THE NEW ALPHA FLIGHT? *Possible Spoilers*

[Defunct]

In the latest Lying in the Gutters: http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=13


Keep in mind this is as likely to be bull as it is to be true. But a green light story is usually pretty bulletproof.

[-K-M-]

Yeah I heard about this also, but it better not just be all American's or that will be dumb.

[varo]

i am thinking april fools.


again, relaunching a book with the label alpha flight, that isn't alpha flight.


does marvel never learn?

[Ben]

EEEEP! Time to start digging for info!

Ben

[DelBubs]

I can't see it being an April Fool considering the date. Plus it would seem to be a logical next step. Most of AF get wasted or severely bruised by 'The Collective'. Many heroes come to Canada to escape registration. Cap as we know will be one of them. Now any surviving members of Alpha are naturally gonna be involved, but Canada needs protecting etc etc and so on...

I'll hold off having a **** attack until I see any possible line-up, if it is made up mainly of those numpties from the Great Lakes Avengers then I will be saying bad things :-) . Then again, this New Alpha Flight is gonna be running a major storyline pertaining to Civil War. So I'll hold off for now and see what/if anything, happens.

[Shaman Of The Whills]

Whoa! If that is real, then I'm excited... actually, if they're really adopting the name Alpha Flight as well, that to me means that they either intend to honro those heroes that came before them (worthy enough) or will at least have Canadian members that will accompany them! The fact that they'd form into a team implies that they're not only a community, but also implies that they'll be continuing their herowork, which is also a plus, meaning that only heroes that have powers that could actually be effectively used will be on the team... heck, knowing his position (and now having the outcome of Civil War practically assured), maybe the chances of Wolvie joining up are a little higher...

I'm really hoping that one this isn't some lame joke, that it isn't false information and as has been mentioned, not a Great Lakes type formation... I think they've got some real potential with this... I mean, bring a couple big names along and that alone will guarantee a strong fanbase that won't accept crappy stories... I'd even go for the same type of lineup that New Excalibur has, b-listers with nowhere else to go... although I'm doubting that many other users here would go for that.

[MistressMerr]

That had BETTER be a joke.

[Defunct]

April Fool's jokes don't happen on April 3rd, folks.

This is either true, or it's not. Either way, it wouldn't be posted (let alone with a green light) if Rich didn't think it was real.

[varo]

here is rich's reply over at bendis's boards.



Not an April Fool's joke

Not taken off a message board.

Sourced to a Marvel creator, then multiple sourced.

Your call.

[Mokole]

Well, that may be good news, but it'll hardly work if it's all American heroes. Americans (say 3-4) working with Alpha Flight (3-4 of them, too), as Alpha Flight, OK! But no way will Captain America be leading it. Why would he go AWOL, he's already a known commodity as Steve Rogers, no secrets there. So overall this message is entailed to get message boards, like us, flying again about an off the wall rumour that may be a true one.

But that means confirmation from Joe Q. will be coming? Go for it varo, Scratchy, Defunct, Ben.....

BTW, I got a line from a buddy who got an email from a Marvel editor (it's poorly written and just from Marvel so he doesn't know which editor answered him, just says:


As to your Alpha Flight questions, ideas are getting firmer. Yes Millar is using Alpha Flight a bit for reasons to be seen. Maybe refugees will cross over, maybe AWOL heroes, that makes sence doesn't it. But wait and see and maybe you wll get your wish,

[Mokole]

Andthis (http://www.marvel.com/universe/Alpha_Flight) has listings now for Zuzha and Vindicator, neither listed as dead yet. No A. Flighters on the deceased page, either.

[Defunct]

Andthis (http://www.marvel.com/universe/Alpha_Flight) has listings now for Zuzha and Vindicator, neither listed as dead yet. No A. Flighters on the deceased page, either.
That's made by fans, not Marvel. It's no more official than Wikipedia other than being hosted on Marvel.com.

