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[img=right:3f97184c68]http://www.alphaflight.net/reviews/af3_6_review_1.jpg[/img:3f97184c68]



Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Clayton Henry
Story: You Gotta Be Kiddin' Me! Part 6 of 6

OVERVIEW:
[img=left:3f97184c68]http://www.alphaflight.net/reviews/af3_6_review_2.jpg[/img:3f97184c68]

The story picks up with Nemesis in the catacombs of the Plodex ship. Having lost her sword in the last issue, she is all but crippled, and dying without her sword. It is then that a small Plodex child hands her sword to her. The child runs away, and Nemesis flies after him/her.

Catching up with the rest of the team, we pick up where the previous issue left us. The team is on a small island amid a sea of Plodex eggs. The eggs are hooked into the same machinery that holds the original Alpha Flight team. Sasquatch figures that the genetic imprinting process is taking place, and moves to destroy the eggs before it's too late. Major Mapleleaf grabs Sasquatch, saying that he won't allow him to "murder" the developing Plodex. Yukon Jack sides with Sasquatch in the argument. They stand firm on the fact that allowing the Plodex to live will spell the end of the human race. Yukon Jack ignore's the Major's arguments, and rushes to attack the eggs, only to have his knife taken from him by Zuzha. Both she and Centennial take sides with Mapleleaf in the debate.

[img=right:3f97184c68]http://www.alphaflight.net/reviews/af3_6_review_3.jpg[/img:3f97184c68]We find Nemesis who has caught up with the young Plodex child. She seems on the verge of killing it, when it pushes a button revealing a hanger full of small flying crafts.

The argument over destroying the Plodex eggs has now deteriorated to an all out brawl. Just at the new team's most disgraceful moment, they are found by the original Alphans, who have managed to escape from the Plodex machinery. The battle that had taken place with the Plodex doplegangers had damaged the machinery enough for the heroes to escape. We learn that while hooked into the machine, they shared in the "genetic memory" of the Plodex race. They learned the entire history of the race, and formed a bond with them. They also learned that the Plodex home world had repaired it's self over the past thousand years. They had now decided to take the unhatched Plodex eggs back to their home planet to give the race a second chance. Nemesis appears with the Plodex child at her heal. She gives Guardian the keys she found to one of the small Plodex space crafts, giving them the means to take the eggs home. "Uncanny Alpha Flight" takes off, leaving the young Plodex child behind, as he/she had been born on earth. They are not sure of the sex of the child yet. Rutherford show us he has heat vision, as he uses it to modify one of the Plodex crafts. Major Mapleleaf and the new Puck offer to leave the team, as they questioned his leadership in destroying the eggs. Walter refuses their offer, and asks the whole team to stay together. The team leaves in their new craft, Plodex child and all.

REVIEW:

[img=left:3f97184c68]http://www.alphaflight.net/reviews/af3_6_review_4.jpg[/img:3f97184c68]I had a bit of a mixed reaction to this issue. I was really hoping for some great action, and a really big bang mind blowing issue to end this first story arc. In that respect, the issue was rather anticlimactic. The only real action was in the team members fighting each other, and even that was pretty tame. Don't get me wrong, I'm not the kind of guy who likes pure action books, however I did expect a little more. I also anticipated coming out of this arc knowing what all the members' powers were...but that hardly got developed at all.

That being said there were some really great things that happened in this issue. We got to meet the mysterious little Plodex kid. I love this little guy/girl. Very cute, sweet and genuine. There has to be some connection to Marrina with this little one. At the same time we got to see a bit of a tender side to Nemesis. Having the kid latch on to her was very sweet.

I didn't mind what Lobdell did with the original team. It could make for some great adventures, and opened the way for some really great stories down the road. However it does put them out of use to appear on other books. It was kind of sad seeing Walter looking after them, as they took off. It would be like seeing you family leave.

[img=right:3f97184c68]http://www.alphaflight.net/reviews/af3_6_review_5.jpg[/img:3f97184c68]The debate over destroying the Plodex eggs accomplished a bit of characterization. We see that Major Mapleleaf is very strong willed, and stands by his convictions. We saw bits of Rutherford and Zuzha's personalities that we hadn't seen before.

The humour in this issue was mixed. The floating head joke was an eye roller for me. No laughing here, however there were some really good bits too. Yukon Jack's line "Doth not be an idiot, man!" was great. Walter's embarrassment over the behavior of his new team in front of the veterans was very good, and his line calling Earthmover "Kid whose name I keep forgetting" made me hoot laughing. The baby talk coming out of the Plodex kid had me laughing out loud.

As always Clayton's art was astounding. If this guy doesn't burn himself out, I can see him being a leader in the industry down the road.

All in all, a good issue, though I was hoping for something with more of a bang.