UNCANNY X-MEN #120: Wanted: Wolverine! Dead or Alive!

The X-Men Go Canadian, Eh?

Originally Published April 1979

We begin in "Ottowa, Ontario, Canada," where Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau is questioning Canadian Superhero James Macdonald "Mac" Hudson, aka Weapon Alpha, aka Jimmie, about some footage of the X-Men's fight against the Mandroids in Japan. Trudeau is still miffed that Canada spent their entire military budget developing Wolverine into the world's perfect killing machine, only to have him run off and join the X-Men (I would be too, this is a bigger fiasco than scrapping the Avro Arrow.) and charges Hudson to retrieve him at all costs.

We're in a recession, and I've got an election coming up!

Thus, he assembles "Alpha Flight," a crew of Canadian stereotypes superheroes who are all situated in various geographically disparate regions of Canada.

The X-Men are flying back to the States from Japan when they are suddenly beset by an  intense storm that is blanketing the West Coast and preventing them from even landing in Hawaii. Storm attempts to quell the storm, but finds to her surprise that she cannot - it is being controlled by some outside force.

Like I said.

The X-Men's only option is to land in Calgary, then-home of X-Men artist John Byrne. There they are met by Weapon Alpha, who has renamed himself Vindicator (although the X-Men still know him as "Major Maple Leaf,"  meaning he has about six names more than anyone else here.) We soon learn that the mystery storm is being generated by Alpha Flight's "Shaman," Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen, deliberately done to railroad the X-Men to Calgary. Vindicator reiterates his request that they relinquish Wolverine to the Canadian authorities. The X-Men decline.

Alpha Flight member Sasquatch, holding their plane in place with his bare hands, accidentally destroys the vessel completely, which gives the X-Men an opportunity to slip away. As they sneak through YYC, Wolverine explains more about his connection to Hudson.

The group splits up, thinking they can evade capture more easily separately. Unfortunately, they are gradually picked off - Nightcrawler by twins Jean-Paul and Jeanne-Marie, Banshee and Storm by Hudson himself while browsing Suzy Shier for some inconspicuous clothes. Storm fends him off, but the real prize is Wolverine, who is nabbed while walking down the streets of one of Calgary's seedier districts, pummelled by the muscular forearm of Sasquatch.

As Colossus, Storm, Cyclops and the still-disabled Banshee regroup, they realize their friends have likely been captured and resolve to do something about it... next issue!

Further Thoughts

I quite liked this issue in spite of my defensiveness about the representation of Canada. I feel like I combines a lot of what's great about this run of X-Men comics, and executes it well. It's a canny follow-up to the previous fight with Vindicator, fleshing out the mystery of Wolverine's background even as it deepens. Then there are those charming moments of humanity. Before the X-Men depart Japan, Wolverine has a moment of tenderness with Lady Mariko, and later chides himself for falling for such a delicate flower. Cyclops bonds with Colleen Wing. Banshee ponders retiring to spend time with Moira (once he's informed her he's been alive all these months.)

Even Vindicator - not a supervillain, just a law enforcement agent at cross-purposes with the X-Men - is given moments of humanity. He castigates himself for barging in to a public setting and freaking out the locals, and when Banshee doubles over in pain trying to use his sonic scream, Hudson's reaction is to offer to call a doctor for assistance. In being such a Very Upstanding Citizen, Hudson manages to out-Cyclops Cyclops, who shows some badass resolve by the end.

I do have my issues with Alpha Flight. The overt attempt to draw from popular stereotypes about Canada is frustrating but understandable - maybe it would sting more coming from another artist, but John Byrne is Canadian a British-born future-American Citizen then residing in Calgary. He knew what he was getting up to. And the International X-Men are very much stereotypes in that same model: the wild African Ororo, the Steel-Skinned Russian Colossus, the Irish Banshee. If they can all grow from that seed into well-rounded characters, one might hope the Alpha Flighters could too. But the primary issue I take is how much of it involves white creators (no matter their nationality) co-opting imagery belonging to Indigenous cultures - in the form of Shaman, Sasquatch, and Snowbird, and not really handling them with care. It was one thing for the X-Men to have an Apache member who was also an asshole, but when you start with the "Native People are Magic and their Gods are Comic Characters" stuff, it passes dicey.

Lady Mariko is also a stereotype, if you're keeping score.

If the issue suffers beyond that, it's because of what I would diagnose as a disconnect between Claremont and Byrne - something subtle and hard to correct but a little glaring when reading the issue. The characters all get that big introduction montage in their civilian guises, but aren't introduced in any formal, informative way as their Alpha Flight personae. Instead they get the "keep them hidden, only show a limb" intro, which is unnecessary, since there's no big reveal to be had, now or later, about who they really are. I would much prefer the tact that Dave Cockrum took when introducing the Imperial Guard, to just slap them on the page and let the action sort it out. They're Canadian Superheroes, they're controlling the weather and smashing planes. Let's get on with it.