[maniac mike]

How would everybody feel if Spider-Man refused to give his identity to the US Government and decided to head north of the border to continue his crime fighting ways? :-k

Heck, they filmed the first Spider-Man movie in Toronto! :-s

[Shaman Of The Whills]

Well, I certainly agree with the call on Captain America... but I also don't see Steve Rogers crossing the border any time soon... he seems much more likely to stay within the bounds of America and fight the act than simply retreat from it. I can't think of many higher ups that would really flee from the scene anyways, unless they have family or are wounded or something... its possible that Spidey might cross the border, but I'm not sure I'm really pro-him on Alpha Flight... as a guest yeah sure, but as a permanent member of the crew? Not so sure... the only reason why I'd be okay with Logan being on the team is because of his history already with them and because of his actual citizenship. I think creating an entirely American team would be completely ridiculous, and even with the craziness of Marvel, I'm not entirely sure that they would even consider such a thing, especially given that they've been saying that "Canadians" would be happy with the plans, and I'm sure most Canadians aren't even normally excited about the prospect of Americans taking over the scene. Once again, I'm thinking B-listers... given what we've seen in the 198, perhaps Diamond Lil and those who survive the series and company might take the stage, something which I'm sure a few out there would be more than happy with... so to make this more of a positive search rather than a listing of those we'd disapprove of, anyone have any ideas of heroes not from Canada that you wouldn't mind seeing come alongside Alpha Flight? Obviously those already committed to a team (central X-Men and the Fantastic Four for example) wouldn't be eligible...

[cmdrkoenig67]

Huh? Lame! If true, it will just lead to another quick death for the title.

Dana

[Barnacle13]

See I can see Marvel totally screwing an idea like this and committing the ultimate blasphemy.....putting Steve Rogers in the Guardian suit. I don't think Mac would give it up unless it were peeled off his cold dead body, and I don't think Rogers would don anything that wasn't star spangled, but I can see Marvel screwing it up.

[varo]

very funny pic i found:






http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/PaladinPics/einheri.jpg

[Shaman Of The Whills]

Wow it seems that everyone hates this idea except me (an exception or two to that statement I guess). I thought that any Alpha possibility would be good and not met already with such loathing of the possibilities... also quite amazing given the fact that we've only got a few sentences upon which to base our judgments. Canadians working cahoots with Americans is a recipe for disaster? Whats so wrong with the Americans? National interaction in comics is a good thing, and depending on the heroes included might draw more and more fans. While somewhat a different scenario, look at the makeup of the 2nd generation X-Men and the New Mutants... two teams that resided within America but had almost no Americans on the teams whatsoever. Is Alpha Flight only Alpha Flight if the team roster is entirely Canadian?

[Snowsquatch]

Is Alpha Flight only Alpha Flight if the team roster is entirely Canadian?
Yes. Or at least overwhelmingly Canadian.

I really think this is a very bad idea. I wouldn't have a problem if one or two American heroes moved to Canada and joined AF. But making this the entire concept behind AF is just about the worst reboot of AF I can imagine.

CA leading AF? Just shoot me, please.

[Ben]

Well, unfortunately all Joe Q has to say is:


Sorry, Ben, but I don't address rumors from rumor sites like this.

JQ


So no confirmation from that end.

Ben

[Adam]

I'm not averse to this idea, in fact it could be rather fun.

Of course this isn't what I'd want as the basis for a long-term relaunch of the property, but let's not blow things out of proportion here. Civil War is an event, it won't last forever and after the turmoil it creates is complete there'll be some return to normalcy for the effected characters. Marvel of course wouldn't leave someone like Capitan America as a member of Alpha Flight (if that's even what's going to happen), but if it's a plot element used as part of a larger story... sure why not? The originals will be back at some point anyways, and in the meantime the AF name has been pulled into the company spotlight.

[Mokole]

Andthis (http://www.marvel.com/universe/Alpha_Flight) has listings now for Zuzha and Vindicator, neither listed as dead yet. No A. Flighters on the deceased page, either.
That's made by fans, not Marvel. It's no more official than Wikipedia other than being hosted on Marvel.com.

Ah.

I fired off a couple of emails, and posted at Joe Q's board. I went and checked the Joe Q. thing at Newsarama and two AF questions have been asked already, so that's two more possible replies. See what else we can do to get info.

