Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Breaking News: Alpha Flight is Back!

It's been revealed, as I type on a conference call with the new creative team (including Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, and Dale Eaglesham) that the iconic Canadian superhero team, Alpha Flight will be getting its very own series. Pak (of Incredible Hercules, Chaos War, and World War Hulk fame) and Van Lente will be penning the script with Eaglesham taking up art duties on the book. The team was brought back from the dead during the recent Chaos War event, re-uniting surviving teammates (Northstar, Aurora, Sasquatch, and Snowbird), with their deceased colleagues (Shaman, Guardian, Vindicator, and Marrina).

Pak & Co. have revealed that the team will be back with its own limited series which will run for a scheduled 8 issues (hinting that a 9th would be possible with strong sales support). The team will still work for Department H although the major source of conflict will occur when the government which they work for suddenly changes hands (a feeling many Canadians experienced when the Harper-led conservative government shocked many on the left with a strong show in elections leading to the first right-wing control of the Canadian Parliament in decades). Pak & Co. confirmed the inclusion of our favorite queer crusader, Northstar on the team and Northstar's boyfriend, Kyle.

I'm ecstatic to hear that Alpha Flight is getting another series. Especially after that decidedly unpopular re-imagining, Omega Flight, which featured a terribly random and mismatched cast of characters. The greatest and most iconic feature of Alpha Flight, as Pak points out during his call: 
"They're a very interesting team because they are protectors of a nation," Pak said. "It's like a team of Captain Americas in a way. That's a very interesting thing to play with."
Omega Flight consisted of a series of heroes who had only passing allegiance to Canada, but this new classic line-up is sure to bring back some of those nostalgic feelings of the original Alpha Flight run. Bravo.

Check out Newsarama's coverage of the call [link]

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