Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.marvel.xbooks From: [910252 m] at [falcon.acadiau.ca] (Dwayne MacKinnon) Subject: DMKs Guide to Alpha Flight (Part 3 of 3) Date: Wed, 15 Nov 1995 08:34:26 GMT SCRAMBLE, THE MIXED-UP MAN Real name: Lionel Jeffries Other Aliases: Omega Group Affiliation: None First Appearance: Alpha Flight #30 Last Appearance: Alpha Flight #49 Creator: Bill Mantlo Lionel Jeffries was a mutant like his brother Madison, able to affect flesh like the latter affected metal. While serving in Vietnam, the Jeffries' unit was attacked and decimated. Lionel attempted to use his abilities to bring the dead back to life. He could not, but went insane in the attempt. His brother stopped him by creating metal restraints. Jeffries was then put into solitary at a Montreal hospital, and remained there, cut off from all human contact in a cell and full body restraint. There he remained until visited by Heather Hudson. Hudson was investigating Madison Jeffries' past, something she knew nothing about. While reaching out to Lionel, Lionel managed to lurch forward and cause her hand to slip inside the visor of his helmet. Touching her skin with his gave him control over her body, and he used this to effect an escape. Having discovered Hudson's investigation, Madison Jeffries followed her, taking Alpha Flight with him. Jeffries found his brother in the morgue and stopped him by forcing his brother to use his abilities to cure himself, using Madison's mind as a model to follow. For a time, Scramble operated a clinic called New Life. There he treated people desperate enough to go to a man with no medical license (his had been revoked years before) and enough money to pay. Among his staff was a man named Whitman Knapp. In seeming gratitude for his cure, Scramble acted as "team doctor" to Alpha Flight for a time. However, Jeffries was NOT cured, but only insane in a different manner than previously. He was megalomaniacal, and convinced that super-humans like himself would come to rule the Earth. To this end, he had surrounded himself with such people, including Knapp and the beings who became known as the Derangers. When Alpha became aware of his plan, he joined with Roger Bochs, merging into the composite being called Omega in order to battle them. Alpha Flight, with help from Knapp, managed to defeat Omega, but not until Jeffries had lobotomized Bochs. Deciding that imprisonment was not a safe option for his brother, Madison Jeffries morphed the Box robot into a cannon and completely obliterated Omega. Lionel Jeffries was able to completely reorganize the structure of organic matter by touching it. He was also able to psychically sense the presence of his brother within a certain unknown radius. SHAMAN Real Name: Michael Twoyoungmen Other Aliases: Talisman II Group Affiliation: Alpha Flight First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #120 Michael Twoyoungmen is a Native Canadian who turned his back on his tribal traditions for most of his life. He instead became a doctor, a surgeon, and one of the best at that. Before his grandfather died the old shaman tried to get Michael to be his apprentice, but Michael refused. Then, however, Michael's wife Kathryn became quite ill, and all his skill couldn't save her. Grief-stricken and angry his daughter Elizabeth turned away from him. She was taken in by Claire and Ramsey McNeil, the Twoyoungmens' next-door neighbours. He would not see her again until events led to a startling revelation. Michael became a recluse, living alone in the wilderness... until one day he heard a call. That call was from his grandfather's spirit. Michael was now more receptive to the "old ways", and over time the spirit of the wise man taught Michael all he knew. Michael gained the ability to cast spells using a special "medicine pouch" that opened up into a myraid of dimensions. From the pouch he could pull almost anything. After a time, Michael got a visit from Nelvanna, goddess of the Northern Lights. With his aid she gave birth to a special child, Narya... who would become known as Snowbird. Approximately one year after Snowbird's birth, the McNeils' daughter Heather came by to visit... and took her new husband, one James MacDonald Hudson along. Heather ended up discovering Narya's rather unique nature, and Jimmy invited them both to join Department H. It is interesting to note that while Snowbird was an active part of the group involved in First Flight, Shaman was not. Shaman served faithfully in Alpha until their second meeting with Omega Flight. During