[maniac mike]

I think Rich was messing around when he wrote that Captain America was going to lead AF. (It's probably a pun at Canada) seeing as how both Alpha Flight & The Avengers are both lead by Patriotic characters.

MM

[Defunct]

I think Rich was messing around when he wrote that Captain America was going to lead AF. (It's probably a pun at Canada) seeing as how both Alpha Flight & The Avengers are both lead by Patriotic characters.

MM
I might have agreed, but the fact that he posted again and said it was not a joke and he cleared it with internal sources, and didn't mention anything about just being sarcastic about Captain America, makes me think that line wasn't meant as a joke.

[suzene]

Meh. Between trying to put Scans Daily and downloading whole comic runs off of torrent sites in the same light and posting the ramblings of a mentally ill woman off her meds, I've written LitG off as hackery. I'll wait until something hits the shelves.

Suzene

[cmdrkoenig67]

I think the key word in the name of that website is "Lying".

I would love it if Wolverine joined AF again(that might ensure some good sales), but I just can't see Alpha being populated by characters nobody else wants to use(which is probably what would happen...lot's of third and fourth tier heroes from America, running from the mandatory registration).

Dana

[varo]

hate to say this but litg is where i first heard about series 2 and 3. he usually is pretty right about this stuff.

[Phil]

To be fair to Rich he's right on the money 90% of the time, and he's never claimed to be anything other than a rumour site. He doesn't do it to be an ass or to make rubbish up. People read the thread and enjoy it, Rich is good what he does.

The premise does sound very much like Millar's writing style, and Quesada's refusal to comment on anything Rich publishes is usually a good sign. One of the funniest interviews I ever read was Rich interviewing Quesada. I'll have to see if I can dig that up.

And also, could people be looking too much into the fact that the team will be made up of other supes'. What does 'manned by' strictly mean?

[PWalk]

On one hand I think it's great that AF is getting this much attention. It's keeping the team in the comic world's conscious and for that I am grateful.

As for having a bunch of heroes cross the border to form a new team I'm ok with the idea but it has to have a member of AF in it or else all is lost.

[Powersurge]

Awesome picture Varo!! Too true.

As for relaunching Alpha as last years avengers or whatever....... pfffff



very funny pic i found:






http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/PaladinPics/einheri.jpg

[DOOM's Medic]

After hereing Bendis say that 'Canada will be knee deep in heros soon'(not exact quote I'm just going from memory) I had a feeling that we'd have some heros 'stationed' in Canada durring the Civil War.

I think it could be interesting to see all of the usuals up here for a bit. It brings about some ideas(to my thinking at least) for the true Alphans to re-form again.

- When the visitors are here, Canada gets used to their presence and gets more vocal about filling the void when the visitors return state-side.

- With the influx of metas, Alpha Flight not only has to be reactivated but expanded to help with the meta-boom.

Idealy we'd just get our Alphans the way we want them but with Millar, who has already told us how much of an old-school fan he is, the one who is going to make it possible for a new Alpha Flight to be written I'm still excited about the end result. :)

I fully expect to see some things on the way that I'd prefer not to see but sometimes, that's part of the fun.

[Shaman Of The Whills]

I fully expect to see some things on the way that I'd prefer not to see but sometimes, that's part of the fun.
To be honest, the whole of Civil War is something I'd rather not see... but I guess we make do with what we get, no?

EDIT: With regards to the worry that this will become an entirely non-Canadian dominated group, I actually don't think that there is that great of a worry about that, as Marvel has already made that mistake and regretted it in the past. I think that to put the name Alpha Flight up implies the element of prominent Canadianism... look at what Chris Claremont had to say at the announcement of the New Excalibur title...

"A great many fans made clear that - while they appreciated and enjoyed the stories we were telling on Genosha — they did not appreciate what they felt was the misappropriation of the brand-identity of Excalibur,” Claremont said. “In other words, the Genosha series might have been more welcomed had it been differently titled. To those readers, Excalibur means England-Captain Britain-connections to OtherWorld-a visual and story-telling aesthetic more in keeping with the original series by me and Alan Davis."

