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X-Men/Alpha Flight (1985) #1-2
X-Men: Alpha Flight
The X-Men and Alpha Flight have always had Wolverine in common, even when they're fighting over him! But when the stakes get too high, the mighty mutants and the defenders of Canada can set aside their differences and join forces to save the world! In an all-time classic, Alpha Flight and the X-Men face the mythical might of Loki — and it's a transformative experience! And in a blast from the past, Alpha Flight must ride to the rescue when the X-Men fall victim to Hydra! Plus: Alpha Flight's legendary first appearances — from the X-Men's furious encounter with Weapon Alpha (a.k.a. Guardian), to the public debut of Canada's premier super-team, to a savage showdown with the wicked Wendigo!
Collects X-Men (1963) #109, #120-121 and #139-140; X-Men And Alpha Flight (1985) #1-2; and X-Men/Alpha Flight (1998) #1-2.
Collects X-Men (1963) #109, #120-121 and #139-140; X-Men And Alpha Flight (1985) #1-2; and X-Men/Alpha Flight (1998) #1-2.
277 pages, Hardcover
First published May 18, 2011
7 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Chris Claremont
3,281 books894 followersChris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.
Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.
Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.
Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.
Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 2, 2019
The first half of the book are all of Alpha Flight's early appearances in X-Men before John Bryne spun them off into their own book. Has there been a better collaboration in comics than Chris Claremont and John Byrne? These issues are fantastic!
Next up was an untold team-up of the two teams by Ben Raab and John Cassaday. It's just OK. This is from Cassaday's early days in comics before he became one of the best artists in the business. the art is rough in places, especially faces.
Finally is the first X-Men / Alpha Flight miniseries. The two teams join up to rescue Cyclops and a plane load of people he was piloting. Loki is involved which is kind of odd, but it's still Claremont written so it's good.
Next up was an untold team-up of the two teams by Ben Raab and John Cassaday. It's just OK. This is from Cassaday's early days in comics before he became one of the best artists in the business. the art is rough in places, especially faces.
Finally is the first X-Men / Alpha Flight miniseries. The two teams join up to rescue Cyclops and a plane load of people he was piloting. Loki is involved which is kind of odd, but it's still Claremont written so it's good.
October 22, 2021
I’ve read these stories many times, first as individual issues when the were originally published and later when I re-read either the run of X-Men or Alpha Flight issues I own. And then as this collected volume. John Byrne’s Alpha Flight is one of my favorite runs of any Marvel Comics titles, and it remains so to this day. He did a great job on that title, and this volume features the issues of the Uncanny X-Men that would lead to him creating that series. Also included is the first appearance of Weapon X and and the spectacularly good mini-series that Chris Claremont did with Paul Smith and it’s all presented in chronological order (thank you, Marvel), not in publication order. This a nice little addition for fans for Canada’s number one super-team, think of it as Alpha Flight Classic Volume 0.
The stories included can be divided up into three parts. The first being the issues of Uncanny X-Men written and drawn by John Byrne & Chris Claremont, and these are magnificent. The second part is by Ben Raab & John Cassaday. This one is fun but also fundamentally flawed. As with most ret-con (retroactive continuity) stories. Without extremely careful research, they’re just not going to fit within the context of the original material. The last part, by Claremont and Paul Smith, is a treasure and certainly does an enormous amount to dispel the failings of part two.
The stories included can be divided up into three parts. The first being the issues of Uncanny X-Men written and drawn by John Byrne & Chris Claremont, and these are magnificent. The second part is by Ben Raab & John Cassaday. This one is fun but also fundamentally flawed. As with most ret-con (retroactive continuity) stories. Without extremely careful research, they’re just not going to fit within the context of the original material. The last part, by Claremont and Paul Smith, is a treasure and certainly does an enormous amount to dispel the failings of part two.
August 2, 2013
I love Alpha Flight.
Not because they're Canadian or loosely tied to X-men or whatever but because they're so quirky and interestingly written. It's like the Marvel version of the Justice Society of America. A weird conglomeration of heroes/mutants/aliens trying to do the right thing and getting along while not getting along terribly well with their strengths and weaknesses. The villains are absurd, (tied to the Canadian wilderness or vaguely Aboriginal) but again the real charm is in the characters themselves. Worth a look if you've shunned them before . . . they go into painstaking detail about who and what they are for the readers benefit every issue it seems.