this encounter Talisman had to enter the pouch, and was nearly killed as a result. This led to Shaman suffering a crisis of confidence... and he gave up the use of his medicine pouch. Returning to the life of a hermit for a time, he was once again visited by the spirit of his grandfather. His grandfather taught him a new way, and after passing certain tests he gained new abilities. For a time, Shaman even utilized his daughter's Circlet of Enchantment as the second Talisman. This proved to be temporary, however. Indeed, eventually Shaman returned to his use of the medicine pouch. Shaman went AWOL from Alpha around the time that other members were unwillingly (and accidentally) sucked away from headquarters by Laura Dean. It's unknown what he was up to at that time. He eventually returned to the team during the events that became known as the Infinity Crusade. Shaman is capable of using his medicine pouch to create an almost infinite array of magical feats. He has also earned the right to request aid from the spirits that his religion believes inhabit everything on Earth. For example, he has called on the North Wind for travel purposes, and animated statues to serve as warriors. Michael Twoyoungmen is also one of the most gifted surgeons to ever practice medicine in Canada. SILVER Real Name: Jhimon Tang Group Affiliation: Gamma Flight First Appearance: The Agent GN Last Appearance: Alpha Flight #121 Creator: Unknown Jhimon Tang and her brother Zhao were [I believe, I'm working from memory, bear with me -C] originally from Hong Kong. They were presumably living in Canada due to the imminent reposession of that area by the Chinese. Apparently they had some involvement in an earlier Marvel effort called The Agent GN, but I have no knowledge of the contents of said book. It is also unknown how Jhimon and Zhao came to be inducted into Gamma Flight. However, they served to the best of their ability [considering that their commanders were being influenced by an ancient source of great evil - C] until Gamma Flight was disbanded by the federal government. Shortly thereafter the two were kidnapped by the enigmatic being known as the Sphinx. Jhimon died in the explosion of the Sphinx' base. However, her consciousness now inhabits a composite being made up of herself, her brother and a scientist that was investigating the site of the Sphinx' base. Jhimon Tang posessed the power of flight and the ability to shoot beams of intense cold from her eyes. The source of her abilities is unknown, but knowing Marvel she was probably a mutant. SMART ALEC Real Name: Alec Thorne Group Affiliation: Omega Flight, Former Member of Gamma Flight First Appearance: Alpha Flight #7 Last Appearance: Alpha Flight #45 Creator: John Byrne Alec Thorne was apparently the smartest man in Canada (and, he claimed, the world.) How he got involved with James Hudson's Department H is unknown, but it is known that Thorne was involved from close to the beginning. Thorne was a part of the team that took part in the adventure called First Flight, and it was his actions that convinced James Hudson that a tiered training program for his operatives might be a good idea. Thorne subsequently joined the second-level training team called Gamma Flight. After H was disbanded for the first time by the Federal government Thorne returned to private life, earning money by such measures as chess exhibitions where he took on multiple opponents. At one such exhibition he was approached by Delphine Courtney, a robot employed by Jerome "Jerry" Jaxon. Subsequently Thorne joined Jaxon's Omega Flight. During Omega's first altercation with Alpha Flight, Thorne managed to grab Shaman's medicine pouch. Trying to figure out the secret of the pouch's operation, Thorne proceeded to look inside, something that Shaman had been warned to never do. In the microseconds before his consciousness was ripped screaming from his mind, Alec Thorne knew why. Shaman reduced Thorne's body to approximately six inches in height and stored it in the bag, hoping for a day when he could restore Thorne's mind. As the bag taps into other dimensions, the spirit of Walter Langkowski was able to find the body and utilize it. After crawling from the medicine pouch, Langkowski transferred his spirit to the Box robot to battle the being known as Pestilence. Thorne's body was crushed during the fight. It should be noted however that Thorne's mind is still wandering the myriad dimensions that the pouch has access to, alone and quite afraid. And probably will until the end of time. Alec Thorne was posessed