Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Alpha Flight - The Canadian Super Team is back

I missed the 0.1 issue due to sellout and upon seeing the regular mini launch as a crossover tie-in, I just gave the whole thing a pass.

Near as I can tell so far, you're missing out, Lashie... I think launching it under the FEAR ITSELF banner was more a marketing move to draw in readers who otherwise might avoid "Sigh, ANOTHER" AF book. The only FI tie-in I've seen (not following the "EVENT" ) was the amped-up Attuma as the big bad in issue #1... and he wasn't really that big a part, definitely not the focal point beyond giving Alpha a reason to gather and fight.

That and the general heightened atmosphere of fear that's permeating the MU. And providing the rationale for much of the underlying motivations of those in power and the populace that's supporting them.

Hmm... okay, I'm heading to the CBS shortly to pick up the SSoSV hardback, I believe I saw yesterday they still had copies of 1 and 2 in stock. If so, I'll get them!

No-go, they only hads #s 1 and 3. If it continues to be good I'll get the TPB.

It's now an ongoing! And now the Flight is, and apparently always has been, a part of something called the Commonwealth of Heroes. That means, English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Australian teams as well as Canadian... what other countries would qualify?

Assuming the organization is tied to the British 'Commonwealth' and not to something else entirely.

Just saw this announcement. Pretty happy about it overall. Hope they keep the current team as long as possible.

Some details, I guess some spoilerish info therein:

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/pak-van-lente-alpha-flight-110828.html

That's intriguing. With the exception of one-nation-specific teams like Alpha Flight and Excalibur, we haven't seen a real 'push' for international heroes since the old Contest of Champions with some of it's awkward cultural stereotypes.

Marvel could use a (hopefully better received) alternative to DC's Global Guardians and / or Justice League International.

hmmm help me....

is Vindicator Heather now a villain?

all alpha flight members are all alive? Puck, Marina, James? all alive?

last time I read AF was wayyyyyyy back in 1990s. wow. long time. heh. I remember that Marina, Puck, Talisman, Box, Purple Girl....hmmm trying to remember...it s so vague.

The original Alpha Flight team is alive and well.

Vindicator <span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">seems to be mind controlled right now, but time will tell.</span></span>

Picked up #3 last week ...

I have to say this is growing on me. IMO the art took a steep drop between #0 and #1. I though the art has been ok but not gorgeous like the #0.


Phil Jimenez's covers are killer .. (almost worth the 2.99 themselves. )

One bit I was really impressed with though by Dale Eaglesham's art was the facial expressions of Aurora as she switched between personalities. Different colored eyes helps to distinguish but besides that Aurora looks like a totally different personality with the same features. I can tell the difference just by looking at her.

Which make me wonder, why can't Northstar distinguish or guess when she's switched ... since he knows her so well, unless Jean Marie is very skilled at pretending to be Aurora. (And her eyes change color .. which is weird. Since this seems like something JP shoudl know since he's her twin. )

I don't know much about real schizophrenia, but I'm confused at how aware of each other Aurora's personalities are (I didn't think it worked that way .. everyone's different though) ... maybe that makes integration more of a possibility.

These are questions for the writers though, The faces of Aurora as she argues with herself are pretty damn good.

Otherwise, I think the evil Heather, Facist Canada plot lines are ok, it's mostly nice for me to see the gang back together and the opportunity for the gang's relationships.

IMO, Alpha Flight was about it's relationships and they've got some doozies. A former football playing scientist. A schizophrenic. A gay with a chip on his shoulder former revolutionary. A demi-goddess. A Doctor of science and magic. An alien, also with a chip on her shoulder (which is my favorite Marina personality yet, i think she was quite bland before) . And a short guy from Hell. Not to mention some of the possible supporting cast. (psychopathic healers, Purple Man's daughter, et.)

This crew's full of contradictions and is on the messy side of the super hero spectrum. Point being, That's where i see the magic happening ... then and now.

Caught Alpha Flight #3. In a nutshell: things go to POOP for our heroes here as their country officially turns against its heroes. I don't have much to add, aside from what others here have said, but this feels like a true return to greatness for a team concept that has been down for far, far too long. (Hey, maybe there's hope some day for the Defenders, eh? )

I, for one, LOVE the Dale Eaglesham art! It has that classic look to it that does John Byrne proud while also looking very modern.

Following Lardy's praise of #3, let me add my praise for #4, which was yet another high quality triumph by Pak, Van Lente and Eaglesham who are quickly making Alpha Flight the best team book at Marvel (only contender is really Thunderbolts) and perhaps the best team book in comics.

There is not only a huge plot ongoing in the series plus numerous subplots, but also several characters every issue are given a chance to shine. In this issue we see Guardian lose an important aspect of his costume and gain it back in a meaningful way; Sasquatch dealing with some severe limitations and Northstar perhaps realizing he needs his teammates. And possibly the surprise hit of the book, Marrina, is just awesome as usual.

Everything about this comic is working. It has the pacing of the great 80's era of comic books, and like Lardy says, does creator John Byrne proud.

PS - this series may be the first time in <strike>10</strike> 20 years where I actually am looking forward to a Wolverine guest appearance, considering his great history with the team!

I especially love that they're essentially keeping all of Byrne's costume and character designs with minor tweaks, if any! IMO, those were some of his very best designs, and I love how they've not tried to make Sasquatch scary looking or anything. His look always has had a "lovable" aspect to it, though he had his feral moments. Good to see that hasn't been discarded.

Marrina is the most changed, but it's not like her old look was all that memorable. On the other hand, the vaguely disco look they've given her hasn't exactly grown on me. Love her anti-human taunts while she's pummeling bad guys, though!

I'm a little more partial to Aurora's yellow and white costume Byrne later gave her, though. She's definitely sexier in that one!

Interesting that P-Jim used it on a cover already, along with that hairstyle on the golden-eyed half of the cover to #3... maybe we'll see its in-story return?

Well, FUCK!
Just a month or so, it was made and ongoing, now THIS?!?!

Man, that sucks!

I don't suppose they just decided to relaunch it with a new #1 instead of continuing the mini?!?

Prolly not, or there woulda been a blurb about it. Damn--I just can't believe this shit! What the fuck is Marvel smoking?!? It would have been easier to swallow if they hadn't JUST announced the series was ongoing! FUUUUUUUCCCCKKKK!!!!

This is probably related to the mass redundancies Rich Johnson's been posting about the past few days...

Aw man, what a load of crap! Here we finally have a bunch of beloved (and great) characters brought back together after far, far too long (especially with Marrina and James Hudson), and now...!

This had the potential for a lot of great stories. The Commonwealth is composed of 54 countries all in all, and includes representatives from Africa (Kenya, Lesotho), Latin America and the Caribbean (Barbados, Jamaica), the Mediterranean(Cyprus, Malta), the Oceanic Islands (Kiribati, Fiji), Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia). Sigh...

I'm quite discouraged that quality work like this can't find a niche in the marketplace. At least the inital storyline will be concluded as originally planned. I guess I can hope for a near-miraculous spike in sales prompting another mini, though I doubt it'll have creators as invested as the ones currently guiding ALPHA FLIGHT.

November's issue featured a decent Purple Girl scene, some humorous character interaction (and resultant bruising), the backstory of the Master of the World told as a story to a baby, an opponent made of crows and the last page appearance of a guest star that some will groan to see, others will applaud.