Why Not?! Read Alpha Flight with Chris & Tom

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...

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 dick and “...

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 re...

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 poi...

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 discussed: Alpha Flight #67 -“...

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 r...

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 tit...

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 adve...

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 exc...

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 Kid Rock j...

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: thi...

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...

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…proclivities give...

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...

It’s a proper 3-issue arc! Which feels shockingly novel! In which, the Canadian government finds out just how different an Alpha Flight—and Vindicator—they have on their hands; one of JMH’s failed experiments makes a return; JMH’s GREATEST failure shows up for a bit (yeah, Wolverine is guesting); Wanda muses on her current state (we’ll get to that conversation very soon); and members of the team w...

Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving! And on this day of days we bring you issue 50: a double-sized offering in which three Alphans depart the team, two of whom get their pasts rather aggressively reimagined. And Loki’s here. There’s a lot going on. In this episode, Chris: brings up the Siege Perilous, which Tom definitely didn’t see coming and then almost rage quits over the Knapp/Kara Killgrave…escalat...

Another two-fer this episode as we bring to a close our time with Roger Bochs. Y’know, given the way things were going, this might not be the worst possible…nah, this is still a pretty bad way to go out. Plus: Whitman Knapp shoots up the “worst character” rankings; Aurora is barely in either issue; and Wanda Langkowski works her way into our hearts. In this episode, Chris: provides a great update...

After a few short-er episodes, we’ve got a bit of a doozy for your ears this week. Two, count ‘em two!, issues of that Alpha Flight …goodness. In which we watch Roger Bochs change in all so many terrible ways! And the return of Tom’s bete orange in a very different form. There’s a lot to go over and even more to say in episodes to come, so onwards! In this episode, Chris: welcomes back his favorit...

Short but impactful one this week as we bid farewell to a founding member of Alpha Flight…looks like that Dead Alphans list is gonna grow a bit in Episode 34! We also get more amazing characterization for Madison Jeffries, the continuation of miserable Puck, and, well, a lot of other characters are…there. Oh, and Bochs having the Bends gets resolved in 5ish panels. Like we said, an impactful one....

Just one issue this week but it’s a doozy as we get another situation designed to keep Kara Killgrave on the straight and narrow. Really: that feels like the only reason we get this villain this month. But! We do get some interesting characterization for Misssster Jeffries (who might be extremely overpowered?!) and there’s a decent chance Roger Bochs will stop having the bends sometