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The X-Men have had a contentious relationship with Alpha Flight, Canada’s premiere superteam, over the years. But even if the odds seem stacked, when the two come to blows, the fights between Marvel’s Mutants and the Canadian superheroes are always closer than fans might imagine. And the team’s latest battle in the pages of X-Men is no exception.
As their clashes throughout time have shown, the two are often evenly matched. Which means head-to-head battles almost aways come down to specific rosters, preparedness, and strategy. And that shouldn’t come as a surprise, once fans learn just how stacked Alpha Flight’s roster has been when it comes to both mutants and magic-users.
When X-Men & Alpha Flight Meet, It’s Always A Close Fight
The Winner Changes Depending on Which Roster is Active
What most sets the team apart begins with their leaders in the field, with the Canadian strike team typically led by a non-powered operative. The most iconic of these being James ‘Mac’ Hudson AKA Guardian, succeeded by his wife Heather, both of whom rely on powered armor to approximate superpowers. The rivalry existed from the start, with Hudson making his first comic appearance in Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s X-Men #109, on the hunt for a wayward Wolverine.
Mac’s mission to bring Wolverine back to the team as an operative of the Canadian government was less than heroic, making his defeat at the hands of the X-Men in Issue #109 a case of ‘right over wrong.’ But if anyone assumed Wolverine was a rare member of the Canadian team, the full roster proved its mettle in the following issue. With its full lineup of superhumans, mutants, and sorcerers, Alpha Flight brought a challenge to the X-Men.
Alpha Flight’s leader James Hudson is the great-nephew of Elizabeth Hudson, the mother of Wolverine. This makes Wolverine and Guardian first cousins, once removed.
If the X-Men aren’t prepared, then a mystical member like Shaman or Snowbird can expose the X-Men’s vulnerability to magic. A potential deciding factor, unless the X-Men have their own mystic defences, or Alpha Flight’s magic users aren’t part of a specific skirmish. While just one example, this fact has proven to decide the winner or loser in the past, and highlights just how evenly matched the two teams truly are.
The main difference here isn’t one of ‘power level’, but of strategic advantage. Alpha Flight usually have the backing of the Canadian government, which means that they have resources to spend on stopping the X-Men. If the X-Men aren’t prepared for an attack (as was the case in the initial team-on-team fight in X-Men #120, then Alpha Flight can stomp them before the mutants can respond. But with all the prep time in the world to anticipate the other team’s moves, it’s likely to end in a stalemate, since both teams can throw around powers and resources to counteract whoever they’re up against.
X-Men & Alpha Flight Are Finally Joining Forces in Marvel Comics
Luckily Their Latest Encounter Wasn’t an Outright Fight
The two teams’ latest encounter in X-Men #12, written by Jed MacKay with art by Netho Diaz, begins a brand new chapter in their long history. And while some casual fans might miss the depth of the story, its their shared history that ends up saving the day. The issue’s villain, one ‘Dr. Xanto Starblood,’ is almost able to take down a super-powerful X-Men roster thanks to him preparing for them, and planning to gain the edge with specific sci-fi tech.
But with the battle taking place in Canadian airspace, the forces of Alpha Flight probe to be too much for the villains. Thanks to the teams’ lengthy experience with one another, they are able to almost instantly combine powers to amplify attacks, and use both the X-Men’s stealth and Alpha Flight providing a distraction to tip the scales. With Cyclops not only thanking Alpha Flight, but offering to break Mac and his team out of prison, the future is bright for the X-Men/Alpha Flight alliance.
X-Men #12 is available now from Marvel Comics.
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