The All-New, All-Different Alpha Flight
Team Appearances: Black Panther (3rd series) #42-44, Wolverine (2nd series) #179-180, X-Men Unlimited (1st series) #45, Uncanny X-Men #421-422, 432-434, Alpha Flight (3rd series) #1-12, New Avengers (1st series) #16
Before
- For reasons not made entirely clear, though possibly because they viewed her anarchistic ways as a threat, Department H captured Nemesis during the “Clampdown” when Department H was being shut down the wake of the Super Powers Bill and kept in her stasis at an unrevealed location. [Alpha Flight (3rd series) #1]
- Edmond “Lou” Sadler, jr. and his brother, Michael, were the sons of World War II hero, Major Mapleleaf. The WWII veteran was an abusive man but Edmond grew to idolize him nonetheless. Sadly, Michael died due to complications related to the AIDS virus. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #106, Alpha Flight (3rd series) #4]
- While there are still many gaps of missing history from Puck’s early years, at some point during his adventurer stage he fathered a child with a woman of Asian descent. The means by which Puck was separated from his daughter remain unknown. [Alpha Flight (3rd series) #4, 1]
- When the government decided to pardon the members of the original Omega Flight, in exchange for serving on the new Gamma Flight, only Diamond Lil and Wild Child emerged from prison, as Flashback had mysteriously vanished. It was assumed his past had caught up with him and that Flashback had been pulled back to Edmonton Mall and killed. Actually, Gardner went into hiding and vowed to never wear his costume again in an attempt to avoid that fate. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #76, Alpha Flight (3rd series) #9]
Chronology
When the Canadian Prime Minister was replaced by an impostor and Wakandan forces began to invade Canada, Alpha Flight feared they were on the verge of an international crisis. Initially, they let Wolverine deal with the threat time being, and chose to remain on stand-by if needed. However, the direness of the situation was made apparent by Heather donning her costume despite her pregnancy, whereas Guardian took part in peace negotiations. [Black Panther (4th series) #42-44]
Department H was soon attacked by a demon, whose foul sorcery had overwhelmed the surrounding area, with Sasquatch, Snowbird and Puck trapped inside the complex. Shaman summoned Wolverine to aid him and together they ventured into the compound. Wolverine encountered all sorts of creatures before being attacked by the possessed Sasquatch and Puck. While Puck eluded him, Logan managed to bring Sasquatch back to his senses. Together they located Snowbird, who had transformed into a giant, insect creature, mimicking the physical appearance of the demon, which proceeded to rape Snowbird. Sasquatch and Wolverine engaged the demon physically, while Shaman confronted him on the astral plane, only to learn that the demon was seeking the young man who would become Shaman’s apprentice – a man with a power so great that he could help the demon return to Earth as a god. Eventually, Shaman managed to defeat the demon, resulting in Snowbird returning to her default form and Puck being freed from possession. Additionally, Department H was cleansed of the demon’s influence. Shortly thereafter, Shaman’s protégé, Chuck Moss, a human with the potential powers equivalent of an Omega Mutant, arrived at Department H. Chuck received training from Shaman and Wolverine, and took the code-name Earthmover. [Wolverine (2nd series) #179-180]
When a new Department H scientist, Edward Jilrout, became obsessed with Heather, the scientist seemingly killed Guardian with a new experimental weapon. Now believing Heather to be free for him, the deranged scientist made his way to Heather, who was almost at the end of her pregnancy.
