Will Marvel teams include us?

[Loki]

"Well, I suppose you could make leather out of their skins and use the blood for ink, but it's a pretty gross and cruel thing to do"

Hey, if you're going to quote me, then it wouldn't hurt to quote the actual question I was replying to, so you can see my reply in context. What you said exactly was

I would like to see ALPHA FLIGHT be made into a handbook!

Plus you missed out the emoticon in my reply. It was a joke.

Don't worry, I took it as a joke. What else can you expect from the Trickster?
I'm sure -most- of us got that you were joking. I've just decided I can speak for most of us.
(But seeing the actual question helps.)

I have to apologise to maniac mike though. I knew what he actually meant, but at the time tiredness meant that sarky bit of me kicked in which answers questions like "Do you have the time?" by glancing at my watch and replying "Yes, I do, thanks for checking."

Oh, and the promotion thing? A lot of people on this list have been lamenting the lack of publicity for the last series of AF. Some say it's the lack of promotion that killed the latest Alpha Flight series. (Me, I'm in the 'it was the lack of -Alpha Flight- that killed the last two Alpha Flight series' camp.)
Long time readers should recognise that immediately, but I imagine you're a little... lost about it. As long as you're not lost on an island with a giant monster trying to eat you...

I'd have to agree that the lack of the recognisable Alpha Flight didn't help. If I were trying to relaunch a team series (any team series), I think I'd start with whatever membership had been the most popular (and thus hopefully the best selling), and once the title had established itself, then think about introducing all new members. Otherwise you lose the value of having an existing fan base, and you might as well be doing a brand new series with a brand new name. But what do I know?

And, though he is overexposed these days, if sales needed boosting, Alpha Flight is the one title where you can legitimately bring in Wolverine as a guest star without it feeling like you are just shoe-horning him in.

[Loki]

Heh, I loved the Big Hero 6 bio, I reckon 99% of Marvel fans have never even heard of 'em

Heh, if 99% hadn't heard of Big Hero Six, then how many knew about Euroforce? That'll get anyone who says "Why do we need Handbooks? Everything you get in a Handbook can be found online for free."

[cmdrkoenig67]

I'd have to agree that the lack of the recognisable Alpha Flight didn't help. If I were trying to relaunch a team series (any team series), I think I'd start with whatever membership had been the most popular (and thus hopefully the best selling), and once the title had established itself, then think about introducing all new members. Otherwise you lose the value of having an existing fan base, and you might as well be doing a brand new series with a brand new name. But what do I know?

And, though he is overexposed these days, if sales needed boosting, Alpha Flight is the one title where you can legitimately bring in Wolverine as a guest star without it feeling like you are just shoe-horning him in.

I agree with you 100%, Alpha Flight should definintely be classic to start with and Wolverine as guest star in the first story arc(as long as it was well written) could really help AF start off with a bang and great sales.

Wolvie has very close ties to the folks in AF, I see no problem in him being there to welcome them back to publication. Maybe a Wolverine/Weapon X crossover would be a good start?

Dana

[rplass]

I thought that the entry in the hardcover X-Men Encyclopedia for Alpha Flight was really good. So if you combine that with the new OHOTMU:2K5T issue for the new stuff, it's pretty well-rounded. It's a shame you can't get it all in one place. So my recommendation is to get both and just read it together in one setting as if it were a single entry to get the best condensed info for Alpha Flight.

Well, since most of the entry was specifically for Alpha Flight vol.3, and by the time the book was published, vol.3 had already been canceled, I feel fortunate that Alpha Flight was given a page at all in this handbook. I didn't have the sense that Marvel was trying to promote the title, since it had already been canceled and there were no newsstand sales to promote [beyond the TPB's], but rather, Marvel chose to include the group just for the reason that it's a significant team in the Marvel Universe, so it felt like a "purer" entry. Would Power Pack have been given 2pages in such a book if it were published in 2003? Who knows? Would Alpha Flight have been included if it were published in 2006 without a relaunch to vol.4?

