar arrived after receiving Talisman’s mystic summons. They transported to the Shattered Lands and set about battling the remaining Great Beasts as they searched for Walter’s soul. However, back at the Eye of the World, Roger Bochs soon arrived in his remodeled Box armor, as he too felt Talisman’s summons. Unfortunately at that time, Walter’s body had begun to crumble into dust. Though Northstar, Aurora and Talisman were seemingly killed in the Shattered Lands, they were almost immediately resurrected by Walter’s own life energy. Shaman took hold of Walter’s soul and they transported back to the Eye of the World, only to learn that Walter’s body had crumbled beyond repair. Luckily, Roger Bochs was able to phase out of his Box armor and Walter’s soul was placed in it, giving him a temporary body. With Walter safe and the Great Beasts destroyed, Snowbird announced she was leaving Alpha Flight to return to Quidlivun. In truth, though, she remained on Earth, with her lover Doug Thompson. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #23-24]
Though Snowbird departed, Alpha Flight found Northstar amongst their number once more. Further, they now counted Roger Bochs as a member, while Walter adjusted to life in the Box armor. As Northstar prepared to defend his former terrorist actions, word came that Talisman was once again battling Caliber - only this time, she was being aided by… Guardian. Alpha Flight raced to the battle, where indeed Guardian appeared to have returned. As it happened, Mac was not blown up in his battle suit, instead rather shunted through a rift in space, where he found himself on Ganymede, one of Jupiter’s moons. There, he has been rescued by the alien race called the Quwrlln, who helped restore him and eventually return him to Earth - only now he was half cyborg. Tensions mounted between Aurora and Walter, neither happy with him being in the Box armor, so Roger thought up a plan to get Walter a new body. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #25]
Walter, Aurora, Shaman, Puck, Talisman and the returned Guardian took part in a training exercise with the armed forced, during which Aurora was injured. Afterwards, they learned that apparently Heather had uncovered something sinister. While Shaman and Walter took Aurora to be cared for her injuries, Guardian, Talisman and Puck journeyed to the West Edmonton Mall, where they learned that there was indeed trouble - by the name of Omega Flight. Northstar arrived soon after, and they were all attacked by the remaining members of Omega Flight - Diamond Lil, Flashback and Wild Child. However, the biggest shock of all came when Heather discovered that her husband had not returned - only Delphine Courtney had disguised herself, as she was programmed still to seek the destruction of Alpha Flight. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #26]
Talisman was forced to use her power to summon the remaining members of Alpha Flight, who were tending to Aurora’s injuries, while at the same time, Roger had located a body similar to Walter’s original Sasquatch form, wandering the Crossroads of Realities, and planned to capture it. And while Shaman, Box and Aurora journeyed to Talisman’s summons, so too did Snowbird, who could not ignore the call of her teammates. Shaman’s group arrived in Edmonton first and Guardian snatched Shaman’s medicine pouch, seeking to retrieve Smart Alec, who had been shrunk down and placed in there after he lost his mind when he looked in the pouch during Omega Flight’s first battle with Alpha Flight. Chaos ensued as Alpha Flight was sucked into the pouch and Omega Flight fled, deciding they don’t want to get caught up in it as well. Shaman urged Talisman to enter the void as she was the only one to look into the pouch and emerge unscathed. Although she managed to rescue the five Alphans, it almost cost her her sanity. Before Shaman managed to pull his daughter from the void, Delphine Courtney appeared, having captured Snowbird, who was unaware of this “Guardian’s” true identity. Shaman believed he could save both young women and chose Snowbird first - only to doom Talisman as the void closed around her and she was sucked into the pouch. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #27]
Omega Flight fled but was quickly apprehended by the one former Gamma Flight member not invited to join them - Madison Jeffries, who had been associating himself with Roger Bochs recently. Delphine was destroyed, while Diamond Lil, Wild Child and Flashback were captured and sent to prison. Alpha Flight had no time to mourn Talisman, when the enigmatic Beyonder appeared. Although Alpha Flight initially attacked him, he soon took Shaman’s medicine pouch and increased its mass, enabling himself to pull Talisman from it. This done, he vanished as quickly as he arrived. Talisman soon remembered what happened to her and furiously attacked her father, blaming him for everything wrong that had happened in her life, including becoming Talisman. She teleported Alpha Flight and Jeffries back to Roger Bochs’ warehouse. While Heather tried to reconcile all the strange goings-on, most of the others worked on getting Walter his new body. Astonishingly, what they pulled from the Crossroad of Realities was none other than the mindless Hulk, who had been exiled to the Crossroads by Dr. Strange months before. Unable to take the body of his old friend Bruce Banner, Walter’s mind is left to wander the Crossroad of Realities. [Secret Wars II #4, Alpha Flight (1st series) #28, Incredible Hulk (2nd series) #313]
With little time to grieve for Walter, Alpha Flight had to deal with the enraged Hulk, whom they transported to the middle of Vancouver. The Hulk quickly took out Roger Bochs, now happily back in the Box armor, while Shaman found himself powerless after his failures. He was not able to aid in the battle against the Hulk, who quickly made a break for the city. Alpha Flight’s powerless leader, Heather, tried to stop him, with Northstar and Aurora, reunited in their grief over losing Walter, unable to aid her, and Puck defenseless against the Hulk, they could not stop him. Despite initial protests that Alpha Flight is over, Heather managed to rally the others, except Shaman, and set about tracking the Hulk, who was now attacking the local police force. Alpha Flight stepped in and was soon joined by Snowbird, who had received a summons from Shaman. Snowbird battled the Hulk and followed him as he headed south back to the States, deciding not to pursue him any further as he is the States’ problem. Snowbird returned to Alpha Flight who were gathering themselves after the battle, and made an impassioned speech about Canada still needing heroes. Gary Cody heard the speech and announced that the government wanted to fund Alpha Flight again, giving them free reign this time. Heather accepted the offer and. with Snowbird back on the team, a new era began for Canada’s premiere super heroes. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #29]
Afterwards
- Bizarrely, Delphine Courtney’s story about how “Mac” survived being blown up by his battle suit was, as Heather would eventually learn, actually mostly accurate. Unknown to his teammates, Guardian had really been saved by the Quwrlln and sent back to Earth, where he ended up in the care of Roxxon Industries. Delphine apparently knew of this because of her connection to Roxxon. [Alpha Flight (1st series #87-90)]