Not because they're Canadian or loosely tied to X-men or whatever but because they're so quirky and interestingly written. It's like the Marvel version of the Justice Society of America. A weird conglomeration of heroes/mutants/aliens trying to do the right thing and getting along while not getting along terribly well with their strengths and weaknesses. The villains are absurd, (tied to the Canadian wilderness or vaguely Aboriginal) but again the real charm is in the characters themselves. Worth a look if you've shunned them before . . . they go into painstaking detail about who and what they are for the readers benefit every issue it seems.
July 5, 2024
Five issues of the Uncanny X-Men which introduced & featured Alpha Flight & two miniseries. I never read the second one (it came out when I was out of the genre) and that was ok because it was terrible. Borderline unreadable. The rest of the book is good.
February 22, 2021
It was cool to see Ottawa depicted in a comic book. I don't really like the early Wolverine but the action was decent.
February 22, 2017
I've always liked Alpha Flight from the first time I saw them (X-Men 139 and 140). I was glad when they FINALLY got their own comic, but even then, their X-Men team-ups still held (and hold) a special fascination for me.
This contains four stories I knew about (X-Men 109, where Weapon Alpha came for Wolverine), X-Men 120-121 where the renamed Vindicator led Alpha Flight against the X-Men to get Wolverine back, the aforementioned X-Men 139-140 where Wolverine (and Nightcrawler) went north to make peace with Alpha Flight so as to avoid future fights and helped them fight the Wendigo and the X-Men/Alpha Flight special parts 1 and 2 involving Loki trying to do a good deed for humanity with interesting results.
I was intrigued by the fifth story- an X-Men/Alpha Flight team up from the past where Vindicator's technology was stolen by Hydra in an attempt to kidnap the X-Men and use them for experimentation. It gave us a look into a previously uncharted meeting between the two teams that happened about 4 issues into Alpha Flight's new title.
This was quite enjoyable for Alpha Flight fans like me.
This contains four stories I knew about (X-Men 109, where Weapon Alpha came for Wolverine), X-Men 120-121 where the renamed Vindicator led Alpha Flight against the X-Men to get Wolverine back, the aforementioned X-Men 139-140 where Wolverine (and Nightcrawler) went north to make peace with Alpha Flight so as to avoid future fights and helped them fight the Wendigo and the X-Men/Alpha Flight special parts 1 and 2 involving Loki trying to do a good deed for humanity with interesting results.
I was intrigued by the fifth story- an X-Men/Alpha Flight team up from the past where Vindicator's technology was stolen by Hydra in an attempt to kidnap the X-Men and use them for experimentation. It gave us a look into a previously uncharted meeting between the two teams that happened about 4 issues into Alpha Flight's new title.
This was quite enjoyable for Alpha Flight fans like me.
April 28, 2015
This was pretty great, but definitely outdated. I'd be interested in seeing some newer stories with Alpha Flight.
I'm also torn, because it was also very X-Men heavy. Which I liked, because I love the X-Men, so that was fun. But at the same time, I was really hoping to know and learn and read more about Alpha Flight.
I love how Northstar is a speedster. I want more of him!
I'm also torn, because it was also very X-Men heavy. Which I liked, because I love the X-Men, so that was fun. But at the same time, I was really hoping to know and learn and read more about Alpha Flight.
I love how Northstar is a speedster. I want more of him!
March 28, 2022
Pretty great 80s comic stuff here with some pretty stellar illustrations- particularly Wendigo and the paradise citadel. As much as I love Alpha Flight as a Canadian though, it's hard not to overlook some rather problematic elements that are on full display here. For one, the way "Shaman" (why is an indigenous superhero named after a Siberian practice) is written is really lazy and stereotypical. And then Puck can't just be a short king acrobat, but a tall guy "cursed" to dwarfism (which is referred to as a disease and subsequently cured.) Yikes!
January 7, 2021
These were the first issues of X-Men I read as a little kid -- they were old then, I got them at a garage sale for a dime a piece, tattered and lacking the covers. I remember even then laughing at the outfits (they street clothes more than the spandex). They hold up surprisingly well!
December 25, 2021
Extra star to Byrne's contribution; Claremont's mid-80s writing is nearly unreadable, but didn't take points off for that
January 26, 2023
Required reading in the New Mutants guide I'm using. So that was a fucking lie.
November 6, 2019
Either you can roll with 80s comics or you can't. For the most part, I could with this, but I found the collection to be a little out of focus. It did encourage me to check out the Alpha Flight series proper.
For more on this volume, tune in to this episode of the All the Books Show podcast: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/ep...
For more on this volume, tune in to this episode of the All the Books Show podcast: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/ep...