Shaman was training Earthmover when he learned of what had happened to Mac and, along with Sasquatch and Snowbird, raced to help their friend, who was barely alive. Mac donned an exo-suit, while a desperate Heather was trying to run away from Jilrout… until her water broke. Alpha Flight arrived just in time for Shaman to help deliver Heather’s baby, while the rest of the team battled the mad scientist. Guardian confronted Jilrout one on one and they went up in flames when Jilroout’s weapon exploded. Mac knew he was about to die, though he at least got to take a good look at his baby girl before passing out. Fortunately, his life was saved with the newfound healing abilities of the X-Men’s Archangel. [X-Men Unlimited (1st series) #45]
Not long after giving birth, Heather returned to her geothermal Vindicator battle suit, meaning the Alpha Flight roster now consisted of Vindicator, Guardian, Snowbird, Sasquatch, Puck, Shaman and Earthmover. Their next mission took the Canadian heroes, except for Shaman, to the Xavier Institute, home of the X-Men and dozens of young students. Now working under the order of the Canadian government and both the Governor and Attorney General of New York, Alpha Flight had permission to remove the children from the X-Men’s care, as they had determined that the lives of the children were in danger. Alpha Flight was particularly interested in the Canadian boy, Samuel Pare, but when Puck mistakenly took the school nurse’s son for one of the students, a battle broke out. Alpha Flight and the X-Men fought, including an unhappy reunion between Guardian and Northstar. However the battle came to an end when Samuel Pare announced that he would return to Canada to stop people from getting hurt. Despite being successful in their mission, Alpha Flight was not aware of the abusive home they were sending Samuel Pare back to. [Uncanny X-Men #421-422]
Alpha Flight was soon contacted by Samuel’s mother, Mrs. Pare, as the Juggernaut had arrived in Vancouver with Northstar, wanting to check on Sammy, who had once again been beaten by his father. Vindicator, Guardian and Sasquatch were on hand to battle the Juggernaut and they donned protective armor to counter his strength. After a protracted battle which damaged the neighborhood, Sasquatch eventually managed to take down the recently depowered Juggernaut by severely beating him. [Uncanny X-Men #432-434]
When the team investigated some strange goings on in the Arctic Circle, Vindicator, Guardian, Snowbird, Puck, Earthmover and Shaman were all captured by the Plodex, leaving Sasquatch the only Alphan available. Seemingly unable to locate any former members of Alpha Flight for assistance, Sasquatch began to recruit other super beings in Canada, including Alpha Flight’s old ally, Nemesis, who was being held in stasis inside an undisclosed Department H laboratory, and the new Major Mapleleaf, son of the original World War II hero, who was accompanied by his faithful horse, Thunder. The others were harder to convince to join the team and Walter embarked on some less than scrupulous methods to recruit them: Yukon Jack, the future heir to an ancient civilization hidden deep within Canada; Zuzha Yu, the daughter of the original Puck, who also called herself Puck; and the elderly Centennial. With the new team assembled, Walter explained the history of the Plodex, preparing the new heroes for their mission. [Alpha Flight (3rd series) #1-3]
The All-New, All-Different Alpha Flight made their way to the Arctic Circle, where Major Mapleleaf and Yukon Jack encountered the Mole Man, before eventually locating the original Alphans and Earthmover, captives of the Plodex. However, before they could free their predecessors, they were confronted by another Alpha Flight, which were soon revealed to be Plodex copies. The All-New, All-Different Alpha Flight and the Plodex constructs battled, though the Plodex were swiftly defeated. Following the battle, however, a large mass of Plodex eggs appeared. Meanwhile, Nemesis had become separated during the battle and, elsewhere in the Plodex base, she encountered the young Plodex called Mar. [Alpha Flight (1st series) #4-5]
Sasquatch realized that the Plodex eggs were being “fed” the genetic codes of the captive Alphans, meaning that, when they hatched, the Plodex would be powerful weapons of mass destruction. He opted that the team destroy the eggs but, before they could proceed, Major Mapleleaf stopped them, pointing out that would be murdering infants still in the womb, without giving them the opportunity to grow and make their own choices. Yukon Jack sided with Sasquatch, while Centennial and the new Puck supported Major Mapleleaf. In the meantime, the original Alpha Flight and Earthmover managed to free themselves. The argument between Sasquatch and his Alphans ended when a third option presented itself. The original Alphans announced that they learned the Plodex homeworld had repaired itself over the last thousand years and the groups decided to return the Plodex eggs to their true planet to re-populate it. After discovering a spacecraft, it was decided that the original Alphas would pilot it to the Plodex homeworld, after stopping to collect Heather and Mac’s daughter. Mar remained with the All-New, All-Different Alpha Flight, who had the original teams’ blessing to remain together. [Alpha Flight (3rd series) #6]
After claiming the Plodex base in the Arctic Circle as their headquarters, the All-New, All-Different Alpha Flight took some time apart to settle personal matters. Nemesis made a deal with Sasquatch, who offered to remove her inhibitor device, provided she promised not to kill any member of Alpha Flight. As it turned out, Nemesis was not immortal and had a mission to complete before she could die. She even revealed her true face to Sasquatch in the hope he would agree to let her deal with that personal matter. Sasquatch and Nemesis returned to Department H to explain why Nemesis would not go back into custody, but they were met with opposition by the new Department H administrator, Agent Skinner. However, Sasquatch severed Alpha Flights’ ties with the Department and departed.
