As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.

ALPHA FLIGHT vol 5 #1
Writer: Ed Brisson
Artist: Scott Godliewski
Colour artist: Matt Milla
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Design: Tom Muller & Jay Bowen
Editor: Mark Basso

ALPHA FLIGHT. Canada’s government-sponsored superhero team – an X-Men spin-off in the sense that they debuted in X-Men but not normally viewed as X-characters. I wouldn’t normally do Alpha Flight, and I might not do the whole of this run, but it is coming from the X-office, and it is a “Fall of X” tie-in, so let’s at least do the first issue.

COVER / PAGE 1. The official Alpha Flight team in the foreground, with the rest of the cast looming in the background, foreshadowing the twist. The logo is the one used on Alpha Flight vol 1 #1-17, though with the addition of a distressed background to fit the Fall of X theming.

PAGE 2. John Romita tribute.

PAGES 3-4. Alpha Flight go into action.

The official Alpha Flight team seen here are all classic Alpha Flight members. Alpha Flight really haven’t done much in recent years, with the name being reassigned to the orbiting space station programme led by Carol Danvers. As best as I can tell, the last time we saw a regular old Alpha Flight team may have been Old Man Logan #47 (2018), which did indeed feature this line-up.

Guardian was last seen in S.W.O.R.D., where he briefly joined Orchis because of his concerns about the mutants seizing Mars, and because he thought it was a more legitimate outfit than it was. Obviously, that’s part of the angle for why he might be taking the anti-mutant line here. Puck was also working for Gyrich as part of Gamma Flight in Immortal Hulk, though they walked out on Gyrich during the storyline. Snowbird and Shaman haven’t done much of note in quite a while, although Shaman has shown up in minor instructor roles in Strange Academy – along with virtually every prominent magical hero in the Marvel Universe, even Magik.

The dialogue here is, obviously, designed to be read in a different light once you reach the twist – particularly Guardian’s direction to “put on a show.”

The guy they’re about to fight seems to be Janus of the Derangers, who died in Alpha Flight #53-54. But his origin story is consistent with him being a mutant, so perhaps he was resurrected.

PAGES 5-6. Alpha Flight attend a press conference.

Erika Doiron is a new character. Honestly, “the Canadian government is infiltrated by fascists” seems like it’s the plot of an awful lot of Alpha Flight stories, rather more than Canada might seem to warrant.

The sign reading “True North Strong and Free” is quoting from the Canadian national anthem.

PAGE 7. Recap and credits.

“On guard for thee” is another line from the Canadian national anthem. (It was also the name of a documentary series about the Canadian security services.)

PAGES 8-10. Alpha Flight meet Roger Bochs Jr.

The Canadians are apparently relying on their own homegrown Sentinels, with the support of Orchis. These ones are based on Box from the original Alpha Flight. Instead of the original Box, we have his son Roger Bochs Jr, who is in fact a pre-existing character – he appeared as a student of the Braddock Academy in the miniseries Infinity: The Hunt. He’s basically a younger version of his father, with the same congenital condition regarding his legs and the same robotic talent.

Roger sarcastically says that he hasn’t met Guardian since his father’s funeral. However, that can’t be right, because Guardian was dead between Alpha Flight #10 and #88, and Box died in issue #49. Perhaps Roger just assumes that he must have been there and has better things to do than keep track of Guardian’s status quo.

Roger Bochs Jr is clearly wildly anti-mutant, which is odd for a Braddock Academy student, but he also seems to be trying to build something saner and less destructive than the Stark Sentinels. (Is it possible he’s putting it on for Doiron’s benefit?)

PAGE 11. Data page on Roger Bochs Jr. The art of his father is by John Byrne, and it’s reprinted from Alpha Flight #16.

PAGES 12-14. “Lucas Peterson” is exposed as a mutant.

This guy is identified later as Feedback, who debuted in Alpha Flight #118 and was briefly a member of Beta Flight in the dying days of the original series. More of that later.

PAGES 15-19. Alpha Flight fail to capture Argent.

Argent is a new character; the only previous Argent in the Marvel Universe was one of the Clan Destine.

He gets rescued – and Alpha Flight are publicly defeated – by Daken (still going by Fang as per Marauders), Northstar and someone claiming to be Nemesis.

Three characters have used this name and costume before. The first and third versions are both dead, but the second Nemesis, Jane Thorne, seems to be available. She led a government-sponsored Gamma Flight that was meant to be Alpha Flight’s replacement. She was still around at the end of the first Alpha Flight series and doesn’t appear to have been seen since.

Nemesis is not a teleporter, which begs the question of who’s actually in the costume here. It’s apparently not Magik, who’s in the cast of Realm of X (and that book doesn’t take place on Earth).

Again, the last two lines of dialogue in this scene read differently in light of the twist – this whole fight is a set-up and Alpha Flight want to look bad.

PAGES 20-22. Feedback tells his wife that he’s a mutant.

According to Feedback, he’s a mutant who hasn’t used his powers in years, and has been living an ordinary life in California. Unfortunately, this flatly contradicts Marauders #11 (2023), where he was a prisoner being used to power the nation of Santo Marco, and died. Even allowing for the fact that he could have been resurrected, that story doesn’t square with his claim to have been living peacefully in California for years, particularly when his wife and child would presumably have noticed him being kidnapped for any extended period.

The wife and child are new characters.

PAGE 23. Data page on Feedback.

PAGE 24. Doiron yells at Alpha Flight.

Obviously, the point here is that Alpha Flight are going to get saddled with the Box Sentinels, which won’t want to throw the fight.

PAGES 25-26. Krakoa North is introduced.

This is not a true outpost of Krakoa, but a refuge for the mutants that are being rescued in Canada. The plan, apparently, is to take all of these mutants to the Shi’ar empire, which seems a bit drastic. At any rate, the official Alpha Flight team are in on the whole scheme.

PAGE 27. Trailers. The Krakoan just reads DIVIDED WE STAND PART TWO.