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- Department H: The Flight
Rob
Liefeld, Marvel Comics Presents #51.
© and ™ by Marvel Characters,
Inc.
Alpha Flight #8/2 (Mar 1984) – “Genesis”
Creator:
John Byrne
At Banff
National
Park in Canada,
Heather and James Hudson visit Heather's childhood friend, Dr.
Michael Twoyoungmen. In his care is a strange looking young
girl name Narya. After a night of mysterious occurrences, Dr
Twoyoungmen confesses that Narya is a metamorph capable of changing
into any animal of her choosing and that he is a shaman able
to use magic spells. James Hudson invites both of them to join
Department H, an invitation they accept.
X-Factor
#142 (Feb 1998) – “Give Me Shelter”
Writer:
Bill Rosemann; Penciler: Leo Fernandez; Inker: Dan Green
According to Valerie Cooper, Department H found
Kyle Gibney, badly wounded and psychologically unstable, in
the destroyed headquarters of a private genetics firm. Calling
him Wild Child, the Department H scientists attempted to calm
his animal-nature with hypnotherapy and drugs.
Marvel
Comics Presents #51 (1990) – “The Wilding I: Face Off”
Creator:
Rob Liefeld
Department H, 1974: Wolverine trains against a
robot warrior designed by James Hudson. Wildchild, as part of
Gamma Flight, tries to join, but Wolverine tells him to back
off. The two promise to resolve their differences later. Logan
believes that
Wild Child's father learned to control his rage, but how he
would know who that was is a mystery.
Alpha
Flight #127/2 (Dec 1993) – “Blind Fury”
Writer:
Furman; Penciler: Pollard; Inker; McKenna
Wolverine remembers a time at Department H when
Wildchild badly scars a young girl named Stitch during training.
Wolverine nearly kills Wildchild when James Hudson comes to
his rescue, telling Wolverine that Wildchild deserves another
chance. Wolverine leaves, warning Hudson
that Wildchild
is a monster who needs to be put down.
Alpha
Flight #87 (Aug 1990) – “Building Block Part One: Loyalty”
Writer:
Fabian Nicieza; Penciler: Michael Bair; Inker: Mike Manley
Logan
remembers spending a lot of time relaxing at Gatineau
Park
in Ottawa
“…to get away
from all the talkin'” while at Department H.
Classic
X-Men #16 (Dec 1987) – “Home Are the Heroes”
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Penciler: Kieron Dwyer; Inker: Terry Austin
When preparing to capture Wolverine, James Hudson
as Vindicator reminds himself that he wanted Wolverine as leader
of Alpha Flight, a proposed Canadian superhero team because
he was the best he was at what he did and he couldn't be beaten.
X-Men
#121 (May 1979)/Classic X-Men #27 (Nov 1988) – “Shoot-Out at
the Stampede”
Plotter:
Chris Claremont and John Byrne; Scripter: Chris Claremont; Penciler:
John Byrne; Inker: Terry Austin
Wolverine reminds James Hudson that he never gave him
a choice about joining his superhero team. It is interesting
to note that Chris Claremont removed a snippet of dialogue when
the story was re-released in Classic X-Men, "You
never gave me a choice about bein' changed or
about joinin' yer tin-pot Yukon Avengers." It seems Claremont
wanted to be extra clear that James Hudson had nothing to do
with Logan acquiring his adamantium skeleton and claws.
X-Men #109 (Feb 1978) – “Home Are the Heroes”
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Penciler: John Byrne; Inker: Terry Austin
James Hudson tells Wolverine, “You always were a pain
in the butt, Logan. Short and arrogant as your namesake.”
X-Men
#121 (May 1979) – “Shoot-Out at the Stampede”
Plotters:
Chris Claremont
& John Byrne;
scripter: Chris Claremont; Penciler: John Byrne; Inker: Terry
Austin
Wolverine exchanges harsh words with a man named Garson
who works for James Hudson and Alpha Flight. It is clear they
know and dislike each other. As Wolverine points out, “You always
had a big mouth, Garson. Keep flappin' it around me an' yer
wife'll be a widow before her time,”
Pat
Broderick and Bruce Patterson, Alpha Flight Special
#2
©
and ™ by Marvel Characters, Inc.
