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Alpha Flight #64Issue(s): Alpha Flight #64 Review/plot: Actually before we get to that, we have to get through the court battle wherein Walter-now-Wanda Langkowski tries to prove that he's still alive and that his ex-wife Veronica therefore doesn't get hir fortune. It's not the most orthodox of trials. ![]() ![]() ![]() Eventually Wanda puts herself through a lie detector test, despite Veronica's lawyer saying that it's unreliable and should be inadmissible. After going through the polygraph test, the judge retires to her chamber to decide whether or not to admit it. And she's met by a national security official who wants her to deny the use of the polygraph because the Canadian government wants Alpha Flight to remain unfunded. We pause there and circle around to all of the various former Alpha Flight members doing their thing now that the group has broken up. Purple Girl and Laura Dean going to school and dealing with anti-mutant pressures, Manikin working as an intern at a hospital and using his alternate forms to entertain child patients, and Madison Jeffries and Heather Hudson enjoying their relationship while visiting Heather's parents. We also check in with the Jade Dragon, who is still being interrogated by the Canadian government... ![]() ...while some Chinese operatives look on. ![]() So it's not until we're more than halfway through the book that we get to the Great Beasts, and they come pouring through Sasquatch's head along with Snowbird and her godly relations. ![]() ![]() While everyone else flees the courtroom, we see a nun approaching. ![]() Sasquatch initially tries rejecting the entire mess of supernatural beings, but feels forced to act when Veronica gets in trouble. And then the nun touches her head to dispel the darkness. ![]() She then very easily beats up the Great Beasts. ![]() However, she still won't ally herself with Snowbird's gods. She also gives up trying to make any claims on her past, and therefore gives up on her money. It turns out that the nun that helped her was Aurora. ![]() But she's joined a holy order and doesn't want to stick around. In an epilogue, Talisman finds something related to the Dream Queen. ![]() If it wasn't for the MCP, i would have assumed that all of the supernatural beings that appeared in the courtroom were just delusions or something. What a waste of characters. Watching this Sasquatch wrap up all the Great Beasts like they were AIM goons is ridiculous. And this use of Aurora is bewildering. For someone who grew up reading the John Byrne issues in realtime, the characters here are just unrecognizable. And storywise it's a total bust. As Sasquatch notes, she already went through this identity crisis and rejected any ties to the Great Beasts, and the resolution of the inheritance leaves Alpha Flight in the exact same state it was in before. So from a development point of view, nothing happens this issue. Except for a mess of a fight. Jim Lee's art is ok (not the most spectacular thing he's done) but it doesn't make up for the (lack of) a story. This is Jim Lee's final issue. Quality Rating: D+ Chronological Placement Considerations: Based on statements in Alpha Flight #67 (and see Comments below as well), there's a strong possibility that the Great Beasts appearing here are really just an illusion created by the Dream Queen, but it's not definitive and i'm still listing them as Characters Appearing to maintain consistency with the MCP. References:
Crossover: N/A Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A Inbound References (1): showCharacters Appearing: Aurora, Dream Queen, Goblyn, Hodiak, Jade Dragon, Madison Jeffries, Manikin, Nelvanna, Ox (China Force), Pathway, Persuasion, Rabbit (China Force), Sasquatch, Snake (China Force), Snowbird, Somon, Talisman, Tundra, Turoq, Veronica Langkowski, Vindicator (Heather Hudson) CommentsIt never ceases to amaze me that this book lasted as long as it did when it was so terrible. Posted by: Robert | August 4, 2014 4:07 PM Read Snowbird's dialogue in 67 very carefully- it makes it clear the Dream Queen was behind the Great Beasts but does that mean they were real or just duplicates she created? (The latter would explain why Sasquatch defeated them so easily.) Posted by: Michael | August 4, 2014 11:11 PM "It never ceases to amaze me that this book lasted as long as it did when it was so terrible." What's hilarious is that we're just now reaching the halfway point for this series. I kind of love the run through the 30s and the 40s in a weird way, but past 50 the book just went into total creative flatline Posted by: George Lochinski | July 2, 2016 10:14 AM (for the rest of Mantlo's run, I mean) Posted by: George Lochinski | July 2, 2016 10:15 AM Comments are now closed. |
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