ALPHA FLIGHT 132

THE ALPHA FLIGHT GATEFOLD

The Story Up Till Now ... Alpha Flight has reformed under mysterious circumstances, draw together at the ruins of Department H as former members have fallen gravely ill. In the middle of the tragedy stands the Master, who has promised Alpha that he will save their friends lives. All they have to do is find and kill Marrina.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

GUARDIAN - James MacDonald Hudson; Mac was the founder of ALPHA and has been de-aged by Dept. H back to 19 years old under mysterious circumstances

VINDICATOR - Heather Hudson; estranged wife of Mac and sometime leader of ALPHA who's seen her husband die and return to life; has doubts about Mac's authenticity

SHAMAN - Michael Twoyoungmen; Shaman of Sarcee Tribe and accomplished surgeon who has at different times abandoned science for magic and magic for science

PUCK - Eugene Milton Judd; a long time adventurer who is considered the soul of ALPHA; has loved Heather from afar for years; Puck is a dwarf

SASQUATCH - Dr. Walter Langkowski; accomplished scientist and athlete, Walt can transform himself into a sasquatch and back with just a thought

AURORA - Jeanne-Marie Beaubier; suffers from a split personality between the reserved Jeanne-Marie and the outgoing Aurora, twin sister of Northstar

NORTHSTAR - Jean-Paul Beaubier; mutant speedster who has had a stormy relationship with ALPHA over the years, twin brother of Aurora

RADIUS - Jared Corbo; arrogant and impulsive, recruited from Hull House orphanage into ALPHA by the Mac regressing Dept. H, older half-brother of Flex

FLEX - Adrian Corbo; quiet and reserved, recruited from Hull House orphanage into ALPHA by the Mac regressing Dept. H, younger half-brother of Radius

MURMUR - Arlette Trufault; third new ALPHA recruit by Mac regressing Dept. H who enjoys flaunting her sexuality

BOX - Madison Jeffries; transmutor of metal, glass and plastic, has become BOX armor after the death of it's inventor and friend, Roger Bochs, wife of Diamond Lil

DIAMOND LIL - Lillian Crowley; one-time member of criminal Omega Flight who later joined ALPHA, wife of Madison Jeffries

Shelly Holmes - Langkowski's research assistant who has tagged along on the adventure, has demonstrated "ice" powers but the full extent is not known

Alpha Flight created by John Byrne

Michael Twoyoungmen's eyes fluttered open and he stared up into kind, cold, icy blue eyes.

"I do," he answered, sitting up from his place on the ground. "You should not be here ... Snowbird."

The slender woman looked down at the man who brought her into the world and raised her to adulthood. Her pale white features were as beautiful as they ever were, more so, Shaman thought. She had the look of maturity about her now. The beauty of one who had lived and loved and lost and hurt and recaptured all that she ever wanted and more.

"Do not take my words, wrong, Narya," Shaman said softly, "but you should be dead."

Analyze … The Master just dropped out of the sky on the ruins of Department H and let us know that he's killing past Alpha members. He's got an antidote, of course. All we have to do to get it is kill Marrina.

I don't know what will be tougher - killing a former member of Alpha Flight or killing someone who's already dead.

The assembled former Alpha Flight members that are gathered around me: Vindicator, Sasquatch and Aurora are screaming bloody murder at the Master. Puck, Madison Jeffries and Diamond Lil are on the ground, dying, their bodies spasming uncontrollably. A Canadian army ambulance just pulled up and deposited Radius, Flex and Murmur on the ground. Pretty cold, you ask me since all of them are dying too.*

There's some mystery girl and a government agent here, too. The blue-haired girl came with Langkowski, she's apparently his research assistant up at the research station he's been working at in the Arctic Circle. She looks fresh out of college. The government agent's name is Jacques Clouvere. Says he got the ruins of Dept. H tossed in his lap as punishment, but he didn't say what he did to deserve it.

And there in the middle of everything - in the middle of dying heroes, in the middle of screaming heroes, in the middle of the ruins of a Department that was started and named for me - stands the Master, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. His metal armor shines in the spotlights of his space craft above us.