Alpha
Flight Special #1 (Vol 2, Jun 1992) – “First Flight”
Plotter:
Scott Lobdell; Scripters: Scott Lobdell, Simon Furman; Penciler:
Pat Broderick; Inker Bruce Patterson.
On the run from a group corrupt police officers,
Detective Sean Bernard of the Vancouver Police Department kills
two of his pursuers before running out of bullets. Taking a
wound to his leg during the exchange, Bernard finds himself
facing the ringleader of the dirty cops, but Logan rescues him
by crippling the drug-trafficker with his claws. By 2:00AM ,
Logan has gained personal approval from the Canadian Prime Minister
to transfer Bernard to a top-secret base near Thunder Bay under
the auspices of Department H. By the following morning, Logan
has Bernard operating Hudson 's armor with a collection of Canadian
superheroes-in-training: Smart Alec with his extraordinary intelligence,
Narya with her shapeshifting as Snowbird, and the alleged Northern
god St. Elmo with his plasma-energy.
Within three weeks, Logan
is training the
group in an outdoor mock mission. On one particular run, Narya
is unable to shift back to her human form, forcing Logan
to catch her in
mid-air. Logan
chews out the
team on their inexperience and lack of teamwork, and argues
with Hudson
about the mental fitness of the last member of “The Flight,”
Stitch. Sean Bernard puts away his armor in a warehouse when
he comes upon Stitch, an extremely shy and quiet young girl
with telekinetic abilities, who takes an instant liking to Bernard
and his armor. The following morning, a super-villain Egghead
with a group of super-powered henchmen threatens the United
States with a
nuclear warhead located in Canada
. Before long,
Hudson has gathered the team in a military helicopter, and Wolverine
leads them on an attack against Egghead and his henchmen: Rhino
with the power of a rhinoceros, Porcupine with an expertise
in gas, Swordsman with a mastery of swords, Solarr with the
energy of solar radiation, Eel with his electric blasts, and
the muscle-bound Power Man. Wolverine starts off by slicing
open Rhino's midsection and trading punches with Power Man.
As a full-fledged battle erupts between “The Flight” and Egghead's
crew, Wolverine moves on to the Porcupine, crippling him by
shredding his gas apparatus. Meanwhile, Smart Alec attempts
to defuse the nuclear bomb, but only removes the guidance system
as Egghead triggers the detonation sequence. When Wolverine
grabs Egghead and threatens him with his claws, Egghead refuses
to disarm the warhead, taunting Wolverine. As a berserker rage
builds inside, Wolverine contemplates gutting Egghead on the
spot, but Snowbird convinces him otherwise. Meanwhile, St. Elmo
seizes the nuclear warhead and transforms its immense energy
and substance into light that he absorbs. However the extreme
level of energy is overwhelming and St. Elmo vaporizes himself,
saving the team and Canada
. Within days,
Sean Bernard quits the team.
Alpha
Flight #9/2 (Apr 1984) – “A Stranger in My Mirror”
Creator:
John Byrne
In a less desirable area of Montreal
late at night,
Jeanne-Marie Beaubier is grabbed by two muggers as Logan
watches from a
distance. Guided by her mutant abilities, Jeanne-Marie decks
one of her assailants with a lightning-fast punch. As the other
mugger moves in, Logan
grabs him from
behind and threatens him with a single adamantium claw. Before
long, gendarmes have arrested the criminals, leaving Logan and
Jean-Marie to talk. Realizing that she is a mutant, Logan
convinces her
to travel to Ottawa
with him to meet
James Hudson as potential member of “The Flight.”
Wolverine
#176 (Jul 2002) – “The Logan
Files, Epilogue”
Writer:
Frank Tieri; Penciler: Sean Chen; Inker: Norm Rapmund
In a near-death experience, Logan
remembers seeking
a family environment when temporarily in charge of “The Flight.”
…At some point, James Hudson completes the first version of
his Vindicator battlesuit…
X-Men
#109 (Feb 1978) – “Home Are the Heroes”
Writer:
Chris Claremont; Penciler: John Byrne; Inker: Terry Austin
Wolverine reminds Hudson
, “You're forgettin'
the old days, Jimmie-boy, no matter how hard ya hit me, I'll
keep comin' back.” This is probably in reference to training
against Hudson
's Vindicator battlesuit.
