From: Dwayne MacKinnon <[910252 m] at [dragon.acadiau.ca]> Subject: DMK's Guide to Alpha Flight (Part 1 of 3) To: [n s pace] at [sd.cts.com] Date: Wed, 22 Nov 1995 00:32:26 -0400 (AST) Mime-Version: 1.0 ALPHA FLIGHT First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #120 Creator: John Byrne (Credit for the team name goes to Chris Claremont) The roster (as of X-Factor #116), includes: Aurora, Box IV, Diamond Lil, Guardian II, Northstar, Puck, Sasquatch, Shaman, Vindicator, Windshear. Past members: Box I, Marrina, Snowbird, Wild Child. Associates: Nemesis, Wyre Note: The Beta Flight member known as Talisman was originally a member of Alpha. She was relegated to Beta while recouperating from certain injuries. Alpha Flight began as the dream of one man: James MacDonald Hudson. In conjunction with the Canadian Federal Government, he created Department H , a top-secret branch of the Department of National Defense (DND). Working with the government, Hudson recruited a team of superhumanly capable operatives to defend Canada. Alpha's relationship with the government has never been particulary smooth. At the current time, the team is under suspension, and super-human protection duties are being carried out by Department K, a branch of the Canadian Military. ALPHA PRIME First Appearance: Alpha Flight Annual #2 Creator: Bill Mantlo Alpha Prime was a team of Savage Land mutates formed by Vindicator II while mostly amnesiac. The team consisted of Crag, a rock-like being of incredible strength; Avian, a woman posessing wings like those of a pterodactyl and the ability to fly and Primate, an ape-like man with considerable strength and agility. The team has never appeared again. AURIC Real Name: Zhao Tang Group Affiliation: Gamma Flight First Appearance: The Agent GN Last Appearance: Alpha Flight #121 Creator: Unknown Zhao Tang and his sister Jhimon 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] until Gamma Flight was disbanded by the federal government. Shortly thereafter the two were kidnapped by the enigmatic being known as the Sphinx. Zhao died while being experimented on by the Sphinx' scientists. However, Zhao's consciousness now inhabits a composite being made up of himself, his sister and a scientist that was investigating the site of the Sphinx' base. (The base was destroyed by Spider-Man along with the New Warriors.) Zhao Tang posessed the ability to fly along with the ability to shoot beams of intense heat from his eyes. The source of his abilities is unknown, so [knowing Marvel] he was probably a mutant. AURORA Real Name: Aurora Legal Identity: Jeanne-Marie Beaubier Group Affiliation: Alpha Flight First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #120 Origin: Alpha Flight #9 Creator: John Byrne Aurora is a split personality of Jeanne-Marie Beaubier. Beaubier's split-personalities came about as a result of harsh physical and mental abuse at a Catholic boarding school. Although the Aurora personality has undergone several changes over the years, as a rule it is much more uninhibited than the Jeanne-Marie personality. For years the Aurora person- ality acted as a member of Alpha Flight while the Jeanne-Marie personality had nothing to do with the team; this has changed in the recent past. Aurora posesses numerous super-human abilities. For a full description, please see the Jeanne-Marie entry. BEDLAM, THE BRAIN-BLAST Real Name: Unknown Group Affiliation: The Derangers First Appearance: Alpha Flight #52 Last Appearance: Alpha Flight #53 Origin: Alpha Flight #52 Creator: Bill Mantlo Bedlam was a convicted murderer sitting in a Nova Scotia prison when he was found by James MacDonald Hudson using a device that located people with latent mutant powers. As Hudson was at the time being pressured for results with his "super-powers" program, Hudson had the prisoner released and worked on causing the prisoner's powers to manifest themselves. Needless to say though, a psychotic with super-powers is still a psychotic... the man attacked and was barely defeated by Hudson. Years later Bedlam was released from captivity by Cary Cody, Alpha's liason with the federal government. Cody's reward was to be rendered brain dead by Bedlam's telepathic powers. Bedlam then proceeded to gather the super-humans known as the Derangers, create a base of operations in the Canadian artic and kidnap Alpha Flight. Bedlam instigated a fight between Alpha and the Derangers. During the battle he was defeated and killed by Heather Hudson. [Compiler's notes: Bedlam was part of Bill Mantlo's campaign to make James Hudson into an EXTREMELY flawed human being. Let's look at it this way: I find it hard to believe that James Hudson as written by John Byrne would EVER have anything to do with a murderer like Bedlam. (Alpha #52 makes it PERFECTLY clear that Bedlam was EXTRAORDINARILY nasty.) True, Byrne gave