• An Alpha Hint Of Sorts...?

    In this weeks Axel-In-Charge column at Comic Book Resources, Marvel's Editor In Chief is asked a question about the future of Alpha Flight and gives an answer that might not be as simple as it initially looks...
    ...(but probably is)







    Taral-DLOS says, "With Puck in Uncanny X-Force, Northstar in Astonishing X-Men, and Omega Flight featuring in Avengers #10, I'm hoping for a revival of Alpha Flight. I'm hoping for a Marvel NOW (phase 2) Alpha Flight series, and for you to continue putting 1983 Alpha Flight books on the Marvel/Comixology app (the first 8 issues are there; but please more!) So my question is: will Alpha Flight be coming back in 2013/14?"

    Alonso: No immediate plans for a new "Alpha Flight" series, Taral-DLOS…at least in its last incarnation.
    Comments 41 Comments
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      Quote Originally Posted by Legerd View Post
      If they present them for a couple of years as competent heroes then readers will accept them as such.
      But how can they be expected to do that for free? No writer is going to spend a couple of years working on a book for no payment just in the hope that the team will gain fans/respect down the line.
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      But how can they be expected to do that for free? No writer is going to spend a couple of years working on a book for no payment just in the hope that the team will gain fans/respect down the line.
      I'm pretty sure that Legerd meant "in other comics", as in, doing so for a few years to drive up interest and then give them a series.

      Which is what we all hope that appearances by Northstar and Puck in regular Marvel titles will accomplish. I'm doubtful (very!), but hopeful.
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      But in that case; when was the last 'joke' appearance?
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor -
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      It was actually the opposite; people saw AF as a joke after Vol.3 and it was Bendis killing them that brought them back in the public eye and had long-term X-fans who hadn't touched Vol.3 rekindling their love for the team and expressing anger at the team being killed off which helped contribute to the decent sales that Omega Flight had.
      Bringing goodness out of tragedy. You're right, things like that can be turned to the light side.

      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      But in that case; when was the last 'joke' appearance?
      'Joke', as in, treat them as not serious? Probably that issue of Wolverine and the X-Men, where Walter and Puck applied to be a teacher at Wolvie's school.
      But that issue treated bunches of people that way, including characters like Ghost Rider, iirc.

      'Joke' as in, completely useless? I don't remember them doing anything in those Hulk Mayan issues. Wasn't that their last appearance as a team?
      An expy of the team did even less in Avengers #10. Not really our team, but if they weren't clearly meant to be a version of them, why are we talking about them so much?

      ~ Le Messor
      "Justice: A decision in your favor."
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      people saw AF as a joke after Vol.3
      Phil, I thought only people on this website even knew Volume 3 existed!
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      But in that case; when was the last 'joke' appearance?
      Well, off the top of my head...("just a little off the top, please!")

      Omega Flight mini-series - Not really Alpha Flight, Americans forced onto team because apparently Canada has no superheroes of their own?

      Volume 4: Puck goes crazy? Really? I understand WHY (the reasoning; he was in hell) they did this, but it made his a joke appearance to me, very insulting. Also, what was the point in getting rid of Heather, if there is no follow up? Why do it, even?

      Mayan Hulk stuff: Nothing more than cannon fodder.

      And Puck's appearances in X-Force I find to be lame and contrived, with them pulling out ONE ASPECT of Puck's character (he was a bar bouncer) and using that to seemingly give him an all-new personality. To me, that isn't treating the character with respect.

      I could probably think of more, but I need to get ready for work. Blech. I'd rather talk Alpha.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor -
      Work. Man, I know what that's like.
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      Quote Originally Posted by Le Messor View Post
      I don't remember them doing anything in those Hulk Mayan issues. Wasn't that their last appearance as a team?
      See, I don't get the hate for those issues;
      1)It was a guest appearance, so they were never going to be the focus of the issue.
      2)They had lots of panel and speech time in the first part.
      3)They weren't the only people to be taken out; the She-Hulks were too, so it wasn't an insult/AF are useless moment.
      4)Shaman saved the day in the last issue.

      For me it was an all-round decent appearance arc-wise.
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
      Omega Flight mini-series - Not really Alpha Flight, Americans forced onto team because apparently Canada has no superheroes of their own?
      If it wasn't really Alpha Flight, then surely that wasn't making a joke of Alpha Flight? Had they put the Americans on 'Alpha' then that would have been more insulting, but still not a joke.

