Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Death Notices

According to Wizard magazine,
the list of Alphans who died in New Avengers 17 is - Guardian, Vindicator, Shaman, Major MapleLeaf II, Puck, Puck II.

And that is it.

4 of those people could still be Temporal Copies, with the real heroes still off in space, going to (or returning from) the Plodex homeworld.
Major MapleLeaf II and Puck II - completely deceased.
Although I knew neither well, still I mourn them.
You fought well the good fight - and now, rest.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Post-It Note

For those fo you who may be interested, i have now happily joined the wonderful community of Alpha fanatics over at the Alpha Waves Forum.

Check it out here
http://forum.alphaflight.net/

Join up, you may find me cruising around and chatting with good folks!

Go Alpha, or go home!

Monday, January 29, 2007

Who Leads The Flight?

Who is this man?


And who will lead Omega Flight?


The shocking answer to be revealed here! Read on!


Is the man in the Guardian suit James MacDonald "Mac" Hudson? As recently proposed, is it Walter Langkowski?
Or have too many people missed the most obvious of clues, and been led down the wrong path?

In one interview given in September 06 by Oeming, we get these three interesting tidbits.
- "There will be plenty of original (surviving) Alpha Flight cast popping up."
- The name Omega Flight was once used by a group of villains who fought Alpha Flight, which isn't a coincidence. Oeming said we'll see that addressed "a bit."
- "Why so few Canadians? At this point, there are three on or working with the team, although in the promo image we only see one."

In a September 06 Kolins interview, he is asked "Is that Guardian, Vindicator? Is it James Hudson, or someone else?" He responds, "It’s the Guardian/Vindicator outfit that’s for sure "[laughs].
In same interview, he mentions "I haven’t read all the 90’s stuff, but I’ve read the Byrne stuff a million times. Alpha Flight 1 – 28, X-men 109, 120,121, 139 & 140 are my Alpha Flight bible."

"The new Alpha Flight series will be manned by American heroes who have moved to Canada as a result of the government legislation enacted in the 'Civil War' megacrossover." This quote comes from April of 2006.


Also, and i cannot remember where i saw this, but there was previously some discussion that an obscure superhero named Omega the Unknown was making a comeback in 2007 as the leader of Omega Flight. Thankfully, this rumour was put to rest, but everybody seems to have missed out on the obvious clue therein!


Drumroll please...

Your man in the Guardian suit, your leader of Omega Flight, is none other than former Alpha Flight leader, former member of Gamma Flight, the American hero who has worked for the Canadian government and owes them a big debt, the one, the only, the now-depowered...



Kyle Gibney!
http://alphanex.alphaflight.net/images/d/d6/Wild_Child_2.jpg

Kyle Gibney, formerly known as Wild Child, owes the Canadian government a big debt. When the Secret Empire collapsed as Wyre tried to kill all of those who had been experimented on, it was the Canadian government who stepped in and saved Kyle. Later, they hauled him out of prison and gave him a job with Gamma Flight. At one point, he even got to step up and be Alpha Flight's leader for a while, calling himself Wildheart, and battling none other than the Wrecking Crew.
He also owes the Collective, as he has now been de-powered. Which explains him wearing the Guardian suit.
Also, he once went by the codename Weapon Omega. Weapon Omega leading Omega Flight helps to explain the name too, now doesn't it?
He has strong ties to Alpha Flight, as he feels guilt over having attacked them several times as part of the evil Omega Flight that 'killed' James Hudson. He also has dated Aurora, and, as stated already, led Alpha Flight as it's leader for a time.

He is also an American. In the promo image, we only see ONE Canadian. That one Canadian is obviously Talisman. Therefore, the man in the Guardian suit has to be American, which means he must have a pretty good reason for wearing the Canadian flag as an American. Well, Kyle Gibney has that all covered, now doesn't he?

My only unknown on this - does that mean that although he is in the Guardian suit, he won't be called Guardian or Vindicator, but Weapon Omega again?...

The premise for this idea (Kyle Gibney in the Guardian suit) was first blogged here on this site in October of 2006. However, it was not until yesterday that i finally put all the pieces together and found that they fit more perfectly than i had even originally thought.