of a genius level intellect, but there is no evidence to suggest that he had super-human abilities. During Omega Flight's first encounter with Alpha Flight he wore a helmet that raised his intelli- gence even higher. The helmet also posessed numerous scanning devices. SNOWBIRD Real Name: Narya Other Aliases: Anne McKenzie Group Affiliation: Alpha Flight First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #120 Creator: John Byrne In the Marvel Universe it has been revealed that the gods of many ancient civilizations actually exist. This is also the case with the gods of the north. In ancient times the gods had battled the Great Beasts for the fate of the world. Finally the gods were able to trap the Beasts in their own realm behind a mystic barrier. In the act though the Beast known as Tundra was able to turn the spell against the gods, so that the gods were trapped in THEIR own realm. In recent years the gods came to the realization that the barrier against the beasts was weakening, and might fall. They themselves were still trapped, however. In order to create an agent that might battle the beasts in their sted, they used an ancient headband to summon an archaeologist named Richard Easton through the barrier. There they asked him to sire a child with Nelvanna, Goddess of the Northern Lights. Easton was rather reluctant, as Nelvanna resembled an ancient crone. However, he agreed readily enough once the god known as the Shaper made Nelvanna into a beautiful woman. The resultant child would be half-human, and able to pierce Tundra's barrier. Easton returned to Earth, and found that seven years had passed. He eventually went insane due to what he had experienced, and used the headband for its other purpose: to summon Tundra. The act of summoning cost him his life. Nelvanna approached Michael Twoyoungmen to act as a "midwife" to the birth. Twoyoungmen did so, and realizing that the child was a metamorph acted to bind it to the land and humanity. He did so too well... although he didn't realize it at the time, he had bound the child to Canada. The child Narya was born already one year of age... within another year she appeared a woman of twenty. Narya and Twoyoungmen both joined James Hudson's Department H after a visit from Hudson and his wife, Heather. Narya was given the code-name Snowbird, and a civilian identity of an RCMP officer named Anne McKenzie was created for her. Snowbird served Alpha Flight with distinction, battling both super- human menaces and the Great Beasts wherever they appeared. At one point that included killing her team-mate Walter Langkowski. After the seemingly final defeat of the Beasts in their own dimension Snowbird declared her time on Earth done and left the team. She allowed her team-mates to believe she had returned to the realm of the Eskimo gods, but instead she stayed with Douglas Thompson, an RCMP officer who had fallen in love with her alter-ego of Anne McKenzie. A man Snowbird had come to love in return. Eventually Narya became pregnant, and went to Shaman for assistance. However Talisman, seeking to humiliate her father caused him to go to an island that housed a maelevolent being called Pestilence for the birth. Pestilence posessed the child, and in subsequent battles with him Snowbird, Thompson and their son were all killed. Although the Eskimo gods had been disapproving of her relationship with Thompson, after their death all three were granted entrance to the gods' realm. Snowbird's spirit has appeared on Earth twice since: once to protect and inform Talisman, and once to turn Walter Langkowski back into a man. [Langkowski's current body was once Snowbird's - C] Snowbird derived numerous super-human abilities from her heritage as a demi-goddess. She was super-humanly strong and capable of flight. She was also a metamorph, capable of changing into any creature native to the artic. [It should be noted that Narya's true face, what she called her "true fires" was quite unhuman. What she looked like as both Snowbird and Anne McKenzie was a result of her metamorphic powers. - C] It was this ability that enabled her to change into a shape resembling a white Sasquatch, as the mystic union of Walter Langkowski and Tanaraq was created in the high arctic. [ALL Snowbird's forms except her human ones were bright white. - C] It is interesting that Langkowski, although he now posesses Snowbird's physical form, only shifts between two forms: one that perfectly duplicates his old human form and an ORANGE Sasquatch. Snowbird also possessed psychic abilities that enabled