In Praise Of Mantlo (Yeah, I Know)

[DelBubs]

I've just watched an excellent documentary on television. It was about Franklin and the ill fated search for the North West passage. Of course William Crozier was mentioned and I immediately thought of Pestilence.

Now any Alpha fan will know the general consensus when it comes to Mantlo's tenure on the book. I'm not going to touch on that, I am just going to say that no matter what else he did, he created two excellent villians in the Dream Queen and Pestilence. IMHO they both rank up there with 'The Master', 'Jaxxon', 'Omega Flight' and any other you care to mention, as alpha's greatest adversaries.

So nermally being a person who reaches for the barf bag when Mantlo is mentioned in regards to Alpha, I thought I'd give the bloke some kudos and say, I hope to see them both again somday causing grief for Alpha.

[Legerd]

While I like the Dream Queen, I hated Pestilence! Yes, kudos to Mantlo for his historical research, but as for how Pesty got his powers... did you mention something about a barf bag?

[cmdrkoenig67]

I've just watched an excellent documentary on television. It was about Franklin and the ill fated search for the North West passage. Of course William Crozier was mentioned and I immediately thought of Pestilence.

Now any Alpha fan will know the general consensus when it comes to Mantlo's tenure on the book. I'm not going to touch on that, I am just going to say that no matter what else he did, he created two excellent villians in the Dream Queen and Pestilence. IMHO they both rank up there with 'The Master', 'Jaxxon', 'Omega Flight' and any other you care to mention, as alpha's greatest adversaries.

So nermally being a person who reaches for the barf bag when Mantlo is mentioned in regards to Alpha, I thought I'd give the bloke some kudos and say, I hope to see them both again somday causing grief for Alpha.

I agree with you totally, Del....I think the Dreamqueen and Pestilence are/were very cool(I also love that he brought back Deadly Ernest and Gilded Lily...and handled them quite well too).

Dana

[Ben]

I would have to agree that he did do some good things. I liked that he made Jeffries a real part of the team, that he put Heather in the suit. Though he messed up many existing characters, I did like most of the characters he created, both good and bad.

Ben

[cmdrkoenig67]

Oh...I liked that he put Heather in the suit too(hi Ben )...it just seemed inevitable, even though John Byrne didn't want to go that route...it just seemed as though it were meant to be. I liked Purple Girl/Persuasion(didn't care for Manikin..and still don't), I liked Madison joining the team too(and becoming Box IV).

Dana

[DelBubs]

I seem to recall an episode of Star Trek Voyager called 'The 39ers' (or somthing like that). Amy Johnson I believe was found by the crew on another planet in the Delta Quadrant. Now the whole thing was ludicrous of course, but you could suspend reality enough to enjoy the story. I could do this in regards to Pestilence, the gaping holes in his history where the very things that made me to find the character so fascinating. Of course questions would remain, but to me that's part of the attraction, What makes him so malevolent?

He was at one time a human being, now he's become a being of almost pure evil. I would just like to see him explored more as a character, the Nemesis for Alpha that they seem to have lost.

[Legerd]

He was at one time a human being, now he's become a being of almost pure evil. I would just like to see him explored more as a character, the Nemesis for Alpha that they seem to have lost.

The one bad guy I want to see return would be Smart Alec. Imagine this: Smart Alec's mind survives within a dimension inside the pouch and eventually he finds a body to take over. To survive he studies magic and finds a way back. In his new body AF doesn't recognize him until it's too late. He is out for revenge against Mac and Shaman in particular and AF in general.

[JohnnyCanuck]

Amy Johnson....wasn't she the Pink Power Ranger???

huh? .... off topic....? ...um.. OK just let me think....

Amy would look really hot with horns like the dream queen.

I hated Pesty but on the other hand I own the page where he's ripping Talisman's tiara off.
Dream Queen is top 2 for my Alpha Villians . Night mare is not.

