Alpha Flight #1
"Tundra!"
Written and drawn by John Byrne
James MacDonald Hudson stands in the abandoned building that once housed Department H, the secret branch of the Ministry of Defence, and ponders his future, and that of his erstwhile teammates. After a brief recap of the most recent X-Men story, we get a glimpse of the Flight trainees. Beta Flight are in costume so we at least get a hint of what their natures might be, but Gamma Flight all wear the same trainee uniform, although one member, a woman, is significantly taller than the others. I remember I couldn't wait to find out more about these characters.
His reverie is interrupted by Gary Cody, the team's government liaison. Cody tells Mac he'd like to remain an unofficial liaison, and Mac says he'll be on call if needed. But he worries about supporting himself as now they only have his wife's paycheck.
Meanwhile, out in the barren and spacious northwest territories, a graying man in thick spectacles mutters to himself about how he's going to show all the people who laughed at him how wrong they were. With his feet, he begins to etch a large, vaguely humanoid shape in the earth. When that's finished, he dons an ancient metal circlet, and the very air around him begins to move and change...
Over in Calgary, Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen opens a box containing the skull of his grandfather and beseeches it speak to him...
In La Valle, Quebec, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier teaches at a Catholic girls' school. The schoolgirls have heard that her brother, the famous skier Jean-Paul Beaubier will be arriving and are ecstatic. He greets them and the two siblings go off for some private time. The Sister in charge chastises Jeanne-Marie for bringing a man into the dormitory but when she realizes who he is, she too is somewhat starstruck. Once they are alone, Jean-Paul berates his sister for choosing to exist in this repressed state. He sees it as a prison for the free spirit she really is. He tries to shake her out of it but it's too much for her and she faints. We see that he truly cares and wants the best for her, for her to be herself. While he dislikes being in Alpha Flight, he thinks it might be the only way for Jeanne-Marie to really live.
Back at the Hudson home, Mac and Heather catch an alarming news report. There's some weird atmospheric phenomena going on over Resolute Bay, so he heads back out to investigate. Heather doesn't want him going alone, so she activates the signal to summon the rest of Alpha Flight. She notices two new, unfamiliar names, members who have just graduated: Puck and Marrina.
Puck is bouncing down the pub when he gets the call. He's super-excited about it!
Marrina is standing on the coast when she's joined by her stepbrother, Dan Smallwood. He brings her the brooch which contains her Flight signal; it's active and she knows she has to leave. It's apparent Dan has some strong feelings for her that may extend beyond familial love.
Walter Langkowski is hiking in the woods when he receives the call. He immediately transforms into Sasquatch, noting that the process is becoming a lot easier for him.
Snowbird was already in the area and is the first to arrive at the ritual site. She sees the remains of a human being and recognises the shape in the dirt. The corpse's arm rises and the gesture is duplicated by the earth itself. Behold TUNDRA, the mountain that walks like a man!
Some seamen on a weather ship register something moving at incredible speed through the water. Marrina emerges, trailing a water spout behind her.
Aurora seems to have recovered and she and her brother are on their way to join the rest of the team. Now she insists on being called only by her code name, confounding Northstar, who worries about her sanity.
Puck arrives at an airbase to try to get a lift to the trouble area, but they won't let him in without written clearance.
Snowbird speaks to Tundra in an ancient tongue, and it recognises her as its sworn enemy. It unleashes a swarm of mosquitoes upon her, and she realizes she dare not use her animal transformation power, lest Tundra gain control of her as well. Fortunately Vindicator arrives and uses his suit's electromagnetic powers to get rid of the insects. Tundra sends a spray of earth at him.
Shaman tries to reason with the mortal mind he thinks is controlling Tundra, but that mortal was weak and used up quickly. Tundra is under its own power now. Vindicator attacks Tundra, but ends up wreaking havoc on the landscape itself. As Tundra walks, Tundra grows.
Sasquatch arrives, using his "dropping out of a helicopter" trick, and begins tearing great chunks out of Tundra's form. He is swatted away as he utters the old refrain, "How can something so big move so fast?" He flies past the arriving twins, who use their flying speed to try to erode the beast, which seems to work. Shaman calls a rainstorm to further wear the Beast down, but it isn't enough. Tundra is regenerating itself from the earth upon which it walks. Fortunately Marrina has arrived, and brought with her a very large quantity of water. The twins use their joined power to blind Tundra and the deluge melts it away. There is now a new lake on the plain, and beneath it, a dead dreamer...
The team gathers at the Hudsons' place to discuss things. It's clear none of them could have defeated Tundra alone, and it was their teamwork that did it. Mac confirms Marrina's promotion to the Alpha team. There's a knock on the door. Puck is finally here and ready for action. Mac tells him they were trying to think of a new team name, since officially Alpha and the other teams have been dissolved, but he won't have any of it. He came there to join Alpha Flight, and he's going to join Alpha Flight! Walter teases him, and a brawl ensues. Heather wonders if this was all such a good idea after all.
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Gary Cody is an illustrator friend of Byrne's. In addition to having his own career as a painter, comics readers might know him as the guy who finished and colored the covers for Byrne's various Dark Horse comics. An inside joke it would take me a few decades to get.
One plot point that bugs me on re-reading this story is how did Marrina know all that water would be needed? She had no idea what she was getting into. Does she just bring massive quantities of water wherever she goes, just in case?