her to "replay" the recent past of an area in her mind. As well, she had the mental ability to compell others to aid her in her struggle against the Great Beasts. Until the Eskimo gods became angry over her relationship with Doug Thompson, Snowbird would weaken and be in danger of dying if she left the physical borders of Canada. [Why the rift between her and her family would have an effect on Shaman's spell is unknown. Why the rift would also allow her to mimic ALL creatures, not just arctic ones, is unknown. I chalk it up to Mantlo's incompetence on the title. It should probably be noted that Walter Langkowski does not weaken if he leaves Canada. - C] TALISMAN Real Name: Elizabeth Twoyoungmen Group Affiliation: Beta Flight, former member of Alpha Flight First Appearance: Alpha Flight #5 Creator: John Byrne Elizabeth Twoyoungmen led a rather happy childhood until the age of around five or so. At that point her mother died, despite her physician father's promises to save Mommy. Feeling betrayed, Elizabeth ran away from her father. As a favour the neighbours, the McNeils, took her in. Her father became a recluse, until he received a call from the spirit of his grandfather. At that point he undertook the training that led to his becoming a shaman of his people. Liz then had a fairly pleasant life with the McNeil's, including her former babysitter Heather, who became like a sister. She entered university, becoming interested in archaeology. On a dig in the ruins of old Fort Calgary, she saw a ghostly wraith escape. Worried, she turned to the only person she knew of who was capable of dealing with the mystic world: her father. Michael then received a shock on two fronts: seeing his daughter for the first time in many years, and also discovering she knew about his secret life. (Twoyoungmen theorized that it was his daughter's heritage as the latest in a long line of Indian mystics that enabled her to penetrate the spells he used to mask his identity.) During the investigation Shaman and Liz confronted the Great Beast known as Ranaraq. During the battle Liz was blasted with mystic energy, but she instinctively seized control of it and blasted it right back at the beast, to her father's amazement. In order to conclude the case, it was necessary to go back in time. Shaman summoned Snowbird as a backup, and Puck and Heather Hudson showed up just in time for the fun. On her arrival Snowbird fell to her knees in front of Elizabeth, making a declaration of humble obedience. This was the final clue. Handing his medicine pouch to his daughter, Shaman bade her to draw out what she found inside. Before he could say a warning, she looked... and promptly complained that the pouch was empty. [Compiler's Note: For an idea of what happens to NORMAL people who look inside that pouch, see Smart Alec's entry] However, she reached inside... and took out a mystic coronet. Placing it on her brow, her clothing was transformed and her full power unleashed. Her father proclaimed that it was the fulfillment of a "great and terrible" prophecy. Elizabeth later discovered that she was unable to remove the circlet, and to attempt to do so would cause her great pain. She was, however, able to render it invisible through mystic means. Liz served quite capably with Alpha at the beginning, proving to be especially effective in Alpha's second encounter with the armored criminal called Calibre. She remained a valued member until Alpha's second encounter with Omega Flight. After nearly being killed by entering Shaman's pouch to save the rest of the team, she left. Afterwords she administered the tests that proved her father worthy of his new mystic abilities, and then arranged for the team to encounter Pestilence, hoping to humiliate her father. Instead Pestilence rippped the coronet from her brow. Shaman picked it up and donned it, having been proved worthy by the tests given earlier by his daughter. For a time, Liz returned to her former life as a student. While on another astrological dig, however, Liz was only saved from being controlled by the being known as the Dreamqueen by the intervention of Snowbird. Convinced by the demi-goddess that she was avoiding her responsibilities Liz returned to Alpha Flight and reclaimed the tiara from her father. She then proceeded to defeat the Dreamqueen and went on to face the being called Llan the Sorcerer, in fulfillment of the "great and terrible prophecy" mentioned by her father years before. Liz recently suffered cerebral trauma in an encounter with the Master of the World. While recovering she was