"Obviously we accept!" Vindicator (Heather Hudson, my former wife) shouted at him. This wasn't good. I was supposed to be in charge of this group. It's what I was born to do, after all.

"Hold on, Vindicator," I interjected, though no one but Heather seemed to pay me any mind. She just shot me a look that could kill. She didn't like me, didn't trust me and didn't believe I was really the man she married de-aged by the Canadian government. "How do we know the Master can even do what he says and save the lives of our teammates?"

"Children, children, such anger in a group. It does no one any good for you to be fighting amongst yourselves," the Master gloated. "Still, you do have a point, so I shall prove to you that I can cure them."

"That's awfully nice of you, Master, but the Canadian government is more interested in your arrest," Jacques Clouvere spoke confidently. He looked every bit the upwardly moving young politician with his blow dried hair and thousand dollar suit. He tried hard to bury his French accent, but it hung there under the surface.

"The acquisition of state secrets," Clouvere announced in a tone that clearly indicated that he thought the Master would now just walk over to him and submit to his arrest. "Six months ago you broke into state computer banks."

"You politicians always amuse me," the Master laughed. "Just who is going to arrest me? Alpha Flight? If they do, their associates die."

"Stop it!" Vindicator yelled. "This solves nothing! The two of you stand there and decide for Alpha Flight what we're going to do? Forget the both of you. I've got half a mind to let Alpha wipe the floor with the two of you and take our fallen team- friends and go save them ourselves."

"But I can save them, Vindicator," the Master spoke slowly. "As easily as I can cause the rest of you to die in much the same way. If you fail, rest assured the Alpha members lying on the ground in front of you are a picture in your own future."

"We can save them, too," Clouvere announced, much to the surprise of everyone, apparently, but the Master.

"You say you can both save them?" I tried to retake control of this situation. "So prove it. First one that can do it gets our help."

"Guardian!" Heather screamed at me, but I ignored her. We needed to do something, anything. But we needed to move. "Silence, Vindicator," I ordered and thought she just might hit me. I walked directly over to Puck, picked him up into my arms and walked him over to the Master and Clouvere. "Save him."

"I-I can't," Clouvere stammered. "Not here," he recovered quickly. "I need you to come back to Ottawa with me to save them."

The Master smiled. "I can save him, but I won't." I thought Alpha might take him right there. I could feel Heather grow warm behind me - her costume must be generating it's own heat these days, instead of pulling them from the ground like they did when Dept. H redesigned the costume for her. Sasquatch roared and took a thundering step forward. To the other side of me, I could feel it getting colder - maybe that blue haired girl had temperature powers, too.

"I'll save anyone else," the Master grinned. "Puck fell for one simple reason - he is the heart and soul of Alpha Flight. He is the glue and the rock that hold you together. Don't look so surprised, Hudson," he grinned at me, then at Walter, "some of you don't even have souls."

"So saving him makes our victory over Marrina that much easier," I prodded, playing his game.

The Master grinned, "But without him you have someone to fight for. He is the only one among you who you all want to save. The only one you would all be willing to lay down your own lives for." The Master let us think about that for a moment as he walked over to the dying, unconscious bodies of Jeffries, Lil, Radius, Flex and Murmur. "I think I'll save this one," he said as he reached down to Radius. He pulled something from the inside of his cloak that he wouldn't let us see and pressed it into Jared Corbo's chest.

We waited no more than five seconds for Jared's body to convulse and the young man to sit up, coughing and spasming. He vomited a strange, orange substance that congealed onto the ground like mercury.

"Looks like we do what the Master wants," I said confidently, staring at Heather.

"He's right, Heather," Sasquatch said slowly, but without waver. "What choice do we have?"

Heather looked at me, fire still hot in her eyes. "Fine. Tell us what you know, Master. God help you if you try to play us for fools."

The Master's grin just seemed to get even bigger. "I wouldn't dream of it, my dear. Make your way to Ross, Nova Scotia and let the hunt for Marrina commence!"

