Alpha Flight Classic, Vol. 1 (Uncanny X-Men) (v. 1) (Paperback)

by John Byrne (Author, Artist)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Guardian! Shaman! Snowbird! Aurora! Northstar! Puck! Marrina! Sasquatch! Exploding from the pages of X-Men, Alpha Flight goes solo! Canada's premiere super human strike force, Alpha Flight was brought together by Department H for the greater good of humankind, to battle injustice and evil forces across the globe - including the Master of the World, Tundra, Kolomaq, Deadly Ernest and Delphine Courtney! Featuring cameos by the Sub-Mariner, Invisible Woman, Wolverine and Nightcrawler! Collects Alpha Flight #1-8.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Marvel Comics (May 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785127461
• ISBN-13: 978-0785127468
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #352,271 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stan Lee Presents Canada's Greatest Super-Team: Alpha Flight, May 7, 2007

By	"extreme_dig_cm" (Chicago, Il USA, Amazon.com Fan!) - See all my reviews

So reads the beginning caption to issue #3 in Byrne's unique, 28-issue stint with a distinctly Canadian team...

Quick: how many Canadian super-teams can you currently name off the top of your head? My guess is: not many. Credit Byrne with bringing Canada back into the mainstream in 1983 with Alpha Flight #1- the biggest selling comic of its day- 500,000 copies! While Byrne was born in England, he lived in Canada between the ages of 8 and 30 before moving to the States in 1980. Who better, then, to write & draw a distinctly Canadian team?

His most popular works may be X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Superman, but I *equally* love his lesser-known efforts: his 6+1-issue run on the Incredible Hulk (in '85-'86... a personal favorite!); his great '80s covers for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition; his distinctly Canadian Alpha Flight; and even his quirky & fun run on She-Hulk (which also deserves a new TPB!). And today, it's Alpha Flight that gets the spotlight again in this new & high-quality collection. It really contains: Issues 1-8; an '80s Marvel Age preview article; and even a few '80s entries from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe(!). Thankfully, Marvel treats Byrne's paperbacks right with a decent grade of paper, something the Distinguished Competition (Man of Steel maybe?) could learn a little something about.

While Byrne has gone on record as saying Alpha Flight never really gelled for him artistically or story-wise, I still think quite highly of it. Maybe the writing is at times a little stiff & forced, but this series still strikes me as being one of the most original *feeling* of all time. Even today, few titles manage to capture the overall grandeur of Canada while staying distinctly & wonderfully contemporary. John Byrne pulls it off!

It's no wonder Walt Simonson has called Byrne the 1st modern super-star of mainstream American comics (see his intro to Modern Masters, Vol. 7: John Byrne (Modern Masters interview series)). Few artists/writers in the industry have had such a popular & long-lasting appeal! 5 Stars!

P.S. And check out The Art of John Byrne (Marvel Masters), an interesting career collection. It's also available here on Amazon.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A job only they can handle, August 21, 2007

By	Edward Aycock (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

John Byrne has gone on record saying that his heart was never really into "Alpha Flight", that they were basically created as a team that could successfully battle the X-Men. Despite all this, Byrne's run on AF (he did 28 issues total) are an example of his mastery of the form and yet another look at how much the comics medium has fallen since the 80s. There's never been another book like "Alpha Flight." The team had been created four years before the book came out, but Byrne was faced with the task of instilling each character with a personality and origin, which he painstakingly did, bit by bit.

Included here are the first 8 issues of the book presented in a nice new format. Some people have said the new format is a little too bright, but I think it works well and doesn't take away from the stories at all. We get the classic battle with Tundra, Snowbird's battle in a blizzard which has to be "seen" to get the full effect, the troubled twins - split-personality Aurora and gay Northstar - as well as the development of James Hudson's cyber helmet that started the whole mess. My only complaint is that there should have been more issues included because it will take us that much longer to get to my favorite part of Byrne's run: issues 18-28.

It's so much fun to revisit these characters and adventures again but those discovering them for the first time will have just as much fun. Thanks to all who finally put this book together.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alpha Flight Classic, Vol. 1, February 26, 2008

By	R. Rodriguez (Miami, Florida United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've never read any Alpha Flight comics before, so I figured this was a good place to start. The way John Byrne writes and draws the series makes me wanna go to Canada. I think my favorite stories were the ones with Northstar and Aurora.

It seems like Marvel's Classic series is like the Essentials but in color and on a smaller scale. I'm looking forward to the second volume that comes out in a few months and will get it not long after. My guess is it'll include #9-15 and their first annual.