In this review of Alpha flight #2, the members of Alpha Flight weigh their options of evacuating with their current charges or waiting with the hopes of rescuing more.
Title: Alpha Flight #2, Divided We Stand Part Two
Artist: Scott Godlewski
Color Artist: Matt Mila
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Leonard Kirk & Edgar Delgado
Variant Cover Artists: Mocoletta Baldari & Dan Panosian
The Story
With all of Alpha Flight reunited at New Krakoa, the team checks on the health of the rescued mutants while trying to keep them entertained safely without being detected by the outside. Nemesis protects the installation from outside surveillance and any mutant detected outside her field can be identified and bring danger to the compound.
In addition the leadership discusses their options. Guardian believes that the start of the Box Sentinel program could be a blessing. Guardian suggests accessing the information the Box Sentinels to be able to locate and prioritize targets. Here we see the delineation. The non mutant members would take down the mutant threats while the mutant members would rescue the “innocent” mutants. Now Guardian is suggesting to allow the Box Sentinels to take down the threats.
Elsewhere in the base, Puck and Fang are in communication with Empress Xandra of the Shi’ar Empire. They are attempting to find a safe haven for the mutants and Xandra does offer them a temporary home.
In Bend Oregon, Feedback is soon to be discovered. He has coffee at a local diner and Alber Louis has been identified as a runaway mutant. The police are called and the owner of the diner stalls. Feedback understands what is happening.
Back at New Krakoa the team mobilizes. Puck gets Snowbird and along with Guardian and Shaman return to their ship. They are on their way to Oregon but Erika orders them back to Canada. She mobilizes the Box Sentinels.
This leads to a fight where Feedback systematically defeats the Sentinels but soon he has backup, the four mutant members of Alpha Flight arrive.
Analysis
This issue has very little action in it. It is more of an explanation issue. We get the inside scoop of what has been going on with the mutants and their allies. It is interesting that they decided to separate their influence the activities the way they do. The mutants rescue those considered innocent while the non mutant allies take down those determined to be threats. The question is who decides who the threats are. Northstar does make an interesting point that goes along with the mutants of Krakoa. All mutants are welcome in Krakoa.
The main plot point here is the activity of Feedback. He continues his attempt to return to Canada and this leads to the only action scene of the issue, the battle in Bend Oregon. Here we get our first look at the Sentinels and to be honest I am not that impressed. They are the size of normal people and Feedback by himself actually systematically takes them down one by one. The only real advantage they seem to have is that Roger Bochs Jr is able to control them remotely and he is able to communicate with Feedback through them.
The use of the text pieces in the issue do break up the action a little. They give more information in a more creative way than just by using exposition. We also can get inside the heads of some of the characters including the various side characters. For example Laurent’s letter to his mother. We get a better understanding of his fear and his loneliness in this piece which gives the plight of all the child mutants an emotional connection with the reader.
As far as the art is concerned it is basically the standard art in Marvel superhero comics. The main cover doesn’t impress me. It does show a majority of the team in action but what is with Fang’s pose. He is jumping on a sentinel but he just looks wrong. His legs are very unnatural and his body looks way too thin and he does not even have his claws extended. His face also does not look right either. This is not my favorite cover at all.
The interior art is much better. Here we see the inside of the compound . The only action scene is drawn very dynamically. We get a good visualization of the nature and extent of Feedback’s power.
Final Thoughts
Alpha Flight #2 continues to show the positive relationship of the mutants with their allied members in Alpha Flight. We get a lot of scenes with a mutant and a non mutant interacting. They are empathetic of each other and despite their differences they all have a single focus, saving as many mutants as possible.
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