Sunday 18 October 2009

70 Years of Marvel - 1984


Introduced in the pages of X-Men as former allies of Wolverine who were keen to bring him back to Canada, Alpha Flight got their own book despite the reservations of their creator, John Byrne. Byrne claims he never really knew what to do with the book when he had it, but despite that, Alpha Flight's first 28 issues are remembered with some fondness, particularly compared to the numerous failed attempts at relaunching the team and the title ever since. The issue above featured Alpha's leader, Guardian, taking on the evil Omega Flight, with unfortunate consequences.

1984 also saw the New Mutants gain four new members: Magik, Magma, Cypher and Warlock. Pre-school super group, Power Pack, also turned up, as did sometime X-Man, Forge. Transformers became the latest, and some might argue, greatest, toy tie-in comic, and Hawkeye formed his own West Coast Avengers team, as the Avengers became Marvel's third franchise.

in the real world, 1984 saw Ronald Reagan announce "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes". Despite, or possibly because of this epic mispronounciation, he was later re-elected President. Go figure.

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