#tw institutionalization

It’s undeniable that they care for each other. However there is a barrier of unpacked trauma, mental illness, and personal issues that stop the twins from being able to have a truly healthy relationship.

Box and Scramble, the alter egos of Madison and Lionel Jeffries. Who have a rich and interesting brotherly bond for those with eyes to see.

Unlike Aurora and Northstar, there’s not a lot of page time given to Madison and Lionel’s relationship. Lionel only appears in thirteen comics, getting killed off in Alpha Flight #49.

At first glance the parallels between Jean-Paul and Madison, as well as those to Jeanne-Marie/Aurora and Lionel, aren’t obvious.

Jean-Paul is a hotheaded speedster, who has made his fortune as an Olympic Skier. Regularly employing his powers to “cheat.” He takes pride in every facet of himself. Compared to Northstar’s abrasiveness, Madison is very quiet. He’s deeply ashamed of his mutant powers and would rather dig ditches than employ their use.

Jeanne-Marie Beaubier is a quiet, Catholic schoolteacher, who has with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Her alter, the superhero Aurora, is flirty, impulsive, and occasionally mean. Scramble is a villain, who only takes interest in his own success. Not caring who he hurts to achieve his own ends.

Beneath the surface, these characters are each other’s perfect foils.

Northstar and Madison: Through the Looking Glass

Jean-Paul and Madison don’t have much of a relationship in the comics. They don’t have many scenes together nor closely interconnected plots.

Madison does seem to have an opinion on Northstar. Finding him selfish, obnoxious, and just unpleasant in general. It’s unlikely that Jean-Paul has any fond feelings either. As Madison states, Northstar doesn’t care for anyone else on Alpha Flight, aside from Aurora.

This dynamic is perfect. Of course they would hate each other, they’re exact opposites.

As previously mentioned where Northstar takes pride in his powers, Madison is deeply ashamed of his. However that doesn’t stop him from joining Alpha Flight and regularly using them to help. Where Jean-Paul routinely uses them for his own gain.

This dynamic also stretches into their relationship with other team members, namely Rodger Bochs, Aurora, and Kara Kilgrave.

After Aurora’s previous lover, Walter Langkowksi | Sasquatch dies, she begins dating another teammate, Rodger Bochs | Box. Much to Madison and Jean-Paul’s chagrin.

Jean-Paul is jealous of Rodger, believing him to be robbing himself of Aurora’s love and attention. He tries to intimidate Rodger, mocking him for his disability. Regularly insulting him and begging Aurora to leave him.

He even goes so far as to stating that he’d preferred Aurora with Walter (someone he also hated).

Madison meanwhile considers Rodger to be his best (and probably only) friend. Rodger is the reason he joined Alpha Flight, Madison is his right-hand man, and their regularly working on projects in Alpha Flight’s laboratory. Madison abhors Aurora, believing her to be just using Rodger as a rebound.

This is indirect contrast to Northstar’s relationship with Aurora. Although around this time he does start to be outwardly cruel to her, a part of him still does idolize and want to protect his sister.

This dynamic also extends to their relationship with Kara Kilgrave. Kara is introduced in Alpha Flight #41, the daughter of one of Marvel’s most vile villains the Purple Man. On top of having lavender skin and blue-ish hair, Kara can control people’s minds. After kidnapping and brainwashing Northstar, he has some pretty justifiable reasons to hate her.

When Shaman suggests "killing" Kara, she freaks out and makes a mad gab for the exit. Forcibly recruiting Madison as her getaway driver.

After brainwashing, kidnapping, and nearly getting Madison sold into slavery, Kara realizes the error of her ways and helps Alpha Flight rescue him.

Unlike his teammate, Madison doesn’t hold any ill will towards Kara, instead he offers her a place on the team and becomes her mentor. They grow so close that Kara starts to view him as the father she never had.

The differing attitudes Jean-Paul and Madsion hold towards her is perfectly exemplified in this panel from issue forty-two of Alpha Flight.

These dichotomies do make sense. Kara did do some pretty horrible things to Madison, but those things were not accidently destroying his career, kidnapping him, manipulating him into loving her, and forcing him to undress.

That said, Jean-Paul and Madison are more than just their differences. Similarities can be drawn in the characters’ backstories.

Jean-Paul’s history is extensively documented. By the age of five he lost two sets of parents, was raised in foster care, before becoming homeless as a teenager. Things start to get complicated when Raymonde and the FLQ are thrown into the mix, but by the time he entered adulthood he was a wealthy and successful athlete. Around the age of nineteen, he meets his long-lost twin sister and joins Alpha Flight.

Not much information regarding Madison’s life before joining Alpha Flight. However a few things can be extracted from his scenes with Kara. Such as an interaction where Madsion tells Kara that she’d ought to consider herself lucky not to know her father. As well as a scene where she requests help with schoolwork, and Madison mentions not having the most extensive education.

Which could suggest that like Jean-Paul, he might’ve been homeless or had an unstable home environment growing up.

The two paths diverge come adulthood. Madison joins the army and unlike Jean-Paul he struggles with financial difficulties before joining the team.

