Or – “Finally Looks Like We’re Gettin’ Somewhere Now…”

I’ve been whining about this particular series since the first issue, complaining about the name, about the pacing, about what I consider the almost-criminal misuse of Beta Ray Bill and Sasquatch… Recent discussions at the store (Gatekeeper Hobbies, Huntoon & Gage, Topeka! Ask us about Proxy Jason’s terrible demise in the chipper-shredder!) have convinced me that I may have been a bit too harsh. Rather than being bothered by what the characters are DOING, I’ve been focused on what they’re NOT doing that I think they should. So! Today, we have a clean slate, I’m going to set aside my contentiousness and look at this book from a fresh, new perspective… A whoooole neeewww woooorld! A wooorld that something something blaaaah…

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Or – “Would It Kill Marvel To Have A Hero Who Aren’t Emotionally Scarred For Life?”

Three words: BETA RAY MOTHA#&$ING BILL! I’ve said for two months now that Oeming has written these issues with the intent that it would be the first arc of an ongoing series. Since the series has been switched over to limited status, this is doubly frustrating. Not only does it feel like we’re watching yet another Marvel title that’s being written for the eventual trade, it seems like a foregone conclusion that Omega Flight itself won’t be assembled until the last issue, by which point I fear the audience will be gone…

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Or – “When Did The Wrecking Crew Turn Into Psychopathic Serial Killer Types?”

Talisman is not happy, and with good reason. Look at it from her perspective: American superheroes have a problem with one of their OWN, The Scarlet Witch. She snaps, changes reality, then when it changes back, her stupidity causes a mailman to be empowered and kill Talisman’s father (AND nearly the entirety of Canadia’s superhuman defenders.) America has ANOTHER problem, and suddenly super-villains are flooding Canadia’s borders, Sasquatch (her last link to Alpha Flight, and one of the last links to her lost family) disappears while engaging said super-villains, and the Americans are suddenly sending up “their people” to handle the problem. Adding insult to injury, both of the people they’ve sent are third-string ex-Force Works members with serious behavioral problems. It would seem that SHIELD Director Stark wants them out of his hair, but since they’re his pals, he won’t torture, depower, exile, or illegally imprison them (like he’s been doing for everybody else.) You can’t blame her for having her eyes burst into flame and her costume nearly split at the seams…

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Or – “We Really Do Have A Limited Understanding Of Canadia And It’s Bacon.”

Alpha Flight is one of those concepts that never really gelled for anyone but the original creator. John Byrne had a feel for the characters that no one else has ever really managed to recreate, and the fact that this was a Canadian team seemed to make the writers try and treat them differently than a “normal” superhero group. From the revelation that Northstar and Aurora were actually descended from fairies (irony, indeed), to the fake resurrection of Guardian to the real resurrection of Guardian to the second death and second resurrection of Guardian, as well as Guardian and Vindicator switching names back and forth, nobody ever seemed to really get a creative hold on the concept. Marvel is going back to the well one more time, but they’ve already done two things that make me wonder about their commitment: changed the name, and demoted the book from ongoing to limited series.

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