January 24, 2018
For some reason, I liked Alpha Flight from their introduction to the Marvel universe. I collected comics back then, and was elated when Alpha Flight got their own comic (I once owned all 130 issues of their first series). The two teams were inextricably bound, first by their common bond of knowing Wolverine and then by their common goal- recruit and train superhumans to learn to control their powers and to fight the good fight.
In X-Men 109, we met James MacDonald Hudson, aka Weapon Alpha. The Canadian government was not pleased when Wolverine quit them and left for the USA, and Hudson was sent to bring him home. He figured his shiny new battle suit gave him the edge he needed to pound his old friend into the ground and haul him home, but he didn't do his homework. He had no idea that Logan joined the X-Men, or just how powerful they were. Storm, Banshee and Colossus showed him the error of his ways- and the way back to Canada with a few bruises for souvenirs. Hudson ended thinking that next time he met the X-Men, he'd have Alpha Flight with him for backup.
Issues 120-121 were "next time" The X-Men traveled home from Japan after a battle with Moses Magnum and hit a freak storm that forced them to divert to Canada. The newly renamed Vindicator lived up to his word and had Alpha Flight combat ready. We met the sorceror Shaman (who created the sorm that brought the X-Men), the shape-shifting Snowbird, the super speed twins Northstar and Aurora and the aptly named Sasquatch, the strongman of the group. Of course the two teams beat the heck out of each other, and only stopped when the storm Shaman summoned got out of his control and Storm had to tame it before it killed them all. Wolverine left with his friends, but there was still tension between the two groups.
Issues 139-140 addressed this. In the aftermath of the Dark Phoenix saga, Wolverine decided to go back to Canada and make peace. Nightcrawler tagged along, and they found Vindicator, Shaman and Snowbird hip deep in a murder mystery. Some kind of huge beast was killing people in the north woods, and Alpha Flight had to identify it and stop it. Wolverine recognized the Wendigo from their description- he'd fought it before- and offered to help them take it down. That accomplished, he got Vindicator's word that the Canadian government wouldn't bother him any more.
I'd never read the next story, an X-Men/Alpha Flight story published in 1998. It looked like it was set somewhere between X-Men 168 and 169. Storm hadn't cut her hair yet, and Kitty Pryde and Colossus were very much in love at the time. In fact, they went on their first official date and had a great time until they were attacked by a cadre of men in familiar armor. When reinforcements came, Wolverine recognized the armor as James MacDonald Hudson's technology. Vindictor was furious to learn that his former liaison at Department H sold off his prototypes to refund the department and they wound up in the hands of Hydra. Alpha Flight came charging to the X-Men's rescue, and the two teams took down Baron Strucker and his branch of Hydra with ease.
The final story was the X-Men/Alpha Flight team up published in 1985. Cyclops was newly married to Madelyne Pryor at the time, and while on a cargo run, they and the group of scientists they ferried encountered a magical fire-fountain. Rachel Summers sensed the man she knew as her father in another timeline burning and, sensing a connection to Alpha Flight, went off half-cocked and attacked them. Once the misunderstanding was settled, the two teams linked up to investigate. They found Cyclops in control of his optic blasts and the scientists newly gifted with superhuman powers matching their interests. The fountain also gave Rogue the ability to control her power, cured Aurora of her split personality, suppressed the berserker rages Sasquatch and Wolverine were prone to and cured Puck of his dwarfism. It even turned Heather Hudson into a superhero.
What seemed like a blessing turned sour when they realized that Loki of Asgard was behind the fire-fountain, and that its existence would kill supernatural beings such as Shaman and Snowbird and anyoen else tied to magic. Even worse, those who partook of its blessings lost their ability to imagine, their creative spark. Loki used them as a test-bed- he wanted to bless the whole world with this, and by doing so, be granted power by Those Who Sit Above In Shadow. They refused his gift, he got angry and by trying to force them to keep it, lost his chance for the power he wanted. Loki took back the power, reversed the gifts it gave and left swearing vengeance on the X-Men despite a stern warning from Those Who Sit Above In Shadow to not even think about it or they would get after him.
These were great stories- I enjoyed looking back at how Alpha Flight got started and just how deeply linked to the X-Men they truly are.
In X-Men 109, we met James MacDonald Hudson, aka Weapon Alpha. The Canadian government was not pleased when Wolverine quit them and left for the USA, and Hudson was sent to bring him home. He figured his shiny new battle suit gave him the edge he needed to pound his old friend into the ground and haul him home, but he didn't do his homework. He had no idea that Logan joined the X-Men, or just how powerful they were. Storm, Banshee and Colossus showed him the error of his ways- and the way back to Canada with a few bruises for souvenirs. Hudson ended thinking that next time he met the X-Men, he'd have Alpha Flight with him for backup.