There is a lot that can go wrong when one is an independent agent in the intelligence game, for you and for others.

Dirty secrets abound - the kind that no one wants known yet doesn't stop doing. Payoffs, backroom deals, clandestine meetings - sometimes with foreign politicians, sometimes with whores - inside stock information, sex, murder … the activities that humanity could engage in and yet want no one to discover were limitless.

Maverick knew secrets, traded in them on occasion. He was an independent operative with a conscience, though he wouldn't let that information out. His hand grabbed at his chest as pain seemed to choke his lungs, he didn't know how much longer he'd be able to play this game.

He had the Legacy Virus and it was, as it did to all who had it, killing him from the inside out.

Maverick was in Singapore on a contracted mission from T'Challa, known in the States as the Black Panther. T'Challa was the King of Wakanda, the world supplier of the metal vibranium. The King was worried that a Chinese businessman had acquired certain Wakandan state secrets on the metal that T'Challa didn't want on the open market.

His trail had led him here, to the Hotel Singapore and the penthouse suit of Hagani Tsu where he hid behind a couch in the dark. On the ledge behind him, three of Tsu's bodyguards lay unconscious. It was bad form to not kill anyone on these missions, but Maverick wasn't into the killing game. He knew that once you took a step down that path, it got easier and easier to take another one.

He'd busted a few arms and legs instead. If he appeared soft, he'd be out of this game and though the Legacy Virus hammered his body, he still kept hope going that someone somewhere would find a cure.

The thin man was in bed, being attended to by a variety of Singapore's most expensive whores. Maverick counted five of them and they all looked elegant and refined. They might as well have been business women, but, Maverick supposed, that's really what they were. At least Tsu wasn't into kids, he figured.

Maverick checked his guns, confident in his tools. They were top of the line weapons that he had received as payment for stopping the assassination of the princess of Isle Huevos down in the tropics. Poor girl, Mav thought, she saw some super spy save her life and was expecting a James Bond ending.

The weapons in his hands were pulse guns. They fired a pulse of sound directly at an object, rendering the person unconscious if the shot was on target, but they could also be used to tap into Maverick's mutant power and channel his force blasts. He wanted the pulses of sound for now, however. No need to kill anyone tonight, he hoped. They were larger than a handgun, but not by much.

Maverick stood up quietly from behind his couch and took aim at the heads of the five whores on the bed. He aimed with both guns at different targets simultaneously. Five trigger pulls later and all on the bed but Tsu were unconscious.

"All businessmen do, whether they admit it or not," Maverick responded, coming to a stop at the foot of the bed. "So stop pretending."

"I do not know you, but you are clearly American or Canadian, yes?" Tsu asked, forgetting the act as he pushed one of the fallen whores into a more comfortable position for the girl. "No need for her to get a stiff neck," he smiled.

Maverick didn't bite, but he wanted to remark that Tsu shouldn't be calling anyone young man since he was barely out of his teens. Tsu was a computer genius and had parlayed that talent into powerful positions at various companies across the world. Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to a Chinese father and a Seperatist mother, he was on the payroll at Stane International by the time he was eleven.

"Your name is Maverick, yes? Originally a Canadian operative, I believe," Tsu smiled. "You must be here for the contents of the folder on the table. I've done some work for Canada in my days, myself. They don't pay the best, do they? I could probably pay you double what they are offering."

"I don't think so, Tsu. You can't outpay my employer this time." Maverick had seen the folder on the way in and backed up slowly towards it, never taking his guns off of Tsu. If he had been working for Canada, there was no doubt that Tsu could afford to double his fee. "Sloppy to leave secrets out like this. What if one of the women with you had drugged you and walked off with them?"

"Silly child," Tsu giggled. "They are the ones who brought the folder to me. There is the possibility that someone would steal it," he spoke more seriously, "and that is why I have hired the guards that I did." He frowned and Maverick forced himself not to smile at Tsu's change of expression. "I see I need to hire better guards."

At the table he placed one gun down and opened the folder. The first file he saw made it clear that it wasn't what he wanted at all.

