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Topic: Why I liked John Byrne’s Alpha Flight Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Rick Senger
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Joined: 16 April 2004
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Posted: 06 April 2020 at 7:34pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

For me it felt like John was creating his own little side universe. With the exception of occasional familiar guest stars like Wolverine, many of the characters (and villains) were originals like Marrina, Talisman, Box, Wild Child, Diamond Lil, Pink Pearl, etc. There were some fun back up origin features in the early part of the run that were endearing. From the off beat Puck hospital story to the cool ufo crash in the arctic to Mac's surprising fate (and subsequent fake-out regarding the same), this was a novel and fresh read each month with something unexpected and creative generally happening.
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Eric Smearman
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Joined: 02 September 2006
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Posted: 07 April 2020 at 12:40am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Q for JB:

I really enjoyed the issues spotlighting individual Alphans. I wonder if
you ever considered making logos for each character for the covers of
their solo outings? I recall a brief run of X-MEN that did something like
that.
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Leigh DJ Hunt
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Posted: 07 April 2020 at 1:03am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

Nemesis was the Brass Bishop?! Can't tell if you are pulling our legs JB. If not, then now I'm even more intrigued.
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Philippe Negrin
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Posted: 07 April 2020 at 2:30am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

Joe your comment is so succinct and enlightening (post number 3). I wish I was capable of such insight but I had never thought about it this way. Great point.
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John Byrne
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Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 07 April 2020 at 4:17am | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Nemesis was the Brass Bishop?! Can't tell if you are pulling our legs JB. If not, then now I'm even more intrigued.

•••

Pulling your legs? I would NEVER do that!

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Greg McPhee
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Posted: 07 April 2020 at 5:12am | IP Logged | 6 post reply

I liked the "Mission: Impossible" vibe the comics had. Where you never knew what team members were going to be selected / highlighted for each story.

There'd be a story where it would be more logical to have Sasquatch deal with the villain / threat, but it was more interesting to see how Puck and Heather dealt with it instead.

That was an inspired move for the stories, and made it fresher than say the FF or The Avengers.

Larry Hama did something similar with G.I. Joe.
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Philippe Negrin
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Posted: 07 April 2020 at 5:37am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

Ahhh I never heard of that Brass bishop character...Did I miss anything ?
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Greg McPhee
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Posted: 07 April 2020 at 5:48am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

Puck mentioned The Brass Bishop when the emergency signal went out in Alpha Flight # 12. A footnote mentioned "No -- you haven't missed an issue, we'll tell you that tale some other time."

Simon Furman and Craig Brasfield created a Brass Bishop that appeared in AF #'s 121 - 122, and apparently this was the Brass Bishop Puck mentioned in # 12.

But...

Another Brass Bishop with ties to Puck and Mephisto appeared in AF Vol 2. #'s 14 - 16.

So, confusion can reign supreme unless you disregard those stories.
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John Byrne
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Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 07 April 2020 at 7:08am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

As I’ve mentioned before, I really had no intention of doing anything with the Brass Bishop. I basically meant for that reference to be my “Giant Rat of Sumatra”. But, as with that Sherlock Holmes bit, later writers felt they had to fill in every nook and cranny.

Dog forbid there should be a little mystery to spice things up!

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Ben Herman
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Posted: 07 April 2020 at 7:36am | IP Logged | 10 post reply

The next time Marvel decided to revive Alpha Flight, I'm half-expecting that whoever they get to write it will only read the original John Byrne issues for research (not that I would really blame them for skipping most of the subsequent stuff) and will introduce yet another brand-new Brass Bishop, once again thinking they're the first to do it.
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Joe Zhang
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Posted: 07 April 2020 at 8:12am | IP Logged | 11 post reply

I dunno if Marvel Studios could do justice to Alpha Flight, but it would be pretty cool if a movie became a left-field hit, like Guardians of the Galaxy. 

Edited by Joe Zhang on 07 April 2020 at 8:14am
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John Byrne
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Posted: 07 April 2020 at 8:16am | IP Logged | 12 post reply

I’m sure it would be a comedy, like GotG. “Good day, eh?”
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