1980: NORTHSTAR in FORCES IN COMBAT

To celebrate Northstar's engagement and upcoming wedding, here's an early (and rare) cover appearance of our headline-making hero from Marvel UK's FORCES IN COMBAT.

It's a reprint of Machine Man's encounter with Northstar and his Alpha Flight companions from US MACHINE MAN 18 (published stateside just a couple of months earlier with a December 1980 cover date).

His blonde hair isn't a M-UK mistake.  He was incorrectly coloured on the cover and interior pages of the original US issue.

At this point, nobody knew quite how important Jean-Paul Beaubier would become in gay culture and pop culture.

Alpha Flight's ongoing series (launched in 1983) became a regular supporting feature in M-UK's MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS until being forced out by the page-devouring SECRET WARS II.

We'll have a full review of FORCES IN COMBAT soon.