New Alpha Flight ongoing - "We'll do it again"

[EccentricSage]

I'm more interested in what he could be, than what he has been, and I never suggested he should co-lead anything. Once again, I reject this 'there is only one Alpha Flight team' BS. And frankly I'm a little pissed off that people think that way, good luck getting an ongoing with a team you apparently expect to remain static! V4 had the 'core team', and if you ask me, it was utter crap, the team does not make the book, it's what people do with them. It doesn't matter that many wouldn't be that excited over Madison's appearing in Alpha again, IF you are even right about that. I mean, you hardly know all AF readers. The people who actually post on this site are a mere handful.

All that would matter is what role he could play and whether or not he's written well, just like any of the characters. I swear, AF fandom must be the only fandom where people honestly seem to think that side characters had no fans, or that having any characters besides the 'classic core team' is some huge detriment that will some how warn prospective readers away. I have news for everyone, Byrne isn't coming back, and if he did, he probably wouldn't write them the way you want, we probably wouldn't have this unchanging 'core team' everyone keeps talking about.

Flightpath, you of all people should understand my POV, being a fellow fan of a side character, a character who was almost a nobody in Byrne's precious run. Wildchild wasn't an 'essential AFer' ether.

What really gets me about AF fans on this forum, is everyone clamors for these side characters to make appearances in other books, and seem disappointed when they are killed off or portrayed badly, as Marvel is so clearly besmirching all that is Alpha Flight. But then when there's talk of a new series, nothing is good enough short of a rigid line up of characters who have to be on the same team, for the same purpose, no new characters will be tolerated, and god forbid former team members who weren't on Byrne's original roster rejoin. You all might want to try and let go, just sayn'.

Welp, I'm off before I say anything too mean, as I do like you folks, but seriously, we'll never have AF as anything but an old timey novelty brought back to sell issue #1 variants, at this rate.

[Phil]

Speaking for myself, I want Wyre, Windshear and Earthmover in the team.
I don't want the 'static' 'core team' that you're on about.
I don't want Byrne back.
However, I fully admit that they too aren't essential and don't expect them to be in the book, just because I like them.

My point was merely to throw Madison into AF just because thats where he was from originally would be forced and therefore a bad story.
As I've said before, AF made no effort to rescue him from The Zodiac, or from Weapon X, or made any contact with him after he joined the X-Men; why would he even want to be back in the team? But hey; he can jump back into bed with Heather again now Lil's dead and her and Mac are split - let's re-hash that story.

I really like him in X-Club.
He's written well there.

As I said; he's not essential to AF.
The only person/people essential to AF, in my mind anayway, are either Guardian or Vindicator.
The team NEEDS one of the two, draped in the flag. To me that's part of the reason Vol 3 failed.
Anyone else isn't essential; even Sasquatch & Puck - and I love those characters.
Far from snobbery, far from elitism, far from fear of anything other than Byrne.
My opinion, based on my logic and my reason.

And again, I liked Wildchild in X-Factor and hell, I like him as a villain to Wolverine. Yeah, the Romulus connection's a bit tenuous... but at least it got him his powers back (or a new, different set) after the M-day thing and got him out of limbo.

I'd like to see him in the pages of an AF title, but as a villain rather than on the team.
Again, not out of snobbery or anything. As with Madison, I don't consider him essential for the reasons outlined above.

[Alphan East]

I think a new series would need to stay true to the "core team", yet allow itself the potential to grow and change as it goes.
As is the business though, everything would hinge on 3 key factors:
1) the creativity of the writer and artist.
2) the amount of time Marvel would need to give it to attract a larger following.
3) the willingness of old-time hard-core fans (myself included) to accept the changes as they occur.
I'll admit that the core team is my choice as a starting point. This is the team I love... and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Having said that, I'm not against change, as long as it flows naturally while staying true to the original theme. Some changes (ie. adding characters like Purple Girl, Windshear & Eartmover) were good. Some changes (ie. Volume 3) were absolutely dreadful. But that type of thing has happened in other titles and they have survived... I'm sure there were changes made to books like X-Men and Avengers over the years that not all fans liked.
All a fan can really do is hope the 3 things listed above work together and create something worth reading.

[-K-M-]

Speaking for myself, I want Wyre, Windshear and Earthmover in the team.

And again, I liked Wildchild in X-Factor and hell, I like him as a villain to Wolverine. Yeah, the Romulus connection's a bit tenuous... but at least it got him his powers back (or a new, different set) after the M-day thing and got him out of limbo.
.

