Q & A with Scott Lobdell! EXCLUSIVE to ALPHAFLIGHT.NET!

[MAJOR MAPPLE LOB]

Fire away!

The only thing I ask is that you don't ask more than two questions per post! That sounds fair!

And also be forgiving if I don't answer questions that will directly effect/reveal upcoming storylines!

Here, let me start!

Q: Doe is bother you when you read negative reviews?

A: Well, certainly everyone likes to be loved! And I try to look at reviews and take away what I can from them. Sometimes they are helpful -- and other times, they are just mean crybabies who don't like me, and wouldn't like anything I wrote even if my name were Grant Bendis! LOL!

(It's like when you read FRIENDS reveiws, and the reveiwer says "This season was a bad as all the others. You have to admit that they have never been funny and this year proves that they are as unfunny as ever." I want to say "Dude, you hate FRIENDS. Why are you reviewing it?"

That's how I feel sometimes when I read reviews of my work from people that clearly think I blow. It is kind of pointless...either I agree with them that I am Satan-with-a-keyboard...(which I don't) or I sit back and chuckle.

I just read a review that dismisses ALPHA FLIGHT as "camp" (?!?) and then accuses me of not being campy enough? Um...I don't know, when I think of camp, I think of 60s Batman. I don't see any camp in ALPHA FLIGHT. Am I missing something?

There are also reviews that state "Lobdell is trying to be funny here, but he is not even remotely funny -- on that everyone can agree!" Um...I know there are things that make me laugh when I write them. Does that mean they are funny, or that they are not funny? Some people write to me or I talk to someone in a comic book store and say "That line was so funny!" or "I laughed when Mapleleaf aks 'Who wants to ride some Thunder!" Now, does the INFORMED REVIEWER's declaration that I am not funny, never have been, never will be, world without end, amen, compell me to expain that "No. You are wrong. That line about Thunder was not funny. I too, mistook it for funny, until I read a review that pointed out that I only tried to be funny and failed"?

You can see my problem.


Q: You've read the posts! I LOVE THE ORIGNAL ALPHA FLIGHT! Why don't you just bring them back and make me happy?

A: Um...for several reasons, actually.

One reason is that I hate re-launched books that spend the first issue or two trying to catch the audience up on twenty years of continuity that people have missed. Is this to attract OLD READERS who, by and large, have moved on (right out of the comic book stores if the numbers are to be believed) or to alienate NEW READERS who are essentially paying about three dollars to walk in and sit down during the thrid reel of a movie?

I felt the best way to introduce readers into the world of ALPHA FLIGHT was by letting the CHARACTERS be almost as new to the world of ALPHA FLIGHT as the audience.

I remember reading GIANT SIZED X-MEN #1 and being open mouth shocked by it all! Yes, I wanted my ANGEL and ICEMAN and MARVEL GIRL in their BLACK AND YELLOW COSTUMES (no offense to Neal's lime green mini! Woo hoo!)...but here I was, in the world of the X-MEN (mutants sworn to protect a world that fears and hates them) and I rode along with ORORO and PETER and KURT and JOHN and to a lesser degree WOLVERINE, BANSHEE and SUNFIRE...and I found the whole adventure totally exciting! (And so, apparently, did a lot of other people! LOL!)

I can't help thinking if the internet had been around in 76, legions of fans would be posting "It makes absolutely no sense at all to bring in STORM, a weather goddess from Africa. The X-MEN have always been made up of Americans, it makes no sense that Xavier would travel to Africa to get some blue eyed bubble-head who thinks she's a goddess when all he would have to do is pick up the phone and call SCARLET WITCH and QUICKSILVER or even BEAST who is over at the AVENGERS mansion! Also, NIGHTCRAWLER is blue -- BLUE! No X-MEN has ever been any color other than white! The whole point of the X-MEN is that Xavier is tryint to train mutants who can fit into society. It makes no sense that he would ever try to get someone who is blue to be an X-MEN! The stupidest thing of all, though, has to be WOLVERINE! Is that how bad and dumb comic book writing has gotten since the glory days of Stan Lee -- that PROFESSOR X has to recruit HULK VILLAINS?! Dead God -- even if you ignore the fact that he is about five foot four, and his only power is that he wears gloves with unbreakable knives sewn in, the man had WHISKERS SEWN INTO HIS MASK during his first appearance!!!! For these and many other reasons, it is clear that if the writer has any hope at all of succeeding, he had better get rid of all these stupid lame characters and put CYCLOPS and MARVEL GIRL and BEAST and ICEMAN and ANGEL back tpgether NOW! At this rate, tthere is no way UNCANNY X-MEN will even see issue one hundred!"

