Alpha Flight #8 (of 8)

I'm not sure where this Alpha Flight mini-series went wrong.

It has a great writing team - Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente - and a terrific artist in Dale Eaglesham - but the series never quite jelled.

If I was placing a bet, I'd lay odds on editorial interference. The series was originally planned as a mini-series, then it became a regular series, then it was back to being a mini-series again. So perhaps the story unraveled a bit during that tug-of-war.

Or perhaps it was just straightening out the mess the team found itself in - with characters dead, de-powered, driven mad, newly resurrected - that sort of thing.

By the end of the series that's all been resolved (mostly), but it took focus away from the story at hand.

Which is the latest scheme by the Master of the World, who planned to genetically alter the human race to make them soldiers for his intergalactic crusade - or something like that.

There's a lot of punching and screaming and teammates turned against each other - the usual schtick.

It's something of a bummer, because I really like the Alpha Flight team. It has a great mix of powers and characters, and as Canadians they're geographically close enough to have crossovers with any of the usual Marvel crowd.

Now that it's all sorted out, perhaps the next series (and hopefully there will be one) can focus more on stories and less on housekeeping.

This series was a valiant effort, but it fell short of success.

Grade: C+

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