Not sure if this has been asked before (and now that I've typed that, I'm more than certain it probably has!) but I've just finished rereading the first 4 issues of Alpha Flight and was left wondering if Aurora's multiple personality disorder was something you invested in her character from her beginnings. It still holds up as fairly groundbreaking. Quite the interesting twist on the whole 'secret identity' dichotomy.
If I might add, rereading these issues for the gajillionth time, there is such a strong quality to each of these characters, I could only wish for another stretch of issues featuring your art and stories with Alpha Flight. Would Snowbird abandon humanity after defeating all the Great Beasts? How much pressure could Heather McDonald handle? What was Puck's origin, really? Would Aurora's manifestation of a third personality be her undoing? Would Northstar actually announce his sexual preference in the heat of battle? Just kidding about that last one, of course. Perhaps it was the benefit of having each of the early issues feature one character, but these were strong creations, developing far beyond just being X-Men counterparts.
Felt like sharing. Thanks for those 28 comic books!
c.
I've said NorthStar was Gay from Day Two, since I did not "elect" Jean Paul to be homosexual until ALPHA FLIGHT got their own title, and I was casting about to find something to add dimension to the characters. But Jean Marie was always afflicted with MPD -- it was the first and most important part of who she was that came to me when I invented the character.
The one story that I always wished to have told was Puck's affair of the Brass Bishop. This plot was mentioned and then dropped.
I also recently reread the first 12 issues of Alpha Flight and was very happy at how the stories stand up 20 years later. There was just such a sense of high adventure, mystery, and wonder built into those stories. As much as I liked the larger arc stories, the stand alone Puck story and all of the Alpha Flight origin stories were just fantastic! Of course, the Super Skrull 2 parter was the high point for me.
Looking forward to reading the remaining 16 issues.
The one story that I always wished to have told was Puck's affair of the Brass Bishop. This plot was mentioned and then dropped.
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T'wasn't "dropped". A passing reference to something that happened off camera is just that -- a passing reference to somethng that happened off camera.
Besides, I sort of always wanted "The Affair of the Brass Bishop"* to be my "Giant Rat of Sumatra".
*5000 Brownie Points to anyone who can correctly identify my "inspiration" for this unscene episode in Puck's past.
I know that the Giant Rat of Sumatra is a Sherlock Holmes reference but my trivia knowledge ends there.
Ernest
Daniel Winterfeldt (Login danielkamin) Byrne Victim
Re: Regarding Aurora (for Mr. Byrne)
April 26 2004, 2:04 PM
It is the unpublished collection of Sherlock Holmes adventures kept in an old tin box in a vault that Dr. Watson often cryptically alluded to in the published adventures of Shirlock Holmes.
Kind regards,
Daniel
ps What can you get with 5,000 brownie points??
EDITED BECAUSE I ANSWERED THE WRONG QUESTION!! SORRY>>>>
INSPIRATION FOR THE BRASS BISHOP STORYLINE IS POSSIBLY IN QUAKER HOMILIES THAT TELL OF CHRISTIAN ARMOR THAT CAN DEFEND US FROM THE DEVIL: Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” EPHESIANS 6:10-11 286
This message has been edited by danielkamin on Apr 26, 2004 2:13 PM
I enjoyed the teaser of the Brass Bishop and always wondered if we'd ever have the pleasure of seeing that fleshed out. Did a later writer pick up on this? I hope not.
The villains created for Alpha Flight were so weird and wonderful. Deadly Earnest wouldn't have been out of place in a souped-up episode of the Avengers (Steed and Mrs. Peel). Gilded Lily could have fit into a DC horror title, I think. Very gothic and bizarre. I thought Jerry Jaxon was quite terrifying, back when I first read these issues. His need to crush Guardian was so consuming. I'd never really encountered any comic book villains that were so vicious, up to that point.
A character I always wondered if there was more to, was Marrina. Was she always predestined to become the sea monster she became in Walt Simonson's run on Avengers? Always felt bad for her. I thought there'd be more of a story to that. Ah, well.
c.
(slight spelling error!)
This message has been edited by Craighowrie on Apr 26, 2004 2:30 PM
A character I always wondered if there was more to, was Marrina. Was she always predestined to become the sea monster she became in Walt Simonson's run on Avengers?
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No, though given her background, Walt's extrapolation is perfectly logical.
Alpha Flight is the series that really made me appreciate JB's gift for supernatural stories. This gift is even more astounding when realizing that JB has no belief in the supernatural. The whole thing with the Great Beasts was A+ material. I would love to see JB on a series that allowed him to explore more horror themes and scare the bejeezus out of us.
I agree! I would love to see JB tackle more supernatural stories in the future. JB does fantastic supernatural stories that creep me out much more than a lot of other creators. I think a large part of that is how JB uses visuals to create mood and a perfect sense of frantic pacing. He had some good horror stories with Mephisto in FF, Proteus and the Kitty Pryde story in X-Men, and those ghost stories in Alpha Flight.
JB, I humbly retract my "dropped" story comment. I guess when I read that story as a kid, my mind immediately latched on that there was going to be another great Puck story coming down the pike.
I enjoyed the teaser of the Brass Bishop and always wondered if we'd ever have the pleasure of seeing that fleshed out. Did a later writer pick up on this? I hope not.
Alpha Flight is the series that really made me appreciate JB's gift for supernatural stories. This gift is even more astounding when realizing that JB has no belief in the supernatural.
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It's an advantage, I think, to approach the supernatural from the vantage of it all being made up. Look how great the Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Doctor Strange stories were, and look how bogged down they became when later writers tried to bring "real" magic into them. The first thing Roger Stern did when he took over Strange's title was dump all the "real" magic and start making up his own.
It's one of the reasons I have long wished DC would give me a run on THE DEMON. Poor old Etrigan has been so messed up by know-it-all-writers who dragged "real" demonology into his story. Kirby's stories barreled along like a runaway freight train, and most of that was because the was making it all up !!
(Of course, the writers after Kirby lost it then they started having Etrigan rhyme all the time -- Lit Major Syndrome -- and had Jason Blood possessed by Etrigan, instead of the other way 'round as Kirby had it. One of the more sadly amusing assault on my WONDER WOMAN usage of the Demon was how I restored him to Kirby's vision, and thus was not being "faithful". One correspondent even went so far as to say a certain later writer was the "true creator" of the Demon, having taken the character so far from Kirby's original. sigh )
