• The Future Of Alpha Flight?

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    Phil
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    Published on 10-07-2015 06:27 AM  Number of Views: 38269  
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    *This article contains spoilers for today's Avengers #0 - Please don't read ahead unless you mind having Alpha Flight's involvement discussed*

    Last month it was revealed that Alpha Flight would be appearing in the pages of Captain Marvel, as part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel line-up.

    Captain Marvel, being Marvel's premier female superhero at the moment is quite rightly appearing in various books, as part of the team of A-Force and The Ultimates.

    The All-New, All-Different Marvel era begins today, and with it comes Avengers (2015) #0 - a 49 page $5.99 oneshot that gives 6 prelude stories to the forthcoming Avengers titles - Squadron Supreme, New Avengers, All-New, All-Different Avengers, A-Force, Uncanny Avengers, and The Ultimates.

    The A-Force story, by writer G. Willow Wilson and artist Victor Ibanez focuses on Captain Marvel and gives a glimpse into the setting for Danvers' solo book.

    In fact, the title is listed as 'Captain Marvel & Alpha Flight'


    The story opens at the 'Alpha Flight low orbit space station' and we get shown various background staff who are clearly shown as wearing AF patched jackets


    And that's pretty much it as far as AF are concerned; we don't get to see any existing characters or even get names for the background staff.

    However, the story is quite clearly a Captain Marvel one, leading to events in A-Force rather than her own solo title, and it's a brief prelude as part of an anthology book so it's not cause for distress.

    The story itself is definitely a well written, nice taster and sets the scene for Alpha Flight's adventures in space but fans expecting to see their favourite characters may be hesitant to spent $5.99 on it, especially with 4 covers.

    It's definitely a positive that Marvel are pushing the title into this part of it's universe, especially with a Captain Marvel film on the horizon.

    Captain Marvel #1 is currently scheduled for January 2016, with new details possibly revealed this weekend at NYCC.
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    Comments 131 Comments
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil - 10-20-2015
      I'm on my phone so can't post the article for half an hour or so but the CM solicit is out and... I still can't tell if we're in luck or not...
    1. -K-M-'s Avatar
      -K-M- - 10-20-2015
      Neither can I. However they really emphasized the Alpha Flight part...

      "Face front, true believers! The Captain has made her return and oh, how mighty it is. It's a bold new frontier for Carol Danvers as she soars to new heights in her greatest mission yet—leader of the all-new Alpha Flight space program. Yup, Alpha Flight. As earth's first line of defense, Carol and her team aim to protect the planet from extraterrestrial threats. But can Carol be a soldier and a diplomat? Especially when an unknown enemy emerges that Carol can't quite punch. The superstar team behind Marvel's Agent Carter television series, Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas, make their comics debut alongside the awesomely-talented Kris Anka."
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil - 10-20-2015
      From a personal point of view, I just really want to see Anka draw some Alpha Flight!
      I loved his Puck redesign in UXF.
    1. -K-M-'s Avatar
      -K-M- - 10-20-2015
      Sounds like they may use some, but we shall see
    1. Legerd's Avatar
      Legerd - 10-21-2015
      I have a bad feeling about this. Every time they've been vague regarding AF details in the past it ended up being a disappointment. Hopefully, I'm wrong.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor - 10-21-2015
      Why isn't Hope Nicholson on this forum?
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor - 10-22-2015
      That was unhelpful.

      The response tells us nothing, except that they want us to buy their new series.
      The problem is, if we start investing money in it in the hope of seeing Alpha Flight, and don't get them, it will only cause resentment.

      It also sets a precedent for them to keep saying 'wait another couple of issues, and you'll be pleasantly surprised' and string us along until we've bought 20 issues just for Alpha Flight, and still not seen them. Again, building resentment.

      ~ Le Messor
      "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
      ~ Pablo Picasso
    1. Legerd's Avatar
      Legerd - 10-22-2015
      Marvel isn't getting one cent of my money unless the characters I knew as Alpha Flight exist in this ANAD Universe, and are written better than in the past. I'm not shelling out cash just to see a faux Alpha Flight, or to watch my favourite characters used as punching bags again so a headline character can look good.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor - 10-23-2015
      Legerd, I don't blame you.

      Right now, I'm tempted to take Captain Marvel off my standing order until I know it's the real Alpha Flight in there.

      Marvel is getting my money for things that don't claim to be Alpha Flight, though. Squirrel Girl! The new Nova. I've got hopes for the ANAD Avengers.

      ~ Le Messor
      "Constantly choose rather to want less, than to have more."
      ~ Thomas a'Kempis
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil - 10-23-2015
      The thing is, nowhere have Marvel promised us the Alpha Flight we know & they're under no obligation to.

      A lot of the issue here is that the age we're living in the information creeps out early, such as at the con panel and through twitter, and then our excitement gets built up for no reason. Which I'm probably partly to blame for here.

