The first issue of an eight issue series from Marvel brings the return of the original Canadian team of superheroes - Alpha Flight. We pick up in the midst of the Marvel event Fear Itself, and this definitely felt like an issue where I missed out for two reasons: I'm not reading Fear Itself, and I don't have the background to know who the Alpha Flight team are, their relationships, and their place in the Marvel Universe.
Issue one opens with an emotional scene of a young girl being pulled away from her mother while people are loaded onto military transport trucks. Both are assured they will be traveling in consecutive transports and will be reunited upon arrival at the safe location. While we learn in the middle panels of the page that there is an emergency evacuation in place, the whole scene felt semi-violent and reminded me of families being split up while being carted off to concentration camps.
That tense mood serves the plot: Canada has recently undergone an election with a landslide victory for Gary Cody and his Unity Party. The country is faced with threats of destruction - in this issue, from Nerkkod, who is wielding a super hammer and crushing the city under a tidal wave and creatures from the deep.
Alpha Squad is introduced through action and narrative as they engage Nerkkod in battle. These introductions, while necessary for a new reader, felt forced and contrived. In some cases, the heros' powers were still unclear. Also, does Sasquatch look like a muscle-y Wookie?
There is tension within and without the team, especially between the brother/sister twins Aurora and Northstar. Aurora has re-joined the Alpha Flight team while Northstar has remained separate. There are obvious issues between the two as well as an introduction to some health problems for Aurora.
In the end, of course, the immediate crisis is averted but not before Gary Cody announces that the government voted to enact emergency measures, effectively bringing Canada under a police state. This political element to the plot is interesting, but the issue felt muddled, forced, and a bit all over the map.
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
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