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Never liked the whole "elf" retcon for Northstar and Aurora.
John Byrne introduced them as mutants... that what they should have been all along.
Pretty sure nobody liked it. :/
Wish someone would retcon Puck. Have it where he lied about being of normal height and was always a little person.
On the plus side, they've pretty much forgotten Puck's fake origin and nobody talks about it anymore.
The Elf thing was way the frick too far out there. I have no idea what Bill was thinking (and I understand his current state, and all) - but he really did do some damaging things to Alpha Flight. Which is weird, because his ROM and MICRONAUTS were fun reads. But his ALPHA FLIGHT, he seemed like an entirely different writer. I am curious, because I only really know Bill's writing from those three books - both ROM and MICRONAUTS, Bill was building from the ground up. Wonder if he was just looking to do the same with Alpha Flight, and that perhaps with pre-existing characters he didn't do well? Anyone read his Hulk?
I imagine a lot of it was editorial interference to quash his homosexuality.
I've always been a fantasy fan, and with their light powers and pointed ears, have always thought of the twins as a little elvish. When I toyed with the idea of writing a fantasy version of Alpha Flight, that's certainly what they were (and there was a mermaid, and a guy who'd bonded to an ogre or troll, and a knight in shining but anachronistic armour, etc..)Quote:
Originally Posted by Tawmis
I've read a few issues, but not enough of anybody's Hulk to judge his.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tawmis
There's a lot of talk about that in the comments section.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil
~ Le Messor
"Coffee is good for talent, but genius wants prayer."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
But while his sexuality was certainly alluded to, it was never declared out right that he was gay. And I can say - when I initially read Alpha Flight (1983, when it came out I was 13), I was certainly way too naive to have picked up on the clues. It was not until many years later that I had gone back, re-read it, and realized what they were alluding to all the way back then (having though thought, at the time, when 106 came out, that it seemed a little out of place, because I had indeed missed all those clues).Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil
So - how and perhaps - why - would making Northstar an Elf do anything with his sexuality, which by this point, had not even been officially declared? How would making him an Elf do away with the hints that alluded to his sexuality?
I understand these may be rhetorical questions; but if it was indeed an editorial thing, I am not seeing how/why this would have done anything to "fix" his sexuality?
Oh, I love fantasy too - The Hobbit SHAPED my life - seriously. And in 1978, I was in love with ElfQuest (as a matter of fact, I have a thread on this forum encouraging people to read the issues of ElfQuest, which are available - legally - for free - on the ElfQuest site). However, despite the pointed ears and such, Northstar and Aurora being elves, never once crossed my mind. I guess, because Nightcrawler also had pointed ears; and he was already established as a mutant, that there was no reason to think Northstar and Aurora were anything but mutants, who had the same deformed ears, to give the elf like appearance.Quote:
Originally Posted by Le Messor
Um... that's for you to decide. It means the kind of question you ask to make a point, and don't expect an answer. I think you DO expect an answer, so...Quote:
Originally Posted by Tawmis
I think it was meant to fix his AIDS, which was parallel to his sexuality. Thereby providing an alternate explanation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tawmis
A week ago, I bought a second issue! (Which, oddly enough, was the issue before the one I have already.)Quote:
Originally Posted by Tawmis
:) You know his friends call him 'elf', right?Quote:
Originally Posted by Tawmis
~ Le Messor
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem. They're there every night, they see it done every night, they see how it should be done every night, but they can't do it themselves."
~ Brendan Behan--Quoted by Gyles Brandreth in Theatrical Disasters
Hah! Since no one here (that I am aware of!) was on the Editorial staff, I actually wasn't expecting an answer... more of my rambling how they thought this was a good idea. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Le Messor
But he hadn't come out saying he had AIDS, right? It was merely being implied? It was just his constant cough (if I remember correctly?) - which could have been explained away any other thousands of ways - other than saying he was an Elf. Because how would his sickness tie to being an elf, anyway? Wouldn't Aurora have been suffering from the same cough?Quote:
Originally Posted by Le Messor
Hopefully stuff from the Original Quest? Or Siege at Blue Mountain? Or Kings of the Broken Wheel?Quote:
Originally Posted by Le Messor
I have ... had my issues... with the "Final Quest" story currently being published.
But they don't think he's actually one. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Le Messor
Well, we can tell you what we've heard. :-kQuote:
Originally Posted by Tawmis
True! But they were (allegedly) heading towards it being AIDS - hence the explanation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tawmis
And, yes, there were other ways. Including it being just a cough. (I hate how every fictional character who gets a cough is automatically dying! I've had coughs for weeks, and I'm not dead yet!)
They explained Aurora with, it affected her psychologically - he got 'dying of a cold', she got split personality.
Issues 13 and 14, Epic Comics, 1986. Definitely Richard and Wendy Pini.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tawmis
I've heard bad stuff about some of the later series, and I'm not sure that's only from you.
No, but the association is there. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by TawmisBut they don't think he's actually one. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Le Messor
~ Le Messor
"Confusion not only reigns, it pours."
~ Unknown
Strangely enough this got answered this week:Quote:
Originally Posted by Tawmis
http://goodcomics.comicbookresources...-revealed-551/
That's interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil
So Bill was really hell bent on killing every original member of Alpha Flight. :)
This probably isn't worth starting a new thread over, so I've lazily hooked it onto the first remotely appropriate thread I saw:
http://www.cbr.com/the-great-comic-b...eeps-on-going/
There was also a listicle about characters breaking the fourth wall this week, but a certain issue of Alpha Flight was not on it.
~ Le Messor
"Those who only tell half the truth often live to regret it."
~ W.G.P.