He had opened the folder hoping to find Wakandan state secrets but instead, a clear, full color photo of Heather Hudson nude in a shower looked back at him instead.

"What can I say?" Tsu remarked, motioning to the unconscious prostitutes around him. "I am a pervert." He smiled. "Though, really, those are just a nice bonus. It's all the other information on Alpha Flight that you really want back, isn't it?" Tsu smiled. "They were remarkably easy to obtain. It's almost … frightening just how much Dept. H has on file about them, isn't it? Take it, if you must, but please leave the … exotic photos if you would. If I had copies made, I'd give them to you, but I haven't had the chance yet. Perhaps you'd like some other photos in trade? I have some … breathtaking photos of Ms. Mar-"

"Shut up, Tsu. I could care less about the dirty secrets on Alpha Flight. Talk to me about Wakanda."

Maverick made no effort to hide his smile this time as Tsu's smile vanished into the Singapore night.

"Well," Tsu sighed, "it looks like I won't be able to outbid your employer, after all."

On board a flying machine designed by Tony Stark and mirroring the Avengers Quinjet, the members of Alpha Flight flew through the Canadian skies on their way to Ross, Nova Scotia to find, they guessed, their supposedly dead ex-teammate Marrina. To all who'd seen the Leafjet, they assumed the only difference between it and the Quinjet was the outer shell that made the Leafjet appear from above or below to be shaped life a giant maple leaf.

That wasn't the case, but Stark had seen no reason to give the Canadian government everything he had built into the Quinjet. The Leafjet was still a formidable machine, but it was more akin to a three year old Quinjet than a current model.

Guardian, Vindicator, Sasquatch, Aurora, Radius and Walter's blue-haired assistant Shelly Holmes made the somber trip trying to come to grips with all that had happened to them. Walter sat up front, piloting the ship with Heather sitting in the co-pilot's chair beside him. Guardian and Shelly sat in the chairs behind them. Aurora, barely speaking since she arrived, stood in the back and stared out the window.

They hadn't wanted Shelly to come with them, but she insisted and Walter vouched that she'd be able to take care of herself. Of all the people in the Leafjet, she was the only one smiling. She found this to be a thrilling experience and something she'd wanted to do since she acquired her super powers a year ago.

"Puck said his chest exploded," Walter began slowly, trying to keep everyone together. He tried hard to keep his eyes off of the disheveled Aurora, but he found it hard to do. He wanted so badly to walk to the back of the ship, take her into his arms and ask her what was wrong. The fact that she wore her older, black and white uniform that was similar to Northstar's gave him pause enough, but to see her as disheveled in appearance as she was had him downright frightened for her. Still, there was no time right now for that. It would have to wait. "Is this what happened to everyone?"

"It's what happened to me, at least," Radius scoffed, his eyes almost permanently peeled on the sky outside. He, too, was having trouble looking at a female, but he was trying hard to look like he didn't want to be here and staring at the attractive Ms. Holmes wasn't going to accomplish that. "I don't see why we didn't just rip the Master in two right there. No way he coulda taken all of us."

"And then what, Jared?" Heather asked, perturbed, though Mac wondered if she was really angry with the elder Corbo half-brother or at himself or at herself or at a little bit of everything. "There's no guarantee we could have saved them. Were you willing to risk your brother's life on a chance?"

"All I hear from you old fogies is that Alpha gets tossed this way and that way. You all hate Dept. H, but you don't have the guts to take control of your own destiny. Yeah, maybe we couldn't have saved them, but at least it woulda been on our terms instead of being the Master's puppets."

"All of you be quiet," Guardian ordered, trying hard to show that he was in control. "This is the course we've chosen, so this is the course we have to follow. There's no going back now."

"Mac's right," Walter agreed from the pilot's chair. "Let's just try to work this out the best we can. Somehow our former teammates have been falling victim to some kind of 'chest explosion'. It's possible it could be a heart attack of some kind, but that's doubtful given the way the Master healed Radius."

