Why Not?! Read Alpha Flight with Chris & Tom

Episode 52: "AlphLiefeld Flight"

Well, folks, we're kicking off (sort of: more on that in a sec) the Nicieza era and it feels like a Brand New...sorry, we make that joke in the episode.

Before we get to Nicieza's first arc, "Building Blocks", we cover a Marvel Comics Presents story featuring Wolverine, Wild child, and Heather from...Rob Liefeld(?!). We'd planned to also get to the "Building Blocks" arc (and have it recorded) but our,...

Episode 51: "Hudnall (and Calimee), Adieu"

We made it folks: herewith, the end of the James D. Hudnall run on Alpha Flight. We cover issues 83-86 today to bring it all to a close. It’s been…something.

We’ve said a lot about this run already and say a bit more in the episode, so probably no need to belabor it here (plus, Tom just generally is a bit shellshocked still from what will henceforth be called “The Na...

Episode 50: “Heidegger’s Ghost”

Feels like it’s been a minute, yeah?! Well, we missed talking to y’all about Alpha Flight as much as you missed hearing us talk to you about Alpha Flight. We didn’t miss talking about this Hudnall run, but such is the cross WE ALL bear. Still, we have a pretty good time chatting across these two issues, what with some celebrity casting (even an avante garde take on ...

We'll be back with more Alpha Flight chat in July, but in anticipation of the big blockbuster season we have in front of us (that seemingly will extend to December so buckle up, folks!), we're releasing our episode on Fantastic Four: First Steps. This went up last summer on the Patreon, but it seemed a good time to release it into the wild.

Let us know if you'd like our takes on any of the movies soon-to-release (I mean, w...

Episode 49: “Mein Flight”

Tom is stuck on the train for a while so Chris has seized control of the means of production and is posting this week’s episode.  No more will you be subjected to witty and clever show notes, no my comrades, we shall democratize the show notes!  No more will there be highbrow phrasing!  Or references to books in languages other than English!  It shall be Walt’s di...

Hey folks! As covered in the opening, Tom caught a cold and lost his voice, so we weren’t able to get a new Why Not?! recorded for this week. We’ll be back with more of…Hudnall’s…take on the team in a couple weeks, but not wanting to leave you in the lurch we’re releasing our conversation on the 2005 film V for Vendetta (and a bit on the comic itself) from behind the Patreon paywall.

Which is a ...

Episode 48: “The One Where Tom Flips a Table”

Folks, this was a tough episode to get done. Not because of anything in our lives, no sir, but because of the issues covered. Tom really broke this time (as did Chris). It’s certainly one of our loosest episodes but you’ll get those sometimes. We do still have a pleasant time (even if Tom did take off his headphones and walk away for a while at one point (let us k...

Episode 47: “See You at the Crossroads”

Well, we’ve bicc’ed off most of the Mantlo threads and are into Hudnall proper. We cover three issues this week and they’re…interesting?! [upward vocal fry] We get into some of the neat things going on in these pages and a lot of the not-so-neat things. We also discuss Malört, losing Beta Flight for the next while, AI chatbots, and Goethe and The Sorrows of...

Episode 46: “What the Hudnall?!”

…and thus does the James D. Hudnall era begins…

And we’re befuddled. It’s a rough start but hope springs eternal! We’ve a ton more Talisman, a new old face returns (much to Tom’s chagrin), and we simply burn off a whole mess of plotlines. Oh, and we set a record for the number of deaths in a single episode. So that’s something…

Issues discu...

Episode 45: “Bill, Adieu”

Well, we’ve come to the end of Bill Mantlo’s run on Alpha Flight and, folks, he absolutely saved his best issue for last. It’s a wild and, frankly, incredibly well-accomplished issue as Manikin confronts his creator. Both a super-smart metacommentary and just an all-around solid story, it’s quite the issue to go out on.

In this episode, Chris:

• gives some recommendations...

In our penultimate episode covering Bill Mantlo's run on Alpha Flight things. get. weird. But quite interesting, too, as Wanda works some things out and Madison, well, Madison discovers the past isn't always done with you. Really interesting episodes but just kinda weird, too.

But, hey, that's not such a bad thing is it?

Issues discussed:

Alpha Flight #64 - "God War/inside title: "Where There's A Will There's A Way" - cov...

Episode 43: “All My Life I Wanted To Be a Supervillain”

We cover two issues this week and, holy hell, we have…a GOOD TIME?!?! Two very different issues focusing on two of our least explored AF members (Kara and Madison) by both Bill Mantlo and the writer soon to replace him, James Hudnall. And while the Kara/Bill issue leans (effectively) into horror, the Madison/Hudnall is almost a slapstick adventure. And they b...

Episode 42: “Wanda and the Kids”

It’s our somewhat delayed coverage of issue 61 and, yeah, getting sick really throws a wrench in things. But! It’s a great issue as Heather and Jeffries spar with Canadian MPs over Alpha Flight’s direction and Wanda and Beta Flight go on a helluva field trip through Ottawa. The kind of issue that makes you wish THIS Mantlo showed up more often…

In this episode, Chr...

Episode 41: “Enter the Jaded Dragon”

We’re wrapping up the Dream Queen arc this episode with some help from…Old Puck?! And, really, that’s not even the oddest thing that happens in these issues, which ya have to hand it to ol’ Bill is kinda impressive. The team meets a dragon, almost start WW3, and see their old friend for just long enough for it all to feel very awkward. Stick around for some ex...

Episode 40: “RiDQulous”

And we’re back! New year, new energy, and the return of some of our favorite audio gags! It’s been a minute since we talked Alpha Flight so we take our time catching back up on everything that’s brought the team to this place; that place being inside of Box who is now a spaceship. Yep, we’re still hanging with Bill.

In this episode, Chris:

• almost kills Tom with a ...

We thought during this fallow period between episodes on Alpha Flight we’d drop our Boxing Day 2024 special: our conversation about A Knight’s Tale. These movie convos live on the Patreon so if this is the kind of thing you enjoy from us, maybe consider joining up.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy our chat and the realization that this ain’t a swords-and-horses or even a historical romance: this is a straight-up ...

Welcome to our second Holiday Spectacular! In which we share some of the more amusing outtakes that didn’t make it into the show over the last year interspersed with some delightful holiday music. This year we also explore a different and similarly fascinating question to our usual “Why Not?!”: What If?! Giant-Size Alpha Flight???

Thanks for coming along on this ride with us. We have a great time making the...

Episode 39: “A Sas Called Wanda”

In which Alpha Flight goes on several distinct genre-based adventures over the course of 3 issues…and we feel the whiplash. Lot more on Goblyn; less discernible rules to characters’ power; and the return of…the Great Beasts?!?!?!

In this episode, Chris:

• makes it clear that Heather’s bloodlust is only growing
• gets further confirmation of Jeffries…proclivit...

We circle back to a couple issues we skipped over in our zeal to keep the narrative moving and boy do they really expand on Heather’s characterization. Are they groundbreakingly original stories? No. Are they solidly done and enjoyable? Absolutely. Mantlo…you really know how to play with our emotions.

In this episode, Chris:

• points out that the only Alphan with a traditionally stable childhood is Marrina, who opted n...