Welcome to The Flight Stuff: a podcast about Canada’s premiere superhero team!

In 1983, comic book writer and artist John Byrne lifted his original team, Alpha Flight, from the pages of Uncanny X-Men and dropped them into their own, eponymous series. Over the course of 11 years, the Canadian super team — Guardian, Sasquatch, Puck, Snowbird, Shaman, Aurora, Northstar, and others along the way — battled foes large and small, with adventures steeped in social commentary and uniquely Canadian issues and themes.

Join comic book enthusiasts Liam, Adrianna and Doug as they make their way through the original series issue by issue, character by character, Byrnism by Byrnism, with occasional detours through Canadian cultural history. So sit back, listen up and get right with the Flight!

After quite a long hiatus, The Flight Stuff returns for a special one-off episode!

Marvel Comics just recently wrapped up Heroes Reborn, an alternate timeline storyline exploring a universe in which the Avengers never existed and Squadron Supreme rise up as Earth’s mightiest heroes in their place. What does this have to do with Alpha Flight? Well, a tie-in comic, of course! Unfortunately, Canada doesn’t make out so well in this alternate timeline, and our favorite Canadian heroes find themselves in a really tough spot in Heroes Reborn: Weapon X & Final Flight #1.

In this episode, Doug, Liam and Adrianna briefly bring listeners up to speed on their lives (our last episode dropped October 2019!) before diving into Heroes Reborn: Weapon X & Final Flight, our thoughts on the comic and the Heroes Reborn event in general, and what might be in store for the future of the show.

As always, thanks for listening! We really appreciate your support.

If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please drop us a line at [email protected].

Follow us on Twitter: @flightstuffpod

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The post THE FLIGHT STUFF – Episode 20: Weapon X & Final Flight (Heroes Reborn) appeared first on Cinepunx.

Welcome to The Flight Stuff: a podcast about Canada’s premiere superhero team!

In 1983, comic book writer and artist John Byrne lifted his original team, Alpha Flight, from the pages of Uncanny X-Men and dropped them into their own, eponymous series. Over the course of 11 years, the Canadian super team — Guardian, Sasquatch, Puck, Snowbird, Shaman, Aurora, Northstar, and others along the way — battled foes large and small, with adventures steeped in social commentary and uniquely Canadian issues and themes.

Join comic book enthusiasts Liam, Adrianna and Doug as they make their way through the original series issue by issue, character by character, Byrnism by Byrnism, with occasional detours through Canadian cultural history. So sit back, listen up and get right with the Flight!

After a month-long hiatus, The Flight Stuff is back in business!

Episode 19 opens with some minor housekeeping and a shoutout to journalist Corey Mintz, whose recent deep dive into the history and legacy of Alpha Flight for The Walrus features a quotation from show co-host Adrianna.

From there, the team jumps right into the pages of Alpha Flight #35-36. These issues are notable for featuring covers and interior art by Canadian artist David Ross, much to Doug’s delight. Questions of ableism and representation arise once again, as both issues have a focus on Shaman and Snowbird, and Puck’s characterization continues to be grievously mishandled.

PLUS: Doug does some dramatic dialogue readings, Dr. Strange drops in for a mystical hello, and the Canada Facts segment makes its long-awaited return!

As always, thanks for listening!

If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please drop us a line at [email protected].

Follow us on Twitter: @flightstuffpod

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The post THE FLIGHT STUFF – Episode 19: Shaman Gets a Makeover appeared first on Cinepunx.

Welcome to The Flight Stuff: a podcast about Canada’s premiere superhero team!

In 1983, comic book writer and artist John Byrne lifted his original team, Alpha Flight, from the pages of Uncanny X-Men and dropped them into their own, eponymous series. Over the course of 11 years, the Canadian super team — Guardian, Sasquatch, Puck, Snowbird, Shaman, Aurora, Northstar, and others along the way — battled foes large and small, with adventures steeped in social commentary and uniquely Canadian issues and themes.

Join comic book enthusiasts Liam, Adrianna and Doug as they make their way through the original series issue by issue, character by character, Byrnism by Byrnism, with occasional detours through Canadian cultural history. So sit back, listen up and get right with the Flight!

Greetings, Alphans! We’re back with a brand new episode of The Flight Stuff!

Back in September, something truly magical happened: Marvel published a brand new Alpha Flight book! That’s right, Canada’s best returned for a special oneshot, Alpha Flight: True North,  boasting an all Canadian creative team. We all loved it here at Flight Stuff HQ, so we set aside some time to record an episode solely focused on True North and what makes it such a fantastic and moving tribute to Alpha Flight.