Would love to see Earthmover and Windshear back, but Wyre? Really? He is one of my least liked characters in Alpha Flight.

I didn't like WC in X-Factor, his character and personality drastically changed where he became akin to a 16 year old. However, I do like him as a villian though, but with Sabretooth back dont think he will be used much again

[Flightpath07]

I also do not think that ONLY the core characters (or ALL of them) need to appear in an AF series for it to be AF.

Yes, I like Wild Child. Heck, i even liked him as Wild Heart or whatever that horrid name was, and i LOVED him in X-Factor, even though he was far more youthful than he should have been. I echo Phil, in that I'd rather see him return to Alpha as a villain, as he has now (IMHO) been that too long to be redeemed suddenly.

Alphan East, I also am not against change. Purple Girl, Windshear, and Earthmover, to my way of thinking, were all GREAT additions to the team.

I also agree with Phil that one Vindicator or Guardian NEEDS to be on the team. I would disagree, personally, to a Flight without Puck, as i consider him to be essential; and, in many ways, his personality having been changed by his stay in 'heck', was, i think, one of the things i liked least about Volume 4. In the same breath, i think the changing of personalities of Marrina and Persuasion were all wonderful additions, which i'm sure many here will disagree with.

My Volume 5 lineup would consist of a new Box (for muscle; not Madison Jeffries), Puck, Guardian, Marrina, Windshear, Talisman, Yukon Jack, Snowbird, and one "new" character (can be made up, or perhaps a somewhat-well-known mutant from elsewhere?). I'd have Sas and Aurora show up as part-timers and show them getting married and settling down somewhere. I'd have Northstar show up occasionally, but leave he and Madison where they currently are. I'd have Shaman and Earthmover show up occasionally, with Michael now taking on the day-to-day training of Chuck. I'd bring Wildchild back as a villain, and probably use Purple Woman as a villain as well. I'd consider bringing back Smart Alec somehow as a villain, too. And, of course, I'd have Wolverine guest star as often as bloody possible, with he and Mac hunting down Heather wherever she has gone, and perhaps even confronting each other over her, hashing out feelings, etc.

I'm not completely stuck on the status quo, ES, and I'd suggest that although we are all passionate and opinionated here, none of the rest of us are stuck merely on Byrne's team either. i think that those of us who have loved AF since it's inception, merely miss the way that JB grew and wrote these characters. I think, though, that we are all mature enough to realize that times change, and we can never really have again what we once had.

[Alphan East]

My Volume 5 lineup would consist of...

What a GREAT title for a new thread !!!
Staying with my thoughts from earlier, I would have a "core-like" team, but also a group of supporting characters to help change and grow the team as situations present themselves.
I've always envisioned a team of Guardian, Sasquatch, Aurora, Puck, Snowbird, Talisman and one new character (either brand new, or someone plucked from a previous story arc). Then also having a secondary "Reserve" style group, consisting of Vindicator, Shaman, Earthmover, Jeffries, Marrina and Northstar. They would be available on certain missions where their talents are needed, but mainly stay in the background. This would allow Northstar and Jeffries to be available to the X-books whenever Marvel wanted them, let Marrina explore her place and purpose in the world, give Shaman the freedom to train Earthmover (and possibly others), and allow Heather the time she needs to get over the events of Volume 4... she may feel the need to step back, raise Claire, and try to "vindicate" herself.
Just my thoughts... what do you think ?

[-K-M-]

I wouldn't mind Ghost Girl to come back

[Le Messor]

ES,
I am not a snob. Snobbery is for the little people.

V4 had the 'core team', and if you ask me, it was utter crap, the team does not make the book, it's what people do with them.

I agree with you there. It is whether or not we have a good creative team, doing good stories; but, as in the v4 example, if we can't have that, can we at least have the core team?
(Or is that worse?)

It doesn't matter that many wouldn't be that excited over Madison's appearing in Alpha again, IF you are even right about that.

Well, as I tried to say earlier, I suspect it's more 'Let's not get so hung up on having Madison that not having him means not having the book' than 'I don't want any book that has him in it; these characters are essential, these are not'.

I swear, AF fandom must be the only fandom where people honestly seem to think that side characters had no fans...
I have news for everyone, Byrne isn't coming back, and if he did, he probably wouldn't write them the way you want, we probably wouldn't have this unchanging 'core team' everyone keeps talking about.

