It keeps growing

[Mokole]

You know, I keep finding more Alpha Flight fans when I troll the 'net. And yes, there are fans of Byrne, fans of v2, fans of v3. Overwhelmingly people want Alpha Flight back, mostly with the Byrne team in charge but a young character to either be a follower or groom as the new Guardian. Doug has another poll up at boardhost about what kind of AF book to write, I voted superheroics. But covert would be fine by me too, as long as it had action too. Varo has a good idea, Hudsons run the team but a new young Guardian wears the colours, maybe a mutant or mystic methinks. Such a groundswell if they'd just put out noise that AF is coming back soon!

Hard to imagine why ol' Quesada keeps ignoring the obvious

[-K-M-]

With my respect thread at the other board, a lot of people are now more interested in Alpha Flight and they have a new found respect for them. I would love for them to come back, but when I think of Guardian I can't think of anyone else who could fill it's role other than Mac or Heather. It all depends on the writer though.

[Mokole]

King_Mungi, you have done a great job! Thank you! \/

I just have so much faith that Alpha Flight will be back in less than 18 months if we can get Marvel to listen to all the fans!

[birdygirl]

From what I've seen also, respect for --and interest in-- Alpha Flight IS growing. This even extends to merchandise, with the Snowbird bust and TWO Sasquatch busts. I hope Marvel is taking notice, and eventually starts a fourth series.

But Alpha Flight volume 4 would have to be done RIGHT! In other words, the team would have to be treated with dignity. No more treating them as if they're a bad joke, or second-stringers.

[sengsterooney]

I think the main reason Alpha has struggled is because it has never been able to find a style or niche since Vol 1. Seagle attempted the conspiracy angle in Vol 2, which worked but got old too fast. By the time that was semi-resolved, the tone of the book had changed due to Duncan Rouleau coming on board. His style was not suited for a title which attempted to deal with 'darker' themes. The zombies from the Brass Bishop issues were laughable.

While I haven't read Vol 3, it seems to be that Lobdell trying to do a Giffen JLA/JLE thing with AF just didn't work. Introducing a cast of 2nd rate characters seems to have alienated core AF fans, and comic storylines just don't have the OOMPH for longevity.

I think what made AF work in the early Byrne years, and also in the later Furman years (and some the Hudnall years) was the fact that it was a tight-knit team (shades of a family) but that the storylines were HUGE and DRAMATIC. Who can forget Tundra rising out of the earth in #1, or some of Furman's storylines eg. Wyre, the Master of the World reborn. There was a fine tension between epic storylines and internal team dynamics/angst. Apart from the X-books, I doubt that there's another Marvel team that has this angle (and I don't get the feeling from the X-books Ihave read that the characters are as connected with each other anymore).

I think for AF to work, writers need to look at what made it tick in the first place and what draws core fans to the series and characters. Quite clearly, there are favourites who remain favourites for a long time - Heather, Northstar, Sasquatch and Puck - and a possible new series will need to look at integrating these characters back into the AF fold.