Puck a rather checkered past, but not anything like this. Mantlo even tried to set Hudson up as being the party responsible for Wolverine's adamantium skeleton. He also tried to make it look like Hudson planned his honeymoon so that he and Heather would find Wolverine and Heather could be used to calm the beast-man down. Nice, eh? (Note: It was established in Alpha #53, by Bedlam, that Jimmy Hudson had absolutely nothing to do with Wolverine's skeleton. I think Claremont might've stepped on Mantlo's neck about it, but that's just an opinion I can't verify.) Like quite a bit of Mantlo's continuity, I prefer to ignore Bedlam. However, since Laura Dean and Goblyn are still part of Alpha Flight Bedlam can't be completely cast aside.] BETA FLIGHT: First Appearance: (Mention): Alpha Flight #1 First Appearance: (Current Incarnation): Alpha Flight #112 Creator: John Byrne (original concept) Simon Furman (current incarnation) Beta Flight began as a training division in the original Department H. It was revived along with H when H was refunded by the Canadian government. Recently however, Beta Flight has become an associate team of adventurers to Alpha, although Alpha remains the "first tier" team. Alpha Flight member Windshear acts as a "mentor" to the team. Roster (As of Alpha Flight #130): Goblyn, Manikin, Pathway, Persuasion, Talisman, Windshear (mentor), Witchfire. Member in Training: Feedback Past Members: Box I, Flashback, Marrina, Puck. BOX I Real Name: Roger Bochs Other Aliases: Omega Group Affiliation: Former member of Alpha Flight and Beta Flight First Appearance: Alpha Flight #11 Final Appearance: Alpha Flight #49 Creator: John Byrne Roger Bochs was a paraplegic who lost both of his legs just above the knee. Bochs, however, was a genius inventor who created an extremely powerful robot he called Box (a pun on his last name.) Box was created with the help of James MacDonald Hudson; it is unknown how Bochs came to Hudson's attention or when Bochs began his involvement with Hudson's Department H. Like most of Beta & Gamma Flights, Bochs was approached by Delphine Courtney, a robotic representative of Jerome "Jerry" Jaxon. Jaxon was forming a group of super-human operatives with one objective: the death of James MacDonald Hudson. Jaxon called this group Omega Flight. Bochs agreed, but intended to infiltrate the group and betray it. Jaxon realized this and seized control of the psychometric helmet that Bochs used to operate his creation. Using the helmet Jaxon battled Hudson as Box, and seemingly brought about Hudson's death. Jaxon himself was killed by feedback from the helmet when Hudson destroyed the original Box robot. Some months later Bochs was still upset at the fact that Jaxon and his robot Courtney had seemingly gotten away in the confusion. (Bochs was unaware of Jaxon's death.) He was determined to take revenge for the death of a man he considered a friend. To this end he contacted the mutant member of Gamma Flight named Madison Jeffries. Together Jeffries and Bochs recreated the Box robot, stronger and better than before. They also designed it so that only Roger Bochs would be able to control it, by "phasing in" and becoming part of the robot. Bochs eventually hooked up with Alpha Flight when Talisman gave a mystic call to her father from the site known as the Eye of the World; Talisman only meant to call her father, Shaman, but ended up summoning everyone in Canada with a positive connection to the team. Bochs ended up giving up posession of the Box robot to allow it to hold the soul of Walter Langkowski, whose Sasquatch form had recently been killed to prevent one of the Great Beasts from roaming the Earth. Bochs reclaimed his robot after Langkowski sent his soul into the void known as the Crossroads of Reality. He then went on to serve in Alpha with distinction. However, as time went by he developed mental problems and eventually cracked completely after new legs given him by the being known as Scramble rotted away. Bochs and Scramble merged into the composite being known as Omega. After Bochs partially came to his senses Scramble lobotomized him; both Bochs and Scramble were killed by Madison Jeffries when Jeffries decided he couldn't risk them escaping from imprisonment. The Box robot was made of a "living" metal whose composition is now known only to Madison Jeffries (or perhaps possibly James MacDonald Hudson as well.) The metal is capable of housing a human life-force indefinitely. It is presumably this capability of the metal that made "phasing in" to the robot possible. The robot posessed great super-human strength, had flight capability and was outfitted with a wide array of sensors. BOX II Real Name: Jerome "Jerry" Jaxon Group Affiliation: Omega Flight First Apearance: Alpha Flight #2 Last Appearance: Alpha Flight #12 Creator: John Byrne Jerome "Jerry" Jaxon was