      Volume 4: Puck goes crazy? Really? I understand WHY (the reasoning; he was in hell) they did this
      That answers your own question, surely?

      but it made his a joke appearance to me, very insulting.
      Again, swings and roundabouts, I felt it made sense and added a light tone where it was needed; plus Puck has always been a joker.

      Also, what was the point in getting rid of Heather, if there is no follow up? Why do it, even?
      It wasn't made a joke of though; it was very serious. And I'm sure they'd have followed up on it had sales warranted it; there are always going to be threads dangling from a cancelled series.

      Mayan Hulk stuff: Nothing more than cannon fodder.
      See my previous post.

      And Puck's appearances in X-Force I find to be lame and contrived, with them pulling out ONE ASPECT of Puck's character (he was a bar bouncer) and using that to seemingly give him an all-new personality. To me, that isn't treating the character with respect.
      I don't see how this is a new personality though. And all of it has shown Puck as a formidable fighter and character.

      But all my opinion and I see why you and others don't like the appearances. I'm not saying they're great and will get a new series for us, I just don't see them as a laughing stock.
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      But all my opinion and I see why you and others don't like the appearances. I'm not saying they're great and will get a new series for us, I just don't see them as a laughing stock.
      i think my definition of "joke" , in this case, would be more along the lines of "handled flippantly or un-heroically" (that last one REALLY should be a word! - stupid spell-check...), "teasing" or "not to be taken seriously", or "a laughingstock".

      Of course, it is all semantics, which is nothing to quibble over; in the end, we all colour how we view things through our own emotional filters. You say "Potato", I Say "Hippopotamus" (for my Australian friends, that is like a very large and quiet and docile Tasmanian Devil, I think?). It's all good.
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
      i think my definition of "joke" , in this case, would be more along the lines of "handled flippantly or un-heroically"
      That makes sense.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor -
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      See, I don't get the hate for those issues;
      Don't mistake my comments for hate.
      I just feel that Alpha Flight had a guest appearance for three issues where they pretty much did nothing. I've seen guest characters get a chance to do stuff before; but in this, they spent the entire time unconscious.
      (Which, as you say, the She-Hulks did, too.)

      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      If it wasn't really Alpha Flight, then surely that wasn't making a joke of Alpha Flight? Had they put the Americans on 'Alpha'
      True-ish.
      But Omega was always touted as the Alpha Flight book, and the only one we'd get for a while.

      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      I'm sure they'd have followed up on it had sales warranted it; there are always going to be threads dangling from a cancelled series.
      Also true.

      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      I don't see how this is a new personality though.
      Not quite what FP said.
      He pointed out that it focuses on one aspect of the character, and one only. Basically, it's stereotyping an individual, if such a thing's possible.

      Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
      I Say "Hippopotamus" (for my Australian friends, that is like a very large and quiet and docile Tasmanian Devil, I think?). It's all good.
      I *have* been to Africa. Where I saw Hippopotami frolicking in the wild, with the babboons and tigers.

      ~ Le Messor
      "Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer."
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      Quote Originally Posted by Le Messor View Post
      Don't mistake my comments for hate.
      Oh, no you specifically, lots of people online had strong feelings about it.
      But your points make sense.

      But Omega was always touted as the Alpha Flight book, and the only one we'd get for a while.
      Which I get sense of something similar soon happening maybe...

      Not quite what FP said.
      Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
      using that to seemingly give him an all-new personality.
      That's the part I was focusing on.

      I can see the stereotyping angle though, but it's no different to how Hama, Seagle or Aaron have written him, really.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor -
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      But your points make sense.
      What is wrong with the world, when I make sense?

      Quote Originally Posted by Le Messor View Post
      Not quite what FP said.
      Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
      using that to seemingly give him an all-new personality.
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      That's the part I was focusing on.
      Then it IS quite what FP said.

      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      I can see the stereotyping angle though, but it's no different to how Hama, Seagle or Aaron have written him, really.
      I never liked Seagle's writing. Dunno 'bout the others.

