This Issue! Things Get Worse! #120

The Uncanny X-Men #120
“Wanted: Wolverine! Dead or Alive!”
Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Synopsis
On their way home from Japan, the X-Men’s plane is attacked by Alpha Flight, the Canadian Government’s metahuman defense squad. They want to take Wolverine back with them, regardless the cost.

Rolling Commentary
Wasn’t this title used last time Canada attacked? Maybe not as the title, but at least as the teaser title on the cover… And does the Prime Minister of Canada really wear a flower in his suit to official briefings?

Page 3. Isn’t that sweet? Sunfire and Cyclops are making up. Yay.

Page 4. And if Cyclops and Sunfire making up isn’t sweet, Wolverine giving Mariko a flower certainly is.

Page 8. Alpha Flight’s sure going to make a mess here, aren’t they? And I guess Hudson has changed his name from Weapon Alpha to Vindicator. That was fast. Meh. “Weapon Alpha” is a lame name anyway.

Page 14. Banshee, dude, you know you can’t scream yet. Try throwing a mannequin at him or something.

Page 17. Apparently Cyclops has learned a thing or two from Japan’s Prime Minister (see last issue) and no longer believes in diplomacy either.

Post Mortem
Alpha Flight makes their first real appearance (James Hudson aside) here, and it’s kind of cool, if a little brief. We don’t even really see Northstar and Aurora, although they do take out Night crawler. Sasquatch made short work of Logan, mostly to make him seem badass, I presume. And Vindicator feels bad about attacking the X-Men. Huh.

I’ve always thought James Hudson is an interesting character (though I think is wife Heather is much more so), considering his as-yet-unrevealed background with Wolverine. I’m wondering how much of that background will come up in this story arc.

All that aside, the best parts of this issue are easily while the team is still in Japan. Wolverine and Mariko’s interact is really well done, and I’m glad Sunfire has decided that the X-Men are okay after all.