Alone Against Alpha Flight!

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"Alone Against Alpha Flight!"
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Published in	The Transformers issue 18 issue 19 issue 20
First published	18th May, 1985 (part 1) 1st June, 1985 (part 2) 15th June, 1985 (part 3)
Writer	Tom DeFalco
Artist	Steve Ditko
Colours	Nel Yomtov
Letters	Diana Albers
Editor	Denny O'Neil
Editor-in-chief	Jim Shooter

While trying to track down Madam Menace, Machine Man comes under investigation himself as the central figure in a potential international incident.

Synopsis

Part 1

Barely a week has passed since Machine Man first encountered the underworld armourer Madam Menace, and the living robot is haunted by the possibility that she remains at large. Floating over the city skyline, Machine Man recognises the warehouse on the deserted pier that served as one of her bases. He heads inside looking for answers, but finds a squadron of Menace's henchmen burning documents and destroying machinery to cover their tracks. The henchmen scramble to combat Machine Man. In a moment of over-confidence, he fails to spot a particular goon who opens fire on him with a sonic rifle, fusing the circuitry in his left knee. Machine Man destroys the weapon and incapacitates the henchman.

Most of the goons are down and out, but Machine Man is no closer to finding Madam Menace. He grabs one henchman for interrogation, bluffing that he'll drop him from a height if he doesn't squeal. All the henchman can offer him is that Menace has gone into hiding; with Machine Man's finger sensors monitoring the man's pulse, he is satisfied that he has been told the truth, and he gives the henchman a soft landing on some of his still-standing comrades. With nothing else to learn here and his left leg threatening to overload, Machine Man heads home.

In Madam Menace's underground headquarters, Rollins reports to the boss lady about Machine Man's interference. Sensors placed all around the warehouse have recorded the living robot's every action, and Menace demands her men complete a full profile on his capabilities. She must study Machine Man – and in particular, his vulnerability to sonic weapons – in order to replicate his abilities and produce a full range of multi-functional combat units.

At Aaron and Peter's apartment, the strait-laced psychiatrist's worry for his superhero friend manifests as a swipe at the boorish Gears Garvin. The conflict between them escalates, as Peter accuses Gears of using Aaron as a simply toy with which to tinker, and Gears responds in kind that Aaron is a mere case study for Peter. Machine Man returns home, and the two men play down their argument as a mild disagreement over what to watch on television. As Gears tends to Machine Man's injured leg, Peter privately reflects that they were acting childishly by fighting over their friend's attentions.

Across town, in a posh Mid-Manhattan hotel, Senator Miles Brickman is still on the campaign trail, preaching his usual rhetoric against the menace of Machine Man. His ship is sinking, however; even before the tepid response from his audience, his offstage supporters note that his popularity is dropping and that he hasn't scored well in the primaries. Privately, they encourage Brickman to focus on more important societal issues, but the senator says he has already taken steps to destroy Machine Man as part of a plan that will cement his reputation as society's saviour...

Meanwhile, an important conference is taking place in Department H, a top-secret section of the Canadian ministry of defence situated five hundred metres below the parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario. A minister briefs his men about an incident some months ago wherein they dispatched their super-powered agent, Sasquatch, to stop the rampage that ensued after the Incredible Hulk invaded Canadian territory. He explains that parliament has received a dossier from an anonymous source that alleges that the Hulk was hypnotised and deliberately sent to Canada by Machine Man, a robot rumoured to have ties to the U.S. government. If true, the implications for U.S./Canadian relations are disastrous.

The minister has chosen Department H's top covert operative, Agent K, to head to New York City and determine the origin and veracity of the unattributed dossier. He takes K to meet the team of specialists who will accompany him to keep Machine Man off his tail: members of the Canadian super-team, Alpha Flight! Agent K watches as the near-mythical superheroes train their powers: Dr. Walter Langkowski, alias Sasquatch, proves his strength under the force of a four ton hydraulic press, while the twins Jean-Paul and Jeanne-Marie Beaubier – Northstar and Aurora – demonstrate their super speed by dodging sonic and laser obstacles. After the training session finishes, the minister explains to the four agents that their operation must be carried out without official sanction so as to not jeopardise their relations with America. Early the following morning, their limousine crosses the border into the United States...

Featured characters

Regular cast	Antagonists	Incidentals	Alpha Flight
Aaron Stack/Machine Man Peter Spaulding Gears Garvin Delmar Insurance Eddie Harris Maggie Jones Pamela Quinn	Sunset Bain/Madam Menace Madam Menace's henchmen Santelli Rollins Miles Brickman Supporters Hulk (footage)	Cabby Canadian government Department H personnel Minister Agent K	Jeanne-Marie Beaubier/Aurora Jean-Paul Beaubier/Northstar Dr. Walter Langkowski/Sasquatch

Quotes

"Is the lady of the house at home? I've come to end her ruthless criminal rampage!"

—Machine Man makes his entrance at the deserted warehouse.