James Hudson's superior in the AmCan Petroleum Corp. where Hudson worked. Jaxon also had a personal secretary named Heather McNeil. It was Jaxon who arranged the sale of Hudson's exploratory super-suit to the American military, and it was Jaxon on whom the brunt of executive displeasure fell when Hudson stole the helmet that made operation of the suit possible. After the theft Jaxon's life fell apart. First he lost his job. Then his wife left him, taking their child with her. Blackilisted by Am-Can, Jaxon was unable to find work, and he quickly slipped into poverty. In despair he attempted to end his life. He could not succeed even in that much, however: discovered by a rent-seeking landlady he was rescued. There were lasting effects though: he lost the use of his legs. Jaxon continued to live his life in despair until the first public appearance of the hero known originally as Vindicator. Jaxon quickly realized that Vindicator's abilities matched those created by Hudson's suit. On impulse he contacted the headquarters of the Department of National Defence in Ottawa and asked to speak to Hudson. His suspicions were confirmed when Hudson eventually picked up the line. Now obsessed with revenge, Jaxon used his contacts in the petroleum industry to arrange a meeting with executives of Roxxon Oil, an American firm with a rather dubious reputation. Jaxon convinced the firm that posession of Hudson's armor would be of benefit to them, and in return Roxxon gave Jaxon the resources to gain his revenge. Using a robot known as Delphine Courtney as his "legs" Jaxon recruited the team of operatives that became known as Omega Flight. It is still unknown as to how Jaxon discovered his operatives' identities. Jaxon himself fought alongside Omega in their first confrontation with Alpha Flight using the Box robot created by Roger Bochs. Jerry Jaxon was killed by feedback from the robot's control helmet when the robot was destroyed by Hudson. BOX III BOX IV Real Name: Madison Jeffries First Appearance: Alpha Flight #16 Group Affiliation: Alpha Flight, former member of Gamma Flight Creator: John Byrne It is unknown when Madison Jeffries became involved with James Hudson's Department H, or how Jeffries came to Hudson's attention. What is known is that Jeffries was a member of the second tier training team known as Gamma Flight when Department H was originally disbanded by the Canadian gov't. It is also known that Jeffries was romantically involved with fellow Gamma member Lillian Crawly, a.k.a. Diamond Lil. Jeffries was contacted by former Beta Flight member Roger Bochs when Bochs was in the process of redesigning his Box robot. Jeffries was responsible for the actual building of the new robot and he tagged along with Bochs when Bochs eventually hooked up with Alpha Flight. Jeffries was present in the parking lot of the West Edmonton Mall after Alpha's second encounter with Omega Flight. Using his powers Jeffries was able to single- handedly defeat the retreating Omegans. Jeffries remained with Alpha as a resident machinesmith and mechanic until Roger Bochs succumbed to his growing mental problems. When Bochs finally snapped it was Jeffries who defeated him by using his powers to kick Bochs out of the Box robot. Jeffries then took possession of the robot for himself. During battle with the composite creature known as Omega, Jeffries discovered that he could use his abilities to reshape the Box robot into any form he desired. After the battle ended he decided to kill the insane creature rather than risk it escaping activity. Jeffries has served Alpha capably ever since. Although he was romanti- cally linked with Heather Hudson for a time, he eventually revived his romance with Lil Crawly and the two are now married. Jeffries and his wife are currently reserve members of Alpha. Madison Jeffries is a mutant with the ability to manipulate metal, glass and plastic. He is able to manipulate these substances down to the atomic level. He principally uses his abilities to alter the form and capabilities of the Box robot. While his brother was alive, Madison was able to psychically sense the presence of Lionel Jeffries within an undetermined radius. CHINA FORCE First Appearance (in the Shadows): Alpha Flight #64 First full Appearance (Named): Alpha Flight #69 Creator: Unknown. Their cameo appearances were written by Mantlo, and their full appearance by James D. Hudnall. Roster (as of Alpha Flight #69): Ox, Rabbit, Rat, Snake Former members (as of 1994 X-Force annual): Dog, Horse, Jade Dragon, Monkey China Force first appeared doing an Alpha Flight circa X-Men #120 imitation. That is, they were in Canada looking to reclaim a wayward team-mate, the Jade Dragon. While in Canada, the team was tricked into fighting Alpha Flight by the mind-manipulating powers of the Dreaqueen. Alpha defeated the team and Flight member