Flashback Fridays: Alpha Flight #74

HEROES CONVENTION EDITION

     In Honor of Heroes Convention I am using Alpha Flight #74 as my Flashback Friday pick.  The reason is that it was the last issue of the original volume 1 that I needed to finish collection the entire run of Alpha Flight.  It comes out to about 134 issues counting the two Annuals that were done.  The thing about this collection is that I only bought one issue of the series off the shelf.  That was the issue Northstar was discovered to be gay.  It really was an issue about the epidemic of A.I.D.S and HIV still being a killer of many different people, it just happened that Northstar divulges his sexuality during the story.

     My mom bought me my first issues of Alpha Flight at a Just A Dollar store.  They were issues #24 and #98.  For years I bought issues at flea markets and back issue boxes.  The only pricey ones were the Jim Lee artwork ones were of course Wolverine appears.  It was a long and fun journey.  Then I found this issue at HeroesCon and it was just a very emotional moment.  I am not sure how to describe it.  My friend Chris thought I was nuts I think.  It was just the completion of the hunt that was very fulfilling and a bit of a sad moment knowing that it was done.

     The story itself is not that strong.  The big thing is that because of helping Talisman combat The Sorceror, part of the team and Diamond Lil are stuck traipsing across dimensions trying to get home.  It was like an early episode of Sliders of crack cocaine.  The New York they are in during Issue #74 looks nice on the surface, until they discover that the heroes of that world are fascists thugs that are killers and just evil.  Spider-Man is a sleaze and attempts to rape Diamond Lil and she ends up killing him and stashing him in a dumpster.  Lil is not a heroine.  She accidentally gets caught up in the action because she is dating Box.  It is the way she ends up becoming a full fledged member of Alpha Flight.

     So, I should be either on my way or in Charlotte, NC when you read this.  Check back over the weekend.  I try and post my pics of the day each night.

BDS