I started reading AF with #27. So I don't share the same animosity that most have for Mantlo's stories. I kinda took them as they came and cringed at the art. As a fresh comic fan I hadn't developed a sense to all the different styles of art and writing so Mantlo's work was alright. until the betas were involved. I thought they kinda bogged down things a bit. I liked the Pesty back story such as there was. Just never really grew on me after that.

well I've rambled

JC

[sengsterooney]

Mantlo did create the Dreamqueen but IMO, James Hudnall made her the evil mama b***h that she was. Mantlo's DQ storyline was basically the DQ infecting the dreams/realities of the Alphans so they were living their nightmares (so to speak).

Unlike Del, I wasn't too impressed with Pestilence. Cool powers, but that purple costume was just too 70s disco for me. You'd think he'd go for something more dramatic and death.

As for giving Heather the costume - nice idea but:

(a) it should've taken longer before she got into the suit (seemed too quick after she spent ages during the Byrne run saying that her leading Alpha will be in a different capacity - despite her getting uber powers in the X/AF crossover by Claremont and Smith)

(b) it ruined her character. She went from being a strong character to one who whined all the time, wanting to prove herself and make 'her' AF bigger and better than Mac's. Too much angst, too much self-doubt and none of the strength of character we knew and loved from the Byrne issues.

I recall reading somewhere (perhaps an interview with Hudnall) that one of Mantlo's main aims when he took over Alpha was to replace it with characters he had created for a team that never took off at Marvel. I guess that accounts for the Purple Girl, Manikin and Laura Dean/Goblyn. Uuuuugggghhhhh!

Seng

[Le Messor]

Okay, one at a time:

DreamQueen is one of my favourite villains -ever-; but then, she appeals to my taste. (I love dreams, and the concepts thereof, even for horror; Freddy Krueger is another of my favourite villains; and she's an unholy cross between him and The Joker.)

I have no feel for Pestilence, and think of him as more of a cypher than a character. Put me down for 'unimpressed'.

Who's Amy Johnson? The woman they found was famous aviator Amelia Earhart. Whose last name I can't spell (but wouldn't it be appropriate if it was Airheart?)

Heather in the suit? Yay to that! But, this is the sound of inevitability.

Mantlo did a couple of good, even great things; and I also like most of his new characters (the others, I just 'meh' away).

- Le Messor
"... and he tossed his head as if he was about to erupt."
-- Robert Jordan, The Dragon Reborn

[birdygirl]

I do think Mantlo had a couple of good ideas: getting the team all together in one spot (Tamarind Island);and Pestilence (a good idea, except for the disappointing conclusion). And the two Annuals were excellent stories.

As I've mentioned (probably ad nauseum), John Byrne seemed to be in favor of having Snowbird get pregnant, and may possibly have gone ahead with this storyline if he had stayed on the book. I'm guessing that the Pestilence aspect was probably Mantlo's idea, though.

The Dream Queen didn't do anything for me, (sorry). And as for the "new" Alpha Flight with the Purple Girl, Manikin, and Goblyn, they might have worked better as a Beta Flight (in training) team. Why did Mantlo feel it was necessary to kill off several classic members in order to utilize his own creations? This killing spree did nothing to enhance these new characters or Mantlo's reputation on the book, IMO. This may be the earliest example of an "all-new, all-different" Alpha Flight team that didn't really take off.

[shaman]

Was it just me or did anyone ever think that pestilence kind of looked like
Doc Brown from Back to the Future. http://www.marveldatabase.com/wiki/i...p/Pestilence_I this link is a good example of what I mean, when I look at him I think
"MARTY!!!! YOU GOTTA GO BACK TO THE FUTURE!!!"

[HappyCanuck]

I noticed that the Pestilence article is a stub for that site. maybe one of us should fill 'er in...

[shaman]

With the information and permission from DMK, the info could be posted in no time

[Barnacle13]

Was it just me or did anyone ever think that pestilence kind of looked like
Doc Brown from Back to the Future. http://www.marveldatabase.com/wiki/i...p/Pestilence_I this link is a good example of what I mean, when I look at him I think
"MARTY!!!! YOU GOTTA GO BACK TO THE FUTURE!!!"

Looks like he's even grabbing his flux capacitor!