"Probably a virus, then," Mac deduced. "I don’t know what that orange mercury was that Radius vomited, but once it was expelled from his body, he healed pretty quickly."

"So a virus is probably NOT the answer, then," Heather fumed at Mac, hating herself for acting so angry towards the boy. What was she to do, she wondered to herself. She saw him as a pretender to Mac - probably a clone to boot - and yet there was that … dream last night.*

"Vindicator's probably right," Shelly joined the conversation. "A virus would spread through the body, but whatever that orange stuff was it looked like it stayed together."

Mac sat by, discouraged by the way the Alpha members were handling the situation. "Look, guys, I know the Master has us in a tough spot here, but all we can do is find Marrina and then take it from there."

"You said you called us, but apparently none of us heard your call," Heather spoke up, trying to be polite. "We all saw a white snow owl instead."

"I - that is, Shell and I, didn't see a snow owl, Heather. We saw a great polar bear instead."

They sat in silence for a few moments, each thinking their own thoughts. "Well, someone tell me what it's all supposed to mean," Shelly finally spoke, exasperated.

Behind them all, Aurora wondered hopelessly why her brother wasn't here with them.

Inside a large room, Jean-Paul Beaubier looked out a large window at the grounds of the former Avenger Janet Van Dyne's mansion. The window was open and Jean Paul enjoyed the cool breeze that washed over his body. The confident young man started when a white snow owl descended from the sky and through the open window to sit on the mantel of the room's fireplace.

The owl looked at him and he at it for a moment, when the Wasp entered the room. "Oh, Jean-Paul, what a beautiful bird. Is it yours?"

Northstar turned his back on the bird, not caring to look as the bird flew out the window.

"Why would I ever own a bird?" was all he would say. To him, the bird meant Alpha Flight and that meant the past. Jean-Paul was happy where he was.

"Don't think you're going to get away with this," Jacques Clouvere spoke to the Master.

The bodies of the dying Alpha members lay on metal examination tables before the two men. Puck, Flex, Murmur, Madison Jeffries and Diamond Lil all lay in various states of shaking unconsciousness.

"No, Mr. Clouvere, they do not," the Master said solemnly. "I wish it did not come to this, but I am a man who wants only what's best for this world. To stop Marrina, this was the course of action that had to be taken. Nasty creature, that bacteria is. I wonder who would develop such a vile life form?"

"Save your grandstanding for when you have an audience, Master. I am unimpressed," Clouvere turned away from the small tank that held the orange, gelatinous substance, straightening out his suit jacket as he did so.

"But I am impressed, Mr. Clouvere," the Master grinned. "Such a creature it is that hides undetectable in the heart, tucked away in a cocoon, only to be let out when the right switch is flipped."

"You hacked our files," Clouvere shot at the Master. "You hold secrets of the Canadian people."

"Please, Mr. Clouvere, spare me your righteous act of anger. The files that I stole do not belong to the Canadian people - they belong to the Canadian government. I would wager that the average Canadian citizen would be appalled to know that their own elected government was not only sanctioning the creation of Mercury Bacteria, but placing it inside the bodies of Canada's premier superheroes, Alpha Flight, as a last resorts measure to take them out if the need should arise."

"I wonder how Alpha Flight would react to the knowledge that I am only able to kill them thanks to the work of Dept. H," the Master shot back, enjoying his superior position in the argument. "They mistrust Dept. H enough that I needn't give them the proof that I do, in fact, have. It is you who is responsible for the dying heroes around you, Mr. Clouvere. I only pulled the trigger to make the puppets dance. It is a shame that you were only able to infect those that most recently were a part of your little superhero project. I wonder if I should have told Sasquatch and Aurora that they have nothing to fear from you."

"I'm not proud of what Dept. H did before I arrived, but I see their reasoning. The Canadian government needed to know that Alpha Flight would not go renegade on us. The Mercury Bacteria was placed inside them only to be used as you said, as a last resorts measure. Activate the electronic cocoon and the gel explodes into the heart cavity, choking of the flow of blood and stopping it from reaching the brain. It's a magnificent, if ultimately destructive creature. Much like Marrina."

