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You can view the page at http://alphaflight.net/content.php?7...-Alpha-Flight!
One of my earliest memories of Alpha Flight was from the X-Men cartoon.
I didn't read the series until later in life, but one of the first issues I read was when Snowbird killed Sasquatch which took me completely by surprise and was hooked.
Wow, I was 14 years old when this hit the stands. Can't believe its been that long.
This issue is still my favourite Alpha Flight memory. I had only started reading X-Men at issue 118, so I was still new to the team. But when I opened this issue and saw an actual superhero wearing the Canadian flag... MY FLAG... I was hooked for life.
I first came across Alpha Flight when the first series was reprinted in the Marvel UK reprint of Secret Wars!
Sasquatch was my first fav Alphan, along with Puck.
My favorite memory was staring at the in-house advert for Alpha Flight #12, wondering which one would be killed. I remember the intensity back then as I made up reason after reason why each member couldn't be killed or might be killed. I even remember the comic book that had the ad - it was an issue of FF that my mom had confiscated from one of her students. Happy 35th anniversary Alpha Flight!
I feel old.
I did the same thing. Guardian--can't be him, he is the leader. Sas---nope, too cool. Shaman---ditto. Northstar and Aurora---would probably cheese off the French Canadian readers. Puck---nope, he is the comedic element. I guess that leaves Marrina. Oh well.Quote:
Originally Posted by rplass
My first memory of Alpha was seeing issue #1 in the comic book rack at our drugstore. I was s thrilled, I bought 3 issues (1 to read, 1 to save in pristine condition and 1 to mail to my cousin in B.C. who was the same age as me).
Wait... so the first appearance of Alpha Flight happened on my birthday!?! I didn't even know that! Waow!
Not the same year I was born, but the actual date.
As an Aries, I don't believe in astrology, or I'd draw some sort of significance there...
~ Le Messor
"MENE MEME TEKEL UPHARSIN (Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting)."
~ The words enscribed by the moving hand upon Belshazzar's wall, Daniel, The Bible
It's kinda related and will sound corny but my strongest AF-related memory will always be the day that I discovered the list that eventually became this place.
The internet was in it's infancy and we were an average-income family so I'd registered at the public library to use this new fangled contraption and the first thing I did was to search 'Alpha Flight' and after having no comic-reading friends and I was so happy to find other fans.
15 odd years later and here we are...
My first memory of AF, like KM's was in the X-Men cartoon.
I didn't get into American comics till my late teens so the first issue I bought would have been the Minus 1 issue after seeing the previews for Vol.2 in Marvel Vision.
I then went to purchase Vol.2 #1 on the day it was due to be released but it had been delayed by a week so rather than go home with nothing I searched through the back-issue bins and bought Vol.1 #1 instead. I was hooked; possibly mainly for the Puck/Sas scene at the end.
My first AF memory was reading the comics of a guy who lived up the road. He had quite a few; some old Supermans, some Captain Carrot, some Legion; and others, I'm sure; but the ones that stuck in my mind the most were the Alpha Flight 2-4.
A few years later, they had a few comics at my high school library. There were some Batman and the Outsiders and some Alpha Flight (#7), and I don't know what else. I read and reread the AF.
I had a friend who introduced me to Alpha Flight. He had started his collection at the beginning. Issue 1, Volume 1, which was the first one I borrowed from him to read, hooked me pretty good. Within a few more visits to his house, i had ready through about issue 14 or 15. Those would have been the current issue at the time.
I believe I started my own collection with issue 22, and, yes, I was buying them off the spinner rack at my local drugstore. I collected up to roughly issue 50 or just beyond, and then quit. Can you blame me? The series had gotten quite stinky by that time. I was already introduced to my local LCS by this time, and so i bought other comics for a while. I remember one month, I bought $50 worth of comics; people thought i was crazy (they were right).
I stopped collecting comics soon after. And lost all the ones that i had bought.
Wasn't until 2003, during a bout of depression, that i went online and checked out Alpha Flight comics on eBay. Took me less than a year to collect all of Volume 1 and 2. And of course that was also the year I joined this site.
Stuck around, because i like the characters. Like some of you others, i like them more the way JB imagined them, and less the way they have been used since. Say what you want about JB, he had vision.
My favourite two AF moments would be: the thrill of first reading Volume 1 Issue 1, the goosebumps on my arms and neck; and the chills when looking at the cover of issue 12, and then the tears when i read it and saw Jamie die. Boy, was I some mad!
Uncanny X-Men 109 and 120 show the amazing contribution lettering can make in extraordinary comics.
Lettering? How so?
The letter 'Alpha'?
The craftsmanship in the lettering helps make (The X-Men run in particular) an exceptional comic; when the lettering doesn't do much more than put words any which way on the page, it has an effect on the overall comic. Oh, and that goes for the coloring, too. That's why I liked AF volume 3, for the coloring and the crisp, clean artwork.Quote:
Originally Posted by Le Messor
Colouring? Right now, half this community is shouting at you 'Don't get him started! Don't get him started!'
I won't start.
But to be honest, I've never known where a letterist's job begins and ends. Do they decide the layout of captions and word balloons, or does the artist? Maybe the writer? Do they put in sound effects, or the artist?
How much of what do we attribute to them?
All I've known so far is spelling mistakes.
I imagine the answer varies from comic to comic.
Often, bad balloon layout can make the dialogue confusing to follow.
Yep, lettering is the kind of job I only tend to notice when it goes wrong.
~ Le Messor
"Me fail English? That's unpossible."
~ Ralph Wiggum