Alpha Flight Fans: Gather

[Cold Water]

How are you liking the run so far?

#67 had me SUPER excited. Talisman was going to be returning as Talisman. I was so excited.

And then #68 happened. That art, I mean. And, while, yes, I got back Talisman and Shaman, they looked like red, over-saturated, undetailed blobs on paper. With stiff movements. And then Walter came back. And I barely even enjoyed that because that art.

Out of all the many, many comics I have read in the short time I have been reading comics, this was the very first time I had ever noticed that even the best written story can be ruined by art.

[danelway]

I actually like him quite a lot. I normally only name my favorite two, which are Mac and Box (jeffries). Walter could quite posssibly come in third (though maybe he'd have some competition for the spot).

Peace

Yeah Alpha Flight was tough reading for me when my 2 favorite characters die in the first 24 issues.
I love Byrne, but he burned me bad here

[Cold Water]

oh, oh, OH!
I forgot Goblyn.
I love that growling, scratching, arooing little sh!t.

[danelway]

This threads gonna make a 1000 posts, let's see who gets that magic number

[Cold Water]

I will, of course.
Most of my posts come from posting in this thread.
Well, this one and the ANXF appreciation thread, but yeah.
Mostly this one.

[danelway]

I will, of course.
Most of my posts come from posting in this thread.
Well, this one and the ANXF appreciation thread, but yeah.
Mostly this one.

Nope, it's gonna be me and it will probably be something bad about Heather .

[Cold Water]

Nope, it's gonna be me and it will probably be something bad about Heather .

As long as it's not Byrne's Heather, just let it flow.

Actually, I may just be happy that Mantlo's run is over, but so far Hudnall's Heather seems...slightly better than Mantlo's.
Softer, or something. Or maybe it's that the focus isn't completely on her? I don't know. It's just better. THANK GOD.

[danelway]

As long as it's not Byrne's Heather, just let it flow.

Actually, I may just be happy that Mantlo's run is over, but so far Hudnall's Heather seems...slightly better than Mantlo's.
Softer, or something. Or maybe it's that the focus isn't completely on her? I don't know. It's just better. THANK GOD.

Sorry, there is only Byrne Alpha Flight for this guy.
I do enjoy Nevets recaps though

[Cold Water]

Sorry, there is only Byrne Alpha Flight for this guy.
I do enjoy Nevets recaps though

oh, okay.
Well, don't say anything too awful about Byrne's Heather. She is my favorite.

[danelway]

I liked that I could read a comic that took place in my home town, uncanny x-men 120-121 as well as Alpha 18-19 take place here.

[danelway]

I liked that I could read a comic that took place in my home town, uncanny x-men 120-121 as well as Alpha 18-19 take place here.

Not everyone lives in New York

[Adam-X]

Why is it, every time Alpha Flight guest stars in another book they have to fight Wendigo(s)?

Be thankful that they at least acknowledge Alpha Flight. They could fight Wendigos in Canada, and never have Alpha Flight come in. If we can't have an Alpha Flight series, I am more than happy with a guest appearance. I mean, they could fight the Great Beasts in some comic - but no one really has ties to it. Not even Wolverine.

Another "From the beginning" summary, courtesy of Limerick on the old CBR:
Alpha Flight #42 - January 1987

"Auction"
--Mr Jeffries is turning out to be exceptionally powerful. There seems to be no limit as to what he can do.
--The infamous Northstar coughing begins (I think this is the first issue?). Stay with it---it leads to one of the best/worst (depending on how ridiculous you like your storylines) ret-con/story changes in comic history. Cough, Cough!
--Purple Girl shows she is much more powerful than the similarly powered Karma (New Mutants). She can control several people at once and her influence persists even from a very great distance.
--Aurora--just put some clothes on, you slag!! (Just joking, Aurora-lovers!)

I can't remember Aurora's outfit in this issue...
And as someone not who isn't a fan of Jeffries... I didn't care for him being spotlighted.