I think that we can safely assume that the readers of Alpha Flight in the past certainly have a Canadian association with the brand-identity of Excalibur. To us, Alpha Flight means Canada with a past members connection... I think the general anger expressed towards that title should shield us from any such "Captain America rules Canada" listings.

[maniac mike]

Rich did state something that Marvel needs to do...

"Marvel, time for an Essential Volume, no?"

MM [-o<

[Transmetropolitan]

Forget an "Essential."

Howzabout a "Visionaries" for the Byrne run?

[Mokole]

Maybe it'll be a bit in the mode of Excalibur. After all, that trash that 'New' Excalibur replaced was pretty bad. Many people think Lobdell's AF was, too.

So if were done like Excalibur (which it won't be, of course), then:

- Excalibur has Captain Britain (so Alpha Flight has Heather or Mac)
- Excalibur has Pete Wisdom (so Alpha Flight has Wyre, or Nemesis, Zuzha, Flex, or some other latecomer)
- Excalibur has Juggernaut (so AF would have their own continuity-messed-up 'American' villain, Sabretooth)
- Excalibur has Nocturne from the EXiles (so AF gets.... Princess Power? Sunpyre, though she's dead? White Sasquatch?)
- Exaclibur has Dazzler and Sage (so Alpha Flight gets Rogue and Ms. Marvel, or Marrow and Emma Frost?)

Of course not. But if the story is true, then it will be a 5-8 member team, with 2-3 Alpha Flighters, no more, and who knows American deserters.

[PWalk]

After thinking about it they could slap the Alpha Flight name on just about anything these days and I would buy it.

[RatCat]

I'm having Avengers Disassembled flashbacks.


Old team have trouble selling? Just replace them all with our more popular characters and call them the "new" version of the old team.


I guess that’s the new world order

[Barnacle13]

We're all assuming the title will be Alpha Flight. Hell they could call it Conscientious Objectors for all we know. I think it'l have some Alphans on the roster, since it'll be operating in Canada, but it doesn't have to. Could just be a bunch of Yanks dodging the registration act. We'll have to wait and see. It could also set the stage for a future Alpha Flight title. It's all specualtion at this point.

[Legerd]

If you go by the "Alpha Flight in their final battle" than I guess any future series won't be called Alpha Flight anyways. Besides, should the LITG rumour be true then it won't be AF even if they call it that, and Marvel will be setting us up for the prerequisite disappointment. After all, CW is a limited event which means all the heroes who head up here will eventually be going back. So, if AF is dead like buddy at LITG says, we'll be left right where we were after NA #17. :cry:

[Barnacle13]

I don't think all of Alpha Flight is dead. I'm optimitic that several of them survived the encounter. I'd say Sasquatch, Puck, and Heather should survive for sure. Mac has already died too many times to count, so if he bought it again, I could live with it. Shaman has pretty much been made insignificant with the arrival of Earthmover, so I can see them letting him die, too. I wouldn't be happy about that death, but I could see it happening and learn to accept it. Puck II and Major Mapleleaf I was never married to anyway. They might have grown on me eventually, but never had a chance, so I wouldn't miss them terribly either.

Now if they killed off Heather and made the Hudson kid an orphan I'd be shocked. Sas and Puck are fan faves, so I think there'd be backlash if they were truly dead as well.

Still I don't see Alpha Flight having more than cameos in this Civil War story. Those cameos may just be shots of the battlefield after the Collective wiped them out or hospital shots. I think the book will be filled with conscientious objectors from the States. Hopefully I'm wrong and the book will be the foothold Alpha needs to get back in print on a regular basis.

[Mokole]

Joe Q, Mike Marts, and more have said that the AFers in NA #16-17 aren't all dead. Some are for sure, some aren't for sure.

[Ben]

http://forum.alphaflight.net/images/smiles/eusa_whistle.gif

[DelBubs]

http://forum.alphaflight.net/images/smiles/eusa_whistle.gif

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_10_13.gif
You can't help yourself can ya ? :-)

[Le Messor]

Wow it seems that everyone hates this idea except me (an exception or two to that statement I guess). I thought that any Alpha possibility would be good and not met already with such loathing of the possibilities...

