Editing Alpha Flight (section)

===Pre-regular series===
Alpha Flight first appeared in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #120 (April 1979), in which they are sent to follow up on Vindicator's first mission to retrieve Wolverine from the X-Men (''The Uncanny X-Men'' #109).

The initial makeup of (Alpha Flight) was drawn from all corners of Canada and included:

* [[Guardian (Marvel Comics)|Guardian]]: Originally Weapon Alpha, then Vindicator, James MacDonald Hudson is a scientist from [[London, Ontario|London]], [[Ontario]] who wears a suit of [[Powered exoskeleton|battle-armor]], allowing him to fly and manipulate Earth's magnetic field. Guardian is the team's first leader; he wears a stylized [[Flag of Canada|Canadian maple leaf flag]] on his costume.
* [[Northstar (character)|Northstar]]: Jean-Paul Beaubier from [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]] is a mutant with powers of super-speed and light generation.
* [[Aurora (comics)|Aurora]]: Jeanne-Marie Beaubier is Northstar's twin sister who suffers from [[dissociative identity disorder]] (multiple personalities). Like her brother, she is also a mutant with powers of super-speed, flight, light generation, and molecular acceleration.
* [[Sasquatch (comics)|Sasquatch]]: Walter Langowski is a scientist from [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]] who can transform into a giant fur-covered beast resembling his [[Bigfoot|namesake]]. This character originally developed his powers from a [[Hulk]]-inspired gamma radiation experiment that was affected by a solar-flare. Eventually, it was explained that Sasquatch's powers are actually derived from the mystical monster Tanaraq.
* [[Shaman (comics)|Shaman]]: Michael Twoyoungmen is a [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] [[medicine man]] from [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]]. He is both a skilled doctor and sorcerer.
* [[Snowbird (character)|Snowbird]]: Also known as Narya, she is an [[Inuit|Inuk]] demi-goddess from [[Yellowknife, Northwest Territories|Yellowknife]], [[Northwest Territories]] who can transform into animals of the north.<ref name="Comic Book Resources 2016">{{cite web | title="Captain Marvel" #1 Introduces the New Alpha Flight | website=Comic Book Resources | date=2016-01-20 | url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/captain-marvel-1-introduces-the-new-alpha-flight | access-date=2016-06-03 | archive-date=2016-06-05 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605025726/http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/captain-marvel-1-introduces-the-new-alpha-flight | url-status=dead }}</ref>

According to Byrne, Guardian and Snowbird were "fan characters", created before he became professionally involved in comics, and he created all the remaining members while working on ''X-Men'' #120, specifically designing them to be balanced with the X-Men in power.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Nickerson|first=Al |title=Claremont and Byrne: The Team that Made the X-Men Uncanny|journal=[[Back Issue!]]|issue=#29 |page=7|publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|date=August 2008|location=Raleigh, North Carolina}}</ref>