Spoiler-FULL Chaos War:Alpha Flight Previews/Reviews

[MistressMerr]

Depends on how you count it. As a reader, I don't care how they retcon it - I care about how many times I've been told she's dead, only to later on be told 'Ha, ha, fooled you'. Or the characters have been.

And that's as many as four-tens times. And that's terrible.

Fair enough, but that's true of any character. Everyone gets that trick pulled on them at some point or another, so it shouldn't factor in when putting Jean ahead of everyone else in terms of how many times she's died.

[Le Messor]

Fair enough, but that's true of any character. Everyone gets that trick pulled on them at some point or another, so it shouldn't factor in when putting Jean ahead of everyone else in terms of how many times she's died.

Not everyone has had it as often as Jean, but I think what really gets her her rep is the one big one. The death of Phoenix on the Moon was a huge thing, people were sending flowers to Marvel and everything.
Then she got better.

- Le Messor
"I bet the main reason police keep people away from a plane crash is they don't want anybody walking in and lying down in the debris, then, when somebody comes up, act like they just woke up and go, "What was THAT?!""
~ Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy

[Phil]

Dept H Podcast gives it's views on the issue.

[Ben]

I've never heard such a negative reaction to the early issues.

[Phil]

Yeah, it's odd that all the things he hated about Byrne's issues were the things he loved about the oneshot..

[ClawMaraud]

Yeah, it's odd that all the things he hated about Byrne's issues were the things he loved about the oneshot..

Some people are just dizzy. Without Byrne and his first couple years' run there would be no Alpha Flight as we know it.

[cmdrkoenig67]

I am confused. She never went after Mac, no. But she was the one who picked up Heather from the airport - while the rest of Omega Flight was going after Mac. So she was very much a part of that whole plan, and probably knew what was happening - and being a robot - no doubt, as you said, may have easily gotten the information of how Mac "died" and used it to explain while she was pretending to be Mac, how "Mac survived."

Or am I not understanding entirely? (Which is always possible...)

I meant, since Fabian Nicieza retconned (or "revealed", if you will) Mac to be alive, using the outrageous story that Byrne came up with that Delphine used for his "survival" of the explosion (Mr Byrne has said he came up with the insane story as a clue to Mac's resurrection being a fake)....It doesn't make sense to me that, if Delphine knew Mac was alive and being held at a Roxxon branch (from the info she must have acquired from Roxxon's computers), wouldn't she have gone after him instead of pretending to be him and drawing Alpha Flight to the West Edmonton Mall to have her revenge?

Dana

[cmdrkoenig67]

Dept H Podcast gives it's views on the issue.

I don't get how the young woman is commenting on how badly stereotyped the original Alpha Flight team is, yet a bit earlier in the podcast, she mentions the One-Shot is pretty much the only thing she's read with them in it (she mentions she read a couple of Snowbird stories by Van Lente)...How can she comment on them being stereotypes then? Is she going by hearsay?

Dana

[Twyst]

I should have been more clear, which is a bit of a problem when you have a podcast with friends/relatives, you have an understanding of eachother and eachother's views that the audience might not have. All three of us, my brother, myself and Kalman are Canadian, and my brother and i have lived on the east coast. A lot of stereotypes regarding Canada (not comics) come into play in the early Alpha Flight issues. This is of course related to having American writers making a book easily identifiable and understandable for a wide audience, but within Canada these are/can be sore spots.
I did read the first volume of Byrne's Alpha Flight, and personally, it wasn't for me. However, i do love what Alpha Flight and the characters have become. Northstar is an excellent hero, and it is fantastic to see him getting more panels in X-Men. Like i said, i loved what Van Lente did with Snowbird, and the Aurora Dark Reign issue was the best i have read in a long, long time.
I fully appreciate, and have stated that were it not for the early issues, and the great success that they garnered, we most definitely would not have these characters today, and it is fantastic that sites like this exist, and that the fanbase exists. I have no end of appreciation for that.
(I also should note, that i do not know all the ins and outs and incarnations of the team - i have always been honest about that. Kalman, Matthew and i had talked about Alpha Flight before, and obviously Kalman knows a lot about them, and followed them a lot. While not NEW to comics, i haven't been reading since i was 7 like some fans. And really, it is just my opinion, and may indeed be wrong. I do own the collection somewhere, and will give it a reread, but the characters would be the equivalents of the lobster fisherman from Maine, the mafioso from Boston, the showgirl from Vegas, etc.)

