Alpha Flight Vol 1 4

Alpha Flight Vol 1 #4 Published November, 1983 Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter Cover Artist John Byrne "Resolutions!" Writer John Byrne Penciler John Byrne Inker John Byrne Colourist Andy Yanchus Letterer Rick Parker Editor Denny O'Neil Linda Grant Previous Issue Next Issue Alpha Flight #3 Alpha Flight #5

Appearing in "Resolutions!"

Featured Characters:

• Alpha Flight
  • Aurora (Jeanne-Marie Beaubier)
  • Guardian (James Hudson)
  • Marrina (Marrina Smallwood) (Main story and flashback)
  • Northstar (Jean-Paul Baubier)
  • Sasquatch (Dr. Walter Langkowski)
  • Snowbird (Narya)

Supporting Characters:

•  Sub-Mariner (Namor) 
•  Invisible Girl (Susan Storm) 
• Dan Smallwood

Antagonists:

• Master of the World

Other Characters:

• Gladys Smallwood (Only in flashback)
• Plodex (First appearance) (Main story and flashback)

Locations:

• Canada
  • Newfoundland
• North Pole

Items:

Vehicles:

• Fantasticar

• Plodex space ship
  
  

Synopsis for "Resolutions!"

The Sub-Mariner and the Invisible Girl race towards the frozen North in the Fantastic Four's Fantasticar. Namor expresses concern that a great "evil" lies within the territory that has been poisoning Atlantean waters and driving barbarian hordes farther south. Suddenly, a laser array protrudes from a patch of ice and blasts the ship out of the sky. They crash down close to the concealed entranceway into the Master's alien space ship.

Meanwhile, Guardian and Sasquatch succeed in finding Aurora. However, the experience has traumatized her, and she has regressed into her Jeanne-Marie persona. Jeanne-Marie rejects her fellow Alphans and takes off into another corridor. Sasquatch feels that he might be able to reach Jeanne-Marie in his human guise, so he shape shifts back into the form of Walter Langkowski. He catches up to her and in an attempt to calm her down, recalls a secret past intimacy, but Jeanne-Marie grows enraged and backhands him across the face. Vindicator meanwhile, flies down an alternate route until he meets up with Northstar, who is only now reviving from an attack by the Master's ship.

The Sub-Mariner and the Invisible Girl eventually find an undersea entranceway into the Master's craft. Sue turns them both invisible and they find the Master of the World standing above the prostrate form of Marrina. The Master, as yet unaware of their presence, continues to tell Marrina of her own mysterious heritage.

The Master tells her that her species originates from a race of alien conquerors who abandoned their home world millennia ago. As their population expanded, they colonized new worlds, greedily consuming all of the planet's natural resources until it was time to move on again. Forty-thousand years ago, one of these alien hive ships malfunctioned and crashed on Earth in the North Pole. Drawing nutrients from the environment, the living ship grew, insinuating itself into the very fiber of the planet. It then issued forth a summoning beacon, designed to attract the planet's dominant life form. From there, it would genetically copy the life form's template in an effort to breed a new conqueror species readily adaptable to the planet's needs. Thousands of alien spores were launched from the ship, but to the Master's knowledge, only one egg survived intact all those years – Marrina's. Because her egg rested at the bottom of the sea for so long, the alien spore evolved and became amphibious. When the egg hatched, the life form inside genetically imprinted itself upon its handler, and thus Marrina took on a humanoid form.

Deciding that they had heard enough, the Sub-Mariner and Invisible Woman make themselves visible and descend into the Master's chambers. Recognizing that he could not hope to defeat the two heroes in addition to the wandering members of Alpha Flight, the Master elects upon a speedy retreat.

Vindicator meanwhile, flies throughout the vessel blasting as many instrument panels as he can find. The extensive damage begins to take its toll and the ship starts to buckle. He manages to regroup with the rest of his team, as well as Namor, Sue and Marrina and evacuate the ship.

The giant space vessel explodes, destroying a massive portion of the surrounding icy landscape. Sue protects everybody inside of an invisible forced field, and creates a raft for everyone to stand on. The Sub-Mariner invites Marrina to come back to Atlantis with him, so that they can research her alleged origins more conclusively. Marrina accepts and says goodbye to Alpha Flight.

Later, Guardian stops off in Newfoundland to tell Dan Smallwood, Marrina's adoptive 'brother', that she is gone. Dan, who has nurtured a lifelong passion for the amphibious hero, is heartbroken.

Notes

• This issue does not include an Origins of Alpha Flight back-up story. The Origins tales resume with issue #5 and continues until issue #11.

• The timeline for this issue is slightly askew. The majority of scenes involving the Sub-Mariner and the Invisible Girl take place before page thirty-two of issue #3. However, the scenes involving the rest of Alpha Flight (which occurs concurrently with Namor and Sue's journey) chronologically take place after the events from issue #3.

• Dan Smallwood appeared last in Alpha Flight Vol 1 1. A chronologically earlier appearance takes place in Alpha Flight Vol 1 2. He appears next in Avengers Vol 1 287.

• The Master of the World appears next in Alpha Flight Vol 1 15.

• The Fantasticar is destroyed in this issue. However, it is reasonable to assume that Mister Fantastic has several spare cars at the Baxter Building.

• Marrina quits Alpha Flight as per this issue. She appears next in Fantastic Four Vol 1 261.

• Puck and Shaman do not appear in this issue. They appear next in the Puck spotlight story in Alpha Flight Vol 1 5.

• The Master of the World makes reference to Marrina's attack on Puck. Marrina nearly killed Puck with a swipe of her claws in issue #2.

• This issue features the chronologically earliest appearance of the Plodex. Aside from Marrina, the Plodex will not be seen again until Alpha Flight Vol 1 14.

• The Plodex will not be referred to by name until Alpha Flight Vol 1 14.

• The Invisible Girl makes reference to the Silver Surfer in this issue. Prior to her current adventure, Sue was providing shelter for the Surfer who suffered injuries in Fantastic Four Vol 1 258-260.

• The Invisible Girl appears next in Fantastic Four Vol 1 261.

• The Sub-Mariner appears next in Fantastic Four Vol 1 261.
  

Trivia

• Although it is never outright confirmed, it is heavily implied that Sasquatch and Aurora have shared an intimate history with one another.

• The Sub-Mariner and Invisible Girl's initial encounter with the Master of the World is replayed from scenes in issue #3, however the dialogue for both scenes are different.

See Also

• Write your own review of this comic!
• Discuss Alpha Flight Vol 1 4 on the forums
• 3 Images from Alpha Flight Vol 1 4
  

Recommended Reading

• Alpha Flight (Volume 1)
  • Alpha Flight (Volume 1) #2 (Marrina's Origin)
  • Alpha Flight (Volume 1) #3 (Master's Origin)
  • Alpha Flight (Volume 1) #14 (Master returns)
  • Alpha Flight (Volume 1) #15
  • Alpha Flight (Volume 1) #16
• Alpha Flight (Volume 1) Annual
• Alpha Flight Special
• Alpha Flight (Volume 2)
• Alpha Flight (Volume 3)
  

Links and References

• Alpha Flight article at Wikipedia
• Alpha Flight at Marvel Universe
• Alpha Flight at the Marvel Directory
• AlphaFlight.Net
• Alpha Flight (Volume 1) series index at the Grand Comics Database
• Alpha Flight (Volume 1) series index at UXN
• Alpha Flight #4 page at UXN (additional notes and trivia)
• Alpha Flight Cover Art Gallery

Footnotes