Not everyone.
But me. I don't want a new Alpha Flight title. I want Alpha Flight.
What I mean by that is, I don't want another bunch of strangers I've never met and don't care about running around doing things I'm not that interested in. Slapping the words 'Flight' and 'Alpha' on a cover once a month does not Alpha Flight make. Do that, and you get v2 and v3. Next to nothing to do with the team I came to know and love, but still expected to have my loyalty, simply for the sake of those two words.
"What is in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet." - Shakespeare
"Don't give me songs. Give me something to sing about." - Buffy


Canadians working cahoots with Americans is a recipe for disaster?

Working with, no. But that's not what got described. What got described was, a bunch of Americans moving to Canada and calling themselves Alpha Flight, and led by Captain frickin' America, not by a Canadian, and we're supposed to go 'A bunch of Americans... but it's set in Canada, so Alpha Flight's back! Yay!'
Being Canadian is the only thing, other than the name, that the three series had in common. Take that away, and what've you got?


Whats so wrong with the Americans?

In this case? National arrogance. Having a Canadian team led by their national hero; it's insulting to Canada.
Why, that'd be like taking, say, the British national anthem, and using the tune as a US patriotic song.


With regards to the worry that this will become an entirely non-Canadian dominated group, I actually don't think that there is that great of a worry about that, as Marvel has already made that mistake and regretted it in the past. I think that to put the name Alpha Flight up implies the element of prominent Canadianism.

Your faith in Marvel will be your undoing.'
You seem to believe that they learn from their mistakes. I'm curious; where do you get that from?
Okay, maybe Chris Claremont learns from his; but Marvel? Now that's another matter entirely. I had to beat them to death with their own shoes. But we found the M & Ms, and Ozzy went on to do an excellent show.

- Mik
"A lot of educators tell students, "Think of your principal as your pal." I say, "Think of me as your judge, jury, and executioner."
- Snyder

[Mokole]

http://forum.alphaflight.net/images/smiles/eusa_whistle.gif

Ahh, so Ben, Millar told you things you can't tell us yet, methinks :shock:

[Legerd]

http://forum.alphaflight.net/images/smiles/eusa_whistle.gif

Ahh, so Ben, Millar told you things you can't tell us yet, methinks :shock:

I KNEW IT! :D

*whispers* C'mon Ben, you can tell me. I won't say anything to anyone else.

[Ben]

http://forum.alphaflight.net/images/smiles/eusa_whistle.gif

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_10_13.gif
You can't help yourself can ya ? :-)

Hah hah, so easy to get you all jumping to conclusions.

[cmdrkoenig67]

Wow it seems that everyone hates this idea except me (an exception or two to that statement I guess). I thought that any Alpha possibility would be good and not met already with such loathing of the possibilities...

Not everyone.
But me. I don't want a new Alpha Flight title. I want Alpha Flight.
What I mean by that is, I don't want another bunch of strangers I've never met and don't care about running around doing things I'm not that interested in. Slapping the words 'Flight' and 'Alpha' on a cover once a month does not Alpha Flight make. Do that, and you get v2 and v3. Next to nothing to do with the team I came to know and love, but still expected to have my loyalty, simply for the sake of those two words.
"What is in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet." - Shakespeare
"Don't give me songs. Give me something to sing about." - Buffy


Canadians working cahoots with Americans is a recipe for disaster?

Working with, no. But that's not what got described. What got described was, a bunch of Americans moving to Canada and calling themselves Alpha Flight, and led by Captain frickin' America, not by a Canadian, and we're supposed to go 'A bunch of Americans... but it's set in Canada, so Alpha Flight's back! Yay!'
Being Canadian is the only thing, other than the name, that the three series had in common. Take that away, and what've you got?


Whats so wrong with the Americans?

In this case? National arrogance. Having a Canadian team led by their national hero; it's insulting to Canada.
Why, that'd be like taking, say, the British national anthem, and using the tune as a US patriotic song.


