Alpha Flight

Alpha Flight is a Canadian team of super heroes, created for Marvel Comics by artist and writer John Byrne (who is himself a Canadian).

Their first appearance was in Uncanny X-Men, #120-#121, and their popularity with fans ultimately led, in 1983, to the creation of their own series. John Byrne wrote and drew the series for 29 issues before handing it off to another creative team. During that time, the series attracted fans by doing something different than many Marvel team-based comics series. The storylines dealt with one or two characters at a time, only occasionally bringing all the members of the team together. This was a contrast to other team series like the X-Men, the Avengers, or the Fantastic Four.

The initial makeup of Alpha Flight was deliberately pan-Canadian, including:

• super-speed flying twins from Quebec (Northstar and Aurora)
• a scientist from BC who could transform into a giant furry creature (Sasquatch)
• a dwarf bouncer from Toronto who said "eh" at the end of sentences (Puck)
• an amphibious woman from Newfoundland (Marrina)
• a native Canadian medicine man from Calgary (Shaman)
• an Inuit demi-goddess who could transform into animals of the north (Snowbird)
• a scientist from Ottawa who wore a suit of 'battle-armor' that let him fly and have an energy field around him (Guardian). Guardian was the leader, and wore a stylized maple leaf flag as his costume. After his death, his wife took the costume and became leader of the team as the Vindicator.

The series continued for 130 issues before ending in 1994. During this run, dozens of characters and villains were introduced, including cross-overs with other characters in the Marvel universe. In 1997, Marvel started the series up again as a Version 2, with largely different characters. This series, which ended in 1999, followed a more traditional style of super-hero storytelling.