"Bah, she is nothing but a frightened child," the Master waved his had in disgust.

"Then why did you force Alpha Flight into stopping her?" Clouvere dug back, thinking he had the Master at a disadvantage.

The Master strode to the dying bodies and looked down upon them with a sad look upon his face. "I have seen what these creatures can do, Clouvere. They are hatched from an egg and take the guise of the creature that they first come into contact with. Marrina was raised by kind parents, so she has rarely been a concern, but other hatchlings have become hideous monsters."

The Master looked at Clouvere, disgusted by the man's ignorance. "They are killing machines, Clouvere. They exist to colonize the planet." He turned to look down at Murmur's gasping body. "You can see how that might effect my plans for world domination."

The Leafjet landed in an empty field on the outskirts of a small town. The ocean was a mile to the west and the town was spread between here and there, and ran for another two miles up the coast. The moon was almost at it's zenith.

"Small town," Guardian stated the obvious. "Fishing village according to the computers on board the Leafjet. Population 793."

"Town looks like a dive," Jared dismissed the village. "Nothing to do, no one worth seeing."

"Let's go check it out," Heather suggested, opening the ship's hatch to let the collection of Alpha Flight heroes exit the ship. Guardian and Vindicator took the lead, with Sasquatch, Shelly and Radius following behind them. Aurora limped at the rear, not wanting to go, not wanting to stay. They all had concern for Jeanne-Marie, but now was not the time to discuss things with her. She'd just have to wait.

Guardian and Vindicator immediately took to the air to run a quick scouting mission over the small fishing village. Vindicator took to the left and Guardian headed right.

Shelly recovered from the stench and found Radius's hand draped over her shoulders. "Stick with me, babe and- off!" Radius fell forward onto the ground.

"Don't touch me, creep," Shelly grinned down at him. "Not until I say it's okay, at least."

To the side, Sasquatch moved to stand beside Aurora. She should have flown a recon mission as well, especially given her light powers. The night was lit by a full moon, and that, added to the reflection coming off the calm sea waters, gave enough light to see reasonably well, but more light could always be needed. He didn't want to press her, though, not now. He couldn't believe how bad she looked.

"Aurora … Jeanne-Marie, what is wrong?" he said gently, finding the urge to wrap her in his large furry arms almost unbearable to guard against.

"Nothing, Sasquatch," she shrugged, her eyes still on the ground. "I am just not feeling well."

"Is it your chest?" he asked quickly, reaching for her, wondering if she might be falling victim to what had ailed the others.

"Waltair!" she slapped his hand away and took to the sky, just high enough to be out of his reach. "This is not the time for games!"

"Az if you didn't know!" she spat down at him. "Iz it my chest?" Aurora sped off towards the town. "You disgust me."

"Aurora! Wait! I didn't mean …!" Walter tried to yell after her but she was already gone.

"Good job, 'Squatch," Radius smiled at the large beast. "You're quite the ladies man, apparently. Might want to stay away from that one, though, she's certifiably kookoo."

Sasquatch growled at the smaller man, anger growing inside his large frame, but Shelly stepped in to keep things cool. "Relax, Walter! Relax!" She knew from working with Walter the past several months just how much Aurora had once meant to him. "Just let it go and concentrate on the matter at hand. Don't forget there are lives on the line."

Shelly sighed and started walking away from them and back down the hill. These people were crazy. How they ever managed to stick together as long as they did was beyond her.

Guardian and Vindicator met above the center of town to compare what they found.

"Nothing, Guardian," she brushed the question aside, her eyes peeled to the ground below and Mac's eyes were peeled to hers.

Mac wanted to call her on her inability to call her "Mac" instead of "Guardian" but he didn't want to press it right now. The mission came first. "Neither did I," he mentioned instead. "And I mean nothing. Not a single living breathing person or animal. It's a ghost town down there."

"Agreed. This is obviously the place. Let's go back and find the others, then make the plans from there."