See where I am going with this...?

Your pal,
Scotty

[Major Mapleleaf Jr]

Well, first of all, let me be the first to welcome you in this post. VERY cool to have you here! Words can't express, in fact!

At any rate, I have a couple of questions for ya:

1.) What CAN you tell us (or me, to be more precise) about Major Mapleleaf that you haven't already?! He's my new favorite character (and yes, I have a bit of a thing for him, too!), and I am dying to know all about him!

2.) Since this is sort of an oddball team, would you consider a cameo or outright full appearance by the Great Lakes Avengers? Imagine the fun they could have!

And on a side note... I am, and always will be, Siena Blaze's number one fan! Thanks for creating her... she was a lot of fun!

[DelBubs]

First off, thanks for doing this Scott (hope you don't mind me calling you Scott ? Right two questions.

1) After the First Flight story came out I read a letters page somewhere that mentioned a second AF special to be called 'The Blooding'. It never saw the light of day, so I was wondering if you could tell us anything about it ?

2) One of the things that us AF fans like to whinge about is how AF is depicted by writers, in Gen X #19, you have Banshee describing AF as 3rd rate Avengers wannabee's, with your obvious enthusiasm for AF, can I take it that what was written in Gen X 19 was just your interpretation of how you believe Banshee would percieve AF?

Oh and in regard to the humour, spot on IMO and I can see where your coming from in regards to the new characters.

Thanks again.

[jay042]

Ok Scott, how about some questions about your run on Alpha Vol. 1


1.) How much difficulty was there in getting #106 through editorial?

2.) You ended your run in the middle of The World Tour storyline. That was just a few months before Marvel started the Infinity War crossovers in all the books. Did that have any affect on your leaving Alpha?

[MAJOR MAPPLE LOB]

Well, first of all, let me be the first to welcome you in this post. VERY cool to have you here! Words can't express, in fact!

At any rate, I have a couple of questions for ya:

1.) What CAN you tell us (or me, to be more precise) about Major Mapleleaf that you haven't already?! He's my new favorite character (and yes, I have a bit of a thing for him, too!), and I am dying to know all about him!

Let's see -- I can tell you he is straight as an arrow. I can tell you...he was not his father's favorite son growing up. I can tell you he never knew his mother, something that he blames on himself...and that this where his ultra-respect for women comes from.

2.) Since this is sort of an oddball team, would you consider a cameo or outright full appearance by the Great Lakes Avengers? Imagine the fun they could have!

I don't really find them all that oddball. I think GLA was always just a joke -- whereas I think ALPHA FLIGHT is a great new team with tons of potential to mix it up with the big guys. If I had my choice of teaming them up with anyone, it would be the FANTASTIC FOUR! Woo hoo! The First Family of American Super Heroes and the First Canadian Super Team!

(That said, I have a tentative time travell story arc planned that will pit them against THE LIBERTY LEGION -- and allow YOUR FAVORITE ALPHA FLIGHT member to team up with his father!)

And on a side note... I am, and always will be, Siena Blaze's number one fan! Thanks for creating her... she was a lot of fun!

Thank you. And interesting side bit...Jim and Whilce had already left the X-MEN by the time I was called on to use Siena in X-MEN UNLIMITED #1, and all I had to go on was the image of her in the back on the X-MEN #1's "Things to come" pin up! What has become of her?

[MAJOR MAPPLE LOB]

[quote="DelBubs"]First off, thanks for doing this Scott (hope you don't mind me calling you Scott ? Right two questions.

Yes you can call me Scott. (But -- doesn't this count as your first question??!? My head hurts!)

1) After the First Flight story came out I read a letters page somewhere that mentioned a second AF special to be called 'The Blooding'. It never saw the light of day, so I was wondering if you could tell us anything about it ?