So take a journey with us into the Great White North once again as we dive into Alpha Flight: True North!

As always, thank you for listening!

If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please drop us a line at [email protected].

Follow us on Twitter: @flightstuffpod

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The post THE FLIGHT STUFF – Episode 18: True North appeared first on Cinepunx.

Welcome to The Flight Stuff: a podcast about Canada’s premiere superhero team!

In 1983, comic book writer and artist John Byrne lifted his original team, Alpha Flight, from the pages of Uncanny X-Men and dropped them into their own, eponymous series. Over the course of 11 years, the Canadian super team — Guardian, Sasquatch, Puck, Snowbird, Shaman, Aurora, Northstar, and others along the way — battled foes large and small, with adventures steeped in social commentary and uniquely Canadian issues and themes.

Join comic book enthusiasts Liam, Adrianna and Doug as they make their way through the original series issue by issue, character by character, Byrnism by Byrnism, with occasional detours through Canadian cultural history. So sit back, listen up and get right with the Flight!

Greetings, Alphans! We’re back with a brand new episode of The Flight Stuff!

Episode 17 focuses on two issues: #33-34. The team discusses the Alpha Flight debut of the great Sal Buscema, Bill Mantlo’s ongoing Heather and Puck problems, a very strange flashback to Heather and Wolverine’s first meeting, and much more!

Next episode: ALPHA FLIGHT: TRUE NORTH!

As always, thanks for listening!

If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please drop us a line at [email protected].

Follow us on Twitter: @flightstuffpod

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The post THE FLIGHT STUFF – Episode 17: How Heather Got Her Groove Back appeared first on Cinepunx.

Welcome to The Flight Stuff: a podcast about Canada’s premiere superhero team!

In 1983, comic book writer and artist John Byrne lifted his original team, Alpha Flight, from the pages of Uncanny X-Men and dropped them into their own, eponymous series. Over the course of 11 years, the Canadian super team — Guardian, Sasquatch, Puck, Snowbird, Shaman, Aurora, Northstar, and others along the way — battled foes large and small, with adventures steeped in social commentary and uniquely Canadian issues and themes.

Join comic book enthusiasts Liam, Adrianna and Doug as they make their way through the original series issue by issue, character by character, Byrnism by Byrnism, with occasional detours through Canadian cultural history. So sit back, listen up and get right with the Flight!

HAPPY ALPHA FLIGHT: TRUE NORTH #1 DAY! Unfortunately, this episode was recorded before we could get our hands on a copy, but rest assured, we’ll be covering it in-depth soon enough!

Now, onto Episode 16. This episode is a little heavier than usual, but we open on a light note: action figures! At FanExpo Canada, Hasbro announced a new Alpha Flight 6-pack as part of their Marvel Legends line, and your hosts weigh in with their thoughts.

Our main discussion starts off as any other, with a focus on the art. Liam, Doug and Adrianna give their thoughts on Mignola’s cover for issue #31 and the fact that this issue marks his departure from interior duties. The story itself heralds the return of Deadly Earnest and Nemesis, and most of the issue focuses on the conflict between them and Alpha Flight’s struggle to take him down. Shaman makes an appearance, too. We give our thoughts on the Nemesis/Deadly Earnest relationship, the way violence is depicted in this issue, and the somewhat confused theological underpinnings of Shaman’s story arc.

Then, it’s on to issue #32, which, to put it mildly, was not a hit with your hosts. Though we always try to balance any criticism with something positive, it’s hard to do that with an issue that handles disability so appallingly. Puck is a favorite among all three of this show’s hosts, so we of course have a lot of thoughts about how his backstory is handled here. We discuss the Puck vs. Razer conflict and the ways it diminishes Puck as a character, as well as the idea of disability as punishment or a product of moral failure, a trope that is unfortunately common in fiction and very much present in Mantlo’s handling of Puck.

We also discuss Heather’s characterization across both issues and Liam is once again thirsty, but this time, for SHAMAN!

As always, thanks for listening!

If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please drop us a line at [email protected].

Follow us on Twitter: @flightstuffpod

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The post THE FLIGHT STUFF – Episode 16: The Puck Problem appeared first on Cinepunx.

Welcome to The Flight Stuff: a podcast about Canada’s premiere superhero team!

