Smart Alec

Bursting onto the scene in the very first issue of Alpha Flight in 1983, Smart Alec is a Bronze Age Marvel creation from the legendary John Byrne, arriving with all the ambition of Canada's premier superhero series behind him. Though his total footprint in the catalog is compact — just 12 appearances across Alpha Flight and Marvel Comics Presents — two of those land as key collector issues, which tells you this character punches above their weight in significance. Smart Alec keeps genuinely fascinating company, sharing pages with the likes of Heather Hudson, Shaman, and Box throughout that distinctive late Bronze Age corner of the Marvel Universe. For collectors tracing the full, rich tapestry of Alpha Flight's early years, Smart Alec is exactly the kind of figure worth hunting down.