RAMSEY
McNEIL
Real
Name: Ramsey
McNeil
Identity/Class: Normal human
Occupation: Little
League baseball coach
Group
Membership: Haysboro Hawks (Little League
baseball team)
Affiliations: Box (Madison Jeffries),
Mrs.
Chenen, Simone
Chenen, the Haysboro Hawks (Eric
Chenen,
Tommy
Mayhew, others), Claire McNeil, Shaman (Michael
Twoyoungmen), Talisman
(Elizabeth Twoyoungmen), Katheryn
Twoyoungmen, Vindicator (Heather McNeil
Hudson)
Enemies: Alien seed
pods, Calgary Chinooks
(a rival Little League team) (Bayberry,
others), Guardian
(James MacDonald Hudson), Wolverine (James Howlett)
Known
Relatives: Claire
McNeil
(wife), Heather McNeil Hudson (Vindicator, daughter), Becky
(daughter), seven sons
(names unrevealed), Claire MacNeil Hudson (granddaughter), James
MacDonald
Hudson (Guardian, son-in-law), James Howlett (Wolverine, cousin removed
by
marriage), David McNeil, Yvette McNeil (distant cousins)
Aliases: "Coach", "Dad",
"Daddy"
Base
of Operations: Haysboro,
Calgary, Canada
First
Appearance: Alpha
Flight I#5/2 (December, 1983)
Powers/Abilities: Ramsey McNeil normally
had no
superhuman powers, other than being a terrific Little League baseball
coach and
father. While possessed by the alien seed pods, Ramsey became covered
in
tree-like bark and roots, providing him with sufficient durability to
resist
small arms gunfire and low-level energy blasts. His tree-like shell was
especially prone to fire, however, being made of wood.
History: (Alpha Flight I#65 (fb) – BTS) – Ramsey and Claire McNeil befriended
Father Lloyd.
(Alpha
Flight I#47
(fb) - BTS) - Ramsey and Claire McNeil settled in Haysboro, Calgary,
because they thought it seemed
like a
town where nothing ever changed.
(Alpha
Flight I#5/2) - While at
the hospital visiting a dying Katheryn Twoyoungmen, Ramsey, his wife
Claire and
daughter Heather were present when Katheryn passed. After an angry
Elizabeth
Twoyoungmen stormed out of the hospital room, Ramsey told Elizabeth's
husband
Michael that Elizabeth could stay with the McNeils for a time while
Michael
mourned the passing of his wife.
(Alpha
Flight I#47 (fb)) - After his
daughter Heather fell in love with James MacDonald Hudson, Ramsey
ordered James
off of his property, worried that James would expose his daughter to
James'
dirty, dangerous government work.
(Alpha Flight: In the
Beginning#-1) – Ramsey and Claire followed James and Heather to the
justice of the peace’s offices, where Claire overheard Heather’s
misgivings about not having a proper wedding. Ramsey remained calm when
Claire angrily berated James, claiming that if all James could provide
for Heather was a marriage by the justice of the peace, then Claire and
Ramsey would not be a part of Heather’s life with James. She also
informed James that if Heather were not married in a Catholic church,
then both she and Ramsey would not consider the marriage official. As
Ramsey led Claire away, Heather confided to James that while she would
agree to be married by a justice of the peace, she would also not
consider their marriage official until it was done in a church.
(Alpha Flight I#47
(fb)) - When Heather subsequently eloped with
James,
Ramsey and Claire followed them and found them in the company of
Canada's newest
superhuman operative, Logan. Ramsey attempted to take Heather home but
Logan threatened
him with a claw and told Ramsey that Heather would only leave if she
wanted to.
James attempted to explain to a leaving Ramsey about Logan but Ramsey
warned
James that Logan was an animal and asked James what Heather was going
to do
with James' medals when he got himself killed. Ramsey and Claire then
left to
return to Calgary.