placed in Beta Flight, and although she has completely recovered, she has decided to remain with that team. [Perhaps because the Beta Flight members are closer to her age - C] Elizabeth Twoyoungmen has been described as a living mystical talisman, whose might may rival that of Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme. Although her abilities are only fully realized while she wears her mystic tiara, even without it she is capable of controlling and redirecting magical energy that is used against her. With the tiara, she is capable of not only controlling mystic energy that is used against her, but of tapping into Earth's available mystic energy to create an infinite variety of spells. She is also able to control the spirits that her people's traditions claim inhabit all things Indeed, she has been described as the Binder of Spirits. This is in contrast with her father who has earned the right only to implore their aid. (This is without the tiara. In the time her father wore it, he gained all of Elizabeth's abilities.) For a time it appeared that wearing the coronet was robbing Elizabeth of her humanity; this is no longer the case. VINDICATOR Real Name: James MacDonald Hudson Other Aliases: Weapon Alpha, Guardian, Antiguard Group Affiliation: Alpha Flight First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #109 Creator: John Byrne James MacDonald Hudson was a scientist employed by the Am-Can Petroleum Corporation when he developed a suit of armor to be used in exploratory work. The suit used a helmet Hudson had invented in his student days as a control mechanism. However, his supervisor, one Jerry Jaxon, arranged a deal with the American military to sell THEM the suit. Hudson quit in protest. Later that night, intent on preventing the American military from turning his invention into a weapon, Hudson went back to the plant and donned the armor. He then used the suit's capabilities to break into the company safe and destroy his blueprints. He then flew away, and left the suit standing on a hillside. The helmet he took with him, as he believed he owned it. The next day Hudson was in a rather poor mood, as he realized that suspicion from the theft would soon rest on him. At that point his doorbell rang. Outside was Heather McNeil, Jaxon's personal secretary. She was carrying a box of groceries. After inviting herself in, McNeil soon found the control helmet, sitting on a coffee table. She then confessed that she had fallen in love with Hudson and proceeded to create a plan of action to help him out. At her suggestion Hudson met with numerous officials in the Federal Government at Ottawa. Realizing what a potential asset a man of Hudson's genius would be, the feds used some legal technicalities to declare that he had been "retroactively" working for them for six years. The government set up Department H, named after Hudson, and set him to work doing research for the Department of National Defense. Shortly thereafter, he and Heather were married. On their honeymoon, they came accross the beastial man that the world has come to know as Wolverine. Things were not quite clicking for Hudson though... until one day when he looked in a newspaper. It was an account of the Fantastic Four, the first super-humans since the time shortly after World War II. Hudson was inspired to form a team of super-heroes to protect Canada. An early result of this effort was the events referred to as First Flight. It was these events that caused Hudson to create a tiered training system for his agents... and to don the suit himself as a super-hero. He still intended for Wolverine to lead his team... until Wolverine left to join the mutant team called the X-Men. Hudson then became leader of the team he had founded. A team called Alpha Flight. By this time Hudson had refined the suit down from a bulky armor to a highly sophisticated and flexible suit of mail. After months of set-up he was sent to Westchester, New York to bring Wolverine back home. The mission was unsuccessful, and Hudson returned home bearing the guilt of injuring a civilian. [Moira MacTaggert - C] When he had entered the States he was calling himself Weapon Alpha. After he left he soon adopted the code-name Vindicator, feeling he had to vindicate himself. Hudson led Alpha in the unsuccessful second attempt to capture Wolverine in Calgary. He remained so until Department H, and the team, were disbanded due to budget cuts. When the team reformed, he was once again leader. Shortly after the team reformed Hudson adopted the code-name Guardian. Although