Omega Flight

Omega Flight
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Jaxon's team Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #11 The Masters's team Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #110 The Initiative team Omega Flight (vol. 1) #1
Created by	Jaxon's team John Byrne The Initiative team Michael Avon Oeming Scott Kolins

Omega Flight is the name used by three teams of fictional characters with superpowers in the Marvel Universe, one of the few Canadian teams published by an American comic book company. Omega Flight first appeared in the pages of Alpha Flight as a supervillain team. The latest incarnation is a team of heroes.

Publication history

Omega Flight first appeared in Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #11. A different incarnation first appeared in Alpha Flight (vol. 1) #110.

In the wake of the death of many Alpha Flight members in New Avengers #16 and subsequent events in Marvel's Civil War, a mini-series about a group of superheroes in Canada was released in April 2007. The new series was created by Michael Avon Oeming and Scott Kolins. Appearances of this team have been seen throughout the Marvel Comics Presents (vol. 2) series.

Fictional team biography

Jerome Jaxon's team

The name of Omega Flight was originally used by a group of super-villains assembled with the specific purpose of killing the original Alpha Flight - particularly its founder, the original Guardian.

Delphine Courtney, the robotic assistant to Jerome Jaxon, recruited superhuman operatives to join Omega Flight as part of Jaxon's revenge scheme against James McDonald Hudson. Jaxon had been Hudson's boss and blamed Hudson for his dismissal. Recruits primarily came from members of the then disbanded Beta and Gamma Flights.^[1]

It included Wild Child, Box (controlled by Jerome Jaxon), Diamond Lil, Flashback and Smart Alec.

The Master of the World's team

The second incaration was organized by The Master with membership including Bile, Brain Drain, Miss Mass, Sinew, Strongarm, Technoir and The Master.

The Initiative team

Omega Flight
Art by Scott Kolins

The team emerges from the aftermath of Marvel's Civil War crossover storyline. The lineup includes elements of the original Canadian super-team Alpha Flight as well as other superheroes, mostly American superheroes on loan from S.H.I.E.L.D. thanks to Iron Man and the Initiative. The team roster was meant to include Sasquatch, U.S. Agent, Arachne, Michael Pointer as the new Guardian, Beta Ray Bill and Talisman, but changes to the story after Omega Flight was reduced to a limited series meant that the final two never actually joined the team.^[2]

Former Alpha Flight member Sasquatch acts as recruiter for the team. After his attempts at recruiting Talisman are initially rebuffed, Sasquatch is forced to battle the rampaging Wrecking Crew alone, and he is defeated. Upon learning of her friend's capture, Talisman accepts the offer to join Omega Flight, even for a temporary basis. As the Wrecking Crew carve a path of destruction towards Toronto, driven by a series of mysterious visions, Talisman joins up with U.S. Agent and Arachne in Ottawa, but not before lambasting Iron Man and blaming him for the supervillain crisis that has engulfed Canada. Somewhat concerned about the presence of Americans on a Canadian superhero team, Talisman reacts violently when she learns that Michael Pointer, the man who killed Alpha Flight as the Collective, has become the new Guardian.

Meanwhile, the Wrecking Crew (along with the captured Sasquatch) storm into the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto, drawn there by visions. Also present in the museum is Simon Walters, the human avatar of Beta Ray Bill, who has also been receiving the visions leading him to the ROM's exhibit on the Great Beasts. Opening a portal to the Realm of the Great Beasts, the Wrecking Crew is further empowered by Tanaraq, who also summons a horde of Surtur demons to aid the Crew in destroying the world. Spurred into action, Walters unveils himself as Beta Ray Bill and engages the villains, who ultimately prove too strong for the Korbinite warrior to handle. As the Wrecking Crew and the Surtur demons spill out onto the streets of Toronto, Talisman, Arachne and U.S. Agent arrive to confront them. While Omega Flight is capable of holding off the villains and their demonic allies with the assistance of Beta Ray Bill, the situation takes a turn for the worst when Tanaraq possesses and empowers Sasquatch. The team is saved by the eleventh-hour intervention of Pointer, who devastates the ranks of demons and even throws away the Wrecking Crew, but refuses to kill the possessed Sasquatch even as his life is threatened by him.

With no other viable options left, Talisman uses the power of Shaman's medicine bag to exorcise Tanaraq's hold over Sasquatch and the Wrecking Crew, draining them of their newfound powers. Seizing the bag, Beta Ray Bill lures the demons back into the Realm of the Great Beasts claiming he has been in worse situations before. Forcing Guardian to seal the portal behind him, he effectively sacrifices himself to save the planet. With Tanaraq's plot foiled and the Surtur demons locked away, Omega Flight is able to defeat the Wrecking Crew and finally bring them into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.

After the battle, the team finally begins to establish itself as a functioning unit. Guardian is able to move past his guilt over his role in the Collective incident, U.S. Agent finally retrieves his genuine shield from the Purple Man, defeating the villain in the process, Sasquatch helps out with the reconstruction efforts in Toronto but afterwards is still guilt ridden over what he did while possessed and disappears, Talisman retires from active duty to serve as her tribe's shaman, and Arachne decides to remain with the team. The series ends with Beta Ray Bill locked in eternal combat with the Surtur demons in the Realm of the Great Beasts, truly trapped in the nightmare plane, but uncaring for his seemingly hopeless situation. However, Bill escapes from his imprisonment and aids Thor against the Skrull invasion of Asgard.

Marvel Comics Presents follows up on the limited series with a story regarding Pointer's powers, and his adjustment to the Guardian suit.

US Agent officially leaves the team in order to join the new team of Mighty Avengers, while Pointer adopts the alias Weapon Omega and joins Norman Osborn and Emma Frost's Dark X-Men team. Beta Ray Bill is currently in space. Arachne reappeared in Manhattan during the Grim Hunt storyline.

Collected editions

Their appearances have been collected into a number of trade paperbacks:

• Omega Flight Volume 1: Alpha to Omega (collects Omega Flight #1–5, 128 pages, November 2007, ISBN 0-7851-2441-1)
• Weapon Omega Volume 1 (collects material from Marvel Comics Presents (vol. 2) #1–12, 128 pages, November 2008, ISBN 0-7851-3415-8)

In other media

Video games

• The third Omega Flight is mentioned in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2. Following the Wakanda incident, Omega Flight is mentioned in the briefing by Captain America and Iron Man to have been absorbed into The Fold.

See also

• Avengers: The Initiative
• Flight team member list

References

1. ^ Sanderson, Peter (2007). The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City. New York City: Pocket Books. p. 7. ISBN 1-14653-141-6. 
2. ^ Brian Michael Bendis (w), Marc Silvestri (p), Joe Weems (i). "War" Civil War: The Initiative 1 (March 2007), Marvel Comics

External links

• Omega Flight at Marvel.com
• AlphaFlight.net
• Mike Oeming Discusses His Omega Flight Plan, Newsarama, April 9, 2006
• Cleared for Take-Off: Michael Avon Oeming and Scott Kolins on Marvel Comics’ Omega Flight, Comics Bulletin, September 2, 2006
• Mid-Ohio-Con: Michael Avon Oeming Panel, Comics Continuum, November 25, 2006