Issue(s): Alpha Flight #114, Alpha Flight #115, Alpha Flight #116, Alpha Flight #117
Cover Date: Nov 92 - Feb 93
Title: "Bloodline!" / "Extreme Prejudice part I" / "Extreme Prejudice part 2" / "Extreme Prejudice part 3"
Credits:
Simon Furman - Writer
Pat Broderick - Penciler
Bruce D. Patterson - Inker
Dan Cuddy - Assistant Editor
Rob Tokar - Editor

Review/plot:
Simon Furman's first issues of Alpha Flight were a back-up story and then the Infinity War tie-ins. They were terrible. These are the first post-Infinity War issues, so i was hoping this would be where Furman really got control and was able to do something good, but they're also terrible. I like Simon Furman, so i've come to the conclusion that Alpha Flight was just cursed at this point and it was impossible to do anything good with them. That said, Furman falls into the same trap as previous post-Byrne writers, which is to really get obsessed with government conspiracies and Weapon X-like programs, just because Alpha Flight has government connections. The Wolverine connection is the most commercial aspect of the book, so i can sort of see why we keep coming back to similar things. But we really didn't need to spend four issues revealing Wild Child's origin. Wild Child was a pretty simple character, in a good way, to start with. I always figured he was just a mutant, and that he was mentally unstable enough that he wound up on the wrong side when Omega Flight was formed. I suppose we did need a better explanation of his reformation when he became Weapon Omega. And, to be clear, Wild Child's origins are not tied into the Weapon X program. It's just that he's given a parallel type of story, and the current Weapon X, Kane, does get involved in this plot.

This story starts with Wild Child already on the run, trying to control his feral side and wondering how he got blood on his hands. He's being pursued by someone that we don't see yet.

A separate thread has Guardian acting on the decision to accept the Gamma/Beta characters as full-fledged members of the team. So she's sent them out to deal with the emergence of a new Jackal who has taken hostages. When the team is faced with a difficult police chief, Persuasion simply possesses him.

Persuasion is able to maintain control of the people she possesses from a longer distance, and she finds that she's enjoying doing it.

This is definitely the best development in these issues, and it's something more along the lines of what i'd expect from Simon Furman. Persuasion's powers are definitely more suited to villainy than heroism. It's the same powers as her father, Purple Man, after all. So seeing her struggle with that makes sense.

Jackal manages to slash Manikin's main body, poisoning him.

Pathway manages to get Jackal talking. He claims he's the son of the original (this is his only appearance), and starts to talk about his daddy issues.

But, speaking of characters struggling with a villainous side, Witchfire suddenly freaks out and blasts Jackal in the mouth, frying his brain.

That ends any possibility of getting a cure from him.

Instead of just dying, a cocoon forms around Manikin's body.

The fact that something weird has happened to him gets leaked to the press, and, combined with Northstar's recent announcement that he is gay, fuels a rumor that there is some kind of superhero AIDS going around. Somewhat relatedly, Northstar gets scolded because he was supposed to be on monitor duty while Beta Flight was calling for help, but he's been overwhelmed by the feedback, positive and negative, over coming out, so he was out for a run to clear his head.

We also see some Canadian government officials, including General Clarke and the Prime Minister, discussing a "progressive conservative" politician named Hagon who will use the super-disease to push an anti-super hero bill through parliament.

Back to the Wild Child story. Puck goes to Guardian to tell her that before Weapon Omega left, they had an argument. Puck subsequently looked into Omega's records and found no proof that he'd been cured.

Pat Broderick has been an artist on Marvel books for a long time, and he's generally been fine. But the art here can get pretty wonky. More of the Alpha Flight curse, i guess.

Meanwhile, it turns out that the guy that has been chasing Weapon Omega is this guy, Wyre.

It's initially implied that Wyre is Wild Child's father, but he seems to mean that metaphorically. He's responsible for the program that created Wild Child and brought out his feral side. Now he's hunting down the people created by the project and killing them before they can do any more harm. Wild Child isn't so sure that's a bad thing.

But the rest of Alpha Flight are now looking for him.

I thought maybe i liked Broderick's Sasquatch, but then i changed my mind.

Sasquatch manages to drive Wyre away, and Wild Child is brought home. Wild Child decides that he needs answers, so he decides that he needs to go to Nemesis, who he apparently considers a close friend. We see that Nemesis is currently being held prisoner by a mystery villain that will turn out to be the new villain Rok (this story is his only appearance).

Kane from Weapon X is also getting involved.

Kane thinks to himself that the "central office" doesn't want Department H to know there's a Department K.

Wild Child goes looking for Nemesis where she lives, and he remembers (no flashback) an untold adventure where they fought Rok for the first time, when Rok tried to "take her place as leader -- of the Children of the Night". We don't know anything about this, but it would have happened while Alpha Flight were dimension hopping for half a year, during which time the government formed a new Gamma Flight led by Nemesis (see Alpha Flight #76).

Wild Child is met by these Children of the Night who capture him and put him with Nemesis.

For what it's worth, Nemesis says that the Children were meant to be warriors fighting a divine war but that Rok has turned them into assassins for hire.

Wild Child only vaguely remembers Rok.

Kane shows up to help Wild Child. I mean, that... is Kane, right?

Rok is defeated, but then Wyre returns.

Wyre explains that he was responsible for the program that created Wild Child.

You can guess from the hoods that Wyre was working for the Secret Empire at the time.

Kane has actually been sent to stop Wyre.

Meanwhile, Puck discovers that Sasquatch buried psychological reports that would have kept Wild Child out of the original Gamma Flight program.

According to what Langkowski says, we now have two members of Alpha with multiple personality disorder.

The rest of Alpha make it to Wild Child. Things start off with a Misunderstanding Fight with Kane.

Even Nemesis attacks Kane, because she wants Wild Child and Wyre to settle things between themselves.

Wyre does have doubts about what he's doing. He's really just filled with regret for what he did.

Wild Child tells Wyre that he forgives him, and that ends the arc. Kane is convinced to not kill Wyre. And at least Wild Child gets confirmation that he really did start off human; at one point in this story he was wondering if he was really an evolved animal. The story told to him by Wyre almost calls into question whether or not he was even a mutant, but he is. Which ultimately makes everything else unnecessary. If Wild Child really were a normal man given super-powers by the Secret Empire, that would at least be new information.

Quality Rating: D+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Kane has obvious bionic arms and is still thinking about how he hates Cable, so this should take place before Cable #1-2. For what it's worth, it's acknowledged that Shaman was around for Infinity War but that he disappeared again after that.

References:

• Wild Child has been worried about reverting to his feral side since encountering his Infinity War doppelganger in Alpha Flight #111.
  
• I think maybe Simon Furman wasn't sure if Infinity War was going to end in a cosmic reset like Infinity Gauntlet did, because he has Guardian thinking that "memories of our recent off and on world battles are somewhat hazy", with a reference to Infinity War #1 through Infinity War #6 and the related Alpha Flight tie-ins (already linked above).
  
• Northstar blames Sasquatch for Aurora's current MPD problems, where she has different powers with each personality, since he messed with her genetic make-up in Alpha Flight #17.
  
• Northstar came out in Alpha Flight #106.
  
• Puck says that Talisman's having trouble tracking Weapon Omega due to the stuff she's been through recently, with footnotes pointing to Alpha Flight #90 and Alpha Flight #110.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A