More similarities between the two characters can be derived from their relationships with mental health.

Madison served in the Vietnam War, as result he developed a mental illness. In his early appearances Madsion isn’t given a diagnosis. However in Alpha Flight forty-eight, it’s revealed that he was institutionalized. During that time he met Rodger Bochs, an amputee who was having similar mental health struggles after the loss of his legs.

(For the record this reveal completely disregards Madison and Rodger’s first appearances. Where it’s stated they’ve never met before, and Madison can’t even pronounce Rodger’s last name right. But what even is consistency?)

Madison is eventually give the in-cannon diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Much like his powers, he’s very insecure about this.

Jean-Paul is never explicitly given a diagnosis, however, there have been some theories. In some issues of Alpha Flight he’s referred to as “crazy” or written to be implicitly or explicitly suicidal. More overt characterizations of Northstar and mental illness, come from his stints with the X-Men.

Jean-Paul and Madison are treated as “saner” to their siblings. As mentioned prior Aurora has a diagnosis in cannon. This has been regularly been used as an excuse for other characters to discredit her and write her off as a problem. Lionel is treated similarly, compared to Madison he is viewed as dangerous and when it’s revealed that nothing can be done to help him he’s killed off.

Alpha Flight has a lot of ableist sentiments, even for the eighties. Although much of the cast is implied to be mentally ill, there is clearly a hierarchy of who is considered “acceptable.”

Jean-Paul and Madison struggle with mental illness but can still be of service. They’re not having mental breakdowns in the middle of missions, raising the dead, nor acting as a “burden” to the rest of the team. They hide their illnesses. They don’t ask for help nor inflict their struggles on others.

Mental illness is only tolerable if it never has to be addressed.

Although Madison and Jean-Paul aren’t characters typically associated with one another, there’s an undeniable connection between the two. Their views of themselves and others mirror each other, making it a shame that they haven’t interacted since the eighties.

Aurora and Scramble: Mixed-Up and Mad

Despite the fact that these two never interact, Aurora not interacting with Lionel in his first appearances nor taking part in the battle against Omega, these two seem like strange parallels.

However the similarities start to show when mental health is taken into consideration.

Unlike Aurora, Lionel isn’t given a diagnosis. However it is implied that his issues stem from losing his fellow soldiers in combat.

So much like Jeanne-Marie/Aurora, Lionel’s mental health struggles are a result of trauma. Jeanne-Marie/Aurora, having been a victim of child abuse, which resulted in her developing DID.

Both Lionel and Madison are looked down upon for their mental illnesses. Lionel for the fact that his mental illness causes him to commit dangerous acts. Jeanne-Marie/Aurora because it makes her inefficient in battle.

In addition to how others treat them, Aurora and Lionel have been institutionalized. Madison committing Lionel, after they returned home from Vietnam. His financial situation, likely making it difficult for Madison to care for Lionel on his own.

Unfortunately, Montreal General Hospital wasn’t much help. The doctors kept Lionel chained to wall, wearing several layers of protective clothing. These years of isolation probably worsened Lionel’s mental health. It’s no wonder he took such drastic measures to escape.

In the 1995 X-Man solo series, Aurora makes a cameo. The Brotherhood of Evil mutants, consisting of Havok, Fatale, and the titular X-Man (Nate Grey), hijack a train belonging to Department H. On the train is Jeanne-Marie/Aurora, who had spent some time in a mental hospital after having a mental breakdown and trying to kill her ex-boyfriend, Kyle Gibney.

Jeanne-Marie/Aurora isn’t doing so well. Instead of being given therapy and proper treatment, her doctors keep her sedated. Not offering to comfort her as she begs for her brother.

To add insult to injury, it’s likely that the reason Jeanne-Marie/Aurora is even in this situation is because Jean-Paul arranged for her hospitalization.

In the past Jean-Paul has tried to help his sister manage her mental illness. Such as taking her to therapy in issue seven of Alpha Flight. However this does not have the desired results, as Jeanne-Marie’s therapist is terrible at his job. Deciding after one session with his patient that there is nothing wrong with her and making comments about her appearance.

When Jeanne-Marie/Aurora’s mental health reaches its breaking point, it’s likely Jean-Paul didn’t know how to help her. Like Madison, he probably believed that admitting his sibling was giving them their best chance at treatment.

Regardless that was not the case.

In addition, both Jeanne-Marie and Lionel try to mitigate their struggles with success. However they have very definitions of what success looks like.

Jeanne-Marie strives to live a heathy normal life as a God-fearing Christian. Aiming to please people (even her abusers), by catering to their wishes.

Lionel measures success through scientific achievement. Like raising the dead, transforming himself into a monster, running unethical experiments on people in the name of progress.

Lionel and Jeanne-Marie/Aurora are characterized by their struggles and their attempts to overcome them. All while trying to surpass the judgements of others and carve out their own places in the world.

Conclusion:

Alpha Flight has more than its fair share of compelling relationships. One can spend hour theorizing on how things would’ve looked if the Jefferies siblings were born into money. If Aurora and Northstar knew each other growing up. Amongst other scenarios.