GEORGES & FRANCOIS LAPIERRE

Real Name: Georges and Francois LaPierre

Identity/Class: Human, civilians

Occupation: Landlords

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: James & Heather Hudson (tenants)

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: Unrevealed

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: 138a Laurier Drive, Ottawa, Canada

First Appearance: (Mentioned , Mrs. LaPierre) Uncanny X-Men I#139 (November, 1980); (seen, both) Alpha Flight I#1 (August, 1983)

Powers/Abilities: Mr. and Mrs. LaPierre possess no know superhuman powers. By all accounts they are regular, middle class French Canadians who have a certain fondess for their longtime tenants, James and Heather Hudson. Mrs. LaPierre is a bit more mistrusting than her husband however, keeping tabs on the comings and goings of visitors. Despite being fluent in English, Georges still pronounced the Hudsons' last name as 'Udson.

Height: Georges: 5'6", Francois: 5'3" (by approximation)
Weight: Georges: 156 lbs., Francois: 145 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Georges: brown, Francoise: brown
Hair: Georges: brown, Francoise: black (lightly greying)

History:

(Alpha Flight I#11 (fb) ) - A month after they got married, James and Heather Hudson moved into the upstairs appartment at 138a Laurier Drive. Their landlords, Georges and Francois LaPierre, lived downstairs from them.

(Uncanny X-Men I#139 - BTS) - When Heather Hudson returned to 138a Laurier Drive from work and grocery shopping, she was stunned to find the door to her appartment open. Hearing someone inside, Heather grabbed a broom, ready to surprise whatever unwelcome house guest was lurking inside. As she went in, she realized she would be better off going downstairs to Mrs. LaPierre and use her phone to call the police. Nevertheless, she burst into the kitchen, broom and all, to find her old friend Wolverine (James "Logan" Howlett) and his fellow X-Man Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) waiting for her.

(Alpha Flight I#1 - BTS) - Following their victory over the Great Beast Tundra, Guardian (James Hudson) invited the fellow members of Alpha Flight to his house to discuss the future of the team.

(Alpha Flight I#1) - After watching Aurora, Marrina, Sasquatch, Shaman and Snowbird (all in their civilian guises) pass by on their way upstairs, Francois LaPierre was getting worried about the many strangers suddenly showing up to visit with the Hudsons. Finally, when she spotted the dimunitive Puck bouncing up the stairs, she had enough and demanded Georges take action. Not too bothered, he kept reading his paper and told his wife to leave it be. The Hudsons, after all, always paid the rent on time, didn't have loud parties and, "for Anglais", were nice, normal folk.

(Alpha Flight I#11 - BTS) - When James Hudson got an unexpected job offer from Roxxon Oil in New York (secretly a trap set by his vengeful former associate Jerome Jaxon), the Hudsons decided to move to the United States.

(Alpha Flight I#11) - With the last of their belongings packed, Heather Hudson took one final, nostalgic stroll through the apartment she and her husband had lived in for close to ten years. She then went downstairs to say goodbye to Mr. LaPierre, also paying the next four months rent, closing out their lease, just in case they needed to come back. Georges assured her he didn't think that would be the case and wished "madame 'Udson" good luck in New York. He also promised to find a buyer for Heather's old Volkswagen Beetle she had nicknamed "Little Schnitzel."

Comments: Created by John Byrne (although Chris Claremont most likely came up with the name).

Couples like the LaPierres are just one of the reasons yours truly loves continuity and the creators who make it a point to abide by it. John Byrne could have named the Hudsons' landlords anything he wanted. Instead, he chose to stick with the established source material. If anything else, my hat's off to Byrne for commitment like that.

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Mr. and Mrs. LaPierre have no known connections to

• Janice LaPierre, one of the New Orleans King-Cake Killer's victims @ Namor I#51
• Alma Chalmers a far more noisy neighbour than Francois LaPierre @ Fantastic Four I#268
• or any other "LaPierre" characters

Lil' Schnitzel should not be confused with:

• Killer Volkswagen Beetle - a remote-controlled automobile used against Captain America--Captain America I#222

• Quin-Jetta (the GLA's car)--GLA#1

• Stevie Hunter's Saab Turbo--Uncanny X-Men I#152

"Little Schnitzel"

"Little Schnitzel" was the affectionate nickname Heather MacNeil Hudson gave her car, a trusty (and perhaps rusty) old Volkswagen Beetle. She had bought the vehicle well before her marriage to James MacDonald Hudson and even used it to drive herself to the church for their wedding when she spotted Hudson flying over in his experimental powersuit (their mutual friend Wolverine on his back). Unaware the duo was racing to Orloo to prevent an experimental cosmic ray collector from overloading, a furious Heather raced after them in Little Schnitzel, determined not to be stood up at the altar. By the time she arrived, the superhero Chinook had tried to shut down the collector, only to get mutated and turned evil by the cosmic radiation as a result. Mac, Wolverine and construction worker Eugene Judd managed to defeat Chinook, by knocking him into the collector. However, this inadvertently created tiny black holes that started to draw in all matter. Holding on to Schnitzel, Heather risked her life to act as a tether, preventing the heroes from getting sucked in. At some undisclosed point after that, the car got a new paint job, with purple replacing the original red. Heather continued to drive Schnitzel to and from work, but also took the Beetle to get groceries. Later still, all the members of Alpha Flight unwittingly passed Little Schnitzel who was parked outside 138a Laurier Drive. On March 2nd, 1984 (time is topical due to Marvel's sliding timescale) the moment had come for Heather and Schnitzel to part ways. With the Hudsons moving to New York, Heather's "trusty steed" as she called the car, had to stay behind. Heather's landlord Georges LaPierre promised the Hudsons to find a new owner for the characteristic automobile. Briefly saying a fond farewell to the Beetle, covered in inches thick snow, Heather got into the cab and drove off, leaving Little Schnitzel behind for good.