Issue(s): Alpha Flight #40
Cover Date: Nov 86
Title: "Love"
Credits:
Bill Mantlo - Writer
David Ross - Penciler
Whilce Portacio - Inker
Carl Potts - Editor

Review/plot:
The Avengers have left without so much as a "Yeah, you guys did ok, for Canada's premiere super-hero team.". But to Alpha Flight, Marrina was a teammate, not just Sub-Mariner's weird alien girlfriend, so they've decided to stick around and look for her too. They follow Sub-Mariner, with Northstar briefly trying to out-arrogant the master of arrogance.

A few developments come out along the way. We saw in the Avengers issue that Box was having some trouble due to staying phased into his robot for too long, but in this issue it's said that he actually accidentally phased out of his armor and got the bends.

He's now stuck in his robot, leaving Aurora to worry that she can't love a machine.

Aurora only started flirting with Box one adventure ago, but obviously the relationship is moving fast. If only for once she could fall in love with someone that doesn't get stuck in the Box armor.

Also, Madison Jeffries, whose fear of water kept him out of the battle with Attuma, has rejoined the group by building himself a mini-sub out of the remains of Alpha Flight's Omnijet. His fear of water was apparently an easily conquered phobia, and he also says that some of Box's genius must have rubbed off on him since he was able to build the sub by himself. The whole detour into Jeffries not being able to come up with his own designs was a weird one; even in Mantlo's issue #30 Madison builds a sophisticated looking gun by himself.

Eventually Sub-Mariner and Alpha Flight catch up with Marrina, but it turns out it's her time for a phantom pregnancy. In her case that means breaking out into disgusting pollups, each of which would launch a new Plodex egg.

Vindicator takes on the role of suggesting that Marrina be killed to prevent Earth from being overrun by Plodex, but before the debate on that is settled, Marrina's "mate" from Alpha Flight #14-16 arrives.

The mate has developed the ability to generate an electric shock...

...which seems unnecessary given the fact that's it's already an unknowable horror. And besides, Namor has the powers of all undersea creatures, including the electric eel, so he should be immune, right? ;-)

Vindicator orders Alpha Flight to kill Marrina "and worry about the morality of it in the morning" but Namor holds them back while Marrina fights to resist her genetic programming and pull away from the other Plodex. By doing so and choosing humanity, she reveals that she wasn't actually pregnant. She was only in a "state of breeder receptivity", and i guess her mate showed up to fertilize all those eggs. She reverts to her more human looking form, sans postules, and Alpha Flight and Namor team up to puree her almost-mate.

Namor then takes the group back to a new kingdom that he's set up for himself, and he finds that his old advisor Vashti and a few other loyal Atlanteans have broken away from Attuma to join him there.

Namor re-proposes to Marrina, and she accepts, and the two are married.

Unfortunately Heather is unable to join the festivities because she's apparently been goosed by Northstar.

The issue ends with "To be continued... someday."

P.S. Snowbird remains in her whale form this entire issue and doesn't say a word. And she doesn't appear after page 19 and i don't see her at the wedding. There was once a concern that if she stayed in any form for too long she would take on the mental characteristics of the animal. I don't know if that's still the case now that she's "mortal" but it's very possible that Alpha Flight had to go find her after the wedding and she was off chasing some krill or something.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 3 - Sub-Mariner and Marrina are married

Chronological Placement Considerations: Continues directly from Avengers #272.

References:

• Namor asked Marrina to marry him in Alpha Flight #14.
  
• Namor's new kingdom is centered around the undersea villa that he built for himself in Fantastic Four #9 before he re-located his people.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Maybe Snowbird is one of the fish hovering over the ceremony?

What are the bends?

The bends are decompression sickness:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decompression_sickness

In answer to your question -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decompression_sickness

Whoops, sorry about the duplication.

It's what happens to me after I eat too many Buffalo Wings

Dig Namor's wedding tux. Very '70's glam rock. A little surprised to see Marrina going surface-dweller-traditional in her dress. My God, I'm turning this post into an edition of "Marvel's Fashion Police"! Best just stop here.

Okay, one more observation! Checking out Namor's fringed wedding jacket, it looks like something that would have been worn to the ring by the classic 1980's pro-"rasslin'", teenybopper tag-team sensation, the Rock 'N' Roll Express.