Not so positive review of OF#4 on CBR...

[Captain Primate]

The "Buy Pile" Column isn't that kind to Omega Flight #4:

The new Guardian makes a very impressive visual show of force in "Omega Flight" #4 but a lot of weird stuff made this less than good. For example, take accepting on the surface that the Wrecking Crew tossed in their lot with these Great Beasts ... suddenly starting to talk much more intelligently in the bargain? That doesn't add up. Then there's that business with Sasquatch ... and the fact that the art work seems all hasty and sketchily rendered. Nah.

(http://comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=22)

Too bad. I hope we get some positive reviews soon.

[Dfense75]

While the review is certainly negative. I appreciate the fact they are giving employment to ***** *******.

[varo]

yeah, i read that. seems like he's not exactly up on his alpha history, and is injecting his opinion of what michael should be rather than the issue itself.

i'd say 90% of what i have read in the forums has been positive though.

[Captain Primate]

yeah, i read that. seems like he's not exactly up on his alpha history, and is injecting his opinion of what michael should be rather than the issue itself.

i'd say 90% of what i have read in the forums has been positive though.

Ultimately, all I think that matters are sales...at least when it comes to the mini being turned into an ongoing. So, we just have to root for good sales (hopefully another sell out), and I think we've got a good chance.

[Transmetropolitan]

I'm wondering if he read the same issue I did- since I thought this the best OF to date.

[SephirothsKiller]

We also got this delicious tidbit from that article though, so take what they say with a grain of salt:

The Liberal Avengers, er "New Avengers" spend most of their 32nd issue yammering on about Skrull-minded conspiracies (it was like Al Franken was writing Wolverine's diatribe, which is worth torrenting just to make a desktop background out of it)

Its like the reviewer just had a whole bunch of words and names and adjectives like "good, sloppy, liberal, doesn't make sense, drawing" all in a spinnable bingo globe and just pulled them out one by one.

[sdf2501]

The problem with this issue is that it isn't as accessible as it could be to people who don't know much about Flight folklore. For example, if you've never read the original Alpha Flight, you'd have no idea what a "Great Beast" is or what the significance is in this situation so that impact is lost. The same with Tanaraq and hence the confusion with why Sasquatch is doing what he's doing. To a new person not knowing anything about Flight history, these things don't mean much right now.

I'm hoping that when it becomes ongoing, the staff will be allowed to put more effort to educate all the new readers that they're going to get regarding all the things about Flight history that readers like us take for granted.

[Dfense75]

The problem with this issue is that it isn't as accessible as it could be to people who don't know much about Flight folklore. For example, if you've never read the original Alpha Flight, you'd have no idea what a "Great Beast" is or what the significance is in this situation so that impact is lost. The same with Tanaraq and hence the confusion with why Sasquatch is doing what he's doing. To a new person not knowing anything about Flight history, these things don't mean much right now.

I'm hoping that when it becomes ongoing, the staff will be allowed to put more effort to educate all the new readers that they're going to get regarding all the things about Flight history that readers like us take for granted.

Welcome to the forums. IMO I love when everything is not painted out. Anyone jumping on to Omega on some level should know that this is the newest version of Alpha Flight. That being that. There is nothing stopping that person from doing a little research. Whether it be here or a Wikipedia. Not everything needs to be spelled out to enjoy a story. Going back and learning about the history of something that has a long backround is part of the fun of comics. If every story, mini or otherwise needs to be written to make sure new readers get it than your limiting yourself. Comics are the 1950's movie serials of today. The Marvel universe and Alpha Flight have a rich history to pull stories from. That is half the fun.

[SephirothsKiller]

Welcome to the forums. IMO I love when everything is not painted out.

I.E. The "Show don't tell." Rule of thumb. But you can't really show 20 year old backstory.

[cmdrkoenig67]

The problem with this issue is that it isn't as accessible as it could be to people who don't know much about Flight folklore. For example, if you've never read the original Alpha Flight, you'd have no idea what a "Great Beast" is or what the significance is in this situation so that impact is lost. The same with Tanaraq and hence the confusion with why Sasquatch is doing what he's doing. To a new person not knowing anything about Flight history, these things don't mean much right now.

I agree (and welcome)...There is virtually no background given of the Great Beasts (or even much for Alpha Flight, for that matter) in any of these issues...That's not good. It's like saying to a new reader..."These are your heroes and these are your villains, I know you haven't met them, but get used to it...You're not getting anything else"....It's very unfriendly to new readers. It caters only to established AF/BRB/Arachne and USAgent fans.

I'm hoping that when it becomes ongoing, the staff will be allowed to put more effort to educate all the new readers that they're going to get regarding all the things about Flight history that readers like us take for granted.

Unfortunately,NOW is the time to hook new readers and educate them about AF, Great Beasts, etc...Not once and ongoing starts...By then, it's too late. I'm just noticing how very vague this whole series has been on the details...Unless you're a veteran, you're going to be hopelessly lost.

Dana

[Legerd]

You have to wonder if some of what Oeming had to cut out, to make the switch from ongoing to mini, was a lot of the info and backstory that could have gotten new readers up to speed. Just a guess though.

