Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login
The John Byrne Forum
Byrne Robotics > The John Byrne Forum << Prev Page of 12 Next >>
Topic: Steve Ditko’s Alpha Flight (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post ReplyPost New Topic
Author
Message
Paulo Pereira
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 24 April 2006
Posts: 15539
Posted: 21 January 2012 at 3:45pm | IP Logged | 1  

 Shawn wrote:
 And don't even get me started on what Bendis was allowed to do to the team.

Well, at least he didn't make any of them Avengers...yet.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Shawn Kane
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 04 November 2010
Location: United States
Posts: 3239
Posted: 21 January 2012 at 4:02pm | IP Logged | 2  

Not yet but maybe Sasquatch will be at a Dunkin' Donuts and Wolverine is out picking up breakfast for the team and they'll spend the next five pages talking about some secret thing that never happened (soon to be covered in an Avengers mini) and by the end Sasquatch will be in the Negative Zone with the team. Talking and quipping, of course.  

Back to Top profile | search
 
Tim O Neill
Byrne Robotics Security


Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 10942
Posted: 21 January 2012 at 4:04pm | IP Logged | 3  


Dave K:  "And it hasn't dated as a read!  If ever there were a self-contained title/run that can be re-experienced in comics, it's that."

****

I agree with your whole post, Dave - very well said.  In particular, I agree that it holds up really well today.

I know the first trade is hard to come by, so here's hoping there is an ESSENTIALS or OMNIBUS in the works.



Back to Top profile | search
 
Wallace Sellars
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 01 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 17700
Posted: 21 January 2012 at 4:21pm | IP Logged | 4  

I like the way JB focused on individual members of Alpha Flight, only
bringing the entire team together when there was a threat requiring them
to... ummm... assemble.
Back to Top profile | search | www
 
Steven McCauley
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 23 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1431
Posted: 21 January 2012 at 5:25pm | IP Logged | 5  

As I've said before -- I loved the team book that allowed the team members to have their own adventures.   So unique in that aspect.
Back to Top profile | search e-mail
 
Peter Martin
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 15996
Posted: 22 January 2012 at 5:10am | IP Logged | 6  

Alpha Flight had a very different feel to other Marvel books. It had a dark sci-fi/horror undertone that would occasionally bubble up into being overt.
Back to Top profile | search
 
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133556
Posted: 22 January 2012 at 5:58am | IP Logged | 7  

…you had a little person hero who kicked butt, a disabled hero, an important hero dying very unexpectedly…

••

All three of which were almost immediately undone the moment I left the book.

Back to Top profile | search
 
Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31287
Posted: 22 January 2012 at 8:26am | IP Logged | 8  

Well, obviously you created them wrong, JB.
Back to Top profile | search
 
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133556
Posted: 22 January 2012 at 10:49am | IP Logged | 9  

Well, obviously you created them wrong, JB.

••

Perhaps I did! On ALPHA FLIGHT I tried to continue what I saw as Marvel's legacy of characters who were misfits and loners. Yet, almost overnight, the characters were forced into "normal" mode.

Back to Top profile | search
 
Chris Basken
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 21 January 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 120
Posted: 22 January 2012 at 11:01am | IP Logged | 10  

I've been a lurker here for a while, but this thread prompted me to register. Of course, by the time I could post, a number of people said what I intended to say.

I'd like to add that the original AF was also an effective deconstruction and reconstruction of the super team concept. A lot of deconstructions are poorly done -- many writers seem to think "deconstruction" means "make violent and sexy." But a true deconstruction is an attempt to understand why something works, and ground it in reality a bit more than it had been. Stan Lee did this when he created the FF -- it was a deconstruction of super heroes. But, as with AF, it was followed by a reconstruction that resulted in a new way of looking at it.

I also think JB's dispassion for those characters actually worked in their favor. Since none of them (perhaps except Heather) were particularly beloved, he could put them through the wringer. And since they were relatively new creations, the fans couldn't object to him messing up someone else's canon.

What I wouldn't give for a 1-28 AF trade...
Back to Top profile | search
 
Vinny Valenti
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 17 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 8149
Posted: 22 January 2012 at 11:56am | IP Logged | 11  

There was definitely a "flying by the seat of your pants" feeling when it came to JB's AF run, with the feeling that anything can happen (hey, if you the team leader can be killed, then anyone can!). It was JB's own private corner of the Marvel Universe (until the final issue with the Beyonder's interference, anyway).

JB - It must have at least been a bit liberating that there wasn't much of a chance of editorial interference, no? I'm pretty sure they would not have let you blow up the Earth...but they might have actually let you blow up Canada if you wanted to!
Back to Top profile | search
 
Tim O Neill
Byrne Robotics Security


Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 10942
Posted: 22 January 2012 at 12:00pm | IP Logged | 12  



Chris B:  "I'd like to add that the original AF was also an effective deconstruction and reconstruction of the super team concept. A lot of deconstructions are poorly done -- many writers seem to think "deconstruction" means "make violent and sexy." But a true deconstruction is an attempt to understand why something works, and ground it in reality a bit more than it had been. Stan Lee did this when he created the FF -- it was a deconstruction of super heroes. But, as with AF, it was followed by a reconstruction that resulted in a new way of looking at it."

*****

I very much agree with this - and I never thought about it in these terms.  Very interesting!



Back to Top profile | search
 

<< Prev Page of 12 Next >>
  Post ReplyPost New Topic
Printable version Printable version

Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login