      Back when there were no conventions or recorded panels, twitter or advanced solicitations we'd have found out as a surprise when we opened Captain Marvel #1 and part of me misses that.

      The Previews ordering for Captain Marvel hasn't even begun yet, and the final cut-off for ordering #1 is December 21st.

      I still think they're being very mysterious on purpose and that we'll find out one way or another before then.

      Possibly even next week in this.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor - 10-23-2015
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      Back when there were no conventions or recorded panels, twitter or advanced solicitations we'd have found out as a surprise when we opened Captain Marvel #1 and part of me misses that.
      Me, too. On the plus side, it means I'm not going to skip a comic only to find out years later that it had the full team in it.

      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      The thing is, nowhere have Marvel promised us the Alpha Flight we know & they're under no obligation to.
      True, but what they have done is put something called Alpha Flight in Captain Marvel, and advertised (through the solicits) that Alpha Flight is showing up in the upcoming book, only to let it slowly leak out that it might be no more our Alpha Flight (which Marvel, and only Marvel hold the rights to) than the Alpha Flight in Babylon 5.

      It's a tease. A deliberate one aimed at getting money out of hopeful Alpha Flight fans - perhaps (we still don't know!) for no good reason. Given how we (and the team) have been treated by Marvel in the past, it's in poor taste if it isn't the real Flight.

      You're right that they're under no obligation to ever print our Alpha Flight again, solo or in somebody else's book.
      But by the same token, none of us are under any obligation to give them another cent for any other book (which I'll keep doing, but Legerd has promised not to), nor are we under obligation to have any good feelings towards them.

      All that said, it could still be our Alpha Flight in there in their full glory. I'd love it if it was and they were well-written.

      ~ Le Messor
      "Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training."
      ~ Anna Freud
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil - 10-23-2015
      Naming the A-Force story in Avengers #0 'Captain Marvel & Alpha Flight in' is the bit that confused me and came out of nowhere.
      Yet, Had there not been a (non-Marvel organised) panel at a convention that would have been the first we'd have ever known of it.

      The solicits were only released 3 days ago so for no further information to have been released isn't too surprising.

      It's not despair point just yet, but I definitely agree that people's money are definitely their own priorities - the reason I try and grab news and reviews so early is to stop people from buying things that aren't what they expect.
    1. Le Messor's Avatar
      Le Messor - 10-23-2015
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      It's not despair point just yet...
      True, and I've been trying to keep enforcing that in my posts. It just looks like despair-time.

      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      Naming the A-Force story in Avengers #0 'Captain Marvel & Alpha Flight in' is the bit that confused me and came out of nowhere. Yet, Had there not been a (non-Marvel organised) panel at a convention that would have been the first we'd have ever known of it...
      Also true - but ultimately all it means is: if Marvel had released this information on their own time, we'd have had a couple less weeks of tease / ambiguity / worry.

      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      the reason I try and grab news and reviews so early is to stop people from buying things that aren't what they expect.
      And I thank you for it!

      (In the back of my head, I keep wondering if you know more than you're allowed to tell, and it's good news. I'll have to wait and see, obvs.)

      ~ Le Messor
      "I'm not worried... I'm concerned. That's not the same thing."
      ~ The Kid, The Princess Bride
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil - 10-23-2015
      And more of a non-answer:

      http://www.comicbookresources.com/ar...-with-iron-man

      Then we'll wrap for now with Legend, who asks, "Hey Axel, could you please provide some details on what Alpha Flight is going to look like in the ANAD Marvel U?" To chime in, there're a big part of the January-debuting "Captain Marvel," correct?

      Alonso:       You'll get your first glimpse of the Alpha Flight in "Captain Marvel" #1.


      The 'the' worries me...
    1. -K-M-'s Avatar
      -K-M- - 10-23-2015
      Interesting to see so many people asking questions about the team. I could see a few members appearing but won't be our classic team.
    1. Phil's Avatar
      Phil - 10-23-2015
      I'm pretty sure that's our Legerd
    1. Legerd's Avatar
      Legerd - 10-23-2015
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      And more of a non-answer:

      http://www.comicbookresources.com/ar...-with-iron-man



      The 'the' worries me...
      Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
      I'm pretty sure that's our Legerd
      Yup, that was my question. I find people quite often get my username wrong when they give it a quick glance. And the "the" worries me as well. I have the feeling Alonso is trying to avoid a lot of problems Marvel has had with making Alpha Flight viable by simply not having an Alpha Flight... or at least not "our" Alpha Flight.

      EDIT: I just want to raise a question I've asked before: would you buy a team book that was Alpha Flight in all but name? Meaning that all the characters were Alphans, it's set in Canada, all the usual suspects (Dept. H, Weapon X, known villains, etc.) were in it, but it was called Avengers North or the Canadian Shield or anything else other than "Alpha Flight?"
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