I think that's an exaggeration, at best. Plenty of us like side characters.
Also, the team changed under Byrne.

But then when there's talk of a new series, nothing is good enough short of a rigid line up of characters who have to be on the same team, for the same purpose, no new characters will be tolerated, and god forbid former team members who weren't on Byrne's original roster rejoin.

Also, has it ever come up? I mean, so far every book has contained a combination of Byrne's characters and new characters (or new-to-Alpha characters); have we ever had the possibility of 'Byrne + later characters'?

For me, the problem is this: of the five volumes of AF (counting OF), only two have had the characters I know and love. The rest have borne no resemblance to the team I came to know and love.
Only two of those series have been ones that I really enjoyed - and it's not the same two. I loved v1, mostly Byrne's, but also Hudnall's (and others to lesser degrees), and I liked Omega Flight, and have defended it often. WITHOUT the original team.
(Oh, and I don't hate v3.)

The problem I have - the reason I clamour for the original line-up is that:
That line-up is the reason I got into comics. I've been realising it's as much a combination of Byrne's art and writing and Andy Yanchus's colouring as the characters themselves, but it remains my favourite comic ever (I put it as my number 1 run on a vote on Comic Book legends - follow that link and vote).
Then, as mentioned, we get a 'revival' of that series I love so much, and what I get has nothing to do with it; a bunch of characters I know nothing about, and care little. Writing and stories I don't like. Bad characterisation, etc... It comes across to me like 'we've put together a team of new characters... let's set it in Canada and call it Alpha Flight', not 'here's Alpha Flight'. Which is painful to me.

I also hate the 'in name only' trope; the idea that anybody can slap the label of something I love on something that in no way resembles that thing I love; and then demand that I show the same love and loyalty to the new thing as the thing I love. It doesn't work that way.
I went to high school with a guy named Michael Jackson - but I would never pay to hear that guy sing, as I have done with another Michael Jackson.

So I overreact to that, and demand the team I know and love.
Sure, if somebody made an Alpha Flight line-up of all side characters I'd buy it; and if it hit all the right notes with me, like Byrne's run, I wouldn't be complaining. Well, not AFTER I read it.

You are right about the characters not being the essential component.
What you get from us, or me, isn't an ignorance of that; it's an exaggeration of my actual feelings, and my want for an Alpha Flight book that is Alpha Flight.
If you looked back over all my posts on that topic, you'd:
1) see that I've talked almost as much about the 'feel', the types of stories, the spirit of the book as the line-up of characters.
2) have an awful lot of free time on your hands.

I'm sure there were changes made to books like X-Men and Avengers over the years that not all fans liked.

That's for sure!

All a fan can really do is hope the 3 things listed above work together and create something worth reading.

Agreed.

I'm not completely stuck on the status quo, ES, and I'd suggest that although we are all passionate and opinionated here, none of the rest of us are stuck merely on Byrne's team either. i think that those of us who have loved AF since it's inception, merely miss the way that JB grew and wrote these characters.

Well said. That's what I said, only far more succinct and better-put.
(So why did I still type all that, after reading this?)

~ Le Messor
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is."

[Alphan East]

What you get from us, or me, isn't an ignorance of that; it's an exaggeration of my actual feelings, and my want for an Alpha Flight book that is Alpha Flight.

Le Messor, I salute you.
I could not have put that better myself.

[EccentricSage]

Sorry about my attitude earlier, guys. I was in an awful mood and felt that upon the mere mentioning that I would like to see Madison in Alpha, everyone just shot that down without any further explanation than 'he isn't essential to the core team' which sounds pretty much like a '**** you' when you're the one who's feelings as a fan are being addressed that way. I shouldn't have gotten so defensive but being shot down without explanation by multiple people kind of pissed me off, and what can I say, there's a reason I sympathize with the characters with the anger management issues. I should have given benefit of a doubt before jumping to conclusions.

Phil, no way would I make Madison and Heather a couple again, I didn't intend it to look that way. But they were friends for a good long while after he hooked back up with Lil. I can't imagine him not caring if he found out what happened, you know? Wasn't it you who pointed out to me in another thread that the reason Alpha weren't searching for Madison was because their memories had been wiped of him or something to that effect? Which is, IMO, one of the WORST plot devices I've heard of in a long time and takes a complete dump on his history with the team. I know that would complicate matters if he were to show up, but god damn, I want that addressed! These people had been such a huge, and very good, part of his life. I hate seeing him as this jobber who's just completely lost touch with reality. He was a really cool character, not JUST when Byrne wrote him, and I think with his powers, he could be great! And who doesn't like an underdog? This guy has been layed so low in all these post-Alpha titles and I want to see something spark his passion and get him out of this slump.