All i can say is ...

Long live The Flight!

thoughts for now

it is late at night, so my brain is kinda fuzzy. i have been reading various Flight message boards and the like, and came across some stuff.

first, this link to a (short-ish but) great interview with Oeming.

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/wizard/003206730.cfm

Next, have a few newer artistic works that i will post as well, down the page a bit. Before that, just gotta mention some things i am (fuzzily) pondering.
I am not sure HOW , but it seems that the man in the Guardian suit will be Walter Langkowski.
How this works, i still do not know. Because we see that he fights the Wrecking Crew as Sasquatch. But that previous hint (just remembered thanks to being reminded of it on the message boards) about the guy in the Guardian suit having played the sport with the oblong shaped ball (misquote, but it is something close to that), leads me to believe that it is none other than former pro-quarterback Walter.
Does he lose his Sasquatch powers? Does he incorporate them into the suit? Must he give up his powers for some reason, or stop using them?
And how pissed is he about seeing AF die around him, and taking several months to recover himself? I mean, come on, looks like he is drinking himself to death?!
BUT WAIT!!!!
Just because it was mentioned in an interview that there was a football player, does NOT necessarily mean that was in reference to the man in the Guardian suit. Sasquatch's includence in Omega Flight was an unknown at that time, so it could have been more of a hint in that direction.
If that is the case, who is in the Guardian suit?
Answer : i have said it before, and i'll say it again...Kyle Gibney, once known as Wild Child. Slightly short of stature (as the new Guardian appears to be - by the way, here is me guessing that "Guardian" is not what this character is called - just a hunch), he has links to Walter Langkowski, he has been depowered, and apparently has damaged vocal chords and is now mute. Also a former lover of Aurora. Seems that he has a lot to be angry about , and a lot to be sad about as well. A very emotional person, and also very brutal. If anything is truly known about the Omega Flight team, it is that they will deal with the supernatural a lot. If you look at their team, they have strong and angry personalities for the most part, people with a lot of power. I bet they get in some pretty brutal and messy fights! Cool!

Want more proof that Gibney is the new Guardian? Check out this link
http://alphanex.alphaflight.net/index.php/Wildheart
and note that...as Weapon Omega he led Alpha Flight for a time. He changed his name and revealed his new persona in a battle with...the Wrecking Crew! He also has links to the Canadian government.
Are you on-baord with my theory now? Kyle Gibney is Guardian!


By the way, I know a few days back i promised to give you the short versions of that last batch of interviews. Sorry...isn't gonna happen. Read the long ones, or don't read 'em, it's your choice. I don't have the time to do that right now... :-(

Oh, here are those pics I promised. Sorry if there're any repeats here...








Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Yet Anudder Interview

Another Interview, again with Mike Oeming (man, this guy is BUSY!),

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=9388

Enjoy!

Saturday, January 20, 2007

3 Interviews, Part I

Listed below are links to three interviews with Omega Flight comic book creators.
Read the links to get the full stories.
For those of you who prefer the Reader's Digest versions, i will post some "high-lights" of these three interviews in a few days.

1) Michael Oeming Interview, Jan 12th 2007 -

http://www.alphaflight.net/interviews/oeming_interview1.php

2) Andy Schmidt Interview, Jan 18th, 2007 -

http://www.alphaflight.net/interviews/schmidt_interview1.php

3) Michael Oeming Interview, Jan 19th, 2007 -

http://www.alphaflight.net/interviews/oeming_interview2.php


'Til Next Blog, Take Care!

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Angry Again

First off, here is the cover for the first issue of Omega Flight, due out in April. Also, some coloured artwork.





Now, go look at the cover pic really closely. See why I am angry? Yes, i am sure that you do. Issue 1 of 5, it says. Yes, you may have heard it here first, but here you have indeed heard it - it is NOT an ongoing series, it is a mini-series. Marvel pulled the plug; the Yankees screwed over us Canadians again. Never, never, never trust a Yankee. Never.

Here are two quotes, taken direct from the Marvel website - so far, this is all they have to say...

