Quote Originally Posted by beetleblack
HOWEVER at the end of the day, we read it and loved it and it meant something to us and just because he wasn't happy with it doesn't mean that we have to change our opinions. For me (and I'm guessing for pretty much most of you) the characters were rounded and REAL and the stories were produced well and illistrated beautifully. And who knows, people's attitudes change - just because he has one opinion of AF at the moment does not mean that he will always have this opinion - maybe in years to come he will come to see his work on AF with a new light. Only time will tell, I guess...
Abso-friggin'-lutely.

I have to admit, though, I don't see anything so bad about some of Byrne's comments...the first part is true enough: Alpha never really had a uniting theme like a good many other super-hero teams. They were just a group of Canadians super-heroes whose only purpose for creation was to beat-up the X-Men for a couple of issues. I can understand why a writer would less than thrilled to be assigned them. I also won't argue with his lack of enthusiasm regarding the later incarnations of the team -- most of the uniqueness of AF had long since been squandered and they looked like a typical (and not very well done) super-hero team.

The middle section of his comment however, comes across as Byrne either being too critical of his own work (if you want to take it nicely) or just *****ing because the enduring popularity of his take on the the team doesn't vindicate his reluctance to work on the book in the first place. It's a shame either way, because the team's lack of unification and general oddness was what made Byrne's AF run memorible. Alpha Flight was one of the most screwed up teams in Marvel's history and that's what made it interesting -- they had no goal in common, they were just government employees thrown together and it showed! Half the time, they could barely stand each other (Northstar ticking off everyone, including his own sister eventually, Talisman's grudges again Shaman, Sasquatch picking on Puck's height, Snowbird's seeming indifference towards everyone except Shaman, poor Marinna nearly gutting Puck, Heather's grief and self-loathing after Mac's death) and the other half they were desperately in love/lust with each other (Puck/Heather, Aurora/Sasquatch, Mac/Heather). It was a train wreck, but it was great to watch.

If the writer doesn't/won't see the merit of his own work, that's a shame, but once it's on the shelves, it's out of his hands and his opinion really doesn't matter that much.

Suzene