Alpha Flight was reformed, Hudson was still unemployed. He then received an unexpected offer of employment from Roxxon Oil in New York. Hudson accepted, but the entire thing was a set-up by his old boss, Jerry Jaxon. Jaxon created Omega Flight from Department H's training teams, and Jaxon himself fought Hudson as Box alongside them. Hudson managed to even the odds by summoning Alpha Flight. However Jaxon, as Box, managed to severely damage Hudson's armor. The powerpack overloaded, and Hudson was seemingly reduced to ash... right in front of Heather's eyes. In actuality though, Hudson managed to channel the blast to create a spatial rift. He plunged through the rift to Ganymede, the largest of Jupiter's moons. There he was found by an outpost of the alien race called the Qu'wrlln. The aliens managed to save his life, but as they had never seen a human being before they didn't realize that his armor was not a natural part of his body. So they made a working synthesis of techno- logical and organic systems, rendering Hudson a cyborg. When Hudson used the Qu'wrlln's scanning technology to discover that he had been blasted through time as well as space, they put him in suspended animation to await the proper time to go home. The Qu'wrlln, however, were a race with a paranoid fear of Galactus, the world eater. When in recent human history Galactus was turned away from the Earth by super-humans, the Qu'wrlln were amazed. They decided to turn Hudson, who was still in suspended animation, into their agent in Earth's super-hero community so they could get help if Galactus ever troubled them. To this end they made modifications to the computer part of Hudson's cyborg mind. This would have severe repercussions for Hudson later. At the appropriate time Hudson was loaded into a Qu'wrlln probe ship and sent back to Earth. On crash-landing in Earth's oceans, however, Hudson did not awaken from suspended animation. He was found by a Roxxon drilling platform and shipped to a Roxxon research facility. There they were able to tap into his computer systems enough to get most of the above history. The Roxxon built robot called Delphine Courtney then used the information to impersonate Hudson and lead Omega Flight on another battle against Alpha Flight. Hudson was placed in a holding area and monitored... until it became obvious that his computer systems were infiltrating and taking over Roxxon's through his monitors. Roxxon used its influence with the Canadian military to get help from Alpha Flight member Madison Jeffries in battling the computer takeover. They then tried to turn off Hudson's life-support... with disasterous results. The act of "pulling the plug," so to speak, activated built in defenses that Hudson had set up. The defences blew up the facility. Jeffries, however, was able to reach Hudson's mind and pulled him back to consciousness. Hudson then returned to Alpha Flight. As his wife had taken his old code name, he returned to the name Vindicator. Hudson, however, had numerous emotional problems upon his return. The tampering that the Qu'wrlln had done to insure he would act as their agent had rendered the computer half of his cyborg brain slightly dominant over the organic half. The result was that he was an extremely logical, unemotional being that would've done Mr. Spock proud on most occasions. Hudson remained with Alpha until Galactus indeed attacked the Qu'wrlln. He was then taken over by them and took most of the strongest members of Alpha and the Avengers to the Qu'wrrln homeworld. The Qu'wrlln had shifted their planet into another dimension at the first hint of Galactus' approach: his herald, Nova. Unfortunately, they took Nova with them, and Galactus followed. However, the weird dimension the Qu'wrlln planet was now in enabled the heroes to defeat the world-eater. A bargain was then struck. Galactus would use his technology to bring the mother ship of an alien group called the Consortium to him. [The consortium was at the time attacking Toronto. - C] However, due to his weakened state, Galactus was unable to power the device. Guardian and Vindicator could, however... but the cost would most likely be their lives. Jimmy Hudson, his emotions breaking through as they sometimes did, knocked out his wife and sent her through the rift home. And so he "died" for the second time. This time around Hudson was trapped in a dimension of null space. There he was somehow found by the Master of the World. The Master retrieved him and patched him up, claiming to have improved his intellect in many ways, and