A First Look at Eaglesham's Alpha Flight Pt. 1

[Le Messor]

I just can't help noticing that 'character development' in comics these days seems to always mean 'darker and edgier'.
After a while, 'darker and edgier' comes to mean 'generic'.

- Le Messor
"i souport publik edekasion"

[cmdrkoenig67]

Who says you won't?

Nobody...I'm just demanding it anyway! LOL.

Dana

[cmdrkoenig67]

Marrina's rebellion aside, I'd actually love to see the characters brought back more to their true roots. I'd like to see the power retcons vanish...Marrina being a metamorph (as Kozzi mentioned)...Is actually a retcon (Byrne never had her morphing all over the place and that "ability" also wasn't listed in the original Handbooks) or the twins being speedsters who could fly and run fast is also a retcon. They were meant to be able to fly fast, move at superhuman speeds, but they weren't meant to be Quicksilver/Flash clones...Not to mention, why would you just run fast when you can fly?

Dana

[cmdrkoenig67]

I just can't help noticing that 'character development' in comics these days seems to always mean 'darker and edgier'.
After a while, 'darker and edgier' comes to mean 'generic'.

- Le Messor
"i souport publik edekasion"

Yeah..Darker and edgier is the norm now...It's become rather boring IMHO.

Dana

[Ahab]

Yeah..Darker and edgier is the norm now...It's become rather boring IMHO.

Dana

Though edgier Marrina has potential if Dan Smallwood is brought back. I would love to see him come back.
I also hope Marrina shows her electrocution powers. She never exhibited them personally, but since the Plodex have been shown to have the ability, it makes sense she would.
I am looking forward to seeing character development for her instead of her just being a plotpoint to develop someone else.

[DelBubs]

Yeah..Darker and edgier is the norm now...It's become rather boring IMHO.

Dana

I'm with you, but unfortunately it seems to sell. Wolverine being a classic example. I think it works as a plot device, but when the whole book and concept is driven by it...

[DIGGER]

... or the twins being speedsters who could fly and run fast is also a retcon. They were meant to be able to fly fast, move at superhuman speeds, but they weren't meant to be Quicksilver/Flash clones...Not to mention, why would you just run fast when you can fly?

Dana

Maybe due to inclement weather or hunting season? Also just another thought, maybe Dan Smallwood is the traitor. Marrina kinda spurned him for Namor so it could be possible that he feels just a touch bitter.

DIGGER

[Le Messor]

I'm with you, but unfortunately it seems to sell. Wolverine being a classic example. I think it works as a plot device, but when the whole book and concept is driven by it...

It's one of those things that works really well when it's the exception.When it's the rule...

Maybe due to inclement weather or hunting season? Also just another thought, maybe Dan Smallwood is the traitor. Marrina kinda spurned him for Namor so it could be possible that he feels just a touch bitter.

I keep thinking I remember seeing the twins running superfast under Byrne... but I'm probably wrong. Uncanny #121?

- Le Messor
"I watched (The Phantom Menace) with a group of cheerleaders, and they all said the same thing: If I let them go, they wouldn't tell anybody."
- Red Letter Phantom Menace review

[cmdrkoenig67]

I keep thinking I remember seeing the twins running superfast under Byrne... but I'm probably wrong. Uncanny #121?

- Le Messor
"I watched (The Phantom Menace) with a group of cheerleaders, and they all said the same thing: If I let them go, they wouldn't tell anybody."
- Red Letter Phantom Menace review

Nope and he just recently addressed this very topic over at the Byrne Robotics forum.

http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/f...=2&totPosts=29

[mos_def]

I bet Byrne never had Aurora speeding molecules on a person with mere touch with Weapon X. Do the twins still have the flame power they got from the Children of the Vault? Purity light Aurora had for a bit. Stuff happens. Id rather them run as super speed then the 3 stuff I just mentioned.

[Flightpath07]

I agree with the commenter on the JB forums - Northstar does appear to be running. Who flies with their legs bent in a running pose? Oh well...JB's got the final word.

[suzene]

Nope and he just recently addressed this very topic over at the Byrne Robotics forum.

http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/f...=2&totPosts=29

I was more interested in this:

One of the most gratifying experiences of my convention appearances over the years has been having Gay fans come up to my table and thank me for Northstar. Even tho the Code and Shooter would not let me state explicitly that Jean-Paul was Gay, evidently I was un-subtle enough in my writing of him that the “message” got thru — and at just the right time for a lot of people.

Very encouraging to think that something as generally inconsequential as a comicbook can nevertheless reach out to people in a positive way.

As hard as Byrne is on Alpha Flight, it’s nice to know that he figures something worthwhile came out of the time he spent on the book.

So far as it being a "retcon" goes, I kind of have to shrug. Whatever the authorial intent, what's on the page is ambivalent at best. Plus, Byrne showed the twins being able to move individual body parts at extremely high speeds -- if they can throw one hundred punches in a second, why shouldn't they be able to move at superhuman speeds so far as running goes as well? Granted, I'd be willing to say they can probably fly faster than they can run, though.

[kozzi24]

Marrina may not have morphed "all over the place" under Byrne, but she did exhibit slight biological changes. The Plodex race itself could adapt to its surroundings, such as Marrina taking human form. The Plodex in Lake Ontario also seemed to be metamorphing. To me, Byrne opened the door to the possibility with those things. Some post Byrne changes make perfect sense.
I love almost all of Byrne’s work, but especially on his boards he is more concerned with being right than in making correct statements.
There is common sense to "why run fast when you can fly faster?" But there is an answer: space. Byrne said "Northstar was just flying close to the ground" in X-Men 121. Didn’t look that way to me. For an Alpha citation of superspeed running by Byrne, how fast did Aurora change clothes in that scene in Walt’s apartment? Should we think she changed clothes while flying indoors? Makes me wonder just how SLOWLY they can fly to stay airborn.
I think there’s also a shared core of powers to Northstar and Aurora, so I never minded any of the extra abilities Auroradeveloped with the light powers. In AF#1, Byrne established that the light powers can affect the Ems of Guardian’s suit. That opens the door to there being a lot more to the light powers than Byrne explored. They may be twins, but they seemed to develop their powers slightly differently. Aurora developed individual light powers after Byrne’s "mutant alteration" storyline, so it is natural that she could do more varied things with the light.

[MistressMerr]

For an Alpha citation of superspeed running by Byrne, how fast did Aurora change clothes in that scene in Walt’s apartment? Should we think she changed clothes while flying indoors?

Why not? Super speed is super speed. Running seems pretty pointless, a lot more work for no real reason.

Makes me wonder just how SLOWLY they can fly to stay airborn.

As slow as they want. They can even hover if they want to.

[DelBubs]

My understanding was that Marrina took on human form because Plodex egg was waiting for encoding and took on the DNA imprint they came into contact with first? The Master stated that he felt compelled to travel to the Plodex Ship as where other creatures. The ship decided which species was the most dominant and imprinted the eggs with that DNA. So this morphing power confuses me a tad. The reason given for Marrinas mate not having form was that the original ship was damaged in the crash and therefore didn't imprint the eggs.