I think X Club has some cool characters who are well written, but that does not change that I hate what has been done with Madison. He loses his wife, she dies right in front of him right after they reconciled... and in X-Club they make a big joke of him wanting to bone robots and pass that off as character development?! **** that! I want very much to see him care about someone again and empower himself, act on his own will again. I don't see how it's important to keep in in the X-titles when they treat him like a non entity. Let them build their tech by hand. Restore his history with the people who cared about him.

Or hell, Madison could even go rogue out of a sense of abandonment, become somewhat vilainous, before being redeamed. Anything that would explore his PTSD and show him dealing with the horror of what he did in Weapon X and all his loss in his life. It could make for a great story.

And no, I'm not saying that AF v5 should revolve around him, I'm just trying to point out that he has a ton of history and potential, and I'm trying to explain to you WHY I want to see more Alpha related work done with Madison. There are plenty of different ways he could be dealt with, and with powers like his, battles could get pretty epic... but hey, I'm a sucker for giant robots pilot stories, what can I say? Marvel has plenty of guys with mech suits, but nothing like Madison's potential uses of Box, which could be improved upon, with so many geniuses around. It's blatantly wasteful for him to be that sad jobber tinkering alone in a corner all the damn time.


Over all, I liked Byrne's core team that kept reforming throughout Alpha's history. With the exception of Marina. I haven't really seen anything she was in where I felt like I could relate to her as a person. New Marina isn't a help, this isn't 'character development', it's a complete 360 out of nowhere, just because the writer didn't like Marina. If he didn't know what to do with her, why bring her back? Her 'so edgy' dialogue was so flat and cliche. They traded one one-dimensional characterization of her for another, which accomplishes nothing but further convolution of her continuity which in true Alpha form, from what I understand, was already rather convoluted. I am at a loss as to what a writer could even do with her now.

I actually like Puck, Sas, Snowbird, Shaman, and Talisman all well enough, and Northstar and Aurora are interesting, have a lot of impact and a lot of recognizeability. Of the lot, I like Puck best personality wise, and Snowbird best concept/character design wise, though she is also hard to relate to. But they can always play up her being aloof and mysterious, beyond the comprehension of mortals due to her nature. That is cool and sets her apart from the majority of Marvel characters. I agree with all you guys about wanting to get these characters back to being portrayed correctly. Trust me, I understand those frustrations all to well being a fan of poor Wildchild. A little consistency would have gone a long way. Only changes that should happen should be a natural result of plausible character development.

BTW, I didn't buy that ridiculous Hell story, only heard about it... WHY was Puck in Hell? WTF did I miss?

I think a v5 would be better with a 'revolving door' roster. Have the team leader static, but then have the rest of the characters come and go depending upon where they are needed, personal story arcs, etc. I like Alphan East's idea about having a main team who can be completely devoted to Alpha, and a reserve team who will see action with Alpha, but also are available to other teams/books and have their own reasons to not go on every mission. As much as I'd like to see Northstar more, realistically, I'd like to see the guy get to settle down with his husband, and see scenes here and there of *gasp* characters being normal people and doing civilian type things!

As inconsistent as the writing quality got toward the end of V1, I have to say, what I really did like was seeing the characters as human beings caring about each other, having some fun, acting like real human beings will act during down time rather than gathered in a war room between battles discussing superhuman and human relations, mutant human relations, their next move, political climate, conspiracy theories, ethics, etc. I really loved that Bachelor/Bacheloret party issue, for example. It wasn't exciting or important plot wise, but it did SO MUCH for my suspension of disbelief and my ability to really care about these characters as though they were real people. It's probably part of why I'm so dismayed at the fates of Lil, Madison, and Kyle. I cared about these people, even though I initially only bought some Alpha issues to learn more about Kyle after he joined X-Factor, when I think of these characters, I don't think of how awesome they were in some battle, I think of them as people who were family to each other back in the pages of Alpha, happier times long gone.

I really do hate everything about Wyre. But if a writer has some sort of vision as to what to do with him, some great story to tell, I'd be open to that. I wanted him retconned out of Kyle's Origin, but alas, they didn't go that far. I just don't think the story about his DNA being used makes any sense, and that him suddenly deciding to right his wrongs for no apparent reason and redeem himself was ham-handed and such a cheesy cliche. But I could tolerate him if it's possible to write him well.

