What the Puck?
It's the return of the Canadian Super-Team, Alpha Flight!
The Good
So, this is a .1 issue, part of the .1 initiative, so new readers can expect to jump on and have no problem understanding what's going on in this issue. New readers will have a decent understanding of the team and their powers. I was pretty excited to see this team again, even though they're technically not officially a team yet.
Aside from being excited, mainly for Sasquatch, Snowbird, and Shaman, for the characters coming back from the dead, after the events of Chaos War, I really enjoyed the writing of Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente. Even if you've never liked the team, their writing will make you love it. On top of that, artist Ben Oliver (with Dan Green) will keep you completely engaged in the story. The art is softer and more realistic, and it some of the best I've seen this week.
The Bad
No Puck. I know he's in Hell because we saw him helping Wolverine out during the last Wolverine story-arc, but I was really hoping he'd "hop" back onto the team.
I felt like even though it was a .1 initiative book, new readers may have a little trouble adjusting to this team, since you miss out on a bit of history of these characters and who they actually are. We get decent glimpses, but I felt like new readers still may be a bit lost on this one.
Umm... One really weird moment I didn't like in this issue. Purple "Woman" has a bunch of people crawl onto each other to form a giant human-monster.
The Verdict
June 8th is when you'll be able to get your hands on the start of this new series, but for now you have a pretty solid re-introduction to the Alpha Flight team, except no Puck. Sure, the giant human-monster was a bit lame, and there are a few moments where new readers may feel they are missing out on who Alpha Flight was and is now, but overall, the art and writing make this a great issue to read. If anything, this book will really get you pumped for the upcoming on-going series.