seemingly brought Hudson around to his way of thinking. Called the Antiguard, Hudson battled Alpha Flight alongside the Master and the new Omega Flight until Heather managed to break through the Master's conditioning. Hudson returned with his wife and his team only to find out that the Federal gov't had suspended them until an investigation was done of recent events. [The Master had attempted a behind- the-scenes political takeover of Canada. - C] When last seen, James and Heather Hudson were once more a happy couple. The Master apparently undid the Qu'wrlln tampering that led to Jimmy's emotional problems. James Hudson was recently named executor of his old friend Logan's will. James Hudson is a cyborg and posesses numerous super-human abilities due to that fact. First off, he has duplicates of the abilities of his old suit of batlle armor. For details, see GUARDIAN II. [Note: I doubt Jimmy has the retconned in offensive capabilities. - C] However, when the Qu'wrlln turned him into a cyborg they also expanded his abilities somewhat. First of all, James Hudson now has a photographic memory, able to use the human brain's unlimited storage potential with computer accuracy and the brain's unbelievable speed. Secondly, Hudson can now control most forms of electromagnetic energy once he has sampled its wavelength. As an example, he once shut down the force-field employed by the second Doctor Doom. Thirdly, becomming a cyborg has refined Hudson's biological systems as well. It is known, for example, that stress does not show on his systems any more, and that he doesn't sweat. [Literally. The man no longer perspires. - C] WEAPON P.R.I.M.E Roster: Tigerstryke, Yeti, Double-Trouble, Killjoy Weapon P.R.I.M.E. is a top-secret super-human strikeforce controlled by the Canadian Military under the command of General Jeremy C. Clarke. The team is based out of Department K, located in Newfoundland. In the wake of Alpha Flight's suspension by the Federal Government P.R.I.M.E. has assumed primary superhuman defense responsibilities in Canada. [Compiler's notes: P.R.I.M.E. has much more of a history with the Xbooks than with Alpha Flight. That's why this note is so short.] WILD CHILD Real Name: Kyle Gibney Former Aliases: Weapon Omega, Wildheart Group Affiliation: X-Factor, former member of Alpha Flight, former member of Omega Flight, former member of the first two incarnations of Gamma Flight First Appearance: Alpha Flight #11 Creator: John Byrne Kyle Gibney is a mutant whose parents kicked him out of their lives when his mutation "kicked in." It is unknown how he came to be involved in James Hudson's Department H. Once there though, he came to be known by the code-name Wild Child. Wild Child remained a member of the second tier training team known as Gamma Flight until Department H's original disbandment by the Canadian government. Subsequently, he was recruited by the criminal organization called Omega Flight, and he participated in both of that group's altercations with Alpha Flight. Sometime after his capture with Omega, Wild Child was released and he was living on his own in an apartment. He was also responsible for a string of murders. Heather Hudson investigated, and was nearly killed herself. Kyle was eventually stopped by Wolverine. His responsibility for the killings was never proven in a court of law, however. Later Kyle, (like his team-mate Diamond Lil,) was pardoned by the gov't for his Omega activities and he then joined the new gov't controlled Gamma Flight. He served with the team until it was disbanded, when he proceeded to go berserk and severely damage Alpha associate Laura Dean, aka Pathway. Gamma Flight leader Nemesis teleported away with Wild Child after an alter- cation with Guardian II and Wolverine. When Wild Child next appeared he had been cerified as being completely under control by doctors in the new Department H. He joined the team as Weapon Omega to act as a covert operative. Eventually he took the code-name Wildheart. [It should be noted that a great deal of what was taken for Kyle's past history has been thrown out by the powers that be on the X-titles at Marvel Comics. In its place, not much has been added... the fact that he is a mutant, not a mutate as previously thought; his last name; and the fact that his parents threw him out when his mutancy became obvious. - C] In recent history Kyle, (who had gone over time from being rather ugly to a fairly attractive individual during his"Wildheart" era) reverted to his former ugly duckling appearance. Feeling ashamed over this, he began to feel