Laura Dean opened a teleportational gateway that returned China Force home. Recently the team popped up again in a story in the 1994 X-Force annual. By that time Jade Dragon had left the team, and there were other roster changes as well. [However, I neglected to review the X-Force annual when creating this entry. Sorry. :) - C.] DEADLY ERNEST Real Name: Ernest St. Ives Group Affiliation: None First Appearance: Alpha Flight #7 Last Appearance: Alpha Flight #31 Creator: John Byrne Ernest St. Ives was a soldier in France during World War I when mustard gas filled the trench he was in. However, St. Ives had an unusally strong power of will and ended up successfully rejecting death. He soon discovered however that his victory had come at a price: the touch of his bare hands had become as deadly as death's own touch. Two of the earliest victims of this weird ability were a soldier who helped him out of the trench and his own wife. St. Ives eventually came to terms with his ability, and even began to enjoy it. Effectively immortal, he lived for decades and accumulated great power. However he found himself in conflict with the Alpha Flight members Northstar and Aurora when he attempted to cheat Northstar's old friend Raymonde Belmonde out of his cafe. St. Ives ended up killing Belmonde with his "death touch," and took Aurora captive. St. Ives had mistaken Aurora for Belmonde's daughter, Danielle, who was a partner in the scheme to take over the cafe. He treated her with all due respect. In the meantime Northstar had tracked down St. Ives to his home and there encountered the mysterious woman known only as Nemesis. In the ensuing altercation Nemesis hacked St. Ives to pieces. Strangely enough, St. Ives apparently did not die from that encounter, although Nemesis had claimed her sword was capable of killing him. The pieces of St. Ives' "corpse" were transferred to a Montreal hospital for examination. This hospital also housed the man known as Scramble, and during an escape attempt Scramble reassembled St. Ives' corpse. St. Ives then proceeded to walk away. This led to a second confrontation with Alpha Flight, in which St. Ives succeeded in killing most of the Flight and taking Heather Hudson hostage. Nemesis succeeded in keeping the Flight alive using life force from St. Ives' previous victims. She apparently picked up this life force in her last encounter with St. Ives. The sword itself she gave to Puck, who used it to successfully kill St. Ives this time around. Ernest St. Ives was virtually immortal [I say virtually because he was able to be killed... :) -C] and posessed the ability to "turn people off like a light switch" with a touch of one of his bare hands. [Compiler's notes: Mantlo's bringing St. Ives back made NO sense. Why should Nemesis' sword kill him the second time and not the first? Sheesh...] DEPARTMENT H Department H was originally a top secret branch of the Department of National Defence named after its top employee: James MacDonald Hudson. Using H's resources James Hudson refined the set of armor that he eventually came to wear, and also recruited the other super-human beings that came to form Alpha Flight. H was disbanded by the Federal gov't for financial reasons. [An eminently Canadian thing to do. Trust me. :) - Compiler] However in recent years H was refunded when Alpha Flight once again accepted government sponsorship. Its current purpose is to provide support and logistics for Alpha Flight, and this is typified by the new Gamma Flight, which is H's research, design and support staff. DEPARTMENT K Department K is a secret branch of the Canadian military operating out of Newfoundland. It's primary purpose is as a base of operations for the military super-team know as Weapon: P.R.I.M.E. It is rumoured that K has secret links to the American C.I.A. Current commander of Department K is one General Jeremy C. Clarke. [Compiler's notes: K sprung out of what I consider to be Rob Liefeld's extreme lack of creativity. K stands for Kane, the latest "Weapon X". I understand that past issues of Wolverine have cemented K's relationship with the Weapon X program, but I dropped Wolverine a long time ago. If anyone wants to forward me the details, I *MIGHT* incorporate them. It should be noted that Fabian Nicieza made K a bit more interesting by making General Clarke an old nemesis of Jimmy Hudson with a friendship to one Major Chasen. (He who first appeared with Wolverine chopping off his tie in Giant-Size X-Men #1)] As a closing note: Alpha Flight had their first experience with Department K in Alpha #117, when they encountered the latest Weapon X. Alpha did not officially become aware of K's existence until the Northstar Limited Series. DERANGERS First Appearance (Cameos): Alpha Flight #48 (As a team): Alpha Flight #53 Last Appearance: Alpha Flight #53 Creator: Bill Mantlo Roster: