Alpha Flight

History: Alpha Flight is a squad of superhuman operatives organized under the auspices of Department H, an enigmatic arm of the Canadian government. However, the team had its genesis in the private sector. When engineer James MacDonald Hudson learned that the U.S. military had appropriated his super-powered exoskeleton, intended for use in geological exploration, he destroyed his company's copies of the plans and made off with the helmet necessary to empower the apparatus. Heather McNeil -- executive secretary to Hudson's immediate superior, Jerome Jaxon -- also resigned, shocked by the sudden turn of events. McNeil arranged a meeting with officials of the Canadian government, who listened to Hudson's story and stepped in to resolve the situation. The Canadian prime minister then invited Hudson to participate in the creation of a top-secret research-and-development agency within the country's Ministry of Defense. Soon after helping establish Department H, Hudson married McNeil. As plans progressed, Hudson recruited the feral mutant known as Wolverine as one of the organization's special agents.

A newspaper story recounting the formation of the fabled Fantastic Four, the greatest team of adventurers ever assembled, inspired Hudson to field a squad of superhuman agents to undertake missions for the Canadian government. Wolverine participated in the initial phases of the team's creation, and it was decided that he would lead the fledgling Alpha Flight. However, Logan left Department H for his own reasons and joined the X-Men -- Professor Charles Xavier's team of masked, mutant adventurers. In Wolverine's stead, Hudson donned his super-powered exoskeleton -- adopting the guise of the Guardian and reluctantly becoming Alpha Flight's leader. Besides Hudson, the team consisted of five operatives when the Canadian government supposedly disbanded Department H: the light-generating Aurora, the fleet-footed Northstar, the yeti-like Sasquatch, the shapeshifting Snowbird and the mystically empowered Shaman. The members of Alpha Flight continued to act as a unit, performing altruistic missions. They were joined by the amphibious Marinna and the pint-sized Puck -- two trainees from Beta Flight, the more advanced of the squad's two farm teams.

Hudson husband's costume and adopted his one-time alias, Vindicator. The Canadian government resumed sponsorship of Alpha Flight, and the team established a headquarters on Tamarind Island off British Columbia. New recruits during this period included Wildchild and Windshear. However, funding problems forced the group to disband.

A newly stabilized, more powerful Department H reconstituted Alpha Fight under the leadership of a presumably resurrected, youthful James Hudson. Heather Hudson and Puck rejoined, intrigued by their former teammate's return. But Department H had adopted a far more clandestine mode of operation -- typified by the unanswered regression of Sasquatch into a savage state, and the induction of previously unknown Flex, Radius and Murmur. Suspicions deepened in light of the team's questionable protocol and shady choice of missions. Until the savage Sasquatch was killed saving the forcefield-emitting Radius, the members of Alpha Flight were led to believe that they were working with former teammate Walter Langowski. Subsequently, they discovered the new Sasquatch to be a creature of legend, captured and tamed by Department H.

The secret of Hudson's supposed resurrection was not discovered until the new Alpha Flight came into conflict with the original team. Langowski had rescued the real Hudson, the victim of an assassination attempt by Department H. Gathering Alpha Flight's original members, Hudson returned for a showdown with Department H. The younger Guardian was revealed to be a synthetic human created to supplant the real deal. The deception laid bare, the teams joined forces, regaining control of Department H.