Welcome to Alpha Waves sdf2501!

[cmdrkoenig67]

Welcome to the forums. IMO I love when everything is not painted out.

I.E. The "Show don't tell." Rule of thumb. But you can't really show 20 year old backstory.

There is nothing wrong with informative, short recaps and flashbacks to give readers (young and old) a sense of history and some anchoring. If I was a new reader and picked this issue up...I would be at a total loss at who this "Alpha Flight" was that Michael Pointer mentions.

I sometimes feel that comic readers (new and old) are slowly starving to death, but most writers/companies now aren't giving us enough to keep our bellies full (it's one of the reasons why comics don't sell in the 100, 000's and even millions anymore). Compare the comics of now with those of twenty years ago...Back then, we were given near-buffets with every issue, now we're just given appetizers (for far higher prices).

Issue #4 read far too quickly, for my tastes...I don't feel I have to re-read it to see if I missed anything, simply because, there wasn't a lot there...IMO.

BTW...The art was very good.

Dana

[sdf2501]

You have to wonder if some of what Oeming had to cut out, to make the switch from ongoing to mini, was a lot of the info and backstory that could have gotten new readers up to speed. Just a guess though.

Welcome to Alpha Waves sdf2501!

Thanks for the welcomes, everyone! I've lurked for a while now, but felt I had to speak up about this.

As for the length restrictions, I'm sure that had something to do with things.

In my opinion, I think the first issue of the mini worked so well to attract new and old readers because of the pacing. You (relatively) got a lot of backstory in the first issue (ex. learned about Alpha Flight being Canada's team, their demise, the fact that Talisman was the daughter of one of the original members, that Sasquatch is one of the surviving members, etc), while at the same time, a lot of nods to veteran Flight readers (ex. clones).

Of course, we all know that the first issue was in the can way before they knew that they had to cut it down to a mini.

I think that was a shame. Yes, people complained about the pacing being slow, but you need to do that world building in the beginning to ease new readers into it as the payoff usually comes later and is more appreciated.

Now in the last couple issues, the pacing is fast (ex. team slapped together, more action and fighting and less narrative), but the trade-off was a loss of narrative which could have been used to explain a little back story. So if you aren't a Marvel regular, you can't truly appreciate the significance of Michael joining the team and if you didn't follow the original Flight, you might not know where the Wrecking Crew went or why there are 'demons' (i.e. not monsters or super villians) running around Ontario.

It remains to be seen if many of the 'casual' readers will stick with the Flight when it becomes ongoing. I hope they do because I'm sure the staff will be able to do greater things with the increase in pages that an ongoing brings.

When it does, I would like to see something similar to the "Alpha Origins" sections in the original series (ex. Omega Origins?) appear for a while that can fill in some of the backstory, not just in the history of the Flight, but also filling in some of the gaps that the mini just couldn't cover.

For example, I would love to read about USAgent's first arrival in Canada. I think there's a lot of potential for humor there. I'd also like to see a little more backstory on Michael and how he ended up where he was. From his career as a mailman (or how he became a mailman in the first place), to how he got possessed, and more detail on how he killed Alpha Flight (to be honest, I haven't followed Marvel since the last Alpha Flight series, so I honestly have no idea about House of M and the stuff afterwards). I'd love to learn more about Talisman and what she's been up to between Flights. A primer on the original Alpha Flight would make for a great story, as well. You could even show it as a briefing meeting between Iron Man, Arachne and USAgent before they go up to Canada.

With the availability to tell more stories and narrative that an ongoing brings, I'm excited to see what the staff can show us in the vein of the first issue, and hope that new readers will stick with it. I'm sure the hype that will come with the same kind of excellent writing that initially attracted the new readers will entice more people to come back, if they don't initially pick up the new ongoing. In that case, it might be better to start with #1 to show everyone that it really is a new beginning.

[Rook]

After reading Hannibal Tabu's 'Buy Pile' I went out and got the Deadpool/GLI Summer Fun thing that he raved about.

It was poop. The guy doesn't know from good comics.

And someone made a point about comics being slow to come out, which I have an opinion about...

In the old days, like when Stan and Jack were doing their thing, no one ever thought that people would still be reading these stories or caring about these characters fifty years later. They were just diving into it and putting it out there are moving on. Sometimes the art was not so good, and sometimes the stories were a bit - um - bad...?

Nowadays, publishers are going for quality over quantity, and that's not a bad thing. My bookshelf has copies of comics that I am going to be reading over and over again. I have all the issues of Omega Flight, and I'll be getting the trade paperback, and a few years from now, I won't really remember if it took an extra month or so for an issue of it to come out. If it takes a bit longer to make something good, then so be it.

[Mokole]

I have no problem with them not explaining the Great Beasts. After all, it's hard to give backstories on every character and some you just have to know (it's not like the Beasts haven't been around, check Wolverine for ex.). Like anyone knew who Negasonic Teenage Drag Queen or whatever that character was??

Sometimes, you just have to know or check the 'net if it matters.