GREAT BEASTS
First Mention: Alpha Flight #1
First Appearance as a group: Alpha Flight #24
Creator: John Byrne

        The Great Beasts are ancient enemies of the Earth. Millenia ago they battled the gods of the Arctic, and the gods succeeded in forcing the Beasts behind a mystic barrier. However, the Beast called Tundra was able to shift events so that the spell rebounded on the gods. Hence the gods were trapped as well, in their own realm.

        In recent years the Beasts began to break free of their imprisonment. Their chief foe upon the Earth was Narya, also known as Snowbird. The first Beast that Snowbird fought was Tundra, followed by Kolomaq, and then Ranaq the Devourer. Snowbird's family then revealed to her that her friend and team-mate Walter Langkowski, a.k.a Sasquatch, was actually the Beast called Tanaraq.

        After defeating Tanaraq (and in the process killing Langkowski) Snowbird and her team-mates in Alpha Flight entered the other-dimensional home of the Beasts. After a pitched battle Alpha defeated the Beasts, rescuing Walter's soul in the process. [Hey, you want more details? Pick up Alpha Flight v1 #24 :) - C]

        The Beasts have appeared three times since then. The first appearance was in the Artic, the second time a court hearing into Sasquatch's money. [The second appearance was an illusion caused by the Dreamqueen. -C]

        The third appearance was in the pages of X-Man, which had a non-magical mutant face off against the Beasts. Terry Kavanagh, X-Man's writer at the time, is apparently a bit of a Bill Mantlo era Alpha Flight fan, having also used Mantlo's Purple Man backstory in X-Man. [It was Mantlo who brought the Beasts back after AF v1 #24. -C]

        The Beasts have widespread powers. I'll list each one and their specialties...

1. Kariooq: The Corruptor. Specialized in decay. Hated ice.
2. Kolomaq: Associated with winter storms.
3. Ranaq: The Devourer. Weakest of the Beasts, he required a host body.
4. Somon: The Artificer. The head honcho, he controlled the others.
5. Tanaraq: Big, strong, orange, furry guy. Looked kinda familiar. :)
6. Tolomaq: The Fire Beast. 'Nuff said.
7. Tundra: *HUGE* and controlled the local landscape.