Alpha Flight Villains...

[kozzi24]

Tech-Noir, Brain-Drain, Miss Mass, Strongarm, Sinew and Bile?

This team was for me the absolute worst aspect of Simon Furman's otherwise enjoyable run. Brain Drain was pre-existing and was the most interesting of the lot. All derivitive characters, expecially Miss Mass from Pink Pearl and Bile from Pestilence. Then there's an ultra-90's hot cyborg chick and pretty forgettable token strong character and token beserker.

And the team Furman created for the Northstar LS was just as bad for me, for the same reason as the original Gamma Flight: Look, a team custom made for Alpha to kick their buts: big hairy creature for Sasquatch, twins for the twins, guy in tech suit to fight Guardian....

Some of the villains are best forgotten.

[Le Messor]

Brain Drain was pre-existing and was the most interesting of the lot. All derivitive characters, expecially Miss Mass from Pink Pearl and Bile from Pestilence. Then there's an ultra-90's hot cyborg chick and pretty forgettable token strong character and token beserker...
And the team Furman created for the Northstar LS was just as bad for me, for the same reason as the original Gamma Flight: Look, a team custom made for Alpha to kick their buts: big hairy creature for Sasquatch, twins for the twins, guy in tech suit to fight Guardian....
Some of the villains are best forgotten.

Actually, what 'annoys' me about the ones you've just listed is that they are so very forgettable... so I guess it works out! Yay!

- Le Messor
Xander: "Here's your cup of coffee, brewed from the finest Colombian lighter fluid."
Giles: "Thank you." Giles takes a sip. "Horrible." Takes another sip.

Xander: "Aren't you supposed to be drinking tea anyway?"
Giles: "Tea is soothing. I wish to be tense."
Xander: "Okay. But you are destroying a perfectly good cultural stereotype here."

[jay042]

Weapon PRIME was the Liefeldian re-imagining of Alpha Flight, so there's your problem right there. Furman was just following the unfortunate trend.

The earlier comments about Delphine Courtney and whether she could come back make me wonder a bit about her origin. She was an enigma that really was never properly answered. Who created her? Was it Roxxon? Conceivably there could be another copy of her somewhere.

Roxxon itself might be a good option for villains, we know they had an interest in the Guardian suit technology, maybe that's a thread that could be revived.

[Flightpath07]

Who created her? Was it Roxxon? Conceivably there could be another copy of her somewhere.

I agree with you, but just on principle just the word "copy" makes me nervous - think what sort of hysterics it sends Marvel into! (Although, truth be told, they created this mess by allowing things to happen in Volume 3 that never should have passed by the editors...)

What is amusing to me is that the main thing that Marvel and Alpha Flight have in common is creating their own "worst"s - Alpha Flight creates its own worst villains, while Marvel creates its own worst problems with some of the crap they put out and then they blame it on the characters or on the fans!

[Le Messor]

... then they blame it on the characters or on the fans!

There's this whole trend for creators and companies and other fans to make fun of 'fanboys', especially anyone who gets passionate about their comics.

Isn't that the point? Isn't that the whole point of comics, to create characters we care about? So why get mad at us when it works?

- Le Messor
"I can't call this guy 'Batman' anymore. From now on, I'll call him Crazy Steve."
- Linkara, reviewing Frank Miller's All Star Crazy Steve and Dick Grayson, Age Twelve...
I mean, All Star Batman and Robin

[suzene]

There's this whole trend for creators and companies and other fans to make fun of 'fanboys', especially anyone who gets passionate about their comics.

Isn't that the point? Isn't that the whole point of comics, to create characters we care about? So why get mad at us when it works?

An excess of defensiveness stemming from a sublimated self-loathing, perhaps -- resentment and embarrassment that they're "just" writing comics instead of a more respected literary field. I notice a lot less of this attitude in people who are coming into comics from other fields as opposed to the "professional fans" like Joe Quesada.

[Le Messor]

An excess of defensiveness... resentment and embarrassment that they're "just" writing comics instead of a more respected literary field...

Hmm... That's a new thought.
I'd always figured it was defensiveness over getting 'caught out' tearing apart 'our' characters, or giving us in-name-only garbage and telling us to like it (because it has that name), but you make a good point.

