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Chris Durnell
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 February 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 1235
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| Posted: 10 July 2006 at 2:42am | IP Logged | 1
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The recent post about Alpha Flight and one comment that "only JB can do Alpha Flight" got me thinking. What was it about JB's run on AF that caused so many to cherish it?
It's weird because of two things. One, it is consensus that no other writer got AF right. Where did they go wrong? What was it that JB got right that they missed? Second, JB has stated himself multiple times that he had a hard time writing AF, not really knowing what to do with it.
To start, here are my comments on why I think AF was special.
* I really liked how each character in AF was realized. The many issues showcasing only one character really hooked me.
* I enjoyed the relationship between the characters. Their distance from the other Marvel characters, and the almost family nature between Alphans made me care.
* I liked that their villains were different. They didn't fight Doctor Doom or Electro. They had their own villains - the Great Beasts, Deadly Ernest, and Jerry Jaxon. It gave AF a depth other titles did not have.
* There was a pathos with the death of Guardian that only the death of Phoenix surpassed. A key comics moment. One of the few comics deaths that "traumatized" me as a kid.
* I liked Heather Hudson as a leader that was not costumed.
* I liked the transcontinental nature of the group. It was good to see scenes switch from Toronto to Vancouver and then to Calgary. JB was deft at having the distance and span of Canada impact the story. Since all other titles took place in NYC, it was special.
What made it click for you?
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JD Morrow
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 July 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 78
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| Posted: 10 July 2006 at 2:55am | IP Logged | 2
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I actually liked the first year or so of Mantlo's Alpha Flight, but after David Ross left the book, the stories took a nosedive in quality...
Byrne's take on them was the best, though!
I think it was a terrible mistake to put Heather in a costume, as well.
There was just something about the characters that made reading the book one of my greatest comic reading experiences.
Jerry Jaxon was a great arch villian.
Beta Flight was excellently realized!
The art was consistant every month, and that's something that's very important to me.
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Flavio Sapha
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Brazil
Posts: 12912
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| Posted: 10 July 2006 at 3:24am | IP Logged | 3
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IMO, AF can't even LOOK right if JB isn't drawing it. The one exception was
when Paul Smith did the X-Men/AF limited series. His take on the
characters was just delightful.
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Flavio Sapha
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Brazil
Posts: 12912
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| Posted: 10 July 2006 at 3:28am | IP Logged | 4
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I was thinking yesterday how AF could've gone on to be as popular and
"iconic" as the FF, just based on their looks (I mean, just look at Sasquatch!
The twins! The Guardian! PUCK!).
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JD Morrow
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 July 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 78
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| Posted: 10 July 2006 at 3:30am | IP Logged | 5
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I was thinking yesterday how AF could've gone on to be as popular and
"iconic" as the FF, just based on their looks (I mean, just look at Sasquatch!
The twins! The Guardian! PUCK!).
********
I agree. Their look was very special, and I'll never understand what the mindset was behind dismantling that group and never putting them together again. Whatever happened to giving the people what they want?
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Darren Taylor
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 April 2004
Location: Scotland
Posts: 6001
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| Posted: 10 July 2006 at 3:35am | IP Logged | 6
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For me I think a good pecentage of the books attraction was that I was there at the start!
All these other great books were already into high numbers.
So to have a John byrne book, with a brand new bunch of characters and be there at the start. It all added up to the potential that I was in for some great times. As such you allowed yourself to buy into these characters all the more-so! Regretfully -this- investment is what adds to the dissappointment when JB left as to how the characters went on to be handled!
To be honest I felt like I had lost Guardian all over again!
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Simon Matthew Park
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 January 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 2156
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| Posted: 10 July 2006 at 3:59am | IP Logged | 7
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At the time, I loved the art, and the way in which AF was totally different to every other M***** title at the time, yet still felt like M*****. I also loved the stories in the back, such as Stranger In My Mirror, and so on.
Issue #2 is one of my favourite comics ever, and now I'd have to say there's a nostalgia element in those issues for me, as well. I recall buying them from the newsagent, and that it was just a really great, fun time in my life: a time those issues always remind me of in an almost physical way. I just enjoy looking at them, and they always make me remember that walk down to the newsagent on sunny afternoons.
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Marcel Chenier
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 May 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 2723
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| Posted: 10 July 2006 at 4:01am | IP Logged | 8
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The idea that John was getting his props and being given, what seemed to
me, 'his own book' in the whole of the Marvel Universe made AF very
special to me. He had proven himself over and over as a professional,
capable artist and deserved a platform like AF to expand his fan-base and
just rock out.
Plus, there is the Canadian factor: JB, a former Canuck trained at a
Canadian college of art writing a book about Canucks, that captured
Canada very well. For a young lad such as myself, the idea that a
Canadian artist commanding so much influence at a US company and
creating such a frakking amazing product was thrilling, heart-warming,
and definitely fired up whatever bone of patriotism is buried (deeply)
within every person living north of the US border.
It was all Byrne! Yes!
As soon as JB left the book, I didn't bother with it.
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Flavio Sapha
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Brazil
Posts: 12912
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| Posted: 10 July 2006 at 4:11am | IP Logged | 9
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I loved the origin short stories, each of them is memorable.
But I didn't like at all the fact that the group never assembled. I know it
must have been an interesting writing experiment, but try telling that to a
twelve-year-old. I kept thinking: "ok, when does this group START?". Then
again, the Brazilian reprints published the stories in a different order...I've
yet to read them all in the proper sequence. An AF Essential would be great.
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Flavio Sapha
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: Brazil
Posts: 12912
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| Posted: 10 July 2006 at 4:15am | IP Logged | 10
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JB mentioned that Aurora's golden look was supposed to last only one story
arc. I wonder what happened? I wasn't happy when the simmetry of the
twins was ruptured by the costume change.
Interestingly, always had the impression there was something fishy about
her romance with Walter...something about him made me see him as
untrustworthy. I wonder if that was what JB intended, or my imagination.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132396
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| Posted: 10 July 2006 at 4:27am | IP Logged | 11
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Flavio, Walter is/was the most trustworthy guy you
could ever hope to meet -- aside from sometimes
transforming into one of the Great Beasts.*
As to Aurora's golden costume -- when I referred to it
as being for one story arc, I meant her story,
not the individual adventures. I was working on a
long character arc for Jean-Marie -- which I didn't get
to finish before I ran out of steam on ALPHA.
*Aren't we all glad the InterNet wasn't around back
then? The Great Beasts were completely a product
of my own twisted imagination, and you have to know
the sad boys would have been Googling them to
death looking for the "real" story, and shredding
ALPHA FLIGHT when they found out there wasn't
one.
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Troy Nunis
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4598
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| Posted: 10 July 2006 at 4:30am | IP Logged | 12
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There was something crisp and bright and open to the Alpha Flight art (something that Paul Smith had in X-Men/AF as well), add to that, just outstanding character/costume designs --
storywise, you really did feel like you were following the story of several people, each very intersting, who happened to be on a super-hero team together -- and not so important were the actions and purpose of the team, at least not in the forefront. Very unique in it's being a team book that was a non-team book --- yeah, i would love a Essentials for Alpha Flight . . hmmm . .
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