This is the one I've been waiting for Ryan to post!  My story is very similar to his, and, like Ryan, I credit JB and AF #11 for making me a life-long comic fan. I started reading comics (as opposed to just looking at the pictures in my brother's comics) by mostly reading stuff that wasn't super-heroes, including Indiana Jones (my first JB, although I didn't know that until much later), Star Wars, and G.I. Joe. I picked up the occasional super-hero comic, and was starting to get into them quite a bit before AF. A friend of mine had gone on and on about how great AF was, and one day in the store (I think Albertsons, one of my major comic stops over the years of my childhood collecting before a real comic store opened in town) I saw AF #11.  I think the cover must have grabbed me, and since I didn't see anything else that I wanted and especially because my friend had talked about it so much, I bought it (or more probably asked my Mom to buy it for me). I still remember reading it, setting it aside and staring at it, and then reading it again. I wanted to know who Guardian and Sasquatch were, and who else was in the this team! For once I had to know who had done the comic and what else was he doing. I simply had never read another comic like it, and had never seen art like that before.

I missed #12 on the stands, and didn't immediately pick up #13, probably because I realized my new favorite character Guardian had been killed in #12. However, by #14 I was totally hooked. I even followed JB over to FF, a title I had never liked and which JB totally converted me on.  From there, it was title to title to title, where JB went I followed.

When I finally got to buy some JB art, it had to be something from #11. I managed to get pages #10 and #11, which I had framed together with the printed pages from a copy of issues #11 (but not my original copy, which I still have), one of which Ryan posted above.

Thanks for the years of memories and good times JB.  You have no idea what a huge part of my childhood you were nor how grateful I am for the many stories you spun.

Flavio, about a couple or three of the baloons in the Heather page were Chris (if even!). The rest is JB.

This was my first Alpha Flight as well. The first time I had seen the team was in the Hulk Amnesty issue and Guardian was my last choice for the guy to die. I was really shocked!!!

Also, similar to Ryan, I unfortunately first read #13 and then 12...

Dang, Ryan - who knew how similar we were!  I got a few comics here and there as a kid, mostly Star Wars, but I found myself at the Waldenbooks at Serramonte (just across the bay from Fremont!), looking at GI Joe #32, but not being able to take my eyes off of JB's FF.. found myself going back to the Waldenbooks on Polk st over and over and over looking for the new JB FF and shortly thereafter, I bought a three pack of comics in a liquor store that had Alpha Flight #19 in it.  I wasn't so interested; it was odd-ball heroes that I knew nothing about... but I noticed that it was the same guy who was doing FF... and the story and art were really good... and...

Hell... in retrospect... it might be that Alpha Flight comic that made me a John Byrne fan!  Hunh!

I became a Byrne victim with Alpha Flight #1, but this issue and the next were the ultimate comics experience for me when I was a kid, enjoying my very own Golden Age.

Not long afterwards, my parents would split, and nothing would ever be the same for me.  But here now, on this forum, with you fans & friends, and with JB himself, I am often swept away to simpler times, when I would ride my bike to the newstand and pick up JB's Alpha Flight and Uncle Rog's Avengers comics.  I would often then make my way back home, stopping at Dunham's grocery store for some baseball cards and a Yoo-Hoo, without a care in the world, enjoying the Florida sunshine and the rays of childhood.

I get a bit misty thinking about those times, as I sit here and type these words of recollection, and I am glad that I have those memories.  I'm glad I know what it's like to be a happy child, despite what happened during my adolescence, and I'm glad that I am able to make sure my kids have wonderful childhoods too.

As a parent and an educator, I believe it is my responsibilty to make a difference in the lives of children, and while I have said it before, I will now say it again.  You made a difference in the lives of children, JB, and I hope you realize that.  You should be proud of that.  You might not have your own children, but you did well with us, Chief.  You did good.

Thank you very much!