- Le Messor
"He's suffering from Anal-Cranial Inversion!"

[suzene]

Hmm... That's a new thought.
I'd always figured it was defensiveness over getting 'caught out' tearing apart 'our' characters, or giving us in-name-only garbage and telling us to like it (because it has that name), but you make a good point.

When Joey Q took over as EIC, he addressed himself to a bunch of comic book retailers -- his company's primary customers -- in a talk that essentially lead off with, "Look, I know we're all embarrassed to be working in comics..."

There's not enough in the world to cover that.

[cmdrkoenig67]

This team was for me the absolute worst aspect of Simon Furman's otherwise enjoyable run. Brain Drain was pre-existing and was the most interesting of the lot. All derivitive characters, expecially Miss Mass from Pink Pearl and Bile from Pestilence. Then there's an ultra-90's hot cyborg chick and pretty forgettable token strong character and token beserker.

I wasn't a big fan of them or anything...I was just merely suggesting more possibilities for building a villain cast. I went for characters they've faced before.

And the team Furman created for the Northstar LS was just as bad for me, for the same reason as the original Gamma Flight: Look, a team custom made for Alpha to kick their buts: big hairy creature for Sasquatch, twins for the twins, guy in tech suit to fight Guardian....

Some of the villains are best forgotten.

As Jay mentioned...Those are Rob Liefeld characters (Weapon P.R.I.M.E.)...Although, Arcade's villainous crew was laaaamme!

Dana

[cmdrkoenig67]

There's this whole trend for creators and companies and other fans to make fun of 'fanboys', especially anyone who gets passionate about their comics.

Isn't that the point? Isn't that the whole point of comics, to create characters we care about? So why get mad at us when it works?

- Le Messor
"I can't call this guy 'Batman' anymore. From now on, I'll call him Crazy Steve."
- Linkara, reviewing Frank Miller's All Star Crazy Steve and Dick Grayson, Age Twelve...
I mean, All Star Batman and Robin

I totally agree, Mik...That's a very good point.

Dana

[DIGGER]

When Joey Q took over as EIC, he addressed himself to a bunch of comic book retailers -- his company's primary customers -- in a talk that essentially lead off with, "Look, I know we're all embarrassed to be working in comics..."

There's not enough in the world to cover that.

I sure hope Joey Q was a'dressed when he talked to a bunch of retailers otherwise that could have been a nightmare for everyone! Regarding Courtney, didn't Jeffries turn her inside out? Jackson could make a comeback as the brain housed in a new Courtney model though because I don't think we ever found out what happened to him after the Box robot was shorted out in issue 12 (at least not to my recollection).

DIGGER

[Flightpath07]

Jackson could make a comeback as the brain housed in a new Courtney model

Oh my...I hope you are referring to Jaxon, and not Michael Jackson.

(although, come to think of it...nah, i ain't gonna go there...)

[ClawMaraud]

Well, there's an idea. Michael Jackson, taken as a template for a villain, would be pure genius. Most would agree that a child molestor would be amongst some of the worst villainous endeavours.

[Le Messor]

When Joey Q took over as EIC, he addressed himself to a bunch of comic book retailers -- his company's primary customers -- in a talk that essentially lead off with, "Look, I know we're all embarrassed to be working in comics..."

And here I was just annoyed at him for his 'tude about Alpha Flight.
Turns out, he's a jerk.

Still, that does explain a lot about how comics, especially Marvel, are going these days.

- Le Messor
Calvin: Hey Hobbes, what's a "paper tiger"?
Hobbes: It's like a paper boy. You know, a tiger with a newspaper route.
Calvin: Oh. This book makes no sense at all.

[DIGGER]

Oh my...I hope you are referring to Jaxon, and not Michael Jackson.

(although, come to think of it...nah, i ain't gonna go there...)

Yeah, yeah I really meant to spell it Jaxon. It couldn't be M.J. because then he would have to come out of hiding because he really isn't dead. The photos they showed on t.v. and in all the papers clearly show a wax dummy it didn't look like a real person at all. Sorry F.P., I went there so you don't have to.

DIGGER