A trio of spin-off launches rocket out of April as the new ongoing, postAnnihilation NOVA series kicks off and two mini-series, LONERS and OMEGA FLIGHT, spin-out of RUNAWAYS and CIVIL WAR respectively.

The Story: From the pages of CIVIL WAR: THE INITIATIVE comes Canada’s newest super hero team! But this is not your father’s FLIGHT. Bold and daring, OMEGA FLIGHT is the best 5-issue series you’ll EVER read. 32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99 In Stores: 2007-04-0

Also, this was posted today on a message board, apparently by Mike Oeming himself ...
Marvel wasnt lying, this only happened about 3-4 weeks ago. I couldnt say anything about it, which was horribly painful knowing how excited people had gotten. I'll have some sort of official statement tomorrow.
-www.myspace.com/mikeoeming



And...I have nothing more to say. Except for one thing - BOYCOTT MARVEL COMICS FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You Suck!


Okay, a few more things to add (now that I have calmed down enough to see the keyboard again through my haze of red fury!)
Firstly, here is something off of the AlphaFlight.net messsage boards that i am reprinting here, as it is such a great and articulate posting. Much better than i could/can do , under these trying circumstances...

Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 3:41 am Posted by Mukole

I doubt anything is clear to Mr. Oeming yet. I doubt they have offered him and Mr. Kolins another title already. They asked to do Alpha Flight, they asked to do Omega Flight, they got what they wanted and then Quesada pulled the rug out from under them for no good reason. Sorry, but there is no good reason for the shortcutting. Neither Oeming nor Kolins is dying or sick, neither has asked to kill the book. Quesada made the obtuse call, he has to explain himself and try and pass off that it's either:
a) a trial run, if it sells well it will become an ongoing again, he got cold feet (A crock, but a crock he uses often)
b) a decision made to see interest but no plans for an ongoing, he never said it was an ongoing, he never 'lied'
c) a late decision due to some stupid-butt lie about some stupid-butt idea.

Bendis said great things, Millar said great things, Quesada said we'd be thrilled, Brevoort said it was ongoing, Schmidt said it would be great, Oeming and Kolins were pumped. Quesada lied. People will say that "Well, they have to test the waters". BS. Like with Trash Excalibur, or Runaways (which sold terribly but was kept on the schedule for months by Quesada), or She-Hulk which sold as poorly as Lobdell Flight. He doesn't like Alpha Flight and never has. Maybe he's not alone at Marvel about that (but who beyond Brevoort would be on his side? Not Cebulski, Alonso, or Schmidt, Bendis, Millar,....who?).
Screw all the lame-butt excuses. They lied to us and lied to us I have no reason to believe they won't lie again. Quesada will simply say it's economics and pass the buck, no truthful explanation that he hates AF and doesn't want it to sell well.
It was Quesada who told J. Torres to take a flying leap after AF had been greenlit. It was Quesada who hired Lobdell and told him to turn AF into Tellytubbies. He greenlit the death of AF, off-panel. He knew what he was doing. He tried to deflect critism by saying "hey, don't fear, great things are in the works". Then Bendis and Millar convinced him to go with Omega Flight, and Quesada waited until he felt that he could get away with the pre-emptive cancelling.
Oeming and Kolins and Schmidt are trying to work out an ongoing, maybe Bendis and Millar are on their side. Whoever can, post at their boards and see what they say, do they enjoy being made fools of?
Will I buy Omega Flight? Probably, but I'd like assurances of it turning ongoing again, really fast, like Quesada said it was. If Quesada says, "Oh, hum and haw, it's a mini and deal with it, I need space for another She-Hulk title" then I will
return to hating Marvel again. Publicly.
I've told Quesada: I won't buy Marvel anymore. I buy DC because they don't lie. I would buy Omega Flight, the ongoing, but you cancelled it already. My kids don't buy
Marvel. I don't use Marvel characters in class but DC characters as teaching points. Because I like good comics, I like Alpha Flight, I was pumped for Omega Flight, and you screwed us. Your company doesn't want my money, my kids' money, my students' money. That's a lot of money. Sucks to be you.
See what news we get. 5 issues and then back to bastardization?


