I miss Alpha Flight

[Dfense75]

Ya know I don't really know a better way to express it. I MISS ALPHA FLIGHT AND I WANT THEM BACK! I know there is no justice in the world and there are much better examples of it than missing my favorite comic book characters. But its long overdue. I know most if not all of you feel the same way but its getting silly at this point. What do we have to do to show Marvel we want Alpha Flight and that if presented in the right way it is a book that can do well? Its frustrating.
As I have gotten into my 30's I find my tastes evolving. My pull list at the local comic shop at points in my life have been 30+ books. At the moment its maybe 3. I find myself clinging to the arts that have stood the test of time in my every changing interests. Alpha Flight is one of those interests. I would love for all of us here to be talking about last months issue and the issue to come. Not how JoeQ and Marvel hate us and AF. So what more can we do? Lets try really try to do something. I love fighting city hall. The folks on this board are all bright and passionate so lets put our heads together and give this another go. If its writing lets write, if its calling Marvel lets call. I am all for organizing and giving it our best. So what so say you? You wanna bring Alpha Flight back from the dead?

[Legerd]

I hear ya D. Why don't we flood the Cup O' Joe thread (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=274875&page=36) at CBR with questions, post on the Marvel boards AF Appreciation thread (http://marvel.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=98826&sid=f2a01418e994281bf7027c3a31abb111), as well as making new threads about why there isn't a new book yet on the various forums, posting on Tom Brevoort's blog and generally "pestering" any and all Marvel folks we know how to contact.

[Dfense75]

I hear ya D. Why don't we flood the Cup O' Joe thread (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=274875&page=36) at CBR with questions, post on the Marvel boards AF Appreciation thread (http://marvel.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=98826&sid=f2a01418e994281bf7027c3a31abb111), as well as making new threads about why there isn't a new book yet on the various forums, posting on Tom Brevoort's blog and generally "pestering" any and all Marvel folks we know how to contact.

All good places to start Legerd. Perhaps if we rally enough of us to do it at coordinated times at some of those places we can make show force, it might make a statement. Plus maybe we can work together on an official statement from the fans of Alpha Flight. Also does anyone on our boards have even a casual relationship with someone at Marvel or close to them? Perhaps that person if willing can be a conduit about getting it to the right people. I know thats a stretch maybe but sometimes its who not what you know.

[Mokole]

Yup, even with Joe Q's attitude I keep hoping.

[Flightpath07]

someone at Marvel or close to them

I dunno. Other than Loki, you mean?

As far as Alpha Flight...

Has anybody realized that the only reason Arachne is officially still a part of Omega Flight with Walter Langkowski, is because Marvel saw her as a throw-away character than nobody would miss? Really, if people who read comics cared about her, they (Marvel) would have pulled her back to the USA before now. In fact, I think that if they even remember she is still alive and in Canada, then once this Norman Osbourne thing has gone away, they will probably bring her back (and likely have her trash talk Alpha Flight).

The only reason that Sasquatch "survived" the Pointer attack, is because somebody at Marvel suggested that he was a character that might be useful popping up in other books on occasion.

As far as Marvel is concerned, other than Sasquatch (and I do not see other books lining up to use him at this point), the Alpha Flight characters are all write-offs.

It sucks, but it is true.

So , the greater question remains, how do we change the minds of people who feel this way?

Unfortunately, I do not have an answer.

What we need is a writer, with good credentials, who wants to take on this project. One who BADLY wants it, with every fiber of their being, and will fight the establishment to get to do it.

Outside of that, we have little to no hope.

I guess I am a realist today; sorry if I bring you all down. :oops: :? :oops:

[mos_def]

I know a perfect way to get a series. It would take a clever promo write in. Picture this, the team comes back. Saves Canada and then the media is there to ask what are you guys going to do now. Puck or someone replies, "We're going to Disney Land"
It could work

[Garry/Al-Fan]

An organized campaign to let MARVEL know Alpha Flight is missed is a good idea. However, it seems that MARVEL knows that the AF fans are frustrated and hurting and disillusioned about how the team is being treated.

To say MARVEL doesn't care---given that some (Fred Van Lente) appearances convey a truer sense of what Alpha Flight is than many of the other (Lobdell/The Collective-New Avengers# 16/Omega Flight) recent renditions---is only half-right, at best. Someone, somewhere has decided that putting non-original characters in the group and calling it "Alpha Flight" is the way to gear it to today's audience.

This premise has proven false time and time again.

Given that MARVEL has been acquired by Disney maybe they should listen to what the reader's want for a change and give it to them. It shouldn't be any worse than the things they have put out and called "Alpha Flight" over the last 15 years.

[cmdrkoenig67]

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[Ryan Maxwell]

An ongoing AF 'stuff' thread on Byrne's forum.

http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=32814

[rtiangha]

Instead of campaigning to Marvel, how about we campaign directly to Disney instead?

[Flightpath07]

Instead of campaigning to Marvel, how about we campaign directly to Disney instead?

I agree. What we need is somebody to craft a letter directly to Disney, outlining our concerns and stating what it is we want and why it will work. Then the rest of us need to get in line behind that.