I am at a loss. I don't know that I was the scheduled writer for that book. I do remember, even then, wanting to explore and expand the ALPHAverse, but I seem to recall that Simon was poised to write that particular book. By the time I had written that first special, I had long been fired from the book -- I remember my editor at the time had inherited the project from the editor that originally hired me. So to answer your question, I have no memory of THE BLODDING storyline. (And, to be honest, it doesn't sound like a title I would come up with. No offense to anyone.)

2) One of the things that us AF fans like to whinge about is how AF is depicted by writers, in Gen X #19, you have Banshee describing AF as 3rd rate Avengers wannabee's, with your obvious enthusiasm for AF, can I take it that what was written in Gen X 19 was just your interpretation of how you believe Banshee would percieve AF?

For sure, that was Banshee's interpratation of ALPHA FLIGHT! (And I think, if I remember, he was under a bit of stress at the time. He was probably grousing a little more than he meant to.) Having said that -- If I were an American (and I am) and I read a comic book here a Canadian super hero said "Pffft! Captain America -- why doesn't he just call himself Arrogant Iconoclast Who Thinks He's The Center Of The World Like All The Rest Of His Pigheaded Fellow Americans!!" I would think "Hey, that's an interesting POV for a Canadian hero to have." I wouldn't get defensive about it -- nor would I presume that this Canadian super hero spoke for all Canadians. (Similarly, remember, Sean is Irish...true, he's a Nashville lovin' former NYPD detective Irishman...but he was born and bred in Ireland just the same. So if he was busting on Alpha Flight it was coming from a POV twice removed from me.

Personally, I love Canada -- rather, what I've seen of it. Last year, while I was there filiming my pilot for the WB, I was certainly very busy -- but I immersed myself in the newspapers every morning, took many walks through the streets of Toronto, and -- as the war was just starting, EVERYONE was more than willing to share their POV on it. So, no, I don't know Canada from sea to shining sea...but then, who does?

(And for the record, anyone who ever beings a sentence /post with "Canadians think that -- " always makes me laugh. It's like when people say "You Americans think that -- " Trust me when I tell you that there is very little that American's all think the same about. And I'm pretty sure Canada is made up of just as many different ways of looking any particular topic.

(It's like When some Cnucklehead complains that peppering Puck's speech with "ehs" is somehow racist stereotyping. The story editor on my pilot, I guess he's around twenty-five, often ended his sentences -- even his mid-sentences -- with "eh". Sometimes he did it on purpose, other times he did it on purpose.

I didn't have the heart to tell him he was a racist stereotype. Could you?

[Ben]

First of all, I want to say that you have a lot of class with the respect you show the fans Scott. Seeing the interaction had made all the hours I've put in around here well worth it!

Now, I suppose I get to ask a question too, eh? After all, I'm am still a fan I'll kill 2 questions with one stone:

Scott, who is your favorite member of Alpha Flight, past, and present. I have an idea of the answer, but I'm just a litte curious.

Ben
(#1 Sasquatch fan)

[MAJOR MAPPLE LOB]

Ok Scott, how about some questions about your run on Alpha Vol. 1


(WHOOPS! Sorry -- you can see I am new to this board! I'll figure out how to better compose these responses in terms of italics and bolds and stuff! So much to learn!

1.) How much difficulty was there in getting #106 through editorial

Not even a little difficult at all. I was asked to come up with an inventory story which could be rushed to the printer in the event the regular artist at the time got behind schedule. I submitted three ideas (One a PUCK story, one a HEATHER/SASQUATCH story, and one NORTHSTAR coming out story. And don't ask me about the other two, I have no memory of the specifics. LOL!) They chose the NORTHSTAR story. And the rest, as they say, is history.

2.) You ended your run in the middle of The World Tour storyline. That was just a few months before Marvel started the Infinity War crossovers in all the books. Did that have any affect on your leaving Alpha?

Not at all (re: INFINITY)...the only reason I left ALPHA was because I was fired.

Here is the scoop:

When Fabian was planning to leave AF for X FORCE or whateve other dozen books he was writing at the time...I was one of about a dozen other writers at the time to submit a proposal for the series. There were, what, like, twenty members of ALPHA FLIGHT at the time? I always thought it was too many people for any ONE character to get the proper attention, and so I -- it turned out -- was the only writer who said "I would scale back the team to five or six characters..."