Breakdown, Freakout, Janus, Laura Dean/Goblyn* (* At the time, Dean only used her superhuman powers to switch places with her animalistic sister. ) The Derangers were a group of super-human patients/prisoners of Lionel Jeffries at his New Life Clinic. During Alpha Flight's last encounter with Scramble these beings escaped. Later they were somehow captured and placed under mental control by the being known as Bedlam. Under Bedlam's mental control they fought Alpha Flight, and all except Dean and Goblyn were killed. The Derangers included Breakdown, a housewife suffering from a mental breakdown who gained the ability to explode her body and reform it; Freakout, a former heavy metal rock musician who ended up burning out the pain centers of his brain with drug abuse and was a berserker; and Janus, an artist who gained the ability to split himself into two duplicates of himself. DIAMOND LIL Real Name: Lillian Crawly Other Aliases: "Creepy" Crawly Group Affiliation: Alpha Flight, former member of Gamma and Omega Flights Legal Status: Citizen of Canada with a criminal record; pardoned by the Canadian Federal Government First Appearance: Alpha Flight #11 Creator: John Byrne Absolutely nothing is known of Lillian Crawly's past before she became involved with Department H. The only thing known about her time with H before its original shutdown is that she was a member of the second tier training team called Gamma Flight and that she was romantically involved for a time with fellow member Madison Jeffries. Crawly, like most members of Beta and Gamma Flights was recruited by Jerry Jaxon into the criminal organization Omega Flight. Crawly was present for both of the original Omega's confrontations with Alpha. During a period of time when Alpha was operating under the auspices of the municipal government in Edmonton, Alberta, the Federal government decided to create another super-team to take their place, this one much more under government control. To form this team, which was to be a new Gamma Flight, the government released Crawly and her fellow Omegan known as Wild Child and pardoned them both. However, after her release Crawly decided to look up her old flame Jeffries, and ended up accompanying Alpha Flight on their journey through a variety of mystical dimensions at the hands of the Sorcerer. After their return to Earth Crawly stayed with Alpha rather than joining Gamma. Eventually she and Madison Jeffries rekindled their romance, and the two are now married. [Compiler's note: It is unknown whether or not Crawly took Jeffries' name after the ceremony; hence her name is listed as above.] Crawly and her husband are currently reserve members of Alpha. [Compiler's Note: Judging from information gathered from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition, Diamond Lil served as the basis for the Next Men character eventually given the code name White Diamond.] Diamond Lil posesses superhuman strength and an extreme degree of resistence to injury. Her skin has been characterized as being "diamond hard"; indeed at one time extreme measures were necessary to do a biopsy of a possible cancer tumor. Even Lil's hair shares this resistance to damage; she has in at least one encounter employed one of her hairs as a garrotte. The source of Lil's abilities is unknown; she is presumably a mutant. DREAMQUEEN Real Name: Inapplicable Group Affiliation: None First Appearance: Alpha Flight #56 Creator: Bill Mantlo The creature known only as the Dreamqueen is the daughter of the cosmic being known as Nightmare, and an unnamed Succubus. Like all her kind, the child was born by taking over the body of the mother, effectively killing her. The Dreamqueen was born in a dimensional backwater where she was capable of influencing the surroundings by sheer force of will. This amused her for a few centuries until she grew bored. It was then that a Native American [Canadian :) - C] shaman stumbled upon her realm while on a astral quest for his "sky gods." The shaman was seeking help to end a drought. The Dreamqueen, excited at the thought of getting out of her dimensional prison, gave the shaman directions on how to create a relic she said would help him. In reality the device would enable the Dreamqueen to influence the shaman's people and eventually form a gate to Earth. The plan was thwarted by Nightmare, who informed a brave as to what needed to be done. In recent years the Dreamqueen's solitude was interrupted by the creature known only as Goblyn. Curious about this creature that she had not created, the 'queen enabled it to survive. Eventually she caused Goblyn to drag Alpha Flight accross the dimensions to her realm. There a massive fight ensued, as the 'queen sought to force Alpha to bring her back to Earth. At the time the former Alphan known as Puck was in Tibet, looking to find a way to other