| Author |
|
Wallace Sellars
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 17667
|
| Posted: 07 April 2020 at 10:25am | IP Logged | 1
|
post reply
|
|
QUOTE:
| 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 liked the one for Puck. ;-)
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Tim O Neill
Byrne Robotics Security
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 10924
|
| Posted: 07 April 2020 at 8:34pm | IP Logged | 2
|
post reply
|
|
Joe Z: "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."
*****
I think there is a fantastic movie in there, played straight from the source
material. I would prefer a TV series, using the SIN CITY creative playbook to
adapt the book faithfully.
ALPHA FLIGHT is a true accomplishment in creating one of the most
grounded, realistic worlds in the Marvel Universe. It came just at the right time
after JB's work had breathed life into the X-Men and really entered a new
dimension with Fantastic Four. These characters exist in the same world as
those iconic teams, but they feel more relatable. I think the main reason is that
JB's style is pitch perfect for this, but what also contributes is the focus on
individual character stories. We come to know them in a way we didn't
typically see back then. Reading it all now in one shot, it's part super-hero
story and part epic sci-fi novel.
I really think one of the things that Marvel Studios has done right is to have
each film have a great deal of verisimilitude, even when dealing with fantastic
subject matter. This would fit right in. I think JB was a big part of a
storytelling wave that started the 1980s that saw a wonderful balance between
fantastical comic book stories with a dose of modern, realistic character
development. ALPHA FLIGHT is one of the best examples of this because it
does have a true balance.
I've often thought that ALPHA FLIGHT was the pre-cursor to NEXT MEN - both
of those worlds feel real to me because the characters are complex and
interesting.
.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Ben Herman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 March 2020
Location: United States
Posts: 113
|
| Posted: 08 April 2020 at 7:32am | IP Logged | 3
|
post reply
|
|
Tim O Neill: I've often thought that ALPHA FLIGHT was the pre-cursor to NEXT MEN - both of those worlds feel real to me because the characters are complex and interesting.
…..
Good observation. I think Alpha Flight and Next Men were both ahead of their time. They were both such great, unconventional series. I wish I could erase my memories of both series so I could sit down and read them as if for the first time all over again, experience all the dramatic twists, all the plot & character developments, as genuine surprises.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132232
|
| Posted: 08 April 2020 at 8:06am | IP Logged | 4
|
post reply
|
|
ALPHA FLIGHT and NEXT MEN can be seen as marking two ends of a time of significant change in the DSM. AF was published when the speculators were just beginning to make their presence felt, granting it the highest sales of any book in decades. JBNM, in contrast, came along when the speculators had assumed absolute control over the marketplace, and despite scoring the highest sales of any Direct Only book ever, was quickly dismissed when the first wave of Image books scored even higher—all ordered months in advance, sight unseen. The very definition of mindless speculation. “Maybe NEXT MEN was just bad” some will say. Maybe it was. But the market had become a place where most readers didn’t even get the chance to find out.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Ben Herman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 March 2020
Location: United States
Posts: 113
|
| Posted: 08 April 2020 at 8:41am | IP Logged | 5
|
post reply
|
|
John Byrne, this reminds me of something from the NEXT MEN lettercol that has stuck with me all these years.
Someone wrote in to recount that they had gone to their local comic shop to pick up the latest issues of NEXT MEN, and the clerk behind the counter had snickered something like "That's Next Men you have there, not X-Men!" Your response was to point out that this clerk was a moron, because NEXT MEN had a higher cover price than X-MEN, and instead of smug mockery he should have been happy to be selling it, because the store was making more money.
That always struck me as a good example of what was (and all these years later often still is) wrong with too many comic books stores, namely that the owners & employees ran them as extensions of their own personal hobby, rather than as businesses which need to cater to the actual interests of customers and have a sound economic model for remaining open.
I mean, imagine if you went to the supermarket and the cashier started mocking you for buying Hunts tomato sauce instead of Ragu? That would be absolutely ridiculous.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132232
|
| Posted: 08 April 2020 at 8:49am | IP Logged | 6
|
post reply
|
|
Now imagine the store doesn’t stock Hunt’s, because the manager doesn’t like it.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Wallace Sellars
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 17667
|
| Posted: 08 April 2020 at 2:47pm | IP Logged | 7
|
post reply
|
|
That JBNM is not held in the same high regard as (ugh) WATCHMEN still feels like an injustice.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Ted Pugliese
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 December 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 7979
|
| Posted: 08 April 2020 at 5:02pm | IP Logged | 8
|
post reply
|
|
I know most of the great comics adjectives have already
been used, but JBNM is all of them! EVERY comics fan
should read it.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
Craig Earl
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 July 2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1233
|
| Posted: 10 April 2020 at 5:10am | IP Logged | 9
|
post reply
|
|
For me, Alpha Flight just had a different flavour, somehow 'apart' from the rest of the Marvel Universe (maybe it was the Canadian setting).
As much as I love JB's various epic 'world in peril' stories, some of the more grounded issues live longer in the memory for me. I'm thinking of that Puck issue (number 5) and then over in FF, the Human Torch issue with the kid that sets himself on fire.
I know I was a massive fan of AF, because if someone asked me to describe the cover of any issue from 1 to 28, I could do it in a heartbeat (and still can).
Over the years, I've had a few letters printed in Marvel comics. One of them, in a later Alpha Flight issue, was bemoaning how the series had declined without JB at the helm.
And as for that Puck origin issue - UGHHHHHHH!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Vinny Valenti
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 8030
|
| Posted: 10 April 2020 at 8:11am | IP Logged | 10
|
post reply
|
|
"For me, Alpha Flight just had a different flavour, somehow 'apart' from the rest of the Marvel Universe (maybe it was the Canadian setting)."
--
Pretty much this. AF was JB's own little corner of the Marvel Universe, which gave you the sense that anything could happen (after killing off the team leader, nothing is off the table!). I bet that JB could have just blown up Canada completely and Shooter wouldn't have complained. It wasn't until his final issue that there was overt editorial interference (with the Beyonder's appearance).
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132232
|
| Posted: 10 April 2020 at 9:43am | IP Logged | 11
|
post reply
|
|
When ALPHA FLIGHT was announced--after years of fan demand--there was a general chorus of "Not ANOTHER group book!!" from pretty much the same corners of fandom.So, I resolved, AF would NOT be "another group book," and I decided to present stories more or less as if they were from solo titles of the individual characters. Which prompted whines of "Why is the team never TOGETHER??"
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Ryan Maxwell
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 12936
|
| Posted: 10 April 2020 at 10:08am | IP Logged | 12
|
post reply
|
|
Being a brand new comic reader finding the book nearly halfway through your run, I enjoyed the format and was genuinely excited when two or three or most of the team met up. I didn't know or expect anything different. It just was.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