Guardian hesitated, and Heather caught his indecisiveness. "Heather, not to bring up a sticking point, but … who leads Alpha Flig-?"

"There is no Alpha Flight, Guardian. There is an emergency dealing with past Alpha Flight members and we have come to solve it. We take care of our own."

"You don't need to speak to me as if I don't know anything about Alpha Flight, Heather," Guardian shot at her, his anger rising to the surface. "I may look nineteen, but I am still the founder of this group."

"Are you, Guardian? I wonder if you really are that man." Heather turned away, suddenly feeling colder inside. She wondered what Guardian would say to that, but she wouldn't find out.

"Besides, Guardian," Heather set her jaw, "No one ever listens to the leader of Alpha Flight. You should know that by now."

The night was cut in half by a blood chilling scream and the night lit up as the small sun that was Aurora exploded over the city or Ross, Nova Scotia. The light was magnificent and blinding and all members of Alpha had to shield their eyes and let the light fade before it was safe to look down at the city again.

Down below in the open center of the city that they swore was empty, they could see a blood soaked Marrina feasting on the remains of a dog.

Well, that should make it official to those wondering why Northstar wasn't around last issue. As it turns out, Alex has him dibbed for DEFENDERS and it will be awhile before Jean-Paul graces these pages again. Chances are, I wasn't going to use Northstar much as it was. He always struck me as a bad Quicksilver knock-off, so I wouldn't have had much for him to do. I've got enough characters here that it's actually a good thing that one of them is tied up somewhere else and I'm glad another MV1 writer has an interest in writing him. Check him out over in Defenders over at the Dark Lore Branch to see what Alex has in store for him.

Mark, a tremendous start to Alpha Flight. I'm very curious about the whole "chest exploding" thing, what looks like not one but two resurrections (Marrina and Snowbird, two characters I miss), and some great characterization. The "MASTER" being spelled out went completely over my head until we got to the end. Very nice bit.

Another great one. I think this is looking like a favorite, maybe even better than your WCA stuff.

Thanks, Randy. It looks like both Marrina and Snowbird are back in some form or other. Then again, looks can be deceiving. <g>

First of all, I'm one of those folks who think Bill Mantlo ruined Alpha Flight. :-) I looooooved the Byrne stuff and the Mantlo run seemed the total opposite of what I liked in Alpha. But I do consider myself a fan of his work and I share your desire for him to recover in whatever degree that he can.

I liked the characterization in this issue (very Byrne-style Alpha to me) and I like that you appear to be focusing on the old Alpha members for your run. The issue had a very dreamlike quality to it for some reason, kind a slow but not lazy drawl to the writing that was quite appealing. You compared it to your FF run -- perhaps I'd compare it to the end of your FF run, when the storytelling seemed similar to this in my eyes.

Great scene with Puck and Walt! Two of my faves (esp. Walt, who's been painfully screwed by marvel over the years). Puck's love for Heather has long been a running subplot -- one I wouldn't mind seeing resolved, one way or another. Either hitch them up, or don't.

Mac...he's dead. He'll always be dead to me...but I liked the continuity nod to his Crusaders appearance (I'd forgotten that until I read this issue). Still, I like your portrayal of him here and the first-person narrative is great for him.

Lineup wise, I'd dearly love Talisman to rejoin on a full-time basis -- and I could care less if any of the v2 Alphans are around. I tried to get into the series but couldn't and none of the new folks ever impressed me very much.

Finally -- the MASTER! Yay! Alpha's biggest and best villain. A great choice to kick off the run.

Thanks, Barry. There's a lot I want to say in response to this letter, but what it all boils down to is … Wait and See. <g> I always felt Mac has been dead since issue 12, but he's shown up in MV1 so he has to show up here. The issue of just who this guy is will be revealed before not too much longer. Talisman will arrive at some point, if and when I can get her to work in an appearance. As for the v2 Alphans … much to my surprise, I'm actually enjoying writing Radius more than I thought I would. Go figure.

The mystery of Marrina resolved! It's all out action as Alpha Flight fights to save their dying teammates!