Alpha Flight #1-6

Alpha Flight had a brief reintroduction during the Feat Itself storyline. Canada’s favorite (and only)  team comes back, this time in what can only be described as a super powered political thriller.

The Unity Party has come to power in the Canadian government and has Alpha Flight in their sites. The city of Vancouver was heavily damaged by the Fear-powered Attuma, and the super hero team has been blamed for failing to protect the city. Alpha Flight is on the run from the government. This kind of reminds me a lot like the Civil War storyline, except this time it’s across Canada.

It’s revealed that the Unity Party is secretly led by none other than longtime nemesis Master of the World (who simultaneously has the coolest and lamest name of any super villain ever). He’s dispatched a squadron of old Alpha Flight villains out to take them out.

While this is going on, the team is having their own personal difficulties to overcome. The Vindicator has begrudgingly teamed up to hunt her former teammates in exchange for regaining custody of her daughter. Northstar’s boyfriend Kyle has been taken prisoner by the Unity Party and is undergoing some sort of mental reprogramming that all non-Unity Party members are being forced into. And to make matters worse, Northstar’s sister Aurora is having a relapse with her split personality disorders. As a light Alpha Flight reader, even I know that isn’t good.

At least the team had the good sense to put out a call to Wolverine for some help and assistance in liberating Canada. What makes this

This was written by the team of Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, both of whom I’ve been a big fan of. I really liked that this wasn’t heavy on prior Alpha Flights history. I’ll admit, I was never that big of a fan. But I was able to pick up what had happened in previous volumes. Dale Eaglesham’s art was great as usual, and I’m sure him being a Canadian made the depictions of the cities more accurate. Fun stuff; you should check it out.

Asbury Park Comic Con Was Awesome

The first weekend of May was awesome, and not just because of the Avengers movie and Free Comic Book Day. I was able to go to a decent small-sized comic book show in my neck of the woods: the Asbury Park Comic Con!

It was held at the Asbury Lanes, a cool vintage 1960s style bowling alley which has managed to survive an ever-changing neighborhood. A lot of those songs poor people and neighborhoods that Bruce Springsteen wrote were based on Asbury Park. Through all of this, Asbury Lanes has somehow managed to survive as a bowling alley turned punk/metal venue. With all of the whacky events that they hold, a comic show was only the next logical thing to happen.

Guests were treated to a variety of dealers, some self published types and even some well-respected comics types like Fred Van Lente, Jamal Igle and Evan Dorkin. So how did the afternoon go?

I picked up all this fun stuff for about $20. None of it was series that I have been collecting or on the look out for, but cheap comics that I have an interest is always a good idea.

My must have purchase was a page of Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey’s Comic Book Comics, which chronicles the history of the comic book industry. There were so many pages to pick from, but I couldn’t pass on this page with Jack Kirby on it. Roscoe the Cat agrees that it was a good purchase!

The next Asbury Park Comic Con will be on September 29. Check out their website for guests and show information.