(Alpha
Flight I#47 (fb) - BTS) -
The McNeil children grew up and moved away, leaving the retired Ramsey
and
Claire McNeil alone in their home. Out of boredom, Ramsey took up
coaching the
town's Little League baseball team, the Haysboro Hawks.
(Alpha Flight I#47) - During a game against the Calgary Chinooks baseball team, young Tommy Mayhew accidentally caught an alien seed pod that he mistook for the ball. When he stopped to stare at what he had caught, Ramsey yelled at Tommy, trying to get him to pay attention to the game. When Tommy wandered off into the woods, an angry Ramsey let him go. After many of his team began disappearing along with other members of the town, Ramsey contacted Alpha Flight and asked for his daughter Heather (now the heroic Vindicator) to return home. When she did, Ramsey and Claire came out to greet her then they all went inside the McNeil home to discuss what had been going on with the disappearances. Despite feeling like the disappearances were better left to the police, Vindicator agreed to help them find the missing children. Ramsey and Vindicator drove out to look for them and while in the car, Ramsey confessed that he almost wished he had not contacted Heather and that she had stayed far away. When Heather asked, Ramsey sadly confessed that he did not want to lose her again. Their conversation was cut short when they ran afoul of some of the alien seed pods in the road. They also found Simone Chenen's notebook nearby and, concerned, Vindicator flew off into the woods to find Simone, telling Ramsey to stay there. When Ramsey picked up one of the alien seed pods, the pod infected and possessed him, leading him into the woods with the other transformed townsfolk. The transformed Ramsey, Simone Chenen, and other townsfolk soon made their way to the McNeil home, where Claire McNeil and Mrs. Chenen were talking to the police. The police attempted to fend off the transformed townsfolk without much success until Vindicator returned home and began using her costume's plasma bursts to incinerate the wooden shells covering the transformed townspeople. After freeing the townspeople from the seed pods, Vindicator failed to notice a seed pod that had missed being destroyed.
(Alpha Flight I#64) –
While Heather visited Ramsey and Claire in Haysboro,
Heather was visited by her fiancee Madison
Jeffries. Watching Madison and Heather kiss outside from inside the
McNeil home, Ramsey commented to Claire about how Heather seemed to
really be in love. Claire agreed, commenting that Heather certainly
looked as happy with Madison as she did with her first husband, James
Hudson. Claire then commented that she hoped Heather’s impending
marriage to Madison turned out better than Heather’s marriage to James.
(Alpha Flight I#65) – As
Heather spoke with Claire inside the McNeil home over coffee, Ramsey
and Madison Jeffries worked on fixing the McNeil car outside. Ramsey
expressed concern to Madison about Heather marrying another super hero
after what happened to Heather’s first husband, James Hudson. As
Madison used his metal transmutation powers to repair the car’s engine
by transmuting into a maintenance-free engine, he replied to Ramsey,
telling him not to worry and reminding Ramsey that he was good at
taking care of things. Impressed at Madison’s work on the engine,
Ramsey agreed that Madison was good at taking care of things and asked
how Madison’s powers worked. The two then continued talking as they
walked back inside. Later, after Madison and Heather had went bridal
gown shopping and helped stopped a fire supposedly caused by Madison’s
Box robot, Ramsey and Claire watched as Heather unsuccessfully
attempted to contact Elizabeth Twoyoungmen
regarding Madison’s recent strange dreams. When Heather had no luck,
Claire suggested they visit Father Lloyd, whom Ramsey explained was a
man of the cloth and an old family friend.
(Alpha Flight I#66) –
After Ramsey and Claire overheard Heather crying in her room from down
the hall, Claire visited with Heather. When Heather later blasted her
way through the wall and flew off, Ramsey ran to comfort Claire and the
two were assured by Madison Jeffries that he would bring Heather back.
Comments: Created by John Byrne (writer & artist).
In the McNeils’ various appearances, their last names
have been spelled “McNeil” and “MacNeil.” I
chose to go with the “McNeil” spelling for the sake of these profiles.
