After a month away from the snowy hell of an Orchis-led Canada, it’s time to return to the adventures of the outlaw Alphans. With Alpha Flight #4, Ed Brisson, Scott Godlewski, Matt Milla, VC’s Travis Lanham pick up right where Alpha Flight #3 left off. With Heather hurt and risking her life to protect the mutants, the team seems poised to collapse.
It is hard to see how all of their plots can be adequately concluded with just a single issue to go. Alpha Flight needs to consider Laurent’s storyline, Feedback’s reconnection with his family, Heather’s escape from Department H custody, a potential journey to Chandilar, the way that the mutant team and the human team found common ground, and Box’s plan going forward.
These are not characters who are too likely to shine in the next era of X-Men. If Alpha Flight is to conclude its story, it likely needs to be in the pages of Alpha Flight. It will be interesting to see how that is accomplished going forward.
Marvel Comics
The cast is still admittedly somewhat bloated. With an incredible 13 names dotting the recap page, there just isn’t room for everyone to play too much of a role in this book. Northstar and Kyle have stood out among the mutant contingent, but Fang and Aurora are struggling to find any memorable moments, and too many members are falling through the cracks.
This issue has been the most balanced in terms of character load, but the list is so absurdly large that it is not particularly possible for any book to manage perfectly. Brisson has been doing an admirable job, but five issues for 13 major characters is pushing boundaries for a character-driven story.
Still, the characters who retain focus are golden. Feedback, Laurent, Guardian, Kyle, and Northstar are genuinely compelling figures with stories that are screaming to be told. Feedback’s motivations have been thoroughly explored in a way that team books are rarely able to do.
Marvel Comics
Kyle, too, has had an opportunity to shine when most books never really bother to let him play a role. This book has been committed to giving him agency, rather than letting him play the role of the damsel. While that may change in the final issue, seeing four issues without Kyle in life-or-death situations is a refreshing change.
As always, the art in this book remains one of its strongest attributes. While Godlewski and Milla thrive in fight scenes, this issue shows just how strong they are when they handle dialogue panels as well. Much of this issue is composed of characters standing around and talking, but the art helps it all to feel pressing, painful, and as emotionally impactful as it was truly meant to be.
This book’s data pages also continue to be a strong element. Instead of focusing solely on plot, the data pages balance the plot and character development perfectly. Every detail revealed offers more insight into the characters. A data page about a sword reveals Heather’s state of mind. A letter to a faraway mother reveals the motivations behind a truly horrific decision.
Marvel Comics
The slow-paced progression may be a challenge for a book with only five issues, but Alpha Flight #4 proves just how effective it can be. After all, Laurent’s actions would have been completely baffling if not for the careful handling of every last detail. The book has spent so many panels on Laurent and his characterization, and it makes his actions feel like an inevitability.
It also shows just how much Alpha Flight and the X-Men have failed the mutants during the Fall of X. They’ve forgotten the heart that they are fighting for. Not every mutant can be a soldier, and they have forgotten that too many are — and want to remain — civilians. If Alpha Flight is about anything, it’s about the civilian casualties of Xavier’s war with Orchis. Krakoa has fallen, and the mutant survivors are left to pay the price.
Alpha Flight #4 does everything right. The art is beautiful, the characters are complicated, and the book continues to touch on decades-old pieces of Alpha Flight lore. This book has been the biggest surprise of the era. It has not skipped a beat in proving itself one of the best in the X-Men line.
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