With regards to the worry that this will become an entirely non-Canadian dominated group, I actually don't think that there is that great of a worry about that, as Marvel has already made that mistake and regretted it in the past. I think that to put the name Alpha Flight up implies the element of prominent Canadianism.

Your faith in Marvel will be your undoing.'
You seem to believe that they learn from their mistakes. I'm curious; where do you get that from?
Okay, maybe Chris Claremont learns from his; but Marvel? Now that's another matter entirely. I had to beat them to death with their own shoes. But we found the M & Ms, and Ozzy went on to do an excellent show.

- Mik
"A lot of educators tell students, "Think of your principal as your pal." I say, "Think of me as your judge, jury, and executioner."
- Snyder

Go Mik! I have to agree with him...totally.

IMHO...Alpha Flight is a Canadian team with familiar faces like...Guardian(either Mac or Heather), Aurora, Northstar, Puck, Sasquatch, Shaman, Snowbird and even some of the later characters....For me, AF will mostly be the Byrne team(including Talisman, who is a great character). Most that came later(heroes, villians, storylines, etc...) in the series(and series two and three) didn't fly...so they need to stop bringing it out of the hangar.

Dana

[Snowsquatch]

I don't want a new Alpha Flight title. I want Alpha Flight.
What I mean by that is, I don't want another bunch of strangers I've never met and don't care about running around doing things I'm not that interested in.
[...]
IMHO...Alpha Flight is a Canadian team with familiar faces like...Guardian(either Mac or Heather), Aurora, Northstar, Puck, Sasquatch, Shaman, Snowbird and even some of the later characters....For me, AF will mostly be the Byrne team(including Talisman, who is a great character). Most that came later(heroes, villians, storylines, etc...) in the series(and series two and three) didn't fly...so they need to stop bringing it out of the hangar.

Dana
=D> =D> =D>

[varo]

ummm....

welll.......


errrr.....


didn't he already confirm they were alive?


”Tiger47”: In Steve McNiven's original promo art for Civil War, Sasquatch, Puck, and Guardian all appear. Yet, as you may or may not know, in New Avengers #16 they looked pretty dead. Was this an unintentional mistake? Did all of Alpha Flight just get bloody noses and decide to take naps in the Canadian Wilderness? What's up?

JQ: Tiger47, we’ll have to discuss this after Civil War.

[Shaman Of The Whills]

Your faith in Marvel will be your undoing.'
You seem to believe that they learn from their mistakes. I'm curious; where do you get that from?
Okay, maybe Chris Claremont learns from his; but Marvel? Now that's another matter entirely. I had to beat them to death with their own shoes. But we found the M & Ms, and Ozzy went on to do an excellent show.
Mainly I get it from boredom. I mean, I'm gonna keep buying their comics because I'm a sucker and a pawn, so I might as well attempt to lie to myself and justify my purchases through false hope.

Hah hah, so easy to get you all jumping to conclusions.
Ah yes, but you seem not the type to create a false circus for us monkeys to jump hoops through... indeed an audience there must be, and a treat waiting at the end of that firery rope! Every great illusion may not be real, but the intent of the creator to lie is certainly an undeniable truth!

Alpha Flight is a Canadian team with familiar faces like...Guardian(either Mac or Heather), Aurora, Northstar, Puck, Sasquatch, Shaman, Snowbird and even some of the later characters....For me, AF will mostly be the Byrne team(including Talisman, who is a great character). Most that came later(heroes, villians, storylines, etc...) in the series(and series two and three) didn't fly...so they need to stop bringing it out of the hangar.
Well, I'm also allowing myself to be lied to by convincing myself that this Captain America thing is a fluke... and that the involvement of non-Alphans will generally be minimal... can you really blame a boy for trying? Well, sure you can. So I guess there we are.

[Le Messor]

Your faith in Marvel will be your undoing. I'm curious; where do you get that from?
Mainly I get it from boredom. I mean, I'm gonna keep buying their comics because I'm a sucker and a pawn, so I might as well attempt to lie to myself and justify my purchases through false hope.

That is... acceptable.

Good answer. :)

- Le Messor
"Aggression is a natural, human tendency - although you and I come by it another way."
- Adam