Also, I still think we need to find somebody who is passionate about Flight, who wants to write them, and who knows how to do it correctly, and throw our support behind them in whatever way we can. If somebody knows they have the backing of the fans, perhaps they will refuse to give up in their quest to be given the helm of this series. "A stickey wheel gets the grease", as my Dad always told me.

[Garry/Al-Fan]

...might be helpful.

Does MARVEL need to publish a certain amount of books in order to consider an Alpha Flight series sustainable? If so, how many? 16,000?
25,000? 50,000? More?

Does Alpha Flight need to incorporate other characters from the MARVEL Universe in order to be considered for a new series? If so, wouldn't Wolverine be the #1 most logical choice?

With so many Alpha Flight characters to work with, would a GIANT-SIZE Alpha Flight be a good starting point to begin a new series? If the GIANT-SIZE issue did not attract enough readers, then everyone would know that there isn't enough interest to sustain or justify a new on-going series.

What if a creative team could tell a self-contained story (between 28 and 48 pages) that features a good number of Alphans and sells an acceptable amount of copies (32,000)? Would that be successful enough to green light a new Alpha Flight series, mini-series, or maxi-series?
[/u][/b]

[Flightpath07]

What if a creative team could tell a self-contained story (between 28 and 48 pages) that features a good number of Alphans and sells an acceptable amount of copies (32,000)? Would that be successful enough to green light a new Alpha Flight series, mini-series, or maxi-series?

To answer the second of these two questions; likely not. It isn't about success, it isn't about money or popularity. It is about hatred and intolerance. They hate Alpha Flight. They won't green-light any AF product. Of course it'd be successful if they attached Wolverine to it; which is exactly why they won't do it...

:x :x :x :x :x :x :x

[Ahab]

To answer the second of these two questions; likely not. It isn't about success, it isn't about money or popularity. It is about hatred and intolerance. They hate Alpha Flight. They won't green-light any AF product. Of course it'd be successful if they attached Wolverine to it; which is exactly why they won't do it...

:x :x :x :x :x :x :x

Hmmmm. Somehow I think you have made this a little more personal than it really is. Marvel is a business. Joe Q's job is to make sure the company makes money. If it was clear that Alpha would make money, then he would probably greenlight it. I don't know the structure of Marvel, but if it is anything like the company I work for, it undoubtedly has a finance dept and/or a financial planning division. The decisions that they make are influenced by marketing teams. There are a lot of people in the process that influence the decision for what is considered worth the effort to produce. Though Joe is the figurehead and probably the ultimate decision-maker, he is no doubt influenced by others. Obviously, there isn't a strong contingent at Marvel that feels that this book will work.
Now can I explain why they think the Pet Avengers series and Franklin Richards one-shots are a good idea? Heck no. Who is making these decisions is certainly an enigma. Sometimes when I read the previews, I have to shake my head at some of the titles that they are producing and wonder how much they really could be making on them.

[Mokole]

Well, She-Hulk doesn't make money and neither does Spider-Girl, and OF made money. So what are people to think?

[MistressMerr]

She-Hulk currently has no series in the works, and Spider-Girl got cancelled and is currently being shunted around various Spider-Man anthology books. Books that don't sell get cancelled, and Marvel's pretty darn good about giving them lots of chances. AF hasn't sold well in a very, very long time. As much as I love them, they probably wouldn't now, either.

(That's not to say I don't think it'd kill them to come out with a AF or OF miniseries, because seriously. The last one DID do well enough to warrant THAT much.)

[Speedy92286]

Yeah, Omega Flight was the best time to relaunch Alpha Flight. Fans were interested in the concept, as is proved by the sales, so why not release a ongoing after and see how it does? I am assuming Marvel thought that Omega Flight would flop, thus bringing it from an ongoing to a mini, and then just forgetting about it even though it was successful. Well played, Marvel.

Anyway, what did happen to the creative team of Omega Flight? I guess I forgot, but why didn't they push for Omega Flight to be an ongoing after they found out that many people would actually buy it?

[mreeez]

Anyway, what did happen to the creative team of Omega Flight? I guess I forgot, but why didn't they push for Omega Flight to be an ongoing after they found out that many people would actually buy it?

Kolins, shortly after OF ended, signed with DC.

Oeming, if I remember correctly, was going through a rough patch around that time too with OF getting cut and some stuff in his personal life. He's doing good work now on Mice Templar and some stuff with his new bride, Taki Soma, called Rapture as well as his work on Powers.

[Mokole]

mreez nailed it. Kolins was very happy to get to draw Omega Flight, but Brevoort wanted him to use his old 'liny' style, not his improved style, and then Quesada told him the book was cancelled down to a mini AFTER he'd drawn the first two issues! No wonder DC signed him, they weren't stupid like Marvel and did right.

[cmdrkoenig67]

Sigh...No Alpha Flight series, but they're giving Quasar another book???!!

http://marvel.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=166995&sid=933613e8a2c0f9cb555f2ef24432f454

Not to mention...There's a new series about the S.W.O.R.D. organization (booooooooooring)...Do they really think they can make that sad M.I.B. rip-off interesting?