With so many constraints on the new handbook writers, I feel that they did the best job they could with the little space they had. Basically, they summarized a little bit of the original, and then summarized the two story arcs of vol. 3. Of course, the opening splash page in the handbook with the cover art from New Avengers could have been removed to make a 2nd Alpha Flight page. That was really an odd thing to include because New Avengers AIN'T in the handbook!!!

My only complaint about this issue is that the characters shown in the pictures are not identified. I wish there were little labels or tags on top of the pictures identifying each character by name because I just don't know who is who, even after reading the "OFFICIAL HANDBOOK", and that's just not right. I mean, if I'm going to spend $3.99 on a handbook, I shouldn't be scratching my head and wondering who some character is on page so-and-so wearing a green costume, etc. and then go onto the Internet to find out for myself. It should tell me without having to go spend more time looking up stuff somewhere else.

Love,
rplass

[Loki]

I thought that the entry in the hardcover X-Men Encyclopedia for Alpha Flight was really good. So if you combine that with the new OHOTMU:2K5T issue for the new stuff, it's pretty well-rounded. It's a shame you can't get it all in one place. So my recommendation is to get both and just read it together in one setting as if it were a single entry to get the best condensed info for Alpha Flight.

Probably not a bad recommendation - or if the X-Men Encyclopedia is a bit pricey for you, get the Wolverine Handbook and use the entry there instead.

Well, since most of the entry was specifically for Alpha Flight vol.3, and by the time the book was published, vol.3 had already been canceled, I feel fortunate that Alpha Flight was given a page at all in this handbook. I didn't have the sense that Marvel was trying to promote the title, since it had already been canceled and there were no newsstand sales to promote [beyond the TPB's], but rather, Marvel chose to include the group just for the reason that it's a significant team in the Marvel Universe, so it felt like a "purer" entry.

We the writers included entries such as the Champions of L.A. and All-Winners Squad because they were "significant teams", but part (not all - they are a significant team) of our reasoning for including Alpha again so soon after their entry in the Wolverine book was to hopefully promote the new series. Some of the guys in the Marvel offices presumably knew about the imminent cancellation when we were putting the book together, so ironically, it was Marvel who wanted them in for "purer" reasons than us.

Would Power Pack have been given 2pages in such a book if it were published in 2003? Who knows?

Possibly - they'd have gotten at least one page, I'm sure, but it didn't hurt their case that a new mini-series was due.

Would Alpha Flight have been included if it were published in 2006 without a relaunch to vol.4?

Quite possibly not - though they are important, we didn't include the Invaders again after their appearance in Golden Age Handbook. Alpha might have fallen into that same category.

With so many constraints on the new handbook writers, I feel that they did the best job they could with the little space they had. Basically, they summarized a little bit of the original, and then summarized the two story arcs of vol. 3. Of course, the opening splash page in the handbook with the cover art from New Avengers could have been removed to make a 2nd Alpha Flight page. That was really an odd thing to include because New Avengers AIN'T in the handbook!!!

Well, they are mentioned in the last paragraph of the Avengers entry.

My only complaint about this issue is that the characters shown in the pictures are not identified. I wish there were little labels or tags on top of the pictures identifying each character by name because I just don't know who is who, even after reading the "OFFICIAL HANDBOOK", and that's just not right. I mean, if I'm going to spend $3.99 on a handbook, I shouldn't be scratching my head and wondering who some character is on page so-and-so wearing a green costume, etc. and then go onto the Internet to find out for myself. It should tell me without having to go spend more time looking up stuff somewhere else.

A valid point, imo, and I'll pass it on as a suggestion - I'm fairly sure some of the writers brought up similar suggestions (we ruled out doing the old roster headshots for this book, because otherwise the X-Men would take the entire book on their own ), but having it come from a buyer might lend extra weight to the case for labelling.

[HappyCanuck]

(we ruled out doing the old roster headshots for this book, because otherwise the X-Men would take the entire book on their own )

Not to mention you'd have to dedicate an entire page to Hank Pym's headshots alone!

by the way, I should spend a couple of seconds and thank you myself (I know almost everyone else has so far, but this is something that can't be reiterated enough) for your imput Loki. It's nice to know the 'big boys' like you and Clay (and even Scott at the beginning) are taking time out of your days to talk to the fans. It's greatly appreciated.