Issue(s): Alpha Flight #105
Cover Date: Feb 92
Title: "The bachelor party!"
Credits:
Scott Lobdell - Writer
Tom Morgan - Penciler
Christopher Ivy - Inker
Christian Cooper - Assistant Editor
Bobbie Chase - Editor

Review/plot:
This is a downtime issue, combining Christmas with bachelor and bachelorette parties for Madison Jeffries and Diamond Lil. Madison asks Wild Child to be his best man. And Northstar seems to be opening up and being less of the standoffish arrogant jerk that we've known.

In a possible sign of what's coming next issue, we see Northstar secretly humiliate some jerks that are harassing a gay couple at the bar where the bachelor party is being held.

This bar is the one where Puck used to work at while Department H was defunct, and the bartender doesn't believe that he's really a member of Alpha. Note also the John Byrne cameo.

Sasquatch nearly confesses something to Wild Child, but he's cut off when a guy shows up to try to rob the bar. The male Alphans stop the guy, but learn that he's having financial trouble, so they go and buy the guy's house from his landlord, and Madison uses his powers to convert some random junk into Christmas gifts for the guy's kid.

Meanwhile, the female Alphans are at their bachelorette party at a strip club, and Aurora gets a bit rowdy, so the bouncer comes out.

The next we see, Northstar is getting a call from his sister because the female Alphans are in jail.

Cute, but it seems pretty out of character considering Aurora just got her personality back last issue. And Pink Pearl didn't seem to be all that "legit" during the Superia Strategem, but i guess the Canadian authorities don't know anything about that.

An interlude shows a husband and wife undertaker team preparing the body of a woman that died on the eve of her wedding.

I generally like downtime issues, and the saccharine Christmas portion of the story is relatively minor, so in a certain sense this is fun. I do kind of like the mellowing of Northstar (*kind of*; on the one hand, i like his original personality because it makes him distinct. But if he's going to hang around with the group, he ought to eventually become more friendly towards them.). But in general it still doesn't feel like the Alpha characters are the same ones that i learned to love during the Byrne era. Granted that's not specifically a failing on Scott Lobdell's part; it's been a consistent problem for a long time. But it's more pronounced when it's a downtime issue. And i really don't like Tom Morgan's art, although i acknowledge that that's at least partially a question of his style, not his ability.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Christmas.

References:

• Puck quit his bouncer job to respond to the call in Alpha Flight #1.
  
• Pink Pearl was "last seen" in Alpha Flight #22 if you ignore her appearance in Captain America #387-392.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A