See, it was in X-Factor that I fell for the Wildchild character, but one must diferentiate between creative teams. I hated what they were doing to him about half way through his run in that book, when Sabretooth was brought in and they really started to portray Kyle as a freeking kid. I didn't even have to know what he was like in Alpha to see what a huge leap it was from how he was portrayed when he first joined X-Factor... Skilled, competent, quick-witted, loyal, and jocular. I can see how his speech patterns were messed up, after reading his appearances in AF, but I saw a lot of Weapon Omega in there. Then all of a sudden he became this looser, and I was frankly offended for him. You know, it was the editor from the creative team that brought him to X-Factor, who was responsible for the more serious portrayal and tying up of some loose ends when he exited in #142. She'd been off the book when things went down hill, and her name was back in the credits for #142 rather than that idiot who said Wildchild is 16. It really killed me to see what happened to him after that. Things just went from bad to worse.

I'm ok with Wildchild's current villainy except that Loeb treats him like a plot device. He kidnaps Sabes without any explanation of how, even though SEEING him do it would have been a whole lot more exciting. We didn't get any look at how Wildchild feels, what drives him, nothing. IMO, given his past, he should be a rather sympathetic villain. He didn't choose this path, and he has suffered horribly. I really hate the entire Lupine/Romulus thing and just want it to be over already so that these characters can be cut loose. And when that time comes, I'd be fine with Wildchild as an Alpha Flight villain IF his involvement makes sense, and isn't just him being canon fodder in someone else's villainous plot. He has a lot of history, and I want to see his story and his point of view for once. I would love to see him redeemed by Alpha, eventually, though. They probably had no clue what had become of him, no way of finding him, and they were in the midst of getting royally ****ed over themselves, so I could see them not having bad blood with him, though he might feel as though he was abandoned by them at first. There was that one scene with Sas in Loeb's run, which I think is where a writer should work from... Kyle remembers these people were his friends... he could have killed Sas, but he didn't, and didn't he say he didn't want to have to do it, and that he warned them not to come? I think there is still good in Kyle, but he is warped, and being manipulated by Romulus who seems to use some sort of telepathic ability to implant memories and ideas in others' heads. I sure hope that's what Loeb will do with it, and have the Lupine garbage just be Romulus' trip and not true. That's salvageable. But anything is speculation really, no telling what Loeb will do.

I've probably only addressed a fraction of what we're all talking about, here, but I'm starting to loose track. lol



*edit* OH RIGHT! Heather! I really think reconciliation with her will have to be a messy affair to be believable, after the events of v4. I don't like Mac as a character, he was more compelling dead, IMO, but he's back, and I wouldn't want him killed off again. I was immensely relieved when that cover turned out to be misleading, it would have been terrible if the writer made Heather kill Mac.

I want Heather as leader, but I don't know if that can happen. Way I see it, she's going to have to be a wanted woman at first, and there will have to be a storyline leading up to her being absolved of responsibility for her actions. I want to see her back with Alpha Flight, but in a more domestic role, team den mother, and raising her kid. I would really like to see Alpha Flight work independent of the government again, after how badly things went with Dep. H. They shouldn't trust the government anymore, but then, the government should be pushing for Alpha to be part of rebuilding and official again. I for see a lot of push and pull, and ultimatums.

Perhaps the new Government offers Guardian clemency for his wife and some of the team mates who had likewise been controlled, on the condition that Alpha Flight serve as they did before through an official government department. This would, of course, put Heather in a catch 22 position. It could be really interesting. I could see Mac thinking this all very gracious and accepting the deal, over optimistically believing he can 'change things', this is a chance to build a different department H, a chance to do this right, in his eyes. I see Heather reluctantly agreeing to it for the good of her child, but not wanting to play Vindicator anymore. I see her trying to put on a brave face, but the relationship being strained for a long while. I see her butting heads with Mac over how much say the government has, and weather or not he is in fact being naive. I see her focusing on her team as people, as a family, while Mac focuses on them as a compatriots and colleagues. I could see plots arising where Heather works behind his back to protect her family from befalling similar fates as Alpha has in the past. I will always see her as the more realistic and stronger leader than Mac, and want to see her portrayed as a strong leader again, even if subversively. Actually, subversively would be kind of awesome, the more I think about it.

