• Hulk & Alpha Flight to take on Mayan Gods

    At today's Next Big Thing panel at Wondercon 2012 Marvel announced that Alpha Flight's next appearance will be in the pages of Hulk, drawn by none other than Dale Eaglesham!








    Beginning with HULK #53 this June, writer Jeff Parker and artist Dale Eaglesham pit Red Hulk, Alpha Flight, She-Hulk and more against Mayan gods intent on causing the end of the world.


    http://marvel.com/news/story/18294/wondercon_2012_hulk

    Hulk, A-Bomb and Machine Man will also team up with members of Alpha Flight and the She-Hulks, who Parker says all join the ruckus organically, but notes that Eaglesham's run on ALPHA FLIGHT definitely influenced their appearance in this book.

    “Once I found out [Dale] could do it, I didn't want to miss the chance to connect to the ALPHA FLIGHT stories he just did,” Parker says. “So we pick up right from that series with him, [Greg] Pak and [Fred] Van Lente with the Canuck Brigade!”

    “I really hated to see ALPHA FLIGHT end, I could have kept drawing that book for years,” Eaglesham says. “So it was a huge and very pleasant surprise to find out they would be in this arc. I didn’t even know that when I accepted the gig! I thought it was all over, but I got to draw them again. Bonus!”

    UPDATE: Brief interview with Parker & Eaglesham at Newsarama:
    http://www.newsarama.com/comics/wond...eaglesham.html

    Nrama: The story incorporates a lot of interesting characters, mainly ones that are a little lower on the radar, like Machine Man and Alpha Flight. How did you go about picking the characters for this story? And between this and the many characters you've worked on in Thunderbolts, do you find that you have a natural fondness towards the less-featured Marvel characters? Parker: I thought it would be cool to have Dale transition over with the characters he was just drawing, and that readers might appreciate it too. We also want to show you can have a big blow-up event without the usual cast.

    Nrama: Dale, do you enjoy that challenge of handling multiple characters at once and having it all "make sense" on the page?

    Eaglesham: I do, actually. I love team books. Large casts can get exhausting but a large palette of characters to choose from is the penciler’s delight. I especially like it when I get to work with a team book for a while, on a monthly rather than just an arc. I like to have the time to develop each character to their fullest potential, and I mean to a point where you begin to discover all their little quirks that make them unique. Alpha Flight was such a joy to work on — fun, varied characters. I really wish it had become a monthly and that I could have stayed on it!
    And another at Comic Book Resources:
    General Ross might not be aided by the Avengers, but he will have allies. Helping him fight the Mayan God invasion are A-Bomb, Alpha Flight, Machine Man and the She-Hulks. How did you go about putting this team together? Are these all characters Ross has a past connection with?

    Parker: Once [editor] Mark Paniccia said I might be able to work with Dale Eaglesham and that "Alpha Flight" was wrapping up, it seemed a perfect place to connect. We pick right up with what he and [writers] Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente were doing in their series. AF are right out of that story at the beginning of this one.
    As for A-Bomb, he's the catalyst for this whole story, if you were reading the backups in Hulk last year. The Mayans were trapped physically, but able to project their minds out until they found a willing hero to trick in Rick Jones. She-Hulk and Lyra tried to stop him from freeing them, but just aided in breaking the Mayans out. At the start of this arc, the three have been on the trail of the escaped gods for a while.

    Dale, how does it feel to return to Alpha Flight?

    Eaglesham: I love it. I was really disappointed to see the book end after its 8-issue series. I thought I wouldn't get to draw them again, so this was a very pleasant surprise. I didn't even know they would be in this arc; Jeff and Mark Paniccia surprised me with it.
    A few more plot details over at MTV Geek:
    Geek: Someone like the Red Hulk has to be pretty desperate to ask other people to help him out… What drives Rulk to assemble his team?

    JP: It actually goes the other way, A-Bomb (Rick Jones with muscles and body plates) comes to Red Hulk. And from there Alpha Flight are brought in because Ross follows international protocol and alerts his counterparts in another involved nation, Canada of course. More heroes you haven't seen in quite a while get pulled into all this before it's over.
    Comments 38 Comments
    1. Mokole's Avatar
      Mokole -
      Hooray, AF is still going! THough I'd prefer the Hulk, not Ross Hulk.
    1. Banshee's Avatar
      Banshee -
      Quote Originally Posted by Mokole View Post
      Hooray, AF is still going! THough I'd prefer the Hulk, not Ross Hulk.
      Yes. I was afraid with Northstar in Astonishing that AF would be relegated to pointless cameos. Let's keep Aurora north of the border and make AF a team who people want to see in another mini (or maxi) series.
    1. Sypes's Avatar
      Sypes -
      No way, this is awesome! I'll add that to my list too since Dale is drawing it! Woot woot!
    1. varo's Avatar
      varo -
      very kool! plus machine man!!!awesome!
    1. Barnacle13's Avatar
      Barnacle13 -
      I am ALIVE! and this is really great news! Who better to take on ancient gods than Alpha Flight! Looks like a great lineup based on the artwork. I'll have to pick it up!
      I've missed dropping in here and talking Alpha, but it's been busy and there hasn't been much to talk about! Anyway I'll try to frequent more often!
    1. rplass's Avatar
      rplass -
      Oh that sounds like a huge blast of fun! Great news!
    1. cmdrkoenig67's Avatar
      cmdrkoenig67 -
      It looks like a good use of the team, so I'll pick it up. I have to say it seems like a very odd team-up, though...The Red Hulk (General Ross) and Alpha Flight? I first thought, "Yay, Alpha Flight!" then I thought..."With the Red Hulk?...Huh?"

