Alpha Flight new series preview and writers fondly recall the 1980s series

 

From the Marvel press release: Marvel is pleased to present your first look at Alpha Flight #1 (of 8), from New York Times best-selling authors Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente and acclaimed artist Dale Eaglesham! Canada’s original super team is back in action – but can they survive the terror of Fear Itself? With their homeland gripped by fear, Alpha Flight has been named enemies of the state and their country has vowed to hunt them down! Can Guardian, Sasquatch and the rest of the team quell the influence of Fear Itself and restore order to the Great White North? The team faces its most daunting enemy yet – their own government – this June, only in Alpha Flight #1 (of 8)!

ALPHA FLIGHT #1

Written by GREG PAK & FRED VAN LENTE

Penciled by DALE EAGLESHAM

On Sale – June 8 2011

Pulled from Marvel.com: http://marvel.com/news/story/15859/alpha_flight_glory_days

Fred Van Lente: “Aurora with her split personalities, Sasquatch with his bestial rages, Shaman's estranged family, Snowbird not quite fitting in with the rest of humanity. And Northstar was in the closet, an ex-terrorist and used his mutant powers to defraud the Olympics—how complex a character is that? And Byrne also made, I think, the brilliant decision to split up the team in his first issue, and as they all went their separate ways he had the opportunity to do story arcs focusing on one or two of them, which really let you get to know them as people.”

Greg Pak: “The fantastic character design and the fact that the team featured such a remarkably diverse group of heroes. [That] made a big impact on me when I was a kid picking up that first ALPHA FLIGHT #1. “Northstar’s coming out may win him the Most Dramatically Transformed award. And he’s been a blast to write in the book. But I’m probably most excited about what we’re doing with Shaman. Dale Eaglesham draws him so well; somehow just removing that headband ups his attractiveness about a thousand percent. And we have some interesting things to reveal and explore about him as the series progresses.”

Van Lente: “Puck is such a unique, fun-loving mercenary as a dwarf, he's a true classic. That's why I had him as Logan's right-hand-man in X MEN NOIR. Snowbird has a great otherworldly quality to her; she's one of these mythological characters that really feels alien to our world, and that made her a great fit in INCREDIBLE HERCULES. My new favorite is Marrina, thanks to Dale Eaglesham's redesign. With her resurrection we've given her a complete personality overhaul. I don't want to give too much away, but I predict she'll be the new fan favorite coming out of this series. Also, since Guardian got knocked off early in Byrne's run, we can make him a focus of the series and bring him in new directions, particularly with the premise of our series: that Canada has turned fascist and against Alpha.”

Greg Pak: “Interestingly, Guardian was the least interesting of the characters to me back in the day, but he’s been among the most fun to write in the new series. I particularly love the notes Dale wrote up for his initial character sketches: ‘Little nicks and scars—he’s not the perfect athlete—he is tough, though. Takes chances. Takes risks. Reluctant leader. Has a cottage. Likes lake/sea fishing?’

“I’m having a surprising amount of fun exploring the guy who’s essentially the group’s straight man, the earnest leader who’s just trying to do his job. Sometimes the least flashy character can end up being the deepest and most interesting.”

Van Lente: “The solo Puck adventure, ALPHA FLIGHT #5, was the first one I bought - that really was hooked me on the series. The next one, which focused on Snowbird, which was a battle in the middle of a supernatural blizzard, so you had a lot of all-white panels and sound effects. It was awesome! And who wouldn't love Sasquatch going toe-to-toe with the Super-Skrull in ALPHA FLIGHT #10?”

“As a foreigner I'm loathe to render any deep observation about the Canadian national character. A lot of what I know about the country comes from reading—and rereading and rereading—Byrne's series. Greg and I have done our research though, and we have genuine Canuck Dale Eaglesham watching our backs, so we're going to be as true as we can to the country's heritage.”

