• 'Alpha Flight: Glory Days' article at Marvel.com


    Alpha Flight Volume 4 writers Grek Pak & Fred Van Lente share their thoughts on what makes Alpha Flight so unique.



    Back in 1983, by popular demand, writer/artist John Byrne spun the Canadian super team Alpha Flight out of the pages of UNCANNY X-MEN and into their own spotlight series. Today, writers Fred Van Lente and Greg Pak pick up the threads woven by Byrne in to kick off a new era for the team in ALPHA FLIGHT, premiering with a special Zero Point issue on May 18.
    By using classic elements and the Byrne team, the writers, both huge fans of the original book, stand poised to deliver a title that reflects its roots yet looks to the future. Van Lente fondly calls the original membership “wonderfully dysfunctional.”
    http://marvel.com/news/story/15859/a...ght_glory_days


    Comments 14 Comments
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      Gotta love people who love The Flight.
    1. sengsterooney's Avatar
      sengsterooney -
      I'm loving the fact that Marvel is giving this new AF a lot of publicity. Here's hoping it generates as much interest as back in 1983 and we have an ongoing series!
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor -
      I'm still just loving that they're going back to Byrne.

      - Le Messor
      "I’d love to, but I feel a song coming on."
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      That's the thing for this launch:

      They've put a high tier creative team on it.
      They've given it press coverage.
      They've given it online coverage.
      They've given it print advertising.
      They've promoted it with a free poster.
      They've (essentially) spun it out of 1 crossover and loosely tied it into another to help sales.

      People cannot turn round this time and say "It's Marvel's fault, they're biased against AF, they hate AF, they want us to fail." or the like.
    1. cmdrkoenig67's Avatar
      cmdrkoenig67 -
      Fans had plenty of reasons in the past for feeling the way they did, though. This time Marvel is actually putting some substantial effort into the book.
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      I agree fans had a reason to feel that Alpha Flight (& other non top-tier titles) wasn't(/weren't) marketed as well as they could have been/the top tier-titles were, but I've never felt a personal hatred/bias against AF.
      All my opinions, of course.
    1. Sypes's Avatar
      Sypes -
      Better buy multiple copies and put those in your Christmas Socks gifts!
    1. Sasquatch17's Avatar
      Sasquatch17 -
      Can't wait to read this issue of the new/old Alpha Flight!
    1. cmdrkoenig67's Avatar
      cmdrkoenig67 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      I agree fans had a reason to feel that Alpha Flight (& other non top-tier titles) wasn't(/weren't) marketed as well as they could have been/the top tier-titles were, but I've never felt a personal hatred/bias against AF.
      All my opinions, of course.
      I'd have to question your loyalty as an Alpha Flight fan, if you did feel personal hatred and bias against AF, Phil

      I'm not saying necessarily hatred (even though I may have said it in the past), Bias...Yes!...And some editors went out of their way to make Alpha Flight look like a joke at conventions...That, I feel is absolutely unacceptable. They should never, ever tear their product down (it doesn't make much sense in terms of the business). You can't make a product marketable, if you continually devalue it's worth.

      Dana
    1. rplass's Avatar
      rplass -
      I just can't believe my eyes. I'm looking at Marvel.com and thinking is this real? wowzers. This is really happening folks, 1 week away!
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor -
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      People cannot turn round this time and say "It's Marvel's fault, they're biased against AF, they hate AF, they want us to fail." or the like.
      ... can if I want to, you can't stop me...

      Quote Originally Posted by cmdrkoenig67 View Post
      ...And some editors went out of their way to make Alpha Flight look like a joke at conventions...That, I feel is absolutely unacceptable.
      Not just that they did it, but the timing was off; they did it in the middle of public-relations problems with the fans.

      - Le Messor
      "I’d love to, but I did my own thing and now I’ve got to undo it."
    1. Legerd's Avatar
      Legerd -
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      That's the thing for this launch:

      They've put a high tier creative team on it.
      They've given it press coverage.
      They've given it online coverage.
      They've given it print advertising.
      They've promoted it with a free poster.
      They've (essentially) spun it out of 1 crossover and loosely tied it into another to help sales.
      And this is all we've been asking from Marvel... for well over a decade. Personally, I still want to hear Brevoort say something positive about the characters, just to see if it gives him a coronary or something.
    1. cmdrkoenig67's Avatar
      cmdrkoenig67 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Le Messor View Post
      ... can if I want to, you can't stop me...



      Not just that they did it, but the timing was off; they did it in the middle of public-relations problems with the fans.

      - Le Messor
      "I’d love to, but I did my own thing and now I’ve got to undo it."
      Yup...They even did it at the Canadian conventions when asked by Canadian Alpha fans if Alpha Flight was coming back. way to go, joeQ.

      Dana
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      way to go, joeQ
      If this becomes a (popular) ongoing, then the "joeq" is on him!