Issues 120-121 were "next time" The X-Men traveled home from Japan after a battle with Moses Magnum and hit a freak storm that forced them to divert to Canada. The newly renamed Vindicator lived up to his word and had Alpha Flight combat ready. We met the sorceror Shaman (who created the sorm that brought the X-Men), the shape-shifting Snowbird, the super speed twins Northstar and Aurora and the aptly named Sasquatch, the strongman of the group. Of course the two teams beat the heck out of each other, and only stopped when the storm Shaman summoned got out of his control and Storm had to tame it before it killed them all. Wolverine left with his friends, but there was still tension between the two groups.
Issues 139-140 addressed this. In the aftermath of the Dark Phoenix saga, Wolverine decided to go back to Canada and make peace. Nightcrawler tagged along, and they found Vindicator, Shaman and Snowbird hip deep in a murder mystery. Some kind of huge beast was killing people in the north woods, and Alpha Flight had to identify it and stop it. Wolverine recognized the Wendigo from their description- he'd fought it before- and offered to help them take it down. That accomplished, he got Vindicator's word that the Canadian government wouldn't bother him any more.
I'd never read the next story, an X-Men/Alpha Flight story published in 1998. It looked like it was set somewhere between X-Men 168 and 169. Storm hadn't cut her hair yet, and Kitty Pryde and Colossus were very much in love at the time. In fact, they went on their first official date and had a great time until they were attacked by a cadre of men in familiar armor. When reinforcements came, Wolverine recognized the armor as James MacDonald Hudson's technology. Vindictor was furious to learn that his former liaison at Department H sold off his prototypes to refund the department and they wound up in the hands of Hydra. Alpha Flight came charging to the X-Men's rescue, and the two teams took down Baron Strucker and his branch of Hydra with ease.
The final story was the X-Men/Alpha Flight team up published in 1985. Cyclops was newly married to Madelyne Pryor at the time, and while on a cargo run, they and the group of scientists they ferried encountered a magical fire-fountain. Rachel Summers sensed the man she knew as her father in another timeline burning and, sensing a connection to Alpha Flight, went off half-cocked and attacked them. Once the misunderstanding was settled, the two teams linked up to investigate. They found Cyclops in control of his optic blasts and the scientists newly gifted with superhuman powers matching their interests. The fountain also gave Rogue the ability to control her power, cured Aurora of her split personality, suppressed the berserker rages Sasquatch and Wolverine were prone to and cured Puck of his dwarfism. It even turned Heather Hudson into a superhero.
What seemed like a blessing turned sour when they realized that Loki of Asgard was behind the fire-fountain, and that its existence would kill supernatural beings such as Shaman and Snowbird and anyoen else tied to magic. Even worse, those who partook of its blessings lost their ability to imagine, their creative spark. Loki used them as a test-bed- he wanted to bless the whole world with this, and by doing so, be granted power by Those Who Sit Above In Shadow. They refused his gift, he got angry and by trying to force them to keep it, lost his chance for the power he wanted. Loki took back the power, reversed the gifts it gave and left swearing vengeance on the X-Men despite a stern warning from Those Who Sit Above In Shadow to not even think about it or they would get after him.
These were great stories- I enjoyed looking back at how Alpha Flight got started and just how deeply linked to the X-Men they truly are.
February 23, 2017
A chunky volume featuring the canadian super hero team alpha flight which contains stories from the 70s to the early 00s. Most of them feature the x men in some form and they usually end up scraping which does make me wonder whether Alpha Flight were ever able to hold their own series or just used as to wind up the X-men. It is more likely that it the volume would've sold more if it featured everyones favourite mutants because alpha flight suck a little bit. Still highly entertaining classic comic book art and writing.
October 3, 2014
Chris Claremont is excellent, and that was a fair bit of fun.
However, I'm not sure if I'm not into older-style comics, or I don't like reading disjointed single issues, or I'm just really tired. (All viable options.) I didn't really connect emotionally with the stories, however, which casts a pall over my OMG GOTTA READ MORE.
Maybe I'm just an art snob.
However, I'm not sure if I'm not into older-style comics, or I don't like reading disjointed single issues, or I'm just really tired. (All viable options.) I didn't really connect emotionally with the stories, however, which casts a pall over my OMG GOTTA READ MORE.
Maybe I'm just an art snob.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews