Marvel sent Major Spoilers another look at Alpha Flight #1 from the team of Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, and Dale Eaglesham.
ALPHA FLIGHT #1 (of 8) (APR110547)
ALPHA FLIGHT #1 (of 8) EAGLESHAM VARIANT (MAR118215)
Written by GREG PAK & FRED VAN LENTE
Penciled by DALE EAGLESHAM
Cover by PHIL JIMENEZ
Canada’s original super team is back in action – but can they survive the terror of Fear Itself? With their homeland gripped by fear, Alpha Flight has been named enemies of the state and their country has vowed to hunt them down! Can Guardian, Sasquatch and the rest of the team quell the influence of Fear Itself and restore order to the Great White North? The team faces its most daunting enemy yet – their own government – this June, only in Alpha Flight #1 (of 8)!
Alpha Flight #1 arrives June 08, 2011 and has a $3.99 cover price.
15 Comments
Wow. What an incredibly accurate portrayal of local media in a comic. (Please note the lack of sarcasm in my voice as I say that.)
I think the local media would be more likely to talk about Alpha Flight in a way that propagates fear in the viewers and interview some local yokels commenting on how concerned they are,
Some of the dialog seems out-of-character for the one saying it, imo. I am extremely glad to see Aurora back, as she was a favorite character back in the original Byrne days.
I’m sure that will happen, this appears to be happening right at the beginning (obviously) while the team is still high in popularity amongst the nation.
I’m not quite sure where to begin here.
The dialogue itself is so humourously bad, it’s almost insulting.
The newspaper shot of “Nation united with Coalition government” is very funny-strange considering the results of the recent federal election.
The cover with the upside-down Canadian flag also raises a lot of alarm bells in my head.
I think I have a fundamental problem with a story about a group of Canadian superheroes being written by Americans.
While picking out some cultural references from newspapers and using some geographic landmarks can create a veneer of veracity and relevance, it usually ends up feeling shallow or at worst like mockery.
I think a similar analogy would be for me to write a story based in New York and base all of the character portraits off what I see in the Sopranos, Law and Order, Sex and the City and Jimmy Kimmel Live.
I almost want to buy this out of sheer self-deprecation.
Most of the folks I know from NYC would fit into a story based on those shows (just kidding Josh and Rich! You guys are still my favorite yankees!)
If I’m not mistaken, John Byrne is Canadian and I don’t see much difference (except the incredible art) between the way Byrne wrote Alpha-Flight and the way this runs. Remember that Walter (Sasquatch) is not only a scientist but he was also a foot-ball player for the Green Bay Packers according to the old “Marvel Universe” books so him wanting to crack open a beer on a guy’s skull and looking at Aurora’s (who was a former paramour in the Byrne days) butt aren’t off-base for the character.
Why Marrina would be calling Attuma, who’s from Atlantis the same as her former husband Namor, “human scum” is also confusing. Having her as an aquatic, female Wolverine is kind of confusing as well.
Then again, my reaction to the Action Comics #900 Superman plot (for which I was taken to task for doing something that “the comic community doesn’t do”) would not be as easy for someone from another nation to understand. I can see where someone from Canada would want a portrayal of that nation’s super-team to avoid being portrayed like a skit from the old Second City TV show with too many references to the band Rush and “hosers”.
IIRC Marrina called Attuma “Earth scum”. Since, even though Atlantean, he’s from Earth, and she’s not. She jokingly called Guardian “human scum”.
As to the characters’ portrayals, they’re all pretty dead on to what Byrne originally came up with. Aurora, though seems to be a little erratic, but that’s part of the story.
@Russ: FVL and Pak already explained why they went with a fictitious government, and the upside down flag is supposed to set off alarm bells. Any nation’s flag hung upside down is a sign of distress, not an insult.
Fantastic preview. This is a favorite done right again.
Oh man. I am so torn.
One of my favorite teams is back!
BUT
it’s $4 an issue and apparently, an 8 issue mini intertwining with Marvel’s latest Mega-Crossover? ugh.
and now they even brought back Marrina as a punk-style, and pro-alienist, and turned Snowbird into a female albino Beast Boy(Girl?), with her turning into a T-Rex which is NOT a native animal to the North.
(and still confused as to the Hudson daughter? was this in the replacement team book with Walter and Talisman, Capt. Canuck, Puck’s daughter, etc?)
sooooo tempted….
gah…..
wait for the trade…?
Nothing on wikipedia about a Hudson daughter.
I’m a little confused by Attuma’s yelling. Isn’t he going by another name (possibly even possessed) and speaking a Norse tongue like the others?
$4? Hmm. I do like Eaglesham. I do like Alpha Flight and am very happy that their craptacular death was undone. Haven’t read much of Pak though (yes I actually have NOT read Planet Hulk, WW Hulk, or any of that). And I don’t like Fear Itself. Might give the full issue a shot though.
Actually I don’t think Snowbird’s powers are limited by timeframe. There’s a large dinosaur related to the T-Rex whose fossils were found in Alberta, Canada, thus it’s name being Albertosaurus. A couple different duck-billed dinosaur fossils have been found in Canada. Actually upon some quick searching online, at least 63 different dinosaur fossil types spread throughout Canada.
@Brainlock: It’s only $4 for the first issue, and the rest are $3.
The dialogue does look to be not so great in this first issue, but I’m willing to give it a chance. Alpha Flight could be a really fun book. I think it can work best if done similar to how Excalibur used to be back in the day (the 1988-98 run) – big adventures outside the usual US backdrop, somewhat tongue-in cheek without being a parody or slapstick.
Weird that Worthy Attuma call himself Attuma.
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Why Marrina would be calling Attuma, who’s from Atlantis the same as her former husband Namor, “human scum” is also confusing. Having her as an aquatic, female Wolverine is kind of confusing as well.
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Marrina’s new look and attitude don’t really surprise me. Marrina is a member of an alien race called the Plodex from the old Byrne Alpha Flight series, a race which lusted after conquest. Marrina in the old series was a sweet girl due to her having some human DNA in her, but she still had the savage instincts of the Plodex. And also, considering that she’s been presumed dead, then actually killed, then brought back, I can imagine after all she’s been through, Marrina has decided to adopt a slightly more Plodex mentality…and I don’t think Plodex would really care about the differences between humans and Atlanteans. Also, she can shapeshift to a degree, so her changing her apperance can be done.
The writing’s terrible. This team suffers from lack of proper character development. After 20 some-odd years, I would hope they’d get these guys right. Too hard to believe that Marrina is all “in your face” about everything. Snowbird is snarky all of a sudden? And what happened to Heather’s previous costume that tapped into Geothermic energies? I hope we get to see a reason for these sudden personality changes.
I love this team… So much potential for a bunch of strange and cool characters. Remember when X-Men was like that waaaay back when? We all know this series is gonna tank like the previous incarnations.
Sigh, I just wish they would have gotten someone like Kyle/Yost on the series.