So I got the series (my first! Woo hoo!) and was having a great time, when my editor BOBBI CHASE struck gold with GHOST RIDER and MARVEL rewarded her by giving the SPIRITS OF VENGEANCE line...which meant she had to pass on the editing chores to a different editor. As LUCK would have it -- the EDITOR who got the book, has submitted his OWN proposal to WRITE the series at the same time I had! So now here he was, jonesing to get all of HIS ideas into the series that I was writing. His first instructions to me were "Bring everyone back!" I was like...um, I think that is a mistake, but I will try. Before I even tried, he called me into his office (the WEEK before ALPHA FLIGHT/NORTHSTAR issue came out) and said "You are just not getting it. You don't have a Canadian voice."

So -- who does he give the series too...? SIMON!!!! Now, Simon is a talented guy, and he's a lot of things, but he is NOT CANADIAN! He's an Englishman! LOL! So now I am being replaced by the an Englishman who sounds more Canadian than I do? Too funny!

A week later, ALPHA FLIGHT/NORTHSTAR comes out...and I'm working on my third issue of X-MEN. So I guess in the end, everything works out the way it is supposed to!

[varo]

thanks for swinging by scott, totally classy move on your part.

my 2 cents.....er.....questions

1) what part of upstate new york you from? i read somewhere that your schools colors were orange and black, i am from warwick originally before i relocated here to sunny florida.

2) i read that alpha was extended another 6 issues, is the series running on a limited 6 issue block contract? and who do you have to beat up......er...negotiate with to ensure that alpha does not meet another untimely/unfair/uncalled for demise. in other words......how does the future look for alpha, and what determines it staying on the shelves for the forseeable future?

[MAJOR MAPPLE LOB]

First of all, I want to say that you have a lot of class with the respect you show the fans Scott. Seeing the interaction had made all the hours I've put in around here well worth it!


Please, Dude - the honor is all mine!

Now, I suppose I get to ask a question too, eh? After all, I'm am still a fan I'll kill 2 questions with one stone:

Scott, who is your favorite member of Alpha Flight, past, and present. I have an idea of the answer, but I'm just a litte curious.

Wow, that is a tough one. There have been so many cool characters over the years! And in some ways, each of the characters have had a lot of different versions of them -- some I've liked more than others.

The Original Pre-Blowed Up Mac?! Hands down one of the greatest characters EVER! Not only was he NOT CAPTAIN AMERICA...he didn't even want to BE NOT CAPTAIN AMERICA! Here was an intellectual guy who created a suit of armor that he fully intented someone else to wear. And his plan had always been for Logan to run the team! And now here he is, a super hero -- with his own team! And a wife?! LOL! Who has a wife in comics?!

POST BLOWED UP MAC? Nah.

PUCK as dwarf? Woo hoo! PUCK as REALLY TALL GUY who SHRINKS REALLY TINY because his tummy hurts because of the DEMON he's keeping inside? Not as woo hoo!

NORTHSTAR as arrogant and defensive? Woo hoo! Guy curently called NORTHSTAR? Wha -- ?!

BYRNE's orginal JEAN MARIE/AURORA?! Was the guy on drugs -- ?! It was one of the coolest characters ever created for comic books!! But even by the time she slipped into her hot yellow mini and was suddenly JEANAURORIE or whatever she was...?! For me, personally, the character had already jumped the shark. But again, that is just me.

So to answer your question...hmm. I don't know that I'm prepared to answer that question, not with the newbies just getting their leaves wet.

I can tell you this though -- NEMESIS is going to surprise a LOT of people! She surprises ME every time she shows up on panel!

ACTUALLY -- THAT REMINDS ME!

HERE IS A VERY FUNNY CONFESSION...and I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M WRITING IT IN PRINT, but I LOVE YOUSE PEOPLE SO MUCh, I'M WILLING TO SHARE...

I have been asked to write ALPHA FLIGHT full script which is something I don't have a LOT of experience in. The deal I have with Ubereditor Mike Marts is that he allows me to touch up the scripts after the art is in to make sure it all accurately reflects what I originally intended during the plotting stage. SOMETIMES...this means that if I get to a point in the script where I know I want to reveal SOMETHING but I'm not sure what, I will just type in a NONSENSE LINE as sort of a BOOKMARK. A way of saying THIS IS OBVIOUSLY NOT WHAT I MEAN TO SAY, IT IS HERE SO THAT I QUESTION IT WHEN THE TIME COMES.