[DIGGER]

I listened to the podcast and I think that I will govern myself accordingly and not comment on what I heard until I calm down a little.........
Okay, the bit about the stereo typing of AF...gee is it any worse than oh, I don't know, the Soviet Super Soldiers (Vostok, Ursa Major et al), or Sunfire and Big Hero Six or even the big one...Captain America! And since I just mentioned Cap, haven't they had two guys wearing that costume at the same time once or twice? Byrne's run on AF gave us characters who were flawed, and yet they could still band together for a common good. It only started to be a problem when other writers took on the title and tried to make changes to the characters that were so out of character. It is okay IMHO to introduce a plot line that has some kind of conflict or a new never before seen aspect of a character as long as the idea fits with what has already been established. I guess what I am saying is that change is okay as long as it makes sense! In order for AF to have longevity it must have familiarity and I think with this one-shot, they have a good start.

DIGGER

[DIGGER]

I do own the collection somewhere, and will give it a reread, but the characters would be the equivalents of the lobster fisherman from Maine, the mafioso from Boston, the showgirl from Vegas, etc.)

Or the equivalent of reading about a blonde haired norseman, a stars and stripes wearing American. soldier, or a rollerskate wearing, strobe light throwing disco music singer, etc. Wait, that's not Alpha Flight, that is the Avengers!

DIGGER

[DIGGER]

I guess what I am trying to say is that almost all if not all characters are a stereo-type in some way or another. Not just the characters is Alpha Flight.

DIGGER

[Twyst]

For sure, a lot of stereotypes occur in comics. That doesnt mean you have to like them tho, right? I think the characters have come a long way, like i said. And of course it hits closer to home when it is your country. I think people from Eastern Europe have every right to roll their eyes at Thor. And Cap has come a long way, like the AF members. And i totally agree that this one-shot is an excellent re-establishment, like i said on the podcast.
But anyway, i know you guys love AF, and my dislike of the early issues is probably going to make it so we cant have a conversation - but i wanted to come and explain a little, so thanks for the time! I have said what i wanted to say

[DIGGER]

For sure, a lot of stereotypes occur in comics. That doesnt mean you have to like them tho, right? I think the characters have come a long way, like i said. And of course it hits closer to home when it is your country. I think people from Eastern Europe have every right to roll their eyes at Thor. And Cap has come a long way, like the AF members. And i totally agree that this one-shot is an excellent re-establishment, like i said on the podcast.
But anyway, i know you guys love AF, and my dislike of the early issues is probably going to make it so we cant have a conversation - but i wanted to come and explain a little, so thanks for the time! I have said what i wanted to say

It doesn`t matter to me if you didn`t like the early issues. I personally could have done without a few of the later issues and storylines in the series. If you liked the stuff later on, great! That just means you have a soft spot for the characters too. By the by, you are always welcome.

DIGGER

[Le Messor]

And really, it is just my opinion, and may indeed be wrong.

Uh, no it may not. An opinion, by definition, can't be 'wrong'.

I think people from Eastern Europe have every right to roll their eyes at Thor.

Why? I thought he was Scandanavian, which is in the Northwest.

Personally, I think all their 'come a long way' is just them becoming generic. All 'superheroes' look alike to me now, and the current Alpha Flight is no exception (I'm not talking about the one-shot here).

P.S. Twyst, your opinion is wrong.

- Le Messor
"I despise the pleasure of pleasing people whom I despise."