      Dana
    1. Legerd's Avatar
      Legerd -
      Quote Originally Posted by cmdrkoenig67 View Post
      It looks like a good use of the team, so I'll pick it up. I have to say it seems like a very odd team-up, though...The Red Hulk (General Ross) and Alpha Flight? I first thought, "Yay, Alpha Flight!" then I thought..."With the Red Hulk?...Huh?"

      Dana
      LOL! That's exactly what I did too. Here I was expecting the real Hulk, and then noticed it was Red Hulk -- with Machine Man -- and my first thought was WTH?!
      I never figured Marvel could ever get me to buy a Red Hulk comic, but hey, Eaglesham is drawing them so you know they'll look good.
    1. batman_von_gein's Avatar
      batman_von_gein -
      These drawings look awesome. and i love the team. def be picking this up.
    1. swh_comicguy's Avatar
      swh_comicguy -
      Buy Pile!
    1. TSOG's Avatar
      TSOG -
      A nice side benefit from this news is that it pushes Pointer further down the page.

      Probably he'll start crying now.
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      Quote Originally Posted by TSOG View Post
      A nice side benefit from this news is that it pushes Pointer further down the page.

      Probably he'll start crying now.
      lol

      I get the feeling from the preview art, that we still are stuck with stoopid-Sasquatch. Looks a lot like he has to be goaded into doing things (as in, Guardian blasting him, Snowbird restraining him in white-Sas form, etc).
    1. Barnacle13's Avatar
      Barnacle13 -
      Won the 8 part mini on ebay last night. I'll be catching up in a couple weeks. Then I'll have to get my hands on this one too!
    1. Garry/Al-Fan's Avatar
      Garry/Al-Fan -
      At this time, all I'll say about the Hulkish Sasquatch is it worked best when he didn't say anything: the page which truly shows how childish Wolverine & Guardian's "rivalry" is --- and Sasquatch punches them both. That's good.

      I didn't think that an Alpha appearance would happen so soon, but I'm not complaining. Just don't know if I'll have any money to get it...when it first comes out.

      Again, the creative team & MARVEL deserve kudos for bringing their version of the original characters to this generation of comic-buyers.
    1. Sypes's Avatar
      Sypes -
      I'm hoping we get a little more Snowbird love this time around. I found she didn't get much of any character development in AF mini-serie.
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Sypes View Post
      I'm hoping we get a little more Snowbird love this time around. I found she didn't get much of any character development in AF mini-serie.
      One of the main problems with short appearances, be they one-shots or mini-series or maxi-series or other, when you are dealing with a team of characters; not enough character development. This is especially true of a team like Alpha Flight, where so many of us grew up on John Byrne's original Flight stories where character development is one of the things that drew us to them. Only a long series will have a chance to give us that. Almost a Catch-22.
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      Quote Originally Posted by Garry/Al-Fan View Post
      the page which truly shows how childish Wolverine & Guardian's "rivalry" is --- and Sasquatch punches them both. That's good.
      *Does a little 'I own that page' dance*

      Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
      One of the main problems with short appearances, be they one-shots or mini-series or maxi-series or other, when you are dealing with a team of characters; not enough character development. This is especially true of a team like Alpha Flight, where so many of us grew up on John Byrne's original Flight stories where character development is one of the things that drew us to them. Only a long series will have a chance to give us that. Almost a Catch-22.
      I do agree.
      The maxi-series being as short as it was didn't allow for any character growth, so short appearances are even less likely to.
      I think that's where the beauty of Byrne's split issue origins and having a dissassembled team so he could do individual character based issues really helped; but in this day and age I don't think that'd work. Due to average comic-reader's interest span or whatever.

      However; AF's first appearance was as a guest appearance and everything else sprung from that/those; without guest appearances we'd never have had the Byrne run.
      Northstar's guest appearance in Uncanny introduced Kyle which I think is a stronger character than almost all AF-related characters since Byrne.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor -
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      *Does a little 'I own that page' dance*
      Congrats! You deserve it.


