The following issue summary was written by Robert Diehl as a part of Chronology.Net. This information is not to be reproduced without permission of the author.
Issue: Alpha Flight 18
Date: Jan-85
Story: How Long Will a Man Lie in the Earth 'Ere He Rot? (22 pages)
Feature Characters: Heather, Judd, Jean-Paul, Michael, Snowbird, Elizabeth
Regular Characters: Sgt. Douglas Thompson
Guest Stars:
Villains: Ranaq the Great Devourer
Other Characters: Northstar's boyfriend, Michael's receptionist, Inspector MacMurry; Lucas and Emily Tang
Synopsis: Heather tries to reassemble the team. Northstar refuses her, and Michael is off with his daughter, investigating an evil skull (see iss. 14).
Stang, an old man, is convinced by his great-granddaughter Emily to take his pills. He has been an evil man and did not know her until a year before, but she sees good in him and evil in a frying pan.
Snowbird refuses Doug's love (see iss. 15) and, to convince him, shows him her true face.
Michael and Elizabeth investigate Emily's monster scrambled eggs, and combat them with an incompatible interdimensional interface. Michael realizes this was just a diversion, and they go to find Lucas surrounded by mysterious energies. He attacks Michael, while Emily is possessed by Ranaq and attacks Elizabeth, forcing her latent spiritual (and possibly mutant) powers to the surface.
Together, Michael and Elizabeth vanquish the monster, returning Emily to normal, and Michael plans to take a pilgrimage back in time.