Meanwhile, paying a visit to his kingdom, Yukon Jack found that his citizens were reveling in his absence, an idea to which he did not take kindly. Centennial returned to his old family home, only to find it overrun by thugs, though to his shock he leaned that one of them was his great-grandson. Major Mapleleaf found himself confronted by the romantic advances of the new Puck, who took him to a bar and got him drunk. They visited a wax museum full of American super heroes and later were attacked by the wax super heroes who were brought to life. Thunder proceeded to gather the other members of Alpha Flight to help Major Mapleleaf and Puck battle the statues. With the battle against the wax statues well underway, Puck discovered the man behind the battle, the Manimator, and foiled his plans. Major Mapleleaf’s actions during the battle, however, led Puck to a realization: the Major himself had no powers and the powers he had displayed were derived from his horse. Soon thereafter, the entire team reunited at Centennial’s home, at which point the elder Alphan made a special attempt to bond with Nemesis. [Alpha Flight (3rd series) #7-8]
Shortly thereafter, Alpha Flight was approached by former associate Flashback, long believed deceased and now in need of their help. He explained that when he was released from prison, he went into hiding. He had sworn off using his powers and burned his costume - as he needed to be wearing his costume to be summoned into his past – where he would end up killed. Yet, no matter what Flashback did with the costume, it kept reappearing in his apartment. The heroes realized that the only way to help Flashback was to travel back into the past to alter the timeline, thus preventing Flashback’s past-self being killed. Their plan entailed the use of Nemesis’ sword, which when used to “kill” an Alphan was able to send them into the past. Major Mapleleaf was the first “killed” by Nemesis’ sword and, after confronting his abusive father in the weigh-station between life and death, Mapleleaf located the past James MacDonald Hudson. The young hero explained the situation and prevented Hudson from taking the job at Roxxon, thus preventing the battle in New York. [Alpha Flight (3rd series) #9]
However, the timeline was changed much more than intended, for in the present Alpha Flight soon witnessed an army of Box robots. As it turned out, a series of events involving (the no longer dead) Jerry Jaxon led to the destruction of first the United States and then Canada. Alpha Flight deduced that they needed to prevent Hudson from taking the job at Roxxon but encourage him to move to the United States, so Centennial was sent back in time. Upon being “slain” by Nemesis, Centennial found himself in the weigh-station between life and death, reliving a point in his past in the 1920’s where he was reunited with his true love, Amelia Weatherly – better known as Nemesis. They discussed Nemesis’s mysterious disappearance and how a funeral was held for her, even though her body was never discovered. Tragically, Centennial learned he would not remember any of this conversation, despite him begging Nemesis to tell him once they returned to the present time.
Eventually arriving in the past (not recalling his discovery about Amelia), Centennial managed to locate both Major Mapleleaf and Hudson, and explained the new situation to them. Once again, there were some unforeseen consequences, as in the present Canada was transformed into a toxic zone with acid rain. As it happened, the original Alpha Flight had accompanied Hudson to become the United States’ greatest heroes. However, this led to Canada being destroyed by a nuclear weapon which was dropped on the Plodex, who began to overrun Canada. Next in line, Nemesis sent Puck and Yukon Jack into the past, arriving just in time before the battle between Hudson and Omega Flight. Yukon Jack defeated Omega Flight and the original Alpha Flight appeared. Somehow, this alteration on the timeline caused the Canada of the present to become a “super-hero free country” run by the Canadian military. [Alpha Flight (3rd series) #10-11]
While Sasquatch and Nemesis worked out what they needed to do to change the past again, they learned that, in their last foray into changing the past, Hudson only briefly ventured to the States and returned to Canada, with the members of Alpha Flight and Omega Flight forming one big team. Too much in-fighting caused public distrust of the heroes and eventually a civil war took place, which in turn led to the military for a super hero-free Canada being formed. Nemesis sent herself into the past, where she briefly encountered her past self in the weigh station between life and death. Arriving in the past New York, Nemesis slew Heather Hudson, to prevent her from causing Guardian’s death. However, this resulted in a present day era where Alpha Flight had taken full control of Canada.
