Review: ‘Alpha Flight’ #1 Is A Standard Superhero Story With A Big Fall Of X Twist

Alpha Flight has often been one of the X-Men’s closest allies, and just as often has been extremely antagonistic. The Fall of X reveals exactly where the latest incarnation of the team lies, and it may not be where you think.

Ed Brisson, Scott Godlewski, Matt Milla and Travis Lanham head across the border as Canada’s greatest face Orchis.

Guardian, Shaman, Puck and Snowbird are the latest incarnation of Alpha Flight, Canada’s first line of defense against the mutant threat and Orchis’s greatest allies. Their first task as the newly reformed team- track down their mutant former teammates and put a stop to their actions. Will Guardian lead them to victory to the mutant menace or will they fail to stop Northstar and his team?

This is an interesting superhero tale. To see Guardian, Shaman and Puck willingly follow the anti-mutant sentiments of the Canadian government, thanks to Orchis, is a bit heartbreaking. They are some of Wolverine’s closest friends, and served for years with Northstar and Aurora.

Godlewski’s art is a major highlight. He’s dynamic, and gives the heroes all a great personality. You can see both the internal and external struggle as they are angry about their orders, but the action clicks as they fight their teammates. The characters’ classic personalities came through just in how they move on the page. Milla’s colors are vivid too, giving the issue the feel of classic superhero comics.

But the story comes together on the final page, as Brisson shows us all what’s really being going on. It recontextualizes the entire issue, and retroactively makes a fairly standard superhero story about “good soldiers following orders” much better.

SPOILERS AHEAD

All this time, in a perfectly executed final page twist, Alpha Flight has been working against the government and with their friends and allies. Brisson shows that he understands who his leads are- they’re not going to blindly follow orders, they’re going to do the right thing. Godlewski paces the reveal perfectly, leading up to the full page splash of Guardian et al alongside Akihiro and Aurora.

It’s a great example of a single story page re-contextualizing everything we’ve read so far. There’s no obvious foreshadowing to the reveal but retroactively, it prompts a re-read that shows it all lines up. Guardian’s coldness towards everything anti-mutant. Puck and Shaman’s behavior during the fight. It’s a reveal that works and makes the story significantly better and more engaging.

Alpha Flight #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.