In 1983, comic book writer and artist John Byrne lifted his original team, Alpha Flight, from the pages of Uncanny X-Men and dropped them into their own, eponymous series. Over the course of 11 years, the Canadian super team — Guardian, Sasquatch, Puck, Snowbird, Shaman, Aurora, Northstar, and others along the way — battled foes large and small, with adventures steeped in social commentary and uniquely Canadian issues and themes.

Join comic book enthusiasts Liam, Adrianna and Doug as they make their way through the original series issue by issue, character by character, Byrnism by Byrnism, with occasional detours through Canadian cultural history. So sit back, listen up and get right with the Flight!

Welcome, Alphans, to another installment of The Flight Stuff!

We kick off Episode 15 with some Alpha Flight news! Marvel released a seven page preview of Alpha Flight: True North #1, as well as a variant cover by Ramon Perez, so of course we had to share our thoughts on both. From there, we jump right into issue #29 of the main Alpha Flight title, marking our return to the book after a brief two-episode detour through Secret Wars II and some Alpha-adjacent material. Issue #29 concludes Alpha Flight’s intense run-in with the Hulk, marking the start of the Mantlo/Mignola run, and we have a lot of thoughts on this transition and how it translates to the page.

Then it’s onto issue #30, which pits Alpha Flight against a figure from Madison Jeffries’ past. We touch on Mignola’s art style and the body horror and darker themes carried over from Byrne’s run, as well as Heather’s self-doubt spiral and the team’s re-established relationship with the Canadian government. PLUS: Thicc Daddy Hulk.

As always, thanks for listening!

If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please drop us a line at [email protected].

Follow us on Twitter: @flightstuffpod

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The post THE FLIGHT STUFF – Episode 15: Jeffries vs. Jeffries appeared first on Cinepunx.

Welcome to The Flight Stuff: a podcast about Canada’s premiere superhero team!

In 1983, comic book writer and artist John Byrne lifted his original team, Alpha Flight, from the pages of Uncanny X-Men and dropped them into their own, eponymous series. Over the course of 11 years, the Canadian super team — Guardian, Sasquatch, Puck, Snowbird, Shaman, Aurora, Northstar, and others along the way — battled foes large and small, with adventures steeped in social commentary and uniquely Canadian issues and themes.

Join comic book enthusiasts Liam, Adrianna and Doug as they make their way through the original series issue by issue, character by character, Byrnism by Byrnism, with occasional detours through Canadian cultural history. So sit back, listen up and get right with the Flight!

Welcome, Alphans, to another installment of The Flight Stuff!

This week, we open on a bit of a somber note, as we acknowledge the passing of the great character actor Rutger Hauer. He was a favorite of ours, so we thought it fitting to dedicate a few minutes to his memory at the top of the episode. From there, we jump right into the muck and mire of company-wide crossover events, specifically the notorious Secret Wars II which played out across the pages of Marvel Comics from 1985 to 1986. There were nine main issues and a whopping 33 tie-in issues, including, of course, Alpha Flight #28.  We talk the good, the bad and the ugly, and how the Flight figure into it all.

We close out the episode with a discussion on The Incredible Hulk #313, which presents the events from Alpha Flight #28 from a different perspective: Bruce Banner’s! What exactly has the Hulk been up to, and how was it that Bochs was able to pull him through the dimensional nexus? PLUS: an uncomfortably lengthy discussion on Bigfoot erotica! All that and more awaits in this exciting new episode of The Flight Stuff!

As always, thanks for listening!

If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please drop us a line at [email protected].

Follow us on Twitter: @flightstuffpod

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The post THE FLIGHT STUFF – Episode 14: The Bitter Tears of Bruce Banner appeared first on Cinepunx.

Welcome to The Flight Stuff: a podcast about Canada’s premiere superhero team!

In 1983, comic book writer and artist John Byrne lifted his original team, Alpha Flight, from the pages of Uncanny X-Men and dropped them into their own, eponymous series. Over the course of 11 years, the Canadian super team — Guardian, Sasquatch, Puck, Snowbird, Shaman, Aurora, Northstar, and others along the way — battled foes large and small, with adventures steeped in social commentary and uniquely Canadian issues and themes.

Join comic book enthusiasts Liam, Adrianna and Doug as they make their way through the original series issue by issue, character by character, Byrnism by Byrnism, with occasional detours through Canadian cultural history. So sit back, listen up and get right with the Flight!

Welcome, Alphans, to another installment of The Flight Stuff!

