Pick up an issue from #1-6.
It doesn't matter which one, any will do.
Check the title.
It clearly states "The All New, All Different Alpha Flight."
It's not like you weren't warned.

Y'know what I loved about Byrne's Alpha run?
The humour. The disfucntionality.
The times when Judd and Walt would fight.
The times when Northstar would be obnoxious.
The times when the teams roster would be in flux and disrupt.
The personality and characterisation.

If I just wanted "action" back then I'd have got any other book on the stand.
And that still stands to this day.
There are x hundred books out there today(x probably being quite apt).
ANADAF fills a spot that no-others do, for me.
It HAS characterisation - for me a rare thing in Marvel these days.
It HAS emotion, it has disfunctionality, it has obnoxiousness.
For me it IS Alpha Flight, in book alone.

Yes it doesn't have all the original cast.
But is that a bad thing?
If it did, you'd all be shooting down Scott for ruining your favourite characters.
So, Scott has constructed a (virtually) new cast.
New characters, new personalities, new people.
BUT he's kept the spirit of AF alive in them.
(This is where Vol.2 failed in my eyes. Ultimate Dept. H maybe. But there was no Byrne era spirit in it for me. I still enjoyed it and think highly of it, but I prefer Vol.3 so far)

The cover image to #2 came out online and in preview catalogues before #1 was on sale.
Is there anyone alive who saw it and was expecting a serious Watchmen-esque title?
Anyone?
Please raise your hands now.

I haven't read Watchmen.
I don't plan to.
I'm pig-sick of books being compared to it.
I don't enjoy The Authority.
It bores me.
I come to comics for escapism.
If I want politics I'll go elsewhere.
I want something that captures my attention and leaves me waiting for the next issue.

ANADAF suceeds here.

However I don't want a book to be dumbed down.
I don't want to be patronised.

ANADAF suceeds here too. Never once have I felt cheated by it.

What happened to the comics I enjoyed as a child?
The same thing that happened to new comics readers.
They're all gone.

I don't get people who buy books out of loyalty.
To me that's the action of a rabid fanboy - something which I personally cannot stand.
My money is hard earnt.
Why the hell would I spend it on something I hate?
%$£& loyalty.

Go back and read #1's 1-6 together in one sitting.
The humour works a lot better.
It flows easier, and the tricks such as the mirrored panel makes a lot more sense.
Maybe it's Marvel's TPB program that defined the length of this storyline to be 6 issues.
I'm not saying Scott's stretched it out or anything, but it does tend to read better as a whole.
That's Marvel's perogative as a business.
Doing the best it can to reach out and get new readers, without compromising the old ones, which is never a bad thing.
And ultimately make money.
If Scott, and Marvel itself, get money from my enjoyment of this title, then so what?
I'm quite prepared to pay for my satisfaction in this respect.
If you aren't - don't.
%&*$ all this clichéd rabid foaming internet fanboy *&%^ about you have a right to ***** and moan and slander and slate as soon as you lay down your cash.
You chose to buy it, you live with it.
Don't go telling other people what they should and shouldn't be reading and enjoying.
If you hate the book and are just wanting to slate it for the sake of it, *%$^ off and be unconstructive elsewhere.

This forum is a place for constructive discussion.
Not forcing your viewpoint on other people.

And with that, I invite people to pick out their favourite moments from the arc.

Mine - Nemesis cowering at the pure good that was MMLJnr.