Alpha
Flight #53 (Dec 1987) – “A Blast From the Past”
Scripter:
Bill Mantlo; Penciler: Jim Lee; Inker: Whilce Portacio
In a flashback generated by the psionically-powered
Bedlam, it is revealed that James Hudson‘s attempt at creating
a Canadian superhero from a convict with latent mutant ability
backfires horribly. The mutant develops powerful psionic abilities
and nearly kills Hudson, who is testing his Vindicator suit.
Wolverine attacks, and Bedlam counters with a psychic blast,
but the diversion gives Hudson
enough time to
defeat Bedlam with a concussive blast from his Vindicator battlesuit.
Jim
Lee and Whilce Portacio, Alpha Flight #51
©
and ™ by Marvel Characters, Inc.
Alpha
Flight # 52 (Nov 1987) – “Specters”
Writer:
Bill Mantlo; Penciler: June Brigman; Inker: Whilce Portacio
From a Department H "raider disc" with
video data, Gary Cody observes that Logan
walks out on James
Hudson and “The Flight” after the fiasco with Bedlam. Logan
departs telling
Hudson ,
“Call me Wolverine.”
Alpha
Flight #53 (Dec 1987) – “A Blast From the Past”
Scripter:
Bill Mantlo; Penciler: Jim Lee; Inker: Whilce Portacio
Wolverine explains that he quit working for James
Hudson when the Bedlam experiment blew up in his face.
…Perhaps against his will, Logan
, as Weapon X,
is brought in to test Hudson
's newly repaired
battle armor…
Alpha
Flight #1 (Volume 2, Aug, 1997) – “Horoscope”
Writer:
Steve Seagle; Penciler: Scott Clark; Inker: Chris Carlson
James Hudson, as Weapon Alpha, wears his Vindicator
battlesuit and runs a simulated combat with Logan
as a costumed
Weapon X. Hudson appears to knock a bestial Weapon X unconscious,
but Wolverine counterattacks with a berserker rage and mortally
wounds Hudson .
Logan
is tasered, and taken away while Hudson
signs a waiver
to receive medical treatment from the Prometheus Division. Hudson
undergoes a top-secret
procedure to regress his aging to heal his wounds.
…This display of reckless aggression and the grievous wounding
of Hudson
spur a separation. Logan
moves over to
Canadian Intelligence and Hudson returns to fielding a Canadian
superhero team…
Wolverine
#110 (Feb 1997) – “Lesser Beasts”
Writer:
Tom DeFalco; Penciller: Joe Bennett; Inker: Joe Pimentel
Wolverine confesses that he has known Michael Twoyoungmen
for a long time and that the two of them could have been teammates
in Alpha Flight, but Logan left before that could happen.
Alpha
Flight #33 (Apr 1986) – “A Friend in Need”
Writer:
Bill Mantlo, Penciler: Sal Buscema, Inker: Gerry Talaoc
In conversation with Heather McDonald, Logan
claims that one
of the reasons he left to Department H and joined the Canadian
Secret Service was because of his strong feelings for Heather
Hudson.
X-Men
#120 (Apr 1979) – “Wanted: Wolverine! Dead or Alive!”
Plotter:
Chris Claremont and John Byrne; Scripter: Chris Claremont; Penciler:
John Byrne; Inker: Terry Austin
Logan
tells the X-Men, “I was operational when Hudson
gathered the rest
of Alpha Flight.” In other words, when Logan
returned to intelligence
work, James Hudson continued to recruit for Alpha Flight.
X-Men/Alpha Flight #1 (Dec 1985) – “The Gift”
Writer: Chris Claremont; Artist: Paul Smith & Bob Wiacek
Heather reminds Logan that Mac always intended for Wolverine to lead Alpha Flight. It is conceivable that James Hudson still held out hope that Wolverine would return as lead of Alpha Flight.
Scott
Clark and Chris Carlson, Alpha Flight (Vol. 2) #1
©
and ™ by Marvel Characters, Inc.
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