Sasquatch then slew himself with Nemesis’ sword, sending him to the past. There, he explained the situation to the past Shaman, who was able to re-set the time-line with magic. This returned the All-New, All-Different Alpha Flight back to their meeting of Flashback, who apparently had been handed the past Shaman’s medicine pouch and had kept it for several years, only to now hand it to Sasquatch. After returning to their headquarters, Sasquatch shook the medicine pouch open and the past versions of Guardian, Snowbird, Aurora, Northstar, Shaman, Puck and Heather Hudson fell from it. Though everyone found it confusing as to why the past versions of Alpha Flight were in the present, while the present versions were traveling in outer space, it was decided not to attempt to send the past versions back to the past for fear of messing with the timeline again. [Alpha Flight (3rd series) #12]
However, soon after, the present versions of Guardian, Vindicator, Snowbird, Shaman and Puck returned to Earth. This apparently caused the past versions of Alpha Flight to return to their true place in time, with no violation of the timeline. [Chaos War: Alpha Flight] The two Alpha Flight teams proceeded to go through a major restructure, with Guardian, Vindicator, Sasquatch, Shaman, Major Mapleleaf, and both Pucks comprising the new Alpha Flight line-up. Major Mapleleaf and Zuzha also got married and had a child, while Major Mapleleaf and his father began to reconcile. Snowbird and Yukon Jack married, and the two left Alpha Flight to rule over Yukon Jack’s kingdom, whereas Mar was sent to Atlantis to live under the supervision of Namor. [Alpha Flight (3rd series) #12]
Some months later, Alpha Flight was called to the Alaskan / Canadian border when a previously unidentified mutant, Michael Pointer, was imbued with an overwhelming amount of power - power which he could not control. Alpha Flight was ready to confront him but Pointer literally tore through the team within seconds, killing Guardian, Vindicator, Shaman, Major Mapleleaf and both Pucks. Because of his physique and his status as a former Great Beast, Sasquatch alone survived the ordeal, though barely. However, it seemed that Alpha Flight and the dream that existed with it was finally now dead. [New Avengers (1st series) #16]
Afterwards
- Earthmover has not been seen since Alpha Flight returned to Earth. He may have remained on the Plodex home world for some yet to be revealed reasons, though it’s more likely he decided to quit Alpha Flight after they returned from space.
- Sadly, both Nemesis and Centennial died shortly thereafter; probably due to Centennial’s old age and Nemesis no longer needing to live on, now that the lovers were reunited. [Alpha Flight (3rd series) #12]
- As later discovered, Yukon Jack sustained some neurological damage due to the time travel adventure. Whether this is also the cause for his and Snowbird’s marriage falling apart is unclear. [Omega Flight #1, Incredible Hercules #117] If he has recovered enough to do so, he is probably still ruling over his people in his kingdom.
- When Mac and Heather were slain by the Collective, their daughter was presumably sent to live with relatives, most likely Heather’s parents, Claire and Ramsey McNeil, or her sister, Becky.
- When the United States went through its own civil war among the super-powered community, dozens of villains fled to Canada. This led the Canadian government to re-evaluate its current super human activity and a new, heroic Omega Flight III was formed around Sasquatch as the nation’s official super team. [Civil War: The Initiative, Omega Flight #1] In an attempt to redeem himself, Michael Pointer would join this group too.
- Not having been with Alpha Flight in their last battle, Snowbird developed a form of “survivors guilt” and her marriage to Yukon Jack fell apart. When she was approached by Michael Pointer to join Omega Flight III, Snowbird rejected his offer, not wanting to be on the same team as the person who had killed her friends. Eventually, Snowbird joined Hercules and several other deities on a mission to destroy the Skrull gods. She also slept with Hercules and revealed that she had thought about committing suicide, but thought better of it. She returned to remote Canada, where she continued to protect Earth from the Great Beasts. [Incredible Hercules #117-120, Marvel Heartbreakers]