"All the other girls have bunnies" from ISSUE TWO was such a line. I laughed when I wrote it, fully expecting Mike to say "Oh, and change Nemesis' line on this page." But he never did!

So when the script was about to go out, I looked at the page and looked at the dialogue and felt genuine affection for this young woman who is the living embodiment of retribution...and yet, she dreams of bunnies. How can you not LOVE a girl like that?!

So I left it in!

Ben
(#1 Sasquatch fan)

[kozzi24]

Hiya
1. Any plans for Northstar now that's he's been lost in the reload shuffle?

2. If your plans develop, will you use both Heather and Mac in Guardian battlesuits, Heather in the Volcanic Vindicator suit, or one of the two a stay-at-home parent?

[skullogeist]

Hi Mr. Lobdell!

I'm a long time ALPHA FLIGHT fan but an even bigger BIG HERO 6 fan (I'm the nut-job who created a Big Hero 6 fan page way back in 1998 when the team first debuted!). I just joined this forum yesterday when I learned that Big Hero 6 is making a cameo in ALPHA FLIGHT #9. Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to it, and especially looking forward to Clayton Henry's renditions of GoGo Tomago, Baymax, and the rest!

I'm also a contributor to the online Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe and I'm in the process of writing in-depth handbook-style profiles for Big Hero 6 and its more obscure members and villains (basically everyone except Sunfire and Silver Samurai) so that everyone will be aware of everything there is to know about the team (including their cameo in THUNDERBOLTS #25) by the time issue #9 rolls around.

So my question is this . . . around the time the SUNFIRE & BIG HERO 6 limited series came out, there was a preview pic posted on the web that I don't recall ever seeing published in a comic. It looks like it may have been a scrapped cover image. I saved a copy of it, which can be found HERE. It's kind of small and I can't make out the colorist's signature, although several of the characters seem to be colored differently than they were in the comic. Do you know where this image came from? And, more importantly, do you know who was the colorist (I believe I can make out penciler Gus Vasquez's signature)? I would really like to get my hands on a larger scan of this image so that I can use it in the Big Hero 6 group profile I'm writing.

Well, thanks for your time, Mr. Lobdell. I'm really enjoying the latest volume of ALPHA FLIGHT -- both on account of your writing and Mr. Henry's fantastic art. Although it seems to be paced a little slow at times, I'm sure the action will pick up once we are introduced to the new team members. Keep up the excellent work!

Oh, and here are a few profiles you may be interested in:
Major Mapleleaf
Saint Elmo
The Grip (I hope to see these guys turn up in the upcoming INVADERS series!)
The Kinsmen
Billie Lumpkin
Enjoy!!

[syvalois]

BYRNE's orginal JEAN MARIE/AURORA?! Was the guy on drugs -- ?! It was one of the coolest characters ever created for comic books!! But even by the time she slipped into her hot yellow mini and was suddenly JEANAURORIE or whatever she was...?! For me, personally, the character had already jumped the shark. But again, that is just me.

Sorry to say it again but that's Jeanne-Marie, Jean-Marie is a man, which would make a very good name for another personnality


Sylvie

[Nalyd Psycho]

It's funny, I used to want be a late night talk show host, but now I realize, I suck at interviewing.

Anyway, here's my shot.

1) Back in the day you'd often see villains from one title appearing in others, Doom vs The X-Men, Juggernaut vs Spiderman or Hulk or Thor. Even sometimes co-opting a villain from one franchise to another like, Kingpin from Spiderman to Daredevil or Sabertooth from Iron Fist to Wolverine/X-Men. So my question is, will we see any villains appear who are established outside Alpha continuity? (I figure I'm vague enough that you can answer.)

2) When you write a script, do you prefer to write it complete, or as complete as possible and then go over it, or get each scene just right before moving on?

[maniac mike]

Hi Scott, here's my two questions for you..

1) During the "World Tour" story line you had the Master recruit Brain Drain as part of your new Omega Flight, are the rest of the characters that appeared in issue #110 your idea or are they Simon Furman's?

2) How many issues was the "World Tour" supposed to take place, 4, 6 or 8 issues?

Thanks Scott