dimensions in search of adventure. The High Lama that he sought out offered him a choice to travel to the dimension that currently housed his former friends. Out of a sense of duty Puck agreed. The opening of the dimensional portal returned Alpha to Earth, along with the Dreamqueen. On Earth the 'queen could only rearrange people's perceptions of reality, not the reality itself. Puck realized this, and was able to use mental discipline to walk right through the 'queen's Dream Demons and battle the 'queen herself. Alpha then succeeded in pushing the 'queen through the portal and back to her realm. Puck was forced through as well. Before she left, however, the 'queen "seeded" Alpha Flight with mystic energy that allowed her to strongly influence them. In time, this energy also allowed the 'queen to create another gate to Earth. She left Puck behind in her realm. The 'queen proceeded to Edmonton, Alberta and from there she started spreading her influence accross the world. The Dreamqueen was finally defeated by Alpha Flight and Laura Dean opened a portal that sent the 'queen to ANOTHER dimensional backwater; this one was even further from Earth. The Dreamqueen has appeared twice since. First when Laura Dean accidentally used her powers to transport most of Beta Flight to the dimension she sent the 'queen. This occured as Dean was awaking from a coma. On the second occasion it became apparent that the 'queen has learned to, like her father, touch the sleep of mortal men. She has done so on two occasions. The Dreamqueen is capable of rearranging the submatter that makes up her current dimension of residence. She is unable to do this on Earth, however. She is also capable of creating illusions so realistic that people believe them to be reality. Finally, the Dreamqueen has recently developed the ability to touch the dreams of Earth people from her current dimension. At the time she first demonstrated this ability she also demonstrated an ability for prophecy. FIRST FLIGHT In recent years Scott Lobdell released an Alpha Flight special that talked about their first mission, back before the team even had a name. This mission was led [Of course - Compiler] by Wolverine. It introed a couple of members that have too little known about them for individual entries, but I'm trying to be complete with this little [Hah] project. Members with Individual entries: Snowbird, Smart Alec Members Without: Stitch, a small scale telekinetic with mental problems (a form of autism.) St. Elmo, a man who claimed to be the personification of the Northern Lights. Sean Bernard, a detective framed for murder who was drafted to wear an early version of James Hudson's exploratory armor: codenamed Groundhog. St. Elmo died absorbing the force of a nuclear explosion during that mission. Bernard quit. However, it has yet to be revealed whatever became of Stitch. Where First Flight has impacted on the history of more established characters it is noted in their individual histories. FEEDBACK Real Name: Albert Louis Group Affiliation: Probationary member of Beta Flight (still in training) First Appearance: Alpha Flight # 118 Creator: Simon Furman Albert Louis was living a fairly ordinary life in Halifax, Nova Scotia when he became a target for a group of "super-human hunters" known as the Hardliners. Louis managed to use his powers to escape from them during their first encounter; subsequently he went on the run. Eventually he ended up in Toronto, Ontario and sought the protection of Alpha Flight. As of Alpha Flight #130 Louis was undergoing training in the use of his super-human abilities as a member of Beta Flight. Feedback is capable of generating man-shaped fields of intense electricty. He sometimes extends the "arm" of these fields for an electrical "punch" or will release the entire field at once which then walks around at his mental direction. Guardian [in one of Furman's worst moments, IMHO - C] termed these fields his "shock troopers." The maximum number of fields he is able to create at once is unknown; he has been shown producing four at one time however. How long it takes him to recharge after his energy store is depleted is also currently unknown. In the "dream" story in Alpha Flight #128 Feedback was shown as being capable of absorbing lightning generated by his teammate Talisman to create his shock troopers. The source of Feedback's abilities is unknown, so he's presumably a mutant. [This is Marvel, after all - C] FLASHBACK Real Name: Unknown [I checked. Like Wild Child's, Byrne never mentioned it.] Group Affiliation: Former member of Beta and Omega Flights First Appearance: Alpha Flight #11 Last Appearance: Alpha Flight #28 Creator: John Byrne Absolutely nothing is known of the history of the man called Flashback before he became involved with Department H. However he was a member of the first-tier training tean