A review of Issue #0.1 that I posted to my Local Comic Shop's Message Board...

At first, I was upset they were starting AF with a "Point One" issue, but then I did the math and discovered that they managed to turn an eight issue maxi-series into a nine issue maxi-series, so I'm good.

The story is pretty interesting. There's a bit of politics involved but not to the point that it detracts from the story. Politics and governmental bureaucracy have always been a part of Alpha's history, though, so it actually feels pretty much "business as usual" in the House That Mac Built. I actually like the choice of candidate for the Unity Party. It's a familiar face for long-time readers that again, seems like it belongs there.

The two villains of the piece were okay, I guess. I didn't know the one, he seemed a bit generic, but okay. The other villain(ess)...I question why she's there. Given the "origin" of the character, for her to fall into the same patterns as her father seems wrong, but then given the nature of her power, the temptation has always been there, even as far back as her first appearance. Still, she was one of my favorite Alphans from the middle period of the original series, so it kinda hurts to see her go bad. Hurts in a good way. She does seem to believe in her cause, which makes her a believable villain, if I think about it long enough, but I still miss seeing her as one of the good guys. Still, better turned bad than killed off-panel.

For the most part, I can't fault the writing on this book, this is a pretty good introduction to the characters and they all get a chance to shine at various moments. I wondered if Vindicator would be in a leadership role, but luckily everyone seems to defer to her, even the non-Alphans called in to respond. This was a nice touch, I thought for sure they'd go back to having Guardian in complete control. I did wonder where Marrina came from because she seemed to just suddenly appear, but she had a great moment near the end, so it's all good. I particularly like the creep-factor of Shaman doing auto-pilot surgery while fighting. Also, I like Kyle. To me, he's a new character, but he and Northstar make a great couple, so I look forward to seeing more of him. My only gripe, and it's a minor one, is what the villainess (aw heck, it's Persuasion a.k.a. Kara Killgrave, the Purple Girl, okay!?) does with her powers...I've never seen her able to do something like that, or if she has, I don't remember it. It does remind me of Madison Jeffries' late brother, though, which was kind of neat. I don't think it was intentional, but that's what it reminded me of, so that was cool.

The art is rather expressive, particularly Marrina's mugging for the camera crews at the end, but the whole issue looks slick and stylish and quite handsome, art-wise. If I had a gripe, it's that Sasquatch looks too slicked down, fur-wise. In some shots, it's forgivable because of wind blowing or other such natural effects, but I just don't really care for the way he's drawn by this artist, which is a shame because everything else looks great.

Overall, a good start and a good jumping-on place for newbies. Hopefully the series will do well.