Details on the Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus - revisited with issue contents

From amazon.ca:

Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus - Volume 1
John Byrne (Author), Chris Claremont (Author), Marv Wolfman (Author), Bill Mantlo (Author), Stan Lee (Author), Roger Stern (Author), Mike Zeck (Illustrator), Ron Wilson (Illustrator)

"Not since the days of Lee and Kirby had a creator so perfectly captured the intense mood, cosmic style and classic sense of adventure of Marvel's First Family. Fresh off an earthshattering run as penciler on Uncanny X-Men, John Byrne proved his writing talent was every bit the equal of his art as he pulled double-duty on Fantastic Four, launching them into realms of imagination and wonder into which few creators before had dared to travel. From the four corners of the globe to the farthest reaches of space to the deepest depths of the Negative Zone, the FF face off against foes old and new - including the Dr. Doom, Galactus and Annihilus!"

Hardcover, 1084 pages, November 16, 2011

1,084 pages (assuming a 22-page comic book) is about 49 issues. There were a few double-sized issues in Byrne's early run, so probably about 46 issues in the massive volume.

Grabbed from a thread on the Jinxworld forum, looks like it'll be reprinting the following issues:

• Marvel Team Up #61-62
• Marvel Two In One #50
• Fantastic Four #215-218, 220-221, 232-262, Annual #17
• Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-man #42
• Avengers #233
• Thing #2
• Alpha Flight #4

Preview of Walter Simonson’s The Mighty Thor: Artist’s Edition

I'll let the scans do the talking... (snagged from Newsarama)

 

Thor (2011)

Attended the midnight screening of Thor last night and thought I'd post up a quick, spoiler-free review:

I really enjoyed it. It was a solid effort that entertains despite its flaws. B+

The Warriors Three were well cast, but just didn't have enough screen time. Loki was well cast. I was also impressed with Heimdall.

There was too much CGI and some of it was bad. Maybe it was because I saw it on such a large screen. Although the Destroyer was amazing and I was impressed by the twist they added to it.

The last half of the movie seemed to wrap up too quickly for the build-up the first half had set up.

They spent a little too much time on Earth and not enough on Asgard. The scale of Asgard was ridiculously large and did make you wonder how they moved around with such ease.

A lot of fun little Easter eggs and cameos.

I sat next two a couple of ladies who were obviously dragged out last night to see it, but based on their reactions, they had fun and liked it which is a great sign for the film and its broader appeal.

Make sure you say behind after the credits...

Well worth the shock of an early Friday morning! (Off to get some coffee now...)

1985 - The Marvel Saga

Lovely wrap-around cover to Marvel Saga #1 by Ron Frenz.

The Marvel Saga: The Official History of the Marvel Universe was a 25-issue miniseries that served as the Bible of Marvel Comics history. I devoured the over 900+ pages of this Saga as it helped me catch up and fill-in the blanks in Marvel Comics history. Writer and historian Peter Sanderson wove together panels and narrative to chronologically tell the Marvel Saga.

It still stands today as a great reference allowing you to see how all the different Marvel events and storylines fit together in proper order. Issue #25 ended covering the Fantastic Four’s first encounter with Galactus and the Silver Surfer. This series was recently reprinted in two volumes in the Marvel Essentials black-and-white format.

An example of the series’ style and narration:

"Rainbow Bridging" art sequence by Walt Simonson:

Bridging art sequence by Bill Sienkiewicz:

1983 - Whatever happened The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans crossover sequel?

 

The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans Special from 1982 was such a success that plans for a sequel were put into motion (see the New Teen Titans #29 letter page). This time around, the crossover special would be handled by the regular New Teen Titans creative team, Marv Wolfman and George Perez. Perez was also busy drawing the upcoming JLA/Avengers crossover.

From the New Teen Titans #38’s letter page:

“The second Titans/X-Men team-up will be published later this year if schedules are willing. George will be drawing it and I (Marv) will write. It should be a goodie. One advanced bit of info is the villains - Brother Blood and The Hellfire Club. Interested now?”

However, the editorial dispute over the JLA/Avengers crossover led to not only the cancellation of that book, but also in the cancellation of The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen sequel. That editorial rift between companies lasted for just over a decade until the Batman and Punisher crossover was published.

Simonson's Thor Omnibus finally in my hands!

Here are some pics of Simonson's Thor Omnibus! The package weighted in at 9lbs! My mailman kicked me in the shins after dropping it off! If you had any qualms about picking up this monster, pick it up!

And some love for the Sal Buscema issues...