unworthy of a relationship he had started with his team-mate Aurora. In order to get awat, he accepted a request by Val Cooper to assist the U.S. Government mutant team called X-Factor. [Apparently Cooper had no trouble arranging a Green Card. :-) - C] Due to his estrangement from Aurora following a recent confrontation, he has elected to remain with X-Factor for the forseeable future. Wild Child posesses enhanced senses and a healing factor, both of which are of an order slightly less powerful than Wolverine's. He also has the ability to tap into mankind's beastial "racial memory." This gives him an extreme ferociousness. That, combined with his extensive hand-to-hand combat training, makes him an extremely dangerous and unpredictable opponent. WINDSHEAR Real Name: Colin Ashworth Hume Group Affiliation: Alpha Flight, "mentor" to Beta Flight. First Appearance: Alpha Flight #87 Creator: Fabian Nicieza Colin Ashworth Hume was born in Canada, but moved to England at an early age. After discovering his mutant abilities, he got a job as a special operative for Roxxon Oil. In this capacity he encountered Alpha Flight members Madison Jeffries and Lillian Crawly. After Jeffries succeeded in bringing James Hudson out of his comatose state, Hume, ashamed of who he was working for, accompanied the three back to Canada. He has served Alpha capably since, aiding the team by using his Roxxon experience as chief administrator. He has also become a mentor to the secondary team of adventurers called Beta Flight. [Heh heh heh. I get a kick out of 'Shear being mentor to Beta... when pretty much all of them have more experience at the hero game then he does. :-) - C] Hume has the ability to create "solid air". He uses it much like the Invisible Girl uses her forcefields. He's done some rather interesting things with it. [Like using it to turn the air in a gymbag solid, and then use the bag as a bludgeon. - C] He can also turn liquids "solid," although he does so not nearly as often. Apparently Hume's ability has nothing to do with temperature changes. Hume also uses a set of armor he got from Roxxon as physical protection and a mode of transportation. (The suit can fly.) WITCHFIRE Real Name: unknown. Shaman called her Ananym ONCE, in Alpha #94 Group Affiliation: Beta Flight, former member of Gamma Flight First Appearance: Alpha Flight #76 Creator: James D. Hudnall The girl known as Witchfire is apparently the daughter of the immortal sorcerer called Belasco. [Don't believe me? She talks about bringing her father's masters into this world. And look at the art in #124. That's Belasco or I'll eat my hat. - C] She herself has no knowledge of this, and is suffering from a form of amnesia. She recently regained her memory and attacked Alpha Flight in her father's name, but after rejecting his course she once again lost her memory. How Witchfire came to the knowledge of Canadian Government officials and how she came to join the gov't controlled Gamma Flight is unknown. After Gamma's disbanding she joined Beta Flight in order to train under Shaman and Talisman. WItchfire is a sorceress whose abilities are mostly unquantified. Indeed, she herself has no idea of how much she's capable of. WYRE Real Name: Unknown. Group Affiliation: Associate of Alpha Flight First Appearance: Alpha Flight #114 Creator: Simon Furman Next to nothing is known of the man who calls himself Wyre. Apparently his DNA was used by the Secret Empire to create super-human operatives. When Wyre developed a conscience, he decided to hunt down these "children" of his and put an end to them. He was attempting to do the same to Alpha member Weapon Omega when Omega and Alpha stopped him. [Interestingly enough, the Secret Empire part of Wild Child's origin has recently been thrown out. I predict that Marvel will avoid any repercussions on Wyre by simly claiming he was mistaken when he attacked WC. - C] Wyre was taken into custody at that point by Alpha Flight. Although he demonstrated early on that he was capable of escaping at any time, he has earned the team's trust by his actions. At one point Wyre saved Manikin's life by stopping a bunch of super-human hating zealots. Although he is not an official member of the team, Wyre, like Nemesis, has elected to stay with them for the forseeable future. Wyre posesses the ability to project and control "wires" of fibre from his body. (The shoulder area to be exact.) The wires are apparently inorganic. Whether they are artificial or the result of super-human powers is unknown. Wyre is also an expert with various weaponry.