We’ve got a bit of a lighter episode for you today, as we take a break from the main Alpha Flight title to explore some of their appearances in other books. BUT FIRST: we’re bringing you our very first interview segment! Robert J. Plass of AlphaFlight.net and Alpha Flight Collector was gracious enough to join us for a very fun and illuminating chat. He tells us a bit about his history with Alpha Flight, his favorite characters and storylines, and what makes the team so unique and compelling even all these years later.

From there, we jump into the comics! This week, we’re covering Alpha adventures in Rom #56-58, Saga of Crystar #11, Marvel Team-Up Annual #7, and finally, the fantastic X-Men/Alpha Flight #1-2.

As always, thanks for listening!

If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please drop us a line at [email protected].

Follow us on Twitter: @flightstuffpod

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The post THE FLIGHT STUFF – Episode 13: Space Knights, Crystal Warriors, and the Strange Gift From Asgard appeared first on Cinepunx.

Welcome to The Flight Stuff: a podcast about Canada’s premiere superhero team!

In 1983, comic book writer and artist John Byrne lifted his original team, Alpha Flight, from the pages of Uncanny X-Men and dropped them into their own, eponymous series. Over the course of 11 years, the Canadian super team — Guardian, Sasquatch, Puck, Snowbird, Shaman, Aurora, Northstar, and others along the way — battled foes large and small, with adventures steeped in social commentary and uniquely Canadian issues and themes.

Join comic book enthusiasts Liam, Adrianna and Doug as they make their way through the original series issue by issue, character by character, Byrnism by Byrnism, with occasional detours through Canadian cultural history. So sit back, listen up and get right with the Flight!

Welcome, Alphans, to another installment of The Flight Stuff!

What better way to kick of an episode of The Flight Stuff than with ALPHA FLIGHT NEWS?! That’s right! There’s something rumbling in the Great White North. Last week, Marvel announced Alpha Flight: True North #1, a oneshot with three new Alpha Flight tales, in celebration of Marvel’s 80th anniversary. Liam, Doug and Adrianna discuss this exciting development and speculate on what this means for new Alpha Flight material into the future.

Then, it’s onto the Alpha Flight of yore, as we tackle issues #27 and 28 of Alpha Flight. It’s a major milestone for the show, as this marks the completion of Byrne’s run on the series. The team talks cover art confusion, Shaman’s complicated family drama, and we fawn over Jeffries and gripe about The Beyonder, before taking turns reflecting on Byrne’s departure from the series. It’s a fun episode, but also bittersweet.

As always, thanks for listening!

If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please drop us a line at [email protected].

Follow us on Twitter: @flightstuffpod

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The post THE FLIGHT STUFF – Episode 12: Exit Mr. Byrne appeared first on Cinepunx.

Welcome to The Flight Stuff: a podcast about Canada’s premiere superhero team!

In 1983, comic book writer and artist John Byrne lifted his original team, Alpha Flight, from the pages of Uncanny X-Men and dropped them into their own, eponymous series. Over the course of 11 years, the Canadian super team — Guardian, Sasquatch, Puck, Snowbird, Shaman, Aurora, Northstar, and others along the way — battled foes large and small, with adventures steeped in social commentary and uniquely Canadian issues and themes.

Join comic book enthusiasts Liam, Adrianna and Doug as they make their way through the original series issue by issue, character by character, Byrnism by Byrnism, with occasional detours through Canadian cultural history. So sit back, listen up and get right with the Flight!

Greetings, Flighters, and welcome to another edition of The Flight Stuff!

We might only be covering two issues of Alpha Flight this time around, but we nevertheless have a lot to discuss! We kick things off with a shout-out to film critic Simon Abrams, whose recent Dark Phoenix article for The Hollywood Reporter name-drops a certain comic book podcast (hint: it’s this one!), before moving on to another fun topic of discussion: fancasting! We give a partial rundown of The Soska Sisters’ recent Twitter thread with casting picks for their hypothetical Alpha Flight film, and discuss which choices we liked as well as which ones made us scratch our heads.

Then, it’s on to the main event: Alpha Flight #25 and 26! These issues pack a hefty one-two punch, heralding the return of a major character….though his presence may not be quite what it seems. It’s a twist that shakes Alpha Flight — and your hosts — to their very core. PLUS: More great team combat moments, Heather gets a new (wave) outfit, and Northstar goes on trial!

As always, thanks for listening!

If you have any questions, comments or feedback, please drop us a line at [email protected].

Follow us on Twitter: @flightstuffpod

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The post THE FLIGHT STUFF – Episode 11: The Six Million Canadian Dollar Man appeared first on Cinepunx.