      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      Northstar's guest appearance in Uncanny introduced Kyle which I think is a stronger character than almost all AF-related characters since Byrne.
      Probably because he was given more page space than some of the Alphans, and more character page space than most of them. Even Guardian forgot he was married by the end, and Northstar had to remind him.

      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      I think that's where the beauty of Byrne's split issue origins and having a dissassembled team so he could do individual character based issues really helped; but in this day and age I don't think that'd work. Due to average comic-reader's interest span or whatever.
      Sorry, but this smacks of that defeatist attitude I keep noticing whenever somebody brings up the idea that comics aren't as good as they used to be.
      If I say 'comics aren't fun anymore', they'll always say 'what worked in the 70s and 80s doesn't work today'.
      I know that, back then, I was spoiled for choice; I could have picked any random book off the LCS shelf and I probably would have liked it - some more than others, yes (not everything can be Byrne's Alpha Flight), and they were selling in their hundreds of thousands. Nowdays, I've got to force myself to find one Marvel series I can enjoy (Avengers Academy, for the record), and they're selling in the tens of thousands.
      Every time I try to point that out, somebody says 'that stuff doesn't work now; comics can't sell like they used to because people are playing computer games' etc...
      I'm not playing computer games. I never got into them.

      It isn't because something else is good that I have such a hard time finding comics I enjoy now; nor is it because I've changed a lot - when I read comics from the 70s and 80s, I still generally enjoy them. When I read modern comics, I don't enjoy them as much; or, in too many cases, at all.

      When was the last time comic companies tried the stuff that worked so well in the 70's and 80's? Across the line, I mean?
      Maybe if they were willing to go back to that, they wouldn't be losing so many readers.
      Maybe if comics companies looked to themselves, and changed themselves, (without using the forced, artificial and short-term ways of driving up sales that went nova in the 90s) they could bring their sales up again?
      Not to the levels they used to be - I'm not going to say that computer games and internet have nothing to do with low sales - but up.
      *sigh* Rant paused, for now.

      - Le Messor
      "One can never fully appreciate companionship if one has never experienced loneliness."
      ~ J.D. Boatwood
    1. Sypes's Avatar
      Sypes -
      I know the mini-series wasn't the best place for any character development, but that being said, I felt that some members of AF did get some justice in it. For example, Marrina seemed more exciting to see in action; Northstar appeared "deeper" rather than his shallow self; Heather seemed sure of herself compared to when she was leader of the team (in most issues at least); and for once, I actually liked Guardian, where in the past, I sort of thought he was lame.
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      Quote Originally Posted by Le Messor View Post
      Probably because he was given more page space than some of the Alphans, and more character page space than most of them. Even Guardian forgot he was married by the end, and Northstar had to remind him.
      Oh, I didn't mean within the maxi-series, I meant as guest appearances alone.

      Sorry, but this smacks of that defeatist attitude I keep noticing whenever somebody brings up the idea that comics aren't as good as they used to be.
      I didn't mean it in a defeatist way, or that comics aren't as good as they used to be.
      More that if you gave an average 10 year old the choice between an X-Box with Call of Duty or a 20-22 page comic book split into two stories that they'll consume within 2 minutes, chances are they'll pick the former. It's an attention span and value for money thing. But that ties in with your later point.

      If I say 'comics aren't fun anymore', they'll always say 'what worked in the 70s and 80s doesn't work today'.
      I agree with you, comics aren't fun.
      And I think that's because of the grim and gritty realism the superhero genre went down in the 80's. WE now have a generation of comic writers writing comics just like that for themselves. They read grim and gritty and want grim and gritty and write grim and gritty so they can read it.

      Every time I try to point that out, somebody says 'that stuff doesn't work now; comics can't sell like they used to because people are playing computer games' etc...
      I wouldn't say that; I firmly believe that the comics medium has the potential to outsell any game.
      The tired, recycled superhero genre and the distribution method is the problem.
      Comics aren't not selling because of computer games, it's because comics aren't as fun or engaging as computer games are, and definitely aren't worth the equivalent money to time/enjoyment gained from. Not because they're comics, but because it's rare to find something new and engaging because publishers can't afford to take the risk to try new things because of bad deals they made in the 90's and because of the poor distribution system we have.

      I'm not playing computer games. I never got into them.
      But the next generation, who should be spending all their pocket money on comics at newsstands and grocery stores are.

      When I read modern comics, I don't enjoy them as much; or, in too many cases, at all.
      Totally agreed.

      When was the last time comic companies tried the stuff that worked so well in the 70's and 80's? Across the line, I mean?
      Maybe if they were willing to go back to that, they wouldn't be losing so many readers.
      Maybe if comics companies looked to themselves, and changed themselves, (without using the forced, artificial and short-term ways of driving up sales that went nova in the 90s) they could bring their sales up again?
      Again, I totally agree with you.
      I just know it's harder because of the reasons I outlined above. It's why this potential creator-owned boom is interesting.

      And again, just my thoughts on why the industry is dying on it's arse.