I couldn't place the sixth member of the group. But I really knew that I knew him. I spent the next few days trying to track down the unknown hero when it suddenly dawned on me: It's Manikin.
Keep in mind that Manikin is one of my all-time favorite Alpha Flight members. That's how much I was kicking myself. He was a member of Alpha Flight's junior team (AKA Beta Flight) when I first started reading comics.
I loved the idea of a hero who could split into multiple other characters. Dr. Whitman Knapp could split into three alternate beings from across human evolution. One of his selves was Highbrow, an advanced human whose body was fused with future technology. Highbrow could levitate, advanced awareness, and he could teleport. Then there was Proto, a giant amoebic life form that could float and dissolve stuff by touch. And then there was Apeman, whose a caveman type character with enhanced strength.
Towards the end of the initial ALPHA FLIGHT series, Manikin got poisoned by the Jackal. His alternate forms all sacrificed themselves so that Dr. Knapp could live on. Shortly afterwards, Dr. Knapp discovered that he could transform into each of his other selves instead of merely splitting into all of them.
Nearly thirty years later, Valkyrie realized that Death herself was dying and she needed a team of superhuman doctors to cure this cosmic patient. As noted above, recruited these Medical Marvels -- thus returning Manikin the awareness of comic book readers everywhere. Or at least the door has been opened for future appearances in the various X-MEN books.
Throughout his appearances in JANE FOSTER: VALKYRIE #6 and 7, Dr. Whitman Knapp made sure to shapeshift into each of his other forms at least once. Highbrow attempted to use his future knowledge to guide the Medical Marvel through Death's realm. Once we learned the limits of Highbrow's abilities, Manikin decided that Apeman's raw strength and fighting power might be more useful. And then Proto came to save the day when Cardiac decided to push back against their mission to save Death...
That's right. Proto died. Cariac's electric staff overloaded and the coolest of Manikin's alternate selves sacrificed himself in an attempt to save Death.
Fortunately, Proto's sacrifice also led to Dr. Strange doing some magic to save Dr. Knapp and the rest of his evolutionary selves. Dr. Strange managed to return Manikin's powers back to status quo -- minus Proto's presence. Manikin can summon Highbrow and Apeman at the same time and he no longer transforms into those individuals. Which I'm completely fine with. After all, Manikin is ultimately a mutant. So it shouldn't be that big a deal for Krakoa and the Five to return Proto to life.
Speaking of which, it appears that the X-Men and their new resurrection protocols are part of the reason why Death is sick and dying. The Five keep resurrecting mutants, which causes Death to get sick. But she got better by the end of this story.
But more importantly, Manikin is back. One of my favorite Alphans (who I totally forgot) returned to the Marvel Universe. And I can't be happier. Now if I could only get Marvel Comics to rename Apeman as "Lowbrow," life would become perfect.
JANE FOSTER: VALKYRIE #6-7 features writing by Al Wwing & Jason Aaron, art by Pere Perez, coloring by Jesus Aburtov, and lettering by VC's Joe Sabino.