called Beta Flight when H went under for the first time. Flashback was recruited, like most other members of Beta and Gamma, by the robot named Delphine Courtney for Jerry Jaxon's Omega Flight. Flashback was present for both of the original Omega's encounters with Alpha Flight, and during the second one tragedy struck. As Omega was retreating from the West Edmonton Mall they were confronted by Madison Jeffries. Jeffries created a robot out of a car to battle Omega. As the robot was swinging a punch at "Courtney" who at the time was disguised as the then-believed-dead Guardian, "Courtney" grabbed one of Flashback's duplicates and shoved it in the way. The robot's metal fist stabbed the duplicate in the chest, killing it. As Flashback's "duplicates" were all versions of himself pulled from a future point of the timestream, the current Flashback quickly realized that he was going to die at some point in the not-too distant future. He went rather mad at that point. It was revealed by Diamond Lil shortly before Alpha's first encounter with the new Gamma Flight that Flashback had disappeared from prison. It is probably safe to assume [but hey, this is Marvel, so don't count on it] that he was pulled back in time to the encounter at the West Edmonton Mall and killed there. Flashback was a mutant whose power was to create "temporal duplicates" of himself, by pulling back future versions of himself. Interestingly enough, the process changed the polarity of the colors on his costume. (White to black and black to white.) [Compiler's Note: It is interesting to note that the man believed to be Flashback who was shown briefly in Generation Next #1 looks absolutely NOTHING like Byrne's version of Flashback in Civvies.] GAMMA FLIGHT First Appearance (Mention): Alpha Flight #1 (Last incarnation as a super-team): Alpha Flight #76 Last Appearance as a super-team: Alpha Flight #90 Creator (Original): John Byrne (Last version): James D. Hudnall Gamma Flight started out as the second tier training team in James Hudson's Department H. However it, like H, was disbanded by the Canadian government. In recent times Alpha Flight operated temporarily as guests of the municipal government in Edmonton, Alberta. During this time the Federal gov't began creating a new super-team to take Alpha's place on the national stage; a team quite firmly under government control. To this end it bestowed the sword of the woman known only as Nemesis to a new operative and freed the Omega Flight members named Wild Child and Diamond Lil. It completed the roster with Asian dissidents Jhimon and Zhao Tang and a previously unknown mystic called Witchfire. However, Lil ended up joining Alpha Flight instead. Unknown to the government they were being influenced by the being known as Llan the Sorcerer into forming this new team. Llan desired conflit between super-humans in Canada to further his plans. After an investigation into the "Sorcerer affair" Canada disbanded Gamma Flight. The name is now used to collectively refer to the research, design and support staff at the new Department H. Roster (Original): Diamond Lil, Maddison Jeffries, Smart Alec, Wild Child (Last): Auric, Nemesis II, Silver, Wild Child, Witchfire GILDED LILY Real Name: Lillian von Loont Group Affiliation: Onetime partner of Diablo First Appearance: Alpha Flight #20 Final Appearance: Alpha Flight Annual #1 Creator: John Byrne The woman known as Gilded Lily was widowed in a carriage crash near the castle of the alchemist Esteban Diablo. The alchemist's servants nursed her back to health, and she and Diablo soon became lovers. The alchemist also began teaching her the secrets of his lore. However, the local villagers rose in rebellion, and Diablo was sealed in a well before he had taught her the secret of his immortality. Nonethe- less, using her own experiments, she found a way to prolong her life. She proceeded to gain revenge on the ringleaders of the plot to betray her beloved, sealing each man in a casing of gold that made them immortal, but prevented them from moving. In recent years, the Alphan known as Sasquatch came to inherit Lily's home on Tamarind Island off British Columbia. Apparently Langkowski was a descendant of a close relative of one of the men Lily married and then trapped. Unknown to himself or the authorities, Lily was still alive, and still living in the house. She captured Langkowski's companion Aurora and told the girl her story. She also trapped Langkowski in a golden sheath, which he escaped by transforming into his beastial alter-ego. During the following fight, Sasquatch snatched away Lily's protective face-mask, and Lily proceeded to crumble into dust. The house was also destroyed. However, due to the potions that she had doused herself with all her life, Lily's spirit survived, and came to posess the new house that the Canadian government