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Topic: JBF Reading Club: Alpha Flight #14 (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Ryan Maxwell
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Joined: 16 April 2004
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Posted: 03 January 2008 at 9:44am | IP Logged | 1  

Many thanks to Gentleman Jim Warden for the scans and the permission to use them for the Reading Club. Lucky guy owns the complete interiors to Alpha Flight 14, and I thought I’d do something a little different this week since all this gorgeous original art was available to me (just please excuse my feeble attempts to produce a B&W cover).  Do yourself a favor and stop by his CAF gallery to see the rest.

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryRoom.asp?Order=Date&P age=1&GSub=40456

 

This was only the second AF issue I owned, getting 12 and finally 13 many months later. I met Heather Hudson back in issue 11 when she was leaving Canada to join Mac in New York. Reading this the first time, it was a complete shock to find out he was dead; she had gone back up North with this short guy; and the girl from the pin-up at the end of 11, who I was so confident would be the one to die, was still alive and swimming.  As much as issue 11 did to hook me, this one reeled me in and I didn’t miss another issue of the run.

 

And I had no adolescent fantasies about Heather in her bra or a naked Aurora, no sir…

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Aric Shapiro
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Joined: 16 April 2004
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Posted: 03 January 2008 at 9:46am | IP Logged | 2  

To own an entire comic.....Wow.  I am floored!  Incredible story on this one and the art is superb

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Jay Famous
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Posted: 03 January 2008 at 9:51am | IP Logged | 3  

Awesome. It's interesting to note how much spooky and unsettling imagery was present in JB's Alpha Flight run. I remember this story in particular being a little disturbing with the Plodex alien assuming the face of a carnivorous infant, and of course, the damage that Puck inflicts on the Master later on. JB, was the level of violence and horror-influenced imagery a concious effort on your part at the time? It definitely sets this book apart from say, FF or X-Men.
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Juan Jose Colin Arciniega
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Posted: 03 January 2008 at 10:02am | IP Logged | 4  

Wow...interestinf change in the reading club. I liked the idea. As for this issue, i loved the scene with Aurora in the mirror, and the new clothes for Marrina!
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Vinny Valenti
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Posted: 03 January 2008 at 10:05am | IP Logged | 5  

I detect a slight shift in inking style with this issue, which hit the stands around the same time as the Terminus storyline in the FF. Looks great to me here, though oddly I didn't like it as much on those FF issues.
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Brad Teschner
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Joined: 01 June 2005
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Posted: 03 January 2008 at 10:19am | IP Logged | 6  

JB: Were there alterations made to Aurora's breast blocking hand on page 12?
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Brian Hunt
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Posted: 03 January 2008 at 10:24am | IP Logged | 7  

Dramatic change of pace issue that still had a lot of action.  JB is the best at layering in sub plots.  I can remember being really worried about Snowbird.  It was a huge shock to later find out what the problem was and then reread the issues and find all of the hints that had been given along the way. 
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John Byrne
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Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 03 January 2008 at 10:30am | IP Logged | 8  

Were there alterations made to Aurora's breast blocking hand on page 12?

••

Nope. What you're seeing there is the ghost of the pencils. Back in the
letterpress days, pencils didn't need to be so thoroughly erased. Anything
below a certain percentage of gray (40% as I recall) dropped out.
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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 03 January 2008 at 10:31am | IP Logged | 9  

…I had no adolescent fantasies about Heather in her bra…

••

I did. And I was, like, 34. . .
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Paulo Pereira
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Joined: 24 April 2006
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Posted: 03 January 2008 at 10:33am | IP Logged | 10  

Nice one, Ryan.
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John Byrne
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Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132391
Posted: 03 January 2008 at 10:34am | IP Logged | 11  

JB is the best at layering in sub plots.

••

I so miss that. As was RAMMED home while I was working on BLOOD OF THE DEMON,
there's no point in working stuff out one or two years in advance, as I did on ALPHA or
FF. Not when an editorial whim can rip the guts out of your story at any time for a
crossover stunt.

I've been discussing a new series (series of miniseries, really) with the good folk at IDW.
If it happens, one of the best things about it will be that, like NEXT MEN, I can start
layering again.
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Andrew Hess
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Posted: 03 January 2008 at 10:39am | IP Logged | 12  

JB said: ". . . one of the best things about it will be that, like NEXT MEN, I can
start layering again."

************
One of the things sorely missed in today's comics, and one of the reasons I
look forward to your non-Big2 work.
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