Notes

Alone Against Alpha Flight! on Marvel Database, an external wiki

Original printing

• Machine Man (vol 1) issue 18, December 1980

Crazy credits

Culminating a trend from previous issues, the credits box reads:

Perfidiously produced by: Tom DeFalco -- whose writing is justly slurred Steve Ditko -- an artist absurd! Diana Albers - she letters like a bird! Nel Yomtov - his colours are often blurred! Denny O'Neil - an editor never bestirred! Jolly Jim Shooter - who commands the last word!*

*See! I told you I'd get even with these tiresome turkeys for insulting me in issue 15's credits! -- Shooter

Edits

• All but the eighth (final) page of part 1 are printed in black and white. It seems an attempt was made for the third page, but see #Artwork and technical errors.
• On the initial splash page, "splendor" is changed to "splendour" in the opening paragraph. Nel Yomtov's "colors" credit is corrected to "colours", and Jim Shooter's sign-off (see above) reads "in issue 15's credits!" rather than the original's "in last issue's credits!"
• On page 2, "armorer" becomes "armourer". An attempt is made to mask an error from the U.S. printing using the wrong "it's" by covering the apostrophe with an elongation to the top stroke of the 'T'.
• On page 4, Madam Menace's fashion-themed quip about having a "Fall catalog" of designer armaments becomes the comparatively sauceless "full catalogue".
• On page 6, the U.S. English spellings of "meters" and "defense" are changed to the British Canadian spellings "metres" and "defence".
• Laughable attempts are made to obscure the footnotes on pages 7 and 8, which referred readers to titles and numbers of Marvel U.S. back issues. We say "laughable" because they look like someone scribbled over them with a black pen and didn't quite fill the whole box in.
• On page 8, "maneuvers" becomes "manoeuvres".
• All of part 2 is printed in black and white.
• On the first page, the brand of Sunset Bain's dress is changed (see #Real-life references).
• Also on the first page, Eddie's rather unfortunate choice of words – saying that betting on high school girls' badminton matches is "virgin territory" – is changed to "unknown territory".
• In the U.S. printing, Sasquatch's cabby responds to his sudden change of mind with the inexplicable "It's pineapple-time again!" The UK printing re-letters this to "It's nutty season again!"
• Only the seventh (final) page of part 3 is printed in colour.
• On page 6, two instances of "maneuver" again become "manoeuvre".
• A footnote clarifying what Machine Man means about his "first meeting" with the Hulk is removed.
• On the penultimate page, K's thought bubble of "Alpha Flight must abort Mission: Machine Man!" replaces "abort" with "abandon", necessitating re-lettering "mission" as well.

Artwork and technical errors

• U.S. spellings to slip through include "savior", "neutralizing", "computerized", "hypnotized", "authorized", and "jeopardize". In part 2, we have "honor", "artifact" (which is typically "artefact" in British English), "analyze", "armored", two instances of "realize", and "civilization". Part 3 gives us "colorful", "honor" again, and "defenseless" – all in the same speech bubble.
• On page 2, a note from "Didactic Denny" clarifies that Machine Man discovered Menace's riverside hideout "last issue", which was true in the U.S. printing – but in the TFUK printing, he actually discovered it two issues ago.
• The third page of part 1 is in a sort of half-colour. Comparison with the original U.S. printing reveals that any shade containing yellow is absent from the TFUK reprint, meaning all yellow, green, and orange elements are uncoloured or incorrect.
• On page 6, Brickman says he has taken steps to "insure" Machine Man's obliteration. In that context, the word is "ensure".
• On the first page of part 2, Madam Menace refers to Machine Man as her "antagonistic automation", in a context where "automaton" would fit better.
• Aaron is completely unmasked on the third page of part 2; the ID number on his forehead reads "X 41" instead of "X-51".
• On page 5, because of two unfortunate line breaks, the words "identified and classified" are split into "ident fied and class-fied".
• "That raging robot is defeating everyone of my marauding mercenaries!" – that's the wrong "every one", Madam Menace.

Continuity errors

• Madam Menace's henchmen attempt to clear the pier warehouse hideout, calling it "a liability ever since Machine Man discovered its location!" In truth, Menace deliberately led Machine Man to the warehouse as part of a trap.
• Machine Man quips that he weights 8501 pounds – if true, it's hard to imagine how he was dragged back to Peter's apartment in "Xanadu!".

Continuity notes

• "Barely a week" has passed since Machine Man first encountered Madam Menace, in "Arms and the Robot!".
• Machine Man's fight with the Hulk occurred before "Introducing Machine Man", in Marvel U.S.'s The Incredible Hulk issue 235  to 237  (or Marvel UK's Hulk Comic issues 35  to 40 ). Hulk then encountered Sasquatch The Incredible Hulk Annual #8  (or Marvel UK's Hulk Comic issues 52  to 56 ).
• The other half of Alpha Flight is on assignment in Northern Quebec, as seen in The Uncanny X-Men issue 139  and 140  (or Marvel UK's Marvel Super-Heroes issue 396  and issue 397 ).
• Machine Man implies having a second encounter with the Hulk, which was being published concurrently (with the U.S. printing, at least) in Marvel Team-Up Annual issue 3. 
• Machine Man last demonstrated his ability to become a living drill in "Xanadu!".

Real-life references

• Gears asks if Peter only wants Aaron so he can be a cover feature on Psychology Today. Gears lies to Aaron that their argument was about whether to watch Love Boat or Masterpiece Theatre (Gears claiming to prefer the latter, more highbrow option).
• Brickman hasn't scored well in the primaries, which the TFUK Appendix takes to mean the 1984 Republican Party presidential primaries.
• Agent K calls Alpha Flight "Canada's answer to the Avengers!"
• In the original printing, Sunset Bain is said to wear a "Mackie original". TFUK edits this to a "Dior original".
• A former Brickman goon tells him that this latest scandal would leave him unable to even get elected as Nixon's butler.