[Alphan East]

Or hell, Madison could even go rogue out of a sense of abandonment, become somewhat vilainous, before being redeamed. Anything that would explore his PTSD and show him dealing with the horror of what he did in Weapon X and all his loss in his life. It could make for a great story.

I agree ES. I've always believed that Jeffries hasn't been used to his full potential.
I would definitely prefer him as part of the team rather than a villain, although that would make for an interesting story arc... could you imagine how dangerous he could be if he just finally snapped ?

[EccentricSage]

I agree ES. I've always believed that Jeffries hasn't been used to his full potential.
I would definitely prefer him as part of the team rather than a villain, although that would make for an interesting story arc... could you imagine how dangerous he could be if he just finally snapped ?

I feel better knowing that at least someone gets where I'm coming from. lol I want him salvaged as a hero, and want him to be happy again, just as I want that for Kyle. But I could totally see him snapping and becoming a threat. Looking at his history, he could be a stand up guy, but he's also a guy who's made some tough decisions, killing his own brother and best friend when they became a monster, for instance. (terrible terrible story I wish never happened) Even under Byrne's hand, there was a cold side in him... He knew Lil and Wildchild were the victims of something akin to mind control, yet when they turned to him, he told them they'd have to take the fall. Point I'm trying to make is, in hindsight there was always a dark side to Madison, a selfish side, but it was never addressed. It seemed obvious to me as the reader, but his team mates and friends didn't notice in those stories. Of course they wouldn't think of him that way, they care about him. But he has a history of trying to be somebody, trying to play the hero, wanting to do good, but then acting very selfishly. He admired Mac and avenged him, but then quickly pursued a relationship with his widow. He easily gave that up when he could have Lil back. When Lil wanted to stop being a hero and just start a family, he kept running off to Alpha to play hero, leading to him getting kidnapped by villains which led to his role in WX. I don't think he means it, I think he's in denial, but he's not exactly a trust worthy guy. And that makes him interesting to me. I want to see a story that brings his troubled mind to the forefront. If that means he snaps and 'tries to do the right thing' when it's not necessarily the 'right thing' at all and he's just delusional or mistaken, well, that would be some respectable character development.

I think as a hero with a good grasp on his sanity, Madison would always hold back his power, and never fully explore what he's capable of, because his power has a lot of capacity to do harm. He could be a one man arsenal. He could strip his enemies of any weaponry or protective gear with a thought alone. And as he pointed out to Delphine Courtney, if he wanted to be rich, he could. As a villain, he wouldn't feel as compelled to hold back. We got a taste of what he was capable of in WX, we saw how dangerous he could be, but that was him under another's thumb and dumb as a brick that had been hit over the head with another brick a few hundred times. Madison as a villain who means well and is acting on his own will, in denial of some ulterior motive he might have, would truly be a sight to behold. This is a guy who could make an utter joke of Iron Man without even trying, all he'd need is motivation.

[Flightpath07]

Well said. That's what I said, only far more succinct and better-put.

You forgot to mention that you were smarter and better looking and make more money.

[Phil]

I just think that if you spend Volume 5 tying up plot holes and storylines from previous volumes and guest appearances you're going to end up with a train wreck of a series.
There are some things best left alone.

[Le Messor]

Le Messor, I salute you.
I could not have put that better myself.

Thank you!

...felt that upon the mere mentioning that I would like to see Madison in Alpha, everyone just shot that down without any further explanation...

Thanks for the explanation. I know how bad it is to feel ganged up on, especially when it comes from people you expect to be on your side.

see scenes here and there of *gasp* characters being normal people and doing civilian type things!

How dare you, sir! YOu're flying in the face of everything comics are becoming!
(Seriously, I agree with you on that.)

As inconsistent as the writing quality got toward the end of V1, I have to say, what I really did like was seeing the characters as human beings caring about each other, having some fun, acting like real human beings will act during down time rather than gathered in a war room between battles discussing superhuman and human relations, mutant human relations, their next move, political climate, conspiracy theories, ethics, etc.

'specially that part.

You forgot to mention that you were smarter and better looking and make more money.

It was in the subtext.

Hey! I do not make more money!

I just think that if you spend Volume 5 tying up plot holes and storylines from previous volumes and guest appearances you're going to end up with a train wreck of a series. There are some things best left alone.

I think if you did nothing but that, it would be a train wreck; but if it was a side-thing that kept happening almost in the background of an ongoing, it could still work.

~ Le Messor
"In this fortune, the concluding three words 'were left out'."