In Ramsey’s earlier
appearances, he had brown hair (or reddish-brown) but by the time he
appeared in Alpha Flight I#64-66, his hair had become gray (except for
a miscolor of brown hair in one panel of
#65).
Profile
by Proto-Man.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Ramsey McNeil has no
known connections to
- any other "Ramsey" or "McNeil"
characters not mentioned in this profile
The
Calgary Chinooks were the rival Little League baseball team to the
Haysboro
Hawks. During a game against the Hawks, Tommy Mayhew was going for a
catch to
strike out a Calgary Chinook named Bayberry. When Tommy instead caught
an alien
seed pod, the confused Calgary Chinooks realized he had caught
something other
than the ball and Bayberry ran for a home run.
--Alpha
Flight I#47
Eric
Chenen was a member of the Haysboro Hawks and was the brother of Simone
Chenen.
Presumably on their way home from school, both Eric and Simone Chenen
were
infected and transformed into tree-like creatures by alien seed pods.
They
later stormed the McNeil home with many of the other transformed
townsfolk
until Alpha Flight's Vindicator freed them and restored them to normal
via
plasma bursts that burned off their wooden shells.
--Alpha
Flight I#47
The
Haysboro Hawks were a Little League baseball team based out of
Haysboro,
Calgary, Canada. They consisted of many children living in Haysboro,
including
Tommy Mayhew and Eric Chenen, and were coached by Ramsey McNeil.
During a game
against the Calgary Chinooks, Haysboro Hawk Tommy Mayhew inadvertently
caught
an alien seed pod in his glove, which infected him and transformed into
a
tree-like creature. Unaware of what had transpired, coach Ramsey McNeil
was
angry that his star player had seemingly wandered off of the field.
Soon after,
many other members of the Haysboro Hawks began disappearing, including
Eric
Chenen. Eventually, Alpha Flight's Vindicator was called in and she was
able to
free the townsfolk from the seed pods' control, restoring them to
normal.
--Alpha Flight I#47
Tommy
Mayhew was a member of the Haysboro Hawks Little League baseball team.
During a
game against the Calgary Chinooks, Tommy accidentally caught an alien
seed pod
that had fallen from the sky instead of the ball. He soon became
entranced by
the pod and it infected him with its roots, taking over his mind and
transforming
him into a tree-like creature. He then wandered off into the woods,
leaving in
the middle of the game. He later joined the other transformed townsfolk
in
attacking the McNeil home until Alpha Flight's Vindicator used plasma
bursts
to free the transformed townsfolk, restoring them to normal.
--Alpha Flight I#47
images: (without ads)
Alpha Flight I#47, p4, pan2 (Ramsey McNeil, main image)
Alpha Flight I#5, p22, pan4 (Ramsey McNeil, headshot image)
Alpha Flight I#65, p13, pan1 (Ramsey McNeil, gray-haired)
Alpha Flight I#47, p3, pan1 (Tommy Mayhew)
Alpha Flight I#47, p3, pan4 (Calgary Chinooks)
Alpha Flight I#47, p4, pan4 (Haysboro Hawks)
Alpha Flight I#47, p22, pan5 (Eric Chenen)
Appearances:
Alpha Flight I#5/2 (December, 1983) - John Byrne (writer, art), Denny
O’Neil
(editor)
Alpha Flight I#47 (June, 1987) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Craig Brasfield,
Mike
Mignola, Steve Purcell (pencils), Whilce Portacio, Terry Austin (inks),
Carl
Potts (editor)
Alpha Flight I#64 (November, 1988) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Jim Lee
(breakdowns), Al Milgrom (finishes), Carl Potts (editor)
Alpha Flight I#66 (January, 1989) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Hugh Haynes
(pencils), Gerry Talaoc (inks), Carl Potts (editor)
Alpha Flight: In the Beginning#-1 (July, 1997) - Steve Seagle (writer),
Anthony Winn (pencils), Mario Alquiza, Matt Ryan, Kevin Conrad (inks),
Jaye Gardner (editor)
Last
updated:
10/22/14
Any
Additions/Corrections? please
let me know.
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