built on the site to house Alpha Flight. Lily then proceeded to free her one-time lover Diablo and attempted to take Aurora's body as a new physical form. The attempt failed, and Lily's spirit was at last destroyed. Gilded Lily was an alchemist second only to Diablo, her mentor. GOBLYN Group Affiliation: Beta Flight, former member of the Derangers First Appearance (appeared): Alpha Flight #48 (named): Alpha Flight #53 Creator: Bill Mantlo Goblyn [Who has no real name... according to legal records she was never born - C] had the extreme misfortune of developing obvious mutations while still in utero. The reason this was unfortunate was because her parents were mutant hating bigots. The parents decided to attempt to use radiation to kill the mutated child, while saving her twin sister, who was apparently not a mutant. During the procedure the apparently normal child of the two seemingly moved to protect her twin and then the mutated twin vanished. The parents happily concluded that the radiation had vaporized the "monster," and later they gave birth to a "normal" baby girl, named Laura. Neither belief was true. Instead, the truth was that the "normal" girl, Laura had somehow instinctively activated her OWN mutant power while in the womb and created an interdimensional portal. This portal sent Goblyn to the inerdimensional realm of the being called the Dreamqueen. There, she somehow survived. Laura first appeared at the New Life Clinic, the base of Lionel Jeffries, aka Scramble, the Mixed-Up Man. It is unknown what she was doing there. However, she was apparently a captive. She and three fellow prisoners escaped while Alpha Flight was confronting the now obviously insane Jeffries. Laura then appeared as part of the Derangers, made up of herself and Scramble's other prisoners. This "team" was put together by Bedlam, an insane creature with mental powers. [Compilers Note: It should be obvious by now that Mantlo was fond of melodramatic names. I mean, look at Scramble and Bedlam, will ya?] Bedlam forced these creatures and Alpha Flight to fight each other. Laura used her powers to switch places with Goblyn, seemingly transforming herself. After the fight, Goblyn was "adopted" by Alpha Flight, despite misgivings. She has since made great progress in "civilizing" herself; it is obvious that her nature is actually quite gentle and that any ferociousness resulted from her lack of upbringing. For a time Goblyn and Laura left the team and lived with Kara Kilgrave and her mother. Just what super-human capabilities Goblyn posesses has never been stated outright. She appears to be swifter than normal, and posesses extremely sharp claws. She is also quite agile. It is worthwhile to note that whenever Kara Kilgrave has attempted to use her mind-controlling powers on Goblyn, a mind-link has been formed instead. GREAT BEASTS First Mention: Alpha Flight #1 First Appearance as a group: Alpha Flight #24 Creator: John Byrne The Great Beasts are ancient enemies of the Earth. Millenia ago they battled the gods of the Artic, and the gods succeeded in forcing the beasts behind a mystic barrier. However, the beast called Tundra was able to shift events so that the gods were trapped as well, in their own realm. In recent years the Beasts began to break free of their imprisonment. Their chief foe upon the Earth was Narya, daughter of Nelvanna of the Northern Lights. The first to appear was the beast Tundra. Then came the one known as Kolomaq, associated with the winter snows. After that came Ranaq the Devourer. All of these Snowbird fought. But for the last... Tanaraq. This was because Snowbird had not realized that her friend and team-mate Sasquatch actually had the form of a Great Beast... After defeating Tanaraq (and in the process slaying Langkowski's physical form) Snowbird and her team-mates in Alpha Flight entered the other-dimensional home of the Beasts and defeated them. [Hey, you want more details? Pick up Alpha Flight #24 :) - C] The Beasts have appeared twice since then: In the Artic and at a court hearing into Sasquatch's money. The second appearance was an illusion caused by the Dreamqueen, however. [Once again, Mantlo didn't let a measly thing like Death get in the way of a good story. His resurrection of Somon in Alpha Flight #55 made no sense whatsoever except as "I need a villain for this one." For another example, see DEADLY ERNEST. - C] The Beasts had widespread powers. I'll list each one and their specialties... Kariooq: The Corruptor. Specialized in decay. Hated ice. Kolomaq: Associated with winter storms. Ranaq: The Devourer. Weakest of the Beasts, he required a host body. Somon: The Artificer. The head honcho, he controlled the others. Tanaraq: Big, strong, orange furry guy. Looked kinda familiar. :) Tolomaq: The Fire Beast. 'Nuff said. Tundra: *HUGE* and controlled the local landscape.