      ~ Le Messor
      "Katz' Law: Man and nations will act rationally when all other possibilities have been exhausted."
    1. Legerd's Avatar
      Legerd -
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      It was actually the opposite; people saw AF as a joke after Vol.3 and it was Bendis killing them that brought them back in the public eye and had long-term X-fans who hadn't touched Vol.3 rekindling their love for the team and expressing anger at the team being killed off which helped contribute to the decent sales that Omega Flight had.
      That's one way of looking at it. Personally, I saw a lot of people who said good riddance, or didn't care as they knew next to nothing about the team and their off panel deaths just gave the impression they were useless characters. The point I'm always trying to make is, if the writers present any character in a negative light that's how readers (especially new ones) are going to see them.

      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      But how can they be expected to do that for free? No writer is going to spend a couple of years working on a book for no payment just in the hope that the team will gain fans/respect down the line.
      Like Flightpath said, what I meant was the team should be given guest spots, and positive mentions for a couple of years so newer readers can get to know and like them. Then, once the groundwork had been laid down, Marvel could attempt a new series. Anything else and it would seem like they were being shoehorned in even though they've been around for so long. Had Marvel spent more time before Vol. 4 giving them guest spots, and building up their popularity then they would have stood a better chance. Granted they did advertise the book, and they did put a top-notch creative team on it, most new readers still didn't know or care enough about the team to bother picking it up. Some people were even mad that the team was able to defeat a hammer-powered Attuma, in their own book! How often do you hear fans complaining about a hero winning in his/her own book?

      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      But in that case; when was the last 'joke' appearance?
      Quote Originally Posted by Le Messor View Post
      'Joke', as in, treat them as not serious? Probably that issue of Wolverine and the X-Men, where Walter and Puck applied to be a teacher at Wolvie's school.
      That was the one that came to my mind as well. The writer even threw in the obligatory(?) maple syrup joke. However, I will give kudos for Puck's characterization in Uncanny X-Force. So far he's been shown as witty, badass, and more competent than most of the other characters so far. That's the kind of thing I was talking about when I said they needed positive appearances.
    1. Flightpath07's Avatar
      Flightpath07 -
      Hippopotami frolicking in the wild
      Nice!

      I'm trying to imagine a frolicking hippopotamus, and failing; but, having a good time trying.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor -
      Quote Originally Posted by Legerd View Post
      Some people were even mad that the team was able to defeat a hammer-powered Attuma, in their own book!
      *sigh*
      That's just sad.

      Quote Originally Posted by Flightpath07 View Post
      I'm trying to imagine a frolicking hippopotamus, and failing; but, having a good time trying.
      Have you seen Fantasia?

      ~ Le Messor
      "Keep honking, I'm reloading."
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil -
      Quote Originally Posted by Legerd View Post
      Some people were even mad that the team was able to defeat a hammer-powered Attuma, in their own book! How often do you hear fans complaining about a hero winning in his/her own book?
      It was more the inconsistency in writing/editing, in that in the other FI books Attuma was able to take out the whole of the Avengers/Defenders, yet was stopped without a sweat here.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor -
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      It was more the inconsistency in writing/editing, in that in the other FI books Attuma was able to take out the whole of the Avengers/Defenders, yet was stopped without a sweat here.
      That does make sense. OTOH, why would people expect sweat? Wouldn't all that water cool them off and wash it away?
    1. Legerd's Avatar
      Legerd -
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      It was more the inconsistency in writing/editing, in that in the other FI books Attuma was able to take out the whole of the Avengers/Defenders, yet was stopped without a sweat here.
      I wouldn't say it was without a sweat. AF got exactly three shots in before Attuma smacked Snowbird and Sasquatch like he was their pimp and then sucked the whole team up into a giant waterspout. They were helpless and would most likely have died had Guardian not managed to shunt with the villain to the other side of the continent. A final e-m blast sent him on his way, but Guardian was completely spent at that point falling to the ground unconscious. AF didn't defeat him so much as remove him (and therefor his threat) from the immediate area at a cost to Guardian. Had Attuma wanted to he could have gone back and finished pounding them like nails. Oviously he had better things to do.
      But, for the record, I like that AF was able to do better than the Avengers for a change. It makes up for all the times that AF has barely been able to handle villains that street level Avengers are shown to be fully capable of soundly thrashing. For once the fans of other heroes were the ones to have to suck it up, and deal.