Sections
Writer: Jo Duffy
Artist: Ricardo Villamonte
Date Published: February 1985
Alpha Appearance: Northstar
Period in Alpha Flight's history: Alpha Flight #s 5 & 6
OVERVIEW:
The final battle for the fate of Crystallium, the
setting for this licensed title. Three Alphans get pulled into
this world through a bizarre magical accident, to make sure good
prevails, the planet is saved, and Kirk lives.
REVIEW:
Okay, I'm gonna move this issue back to before the JM / JP split. But I used to keep it between #s 16 and 17, so I'm reviewing it now.
Cover: The art is well done, especially on Moltar, (all the characters are named after some sort of rock, molten or solid), and the layout works, but it loses points for accuracy: the Alphans shown are Shaman, Puck, and Snowbird. The Alphans on the inside are Shaman, Puck, and Northstar.
Art: Pretty good. It's surprisingly caring and good for a licenced work.
Writing: Bad. Extremely clumsy. Every time a character speaks, they feel the need to tell their life story for new readers. "Crystar, I served your father before you, and in happier times I served your brother and you, together. I won't turn on you now, just because a usurper sits on the throne. My wife and little ones live here in Galax... I'd worry less if they lived under your rule." is an example. That's really all one speech bubble, so big it pushes out the character - only half his face fits in the panel. While Alfans don't know that, I'm sure Cyrstar does, and there has to be a better way to catch us up. While that's necessary for us AF fans who've picked up this issue for the appearance, it's really badly done. (At least the Alphans don't do the same. So I guess it was for our benefit?)
Da Juice :
When the Alphans appear, they're fighting a 'Chaos Creature' from Crystallium. That makes me wonder why Birdie wasn't there; she'd show up, just to fight the mystical threat. I think I'll set this issue during #6, when she's fighting the Great Beast. (Distracting her, and giving JP a reason to be there, it's before his split with JM.) Let's assume Puck recovered from his Marrina injuries after #5 but before this.
Shaman and Puck generally act in character, though "Grab it or it will be gettin' away!" makes Puck sound Irish.
In this issue, Puck tells us he's been to Crystallium before, which gives us a bit more insight into the character, and is completely in character.
Northstar is badly done. "Nom d'nomme! It's trying to bat at me with an uprooted tree..." Besides the bad French, we can -see- that, nobody needs to tell us.
At one point he calls the other AFers 'friends', which I really don't see JP doing.
The writer had the courage to kill off a main character, a good guy. Though this was the final issue, it was still a bold move for this sort of comic (licensed from a toy series).
Overall, not a great issue.
Goofs: Michael calls JP "Jean-Pierre". (Did I mention that all the characters in this story are named after rocks?)
RATING:setting for this licensed title. Three Alphans get pulled into
this world through a bizarre magical accident, to make sure good
prevails, the planet is saved, and Kirk lives.
REVIEW:
Okay, I'm gonna move this issue back to before the JM / JP split. But I used to keep it between #s 16 and 17, so I'm reviewing it now.
Cover: The art is well done, especially on Moltar, (all the characters are named after some sort of rock, molten or solid), and the layout works, but it loses points for accuracy: the Alphans shown are Shaman, Puck, and Snowbird. The Alphans on the inside are Shaman, Puck, and Northstar.
Writing: Bad. Extremely clumsy. Every time a character speaks, they feel the need to tell their life story for new readers. "Crystar, I served your father before you, and in happier times I served your brother and you, together. I won't turn on you now, just because a usurper sits on the throne. My wife and little ones live here in Galax... I'd worry less if they lived under your rule." is an example. That's really all one speech bubble, so big it pushes out the character - only half his face fits in the panel. While Alfans don't know that, I'm sure Cyrstar does, and there has to be a better way to catch us up. While that's necessary for us AF fans who've picked up this issue for the appearance, it's really badly done. (At least the Alphans don't do the same. So I guess it was for our benefit?)
Da Juice :
Shaman and Puck generally act in character, though "Grab it or it will be gettin' away!" makes Puck sound Irish.
In this issue, Puck tells us he's been to Crystallium before, which gives us a bit more insight into the character, and is completely in character.
Northstar is badly done. "Nom d'nomme! It's trying to bat at me with an uprooted tree..." Besides the bad French, we can -see- that, nobody needs to tell us.
At one point he calls the other AFers 'friends', which I really don't see JP doing.
The writer had the courage to kill off a main character, a good guy. Though this was the final issue, it was still a bold move for this sort of comic (licensed from a toy series).
Overall, not a great issue.
Goofs: Michael calls JP "Jean-Pierre". (Did I mention that all the characters in this story are named after rocks?)
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[TD]On its own:
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[TD]For Alpha-Flightness:[/TD]
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[TD]Quality:
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