Another "From the beginning" summary, courtesy of Limerick on the old CBR:
Alpha Flight #45 - April 1987

"Resurrection"
--Nevets, you're spot on about Shaman. He is really a changed man. He's become so rude, he's obnoxious.

Well if I remember correctly, Shaman is still wearing the talisman - this is the reason for his lack of humanity and compassion. He warns Elizabeth, before she dons it.
I enjoyed the idea of this resurrection - I thought it was creatively done. However, like the Pestilence story - I didn't care for how Walter being in a woman's body was treated. This could have been done much better if they were going to go this route (which they logically should have, considering the human form would have been Snowbird's body...)

[Adam-X]

Another "From the beginning" summary, courtesy of Limerick on the old CBR:
Alpha Flight #47 - June 1987

"You Can't Tell The Forest From The Trees"

This was a very weird issue. The Defenders had a similar storyline with pods, and one pod survives at the end, as well.

oh, oh, OH!
I forgot Goblyn.
I love that growling, scratching, arooing.

She is awesome.

Are you sure that any AF is better than none at all?

As someone who loves an obscure character who went off the map for like 20 years, came back and was horribly written; I can say yes. Sad when you will take bad dosages over no dosages at all.

Mantlo was good on The Micronauts, his Alpha Flight was lacking for all the above reasons. He took a team and totally replaced them with characters I could care less about. If im gonna read Alpha I want Sasquatch, Snowbird, Shaman, Northstar, and Aurora, not some of the most forgettable characters ever. If this team took on the x-men it would have been no contest.

The thing is I don't fault Bill for doing what he did, as much as I may have disliked it.
Look at the success of the All New X-Men (we're talking back in issue #94). They removed the entire cast, except Cyclops, and brought in all new characters - Nightcrawler, Colossus, Storm, Thunderbird - and one character who had like 2 appearances prior - Wolverine. And look at the success. Bill may have wanted to take a stab at bringing in his own characters - in his mind, he probably adored the concept of these characters he created - so he was probably hoping others would as well.

[Cold Water]

Look at the success of the All New X-Men (we're talking back in issue #94). They removed the entire cast, except Cyclops, and brought in all new characters - Nightcrawler, Colossus, Storm, Thunderbird - and one character who had like 2 appearances prior - Wolverine. And look at the success. Bill may have wanted to take a stab at bringing in his own characters - in his mind, he probably adored the concept of these characters he created - so he was probably hoping others would as well.

The difference being, though, is that X-Men SUCKED before ANAD. Roy Thomas couldn't even make them enjoyable (though, he was MUCH BETTER than Lee, imo).
Alpha Flight didn't suck before Mantlo came along, and neither did the existing characters.
There wasn't a needed "fix".
Mantlo took them backwards, imo, with his new creations.
Most of them anyway.

[Adam-X]

The difference being, though, is that X-Men SUCKED before ANAD. Roy Thomas couldn't even make them enjoyable (though, he was MUCH BETTER than Lee, imo).
Alpha Flight didn't suck before Mantlo came along, and neither did the existing characters. There wasn't a needed "fix". Mantlo took them backwards, imo, with his new creations.
Most of them anyway.

Like I said, I think Bill is a good writer when it comes to his own creations. He may have been trying to inject his own original characters, so he was more comfortable. After all, he didn't replace the entire team - Shaman, Heather, Puck, they were all still there as well. He was just slowly injecting his own creations into the team.

I've said previously - there is actually a lot of elements that Bill did, that I thought were excellent. I thought Goblyn was a great creation. DreamQueen was a great idea (even if he didn't get to develop it). Pestilence was a great creation (though I hated the end result). The resurrection of Walt into Snowbird's form - and coming up a white Sasquatch - amazing idea (though, again, disliked the follow up with Walt as a woman - felt like that fell flat, and could have been done something better). So Bill had some incredible ideas. Great concepts. Just some of the execution of those ideas, fell flat.