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Peter Martin Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 15811
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Posted: 06 April 2020 at 7:28am | IP Logged | 1
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I thought the Great Beasts were a good idea, well executed. A dark mythology threaded through the history with ties to Shaman, Snowbird and Sasquatch. That was neat.
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Ben Herman Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 March 2020 Location: United States Posts: 113
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Posted: 06 April 2020 at 7:41am | IP Logged | 2
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Bradley, thank you for sharing your thoughts on Northstar. I never really thought about the character from that perspective. It really drives home something that I've argued before, namely that representation matters. It's crucial to have diversity in pop culture.
When I was a kid, I was definitely shy & insecure. In general I didn’t feel like I fit in. The fact that I was Jewish added to that, giving me one more thing about which to feel different. This was especially true in December, when everywhere you turned it was Christmas all the time. It’s worth noting that I felt this way even though I lived in New York, which has a significant Jewish population. So I can only imagine how much more of an outsider I would have felt if I had grown up in a different part of the country. As a result, when I saw Jewish characters like Kitty Pryde and Doc Samson in comic books when I was younger meant as lot to me. I was already in my mid-twenties when the Thing was revealed to be Jewish, but it nevertheless felt really significant to me that one of the most iconic Marvel Comics characters was revealed to be Jewish. And just as I really wanted, and needed, for there to be Jewish heroes in the stories I read and watched, so too do women, blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, the LGBT community and other groups want and need the same thing. I'm just glad nowadays Northstar is actually out of the closet (it's unfortunate John Byrne himself could not have told that story, since he would certainly have done a far better job of it) and that there are other LGBT characters in comic books.
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Joe Zhang Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 12857
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Posted: 06 April 2020 at 8:56am | IP Logged | 3
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The archetypal Marvel character has most of their tragedy established in their origins. They encounter great challenges but the toughest part is behind them. Alpha Flight gave us heroes who had tragedy waiting for them right around the corner. The stakes were higher and it was more dramatic.
I hate to think what would have happened to the Alphans if the book became one of JB's long tenures. We wouldn't have recognized the team by the end!
Edited by Joe Zhang on 06 April 2020 at 9:04am
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Wallace Sellars Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 May 2004 Location: United States Posts: 17671
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Posted: 06 April 2020 at 10:33am | IP Logged | 4
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There was something interesting about every team member, but Puck and Sasquatch were standouts for me.
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Ryan Maxwell Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 12937
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Posted: 06 April 2020 at 11:40am | IP Logged | 5
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When I discovered Alpha Flight 11 in that long-gone Waldenbooks, my home life was pretty rocky. My dad was just a couple months away from unexpectedly moving out. I was already a bit of an introvert, and always had a book with me. I was never that much into comic books, but a year earlier my brother (much older and already away at college for a couple years) sent me a GI Joe and a Star Wars book for my birthday. I stuck with those titles off and on for a while, but superheroes never called to me outside occasionally picking one up to read while waiting for a haircut. Probably a little out of guilt over subjecting us to all of their fighting, and a little to encourage reading, my parents were okay with handing over 60 cents for a comic while we were at the mall, but at this time I had a paper route. Steady income and ready to use it. I already had the Joe in the spinner rack. I never connected to DC characters. Marvel characters were almost an unknown unless I had seen them before on a Spider-Man cartoon (my barbershop had DC exclusively). I almost walked away empty-handed, but a title I had never seen before piqued my curiosity. What was an Alpha Flight? Why were these mysterious characters in the background so dangerous? I had to know.
Flipping through the pages, one thing struck me immediately: the art was far better than just about any comic I had read before. Not even close (with apologies to Walt Simonson). Another thing that I found extremely odd was there were several pages with no fighting. Just scenes with this guy with no legs (what?), a woman leaving home and surrounded by memories, the apparent villains from the cover in street clothes...why would an 11-year old care...?
But then the hero arrived.
This man with the name and costume I'd never experienced before grabbed me immediately. For reasons I can't describe, he instantly became my favorite character, and remains so to this day. Without knowing it, the Alphans, their villains, and dear, sweet Heather were about to become my companions and friends in one of the worst times in my life while my parents split and divorced. The panel below cemented a love affair with Alpha Flight, superhero comics in general, and the incredible stories and art of John Byrne (the first name in comics that I knew outside of hearing that wonderful "This is STAN LEE!" during "Amazing Friends"). That inexplicable emotional hook that JB has demonstrated over and over again throughout his career was what I needed in that moment. (Thank you once again, JB!)
Like? No. Love.
Damn...
Some other AF highlights in my life: I get to not only have access to JB's projects and thoughts firsthand on a daily basis, but I got to post a weekly reading club for Alpha Flight on HIS website!?!
NOTHING could prepare me for this. He's front and center on a shelf over my desk, and I see him literally everyday. Nothing but daily goofy, childlike smiles for me and a million thank yous will never be enough (but thanks yet again, JB!!)
Edited by Ryan Maxwell on 06 April 2020 at 12:28pm
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Doug Centers Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 February 2014 Location: United States Posts: 5480
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Posted: 06 April 2020 at 12:18pm | IP Logged | 6
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"Some favourite things: the art (of course), the colouring, the costume designs,..."
...
Yes.
When I turned the page to see this costume it startled me. So striking and sleek!
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Marc Baptiste Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 June 2004 Location: United States Posts: 3655
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Posted: 06 April 2020 at 12:39pm | IP Logged | 7
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I STILL wonder who Nemesis was!!!
Marc
Edited by Marc Baptiste on 06 April 2020 at 7:25pm
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 132320
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Posted: 06 April 2020 at 12:50pm | IP Logged | 8
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Nemesis was the Brass Bishop.
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Wallace Sellars Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 May 2004 Location: United States Posts: 17671
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Posted: 06 April 2020 at 1:28pm | IP Logged | 9
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QUOTE:
Nemesis was the Brass Bishop. |
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Ted Pugliese Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 December 2005 Location: United States Posts: 7979
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Posted: 06 April 2020 at 2:11pm | IP Logged | 10
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LOL
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Ted Pugliese Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 December 2005 Location: United States Posts: 7979
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Posted: 06 April 2020 at 2:18pm | IP Logged | 11
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Great story, Ryan! As you know, I love Mac too, but I don't think I knew we shared a comic books saved me during my parents' divorce connection, and as for your statue story, I was just saying in another thread, this guy is the best. The good Byrne stories, which are true, are so much better than the bad Byrne stories which are not. Thanks again, JB!
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Bill Dowling Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 July 2004 Location: United States Posts: 2176
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Posted: 06 April 2020 at 7:00pm | IP Logged | 12
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I didn’t know who John Byrne was and I hadn’t read the Byrne X-Men or the Byrne FF when Alpha Flight came out. But I saw the ad for Alpha Flight #1 and I thought, “here’s my chance to get in on the ground floor of a comic and read it right from #1”
Then I got the comic and was blown away by it. I loved the sense of mythology (I assumed the great beasts and Snowbird’s parents were real myths) and the sense that these characters all had lives and histories. They just seemed more real to me with all the different locations in Canada and all the subtle suggestions of connections and stuff. I was hooked.
I got to read Alpha Flight to my 11 year old twins earlier this year (or maybe late last year) and it was a real delight getting to share with them something I loved at their age. We read them in Marvel Unlimited and they asked me to read them AF #29 and I just couldn’t bear to. I so wanted to keep reading about the characters I had grown to love back then, but it was just too painful.
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