Looking at what else is coming out...
Moon Knight's getting another go...Luke Cage too? Brother Voodoo??!! Models Inc (about Millie the Model and crew...Doesn't Marvel realize there was once a TV series called this?)??!!

AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGHHHH!!!

[cmdrkoenig67]

You know who and what I miss most?....

Heather(whether she's leader, in the suit or not or whether she's the supportive wife of the leader....She makes/made a really good leader, though)...

Puck (as a real little person and acrobat)...He was such a fun and interesting character as John Byrne created him.

The familial ties between Mac, Heather and Logan...Heather and Elizabeth/Talisman...Michael/Shaman, Elizabeth/Talisman and Narya/Snowbird...And the interactions/familial exchanges between Walter/Sasquatch, Jeanne Marie/Aurora and Jean Paul/Northstar.

The original team (including Heather) all wre written to be closely connected in some way (by Byrne), whether by blood, love or close friendship (except for Puck and Marrina, in the beginning)...Puck later grew to love Heather, though.

The Great Beasts...Nuff said.

Caliber....Yes, you heard me...CALIBER!

I also thought it was cool that former members of their own organization (the then-defunct Dept H) were turned against them to form the original Omega Flight. I miss the original Omega Flight....The Master's version was kind of sucky IMHO.

Wild Child as a villain.

I miss Delphine Courtney/Robot MX39147....What a deliciously evil robot she was...Fooling the Alphans into believing she was Mac still alive...Maybe she even lied about Jerry Jaxon being dead? Who knows?

The Master of The World...


.....Sigh....

Dana

[maniac mike]

Caliber....Yes, you heard me...CALIBER!

I second that!!! :!: =D>

[Flightpath07]

Dana,

I agree with you on everything, except Wild Child as a villain. Nobody in comics deserved a fighting chance to be a hero, more than Kyle.

[cmdrkoenig67]

Dana,

I agree with you on everything, except Wild Child as a villain. Nobody in comics deserved a fighting chance to be a hero, more than Kyle.

It's just the way I feel, FP (no offense is intended)....I liked the character, but I really think he made such a nasty, creepy evil villain in most of Alpha Flight Volume 1.

I liked him as a villain with that nasty evil streak he had. I understand the redemption aspect of his story, when he became Weapon Omega and had been put on a drug-therapy to keep his animal urges in check....But I don't get how he went from that man to the man he became, working for Romulus (he appeared to be absolutely and totally evil again)...He wasn't that evil working for Weapon X...He was more like a trained dog afraid of his owners/trainers (his WX superiors)...With moments of humanity (like his affection for Aurora, hurt feelings at her rejection, etc...)

I do hate the way Marvel has had him constantly flip-flop from evil to good, to lapdog, to really evil, etc...I also hate his insanely screwed-up history...He's first revealed to be a run-away from his family (because he was a mutant or something like that), who was altered even more by the Secret Empire...Wolverine even mentions that he's just like his father or that he had hoped he wouldn't turn out to be like his father (whoever that was supposed to be...Sabretooth?)...

Then Jeff Loeb gets a hold of him and now he's a former Nazi soldier?! WTF?! I wonder if his parents (if they're still alive out there somewhere) know he was a former Nazi...And just how old are these parents he ran away from supposed to be anyway?

Truthfully, the character is as messed up as Puck, as Mac (I think Sasquatch comes in third).

Dana

[cmdrkoenig67]

BTW....The thread I created at Newsarama is still there...Get over there and start supporting our favorite Canadian superheroes people....

http://www.newsarama.com/common/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=9258&start=20

It would be nice if more than just three of us from here were voicing their concerns and wishes to see AF again...How many members do we have here?

Dana

[Flightpath07]

I agree, Kyle is screwed up. Most of that happened after AF Vol 1 ended, though. I tend to just stick my fingers in my ears and sing loudly and try to ignore how every writer since then screws up Alpha Flight members.

[rplass]

BTW....The thread I created at Newsarama is still there...Get over there and start supporting our favorite Canadian superheroes people....

http://www.newsarama.com/common/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=9258&start=20

It would be nice if more than just three of us from here were voicing their concerns and wishes to see AF again...How many members do we have here?

Dana

Yeah, I can't register on that site. I keep getting an error message, something about CAPTCHA, I have no idea what that is. How do you register on that site? I'll join up and post all day long there if it would let me register.

rplass

EDIT: Ah, I was able to finally get in. Yay!

[cmdrkoenig67]

That's great rplass...I hope nobody thinks I'm being a jerk with my last post, but there just never seems to be enough of us supporting these threads on other boards.

I just want TPTB (and non AF fans, who may be intrigued enough to check out Alpha...Maybe even becoming fans themselves) to see there is a fanbase still out there.

Dana

BTW...Legerd's AF thread is still active at Marvel.com, EVERYBODY please stop by and post as much as you can...If enough of us keep those threads alive, perhaps it will do...Something...Anything.

http://marvel.com/boards/viewtopic.php?p=4062320&highlight=#4062320