Alpha Flight Volume 1: You Gotta Be Kiddin' Me TPB (Marvel Heroes)

Rating:
Summary: good art, okay story
Review: well, you probably know by now that the entire cast is different than the alpha flight you probably knew and loved (with the exception of sasquatch and nemesis). this book mostly concerns the beginning of the new team and as a consequence is fairly slow, and unfortunately it isn't likely to satisfy new fans or old fans. but if you have an open mind you'll enjoy the humor which, while not particularly sophisticated or unique, is pleasantly light-hearted. the artwork and some of the new characters (including the new (and female!) puck) is probably the biggest draw to this book, but if you're like me you'll buy it just b/c either are or want to be canadian and you love alpha flight no matter what.

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the most aptly-titled trade paperback ever
Review: When a quirky group like Alpha Flight has the fan base that it does, you have to give them credit. This Canadian super-team, and former adversaries of the X-Men, was created by John Byrne. They made their first appearance in X-Men #120-121 and later received their own series in 1983, written and illustrated by Byrne. As the majority of Marvel Heroes up to that point were based in the US, Byrne had carte blanche to do whatever he wanted with the team, and his narrative style and art on the first two years of the title were golden. Even when Byrne left, fan enthusiasm kept the title going strong for quite a while (maybe even a bit longer that perhaps it should have).

Long-time Marvel readers would likely welcome a reprint of those original Byrne issues, and newcomers would be no worse off by getting a chance to discover this classic team. Marvel, however, once again goes against logic by launching an "all-new, all-different" Alpha Flight series in 2004, written by Scott Lobdell. Of course, everything that made the original series interesting is jettisoned, and the book takes a comedic slant, with disastrous results: the old-timers don't care, the newcomers have no proper reference for why this team even mattered, and the new series is cancelled after 12 issues. So then, to add insult to injury, Marvel reprints issues #1-6 of this cancelled series as ALPHA FLIGHT: YOU GOTTA BE KIDDIN' ME, instead of the classic series! Truly, that title could be no more appropriate: "you gotta be kiddin' me" is right.