Now...drum-roll please...
Writer Mike Oeming steps to the mic and faces the music. Is this all his fault? No, no it definitely is not. Yet he is the one left holding the bag publicly and talking to those who care. Why? Because he cares enough about Alpha Flight, Omega Flight, and Canadian (and others around the world) fans of both, to step forward and talk to all of us irate and upset and devastated people. Mike Oeming, you have my props.
So, without further ado, taken from the AlphaFlight.net message boards (if you haven't seen this site, you really need to go and see it, it is beautiful - go, go NOW!), here he is with his words of doom...

Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:32 am Post subject: My Omega Flight "statement"
By Oeming, Omega Flight Writer

Hey guys, just posted this on my board, thought I should personally post this here as well. You have all been a great support and Im sorry for any disapointment you may be feeling. Just hang in there, help spread the word and lets see if we can get the book going monthly.
Okay, not much of a statement to be made as people have already culled together small quotes from here and there and dissected them already.
Basically, yes, Omega Flight has been trimmed to a five issue mini with the express possibility of becoming an ongoing should sales warrant. I understand Marvel's move as the Flight books have never performed well in the past and it has always been a cult book. There are several books being spun out of Civil War, and Marvel simply doesn't want to flood the market, so Omega Flight and a few others will have to prove themselves.
I still have a great relationship with Marvel, Scott and I are still putting everything we have into the series and we still have a story worth telling. The best way to see Omega Flight become a series is to PRE ORDER the book. There is simply no better way to support a title.
Updates can be tracked by joining my e-mail newsletter at oeming@aol.com
Mike Avon Oeming

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

New Omega Flight Pictures! At Last!

Click the pictures to view full-sized...

Characters from Omega Flight, and unfinished artwork from issue # 1 (which is now reportedly due out in April of 2007)...













Hope you all enjoyed these! I know i did!
:-)

New Omega News At Last!

Alright! Finally, i have dug around the net (well, mainly i
have just checked out that awesome site, AlphaFlight.net) and
come up with some new news about the upcoming Omega Flight
series.

First, this is taken from an interview with Editor Andy
Schmidt...

...it's not Alpha Flight. That's why it's Omega Flight. It's
got more action and bigger thrills than Alpha Flight has
probably ever had. It's no-holds-barred.
The basic gist is that due to the Civil War and the extreme
crackdown in the superhero community on unregistered heroes,
but also on villains, nobody is being left untouched by Civil
War. You gotta have some of these supervillains go on and get
outta here. Their choices are Mexico, where there's not a
whole lot of stuff to loot, or Canada, which is a lot closer.
So they start crossing the border. Alpha Flight no longer
exists, as anyone who reads New Avengers knows, so Canada has
to start dealing with superpowered villains crossing the
border, tearing up the country. So they form this new team to
essentially just stop bad guys. The country's super-crime
jumps up about 700% and it's time to go get 'em.

[Can you talk about the team?]

Not really. I can talk about two of them. USAgent, who's essentially on-loan from the United States. Then we've got Beta Ray Bill. Nothin' says Canada like Beta Ray Bill.What's funny, is that lined up unintentionally. At the end of the Stormbreaker limited series, starring Beta Ray Bill, he took on a human identity who lived in Canada. That wasn't, at the time, a set up for doing a Canadian superteam book, but it winds up pretty well and there's more to it than that.
It's interesting. I think people will be entertained. If it were me, as a reader, I'd be going into this book like "how the heck does this make any sense if these guys are together," but when all is said and done, I think it will.


Next, this is taken from an article with Omega Flight writer
Michael Avon Oeming...


* Oeming fielded several questions about Omega Flight, the
Alpha Flight spin-off that follows Civil War. "We're changing
the name and we're changing the line-up, while still
respecting the roots of the book," he said.
* Asked about Omega Flight's lineup, Oeming said it will
include U.S. Agent, Arachne, "somebody in the Guardian
outfit," someone who was part of the original Alpha Flight
and another former member.
* Oeming said the first two issues will focus on the previous
Alpha Flight members and the reaction to what happened to the
previous team in New Avengers. "It's not about who's fighting
who, that's the icing," Oeming said. "It's about how the
characters act and interact with each other."
* Oeming said that the origin of Beta Ray Bill is tied to the
origin of Alpha Flight. He also promised a powerful version
of the character.
* Oeming said classic Alpha Flight villains will return,
including the Great Beasts and Master of the World.
* While calling Scott Lobdell's last run on Alpha Flight as
"fun," Oeming said, "It might have done more harm than good."
* Oeming said that he viewed Canada as "the fourth leg in the
table" of United States security and that if the fourth leg
was removed the table could still stand, but not as solidly.
Oeming is starting on the Marvel launch of Omega Flight, the
new Canadian superhero team that will follow in the footsteps
of Alpha Flight.
"The first issue of Omega Flight is written, the outline for the first arc is done, and I've gotten a bunch of art in from Scott Kolins that's just amazing, so I'm really excited about it," Oeming said. "Some of the cast members of Omega Flight are 'outed' at this point. U.S. Agent appeared in the Choosing Sides special that Marvel did where we get to see him going into Canada. We also have Beta Ray Bill. Those are the only ones I can talk about. There is a female character, but at this point, we'll keep her identity secret. And there's somebody in the Guardian outfit."

- Will we find out in the first issue who the "somebody" is?
"No. No, I think it's Issue #3 or so," he said. "Old school Alpha Flight fans will be happy with Issue #1 because it actually concentrates on one of the original cast members and somebody else from Alpha Flight's past. So we want to give it a new launch without baggage, but the first issue is definitely dedicated to the roots of Alpha Flight."
- How did you feel about the rather sudden death of the latest, and now late, Alpha Flight team? Were there any characters you wish you could have used? Any chance you'll be able to bring some of them back?

Oeming: Some will be coming back for sure. I thought it was a good death, despite being "off panel"- I think that’s what’s given it so much power.
- Were you told to use any particular characters on your team or did you choose each of them? Any characters that you wanted to use, but were not allowed to?

Oeming: Yea, it was a juggling act for sure. Marvel’s characters are all tied up doing stuff, it was very hard to get team members.
- Speaking of the line-up...currently we know of Beta Ray Bill, USAgent, Arachne, an original member of Alpha Flight, and another former member. Can you drop any more hints for
us?
Oeming: Talisman is the former member, and Sasquatch is in the book - maybe on the team. Maybe...
- Well, we understand you can't tell us all of the characters...how about telling us about the characters that we already know of? Beta Ray Bill - he's the cosmic horse-head guy, right? How'd he end up in Canada?

Oeming: I planted some roots for this in the STORMBREAKER series, not knowing what i was going to do with it. His human identity has ties to Canada (though that part of the story
was recently cut) but BRB also has some strong ties into the supernatural, just check out his origin.
- USAgent - should we call him CanadAgent now? We saw that he was headed to Canada in search of the Purple Man in Choosing Sides. He was a registered hero in that story.
Oeming: Yea, he's soooo much fun! I love guys like that, horrible people on the outside, but great on the inside. Usually it's the other way around.
- Arachne - Spider-Woman - Julia Carpenter? Recently in Ms. Marvel, shown to be anti-registration.

Oeming: Yep, she has a kid, as a father myself i look forward to writing that.
- Guy in the Guardian suit - he couldn't get on a hockey team?

Oeming: Is hockey with the puck or egg shaped ball?
- Which of these characters are you most excited about using?
Oeming: Talisman. I've had the most fun with her. Or Walter, he's great too, lots to deal with there. Lots of history.
- What character, currently not on the team, would you most like to have on the team some day?
Oeming: Wolverine, so I can be in Marvel's top ten! Just kidding.
- What's the big deal with Omega Flight? Why should we buy this book?

Oeming: It's hopefully good characters that are intriguing. Characters that carry along great action, and we get to see the Marvel U from an outside point of view - What are the American heroes like, how are they perceived by others? I think that's really interesting stuff. Talsiman goes off at Tony Stark at one point, possibly my favourite moment in the book.