Tundra (Marvel Comics)
Tundra is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer and artist John Byrne, the character first appeared in Alpha Flight #1. He is a mystical spirit which inhabits an ever-growing mass of Canadian land in gargantuan semi-humanoid form, and is the enemy of the Inuit gods whom he trapped in another dimension.
Publication history
Tundra debuted in Alpha Flight #1, was created by John Byrne. The character subsequently appeared in Alpha Flight #24, #38, #55, and #64. He appeared in X-Man #39-40, and Wolverine #172.Fictional character biography
Tundra is the first of the Great Beasts confronted by Alpha Flight. In a mystic ritual, a possessed Richard Easton traces a gigantic human shape in the barren land of Canada's Northwest Territories and then dons a metallic crown that summons the spirit of Tundra. Easton's corpse animates, the land mimicking the corpse's movement, until Tundra rises in the shape of a humanoid mass of earth. According to Shaman, Tundra was supposed to be controlled by the mind of the human who summoned him, but because of Richard Easton's weakened state, Tundra's real personality quickly took over.Tundra intends on causing destruction and cannot be persuaded otherwise by Shaman or Snowbird. Furthermore, technological attacks on Tundra as those from Guardian cause violent tremors in the surrounding land that threaten to cause severe damage throughout Canada. Sasquatch manages to temporarily wound Tundra by tearing off large portions of body mass, with Northstar and Aurora eroding him further with a wind vortex. Realizing that naturally eroding Tundra is the only safe way to defeat him, Shaman creates a rainstorm in hope of finishing him off.
The rainstorm proves effective, to a degree, but Shaman notes that the air lacks enough moisture to trigger another shower. At that time team member Marrina Smallwood arrives at the crest of a huge waterspout; Shaman diverts this water onto Tundra, and it proves sufficient to overwhelm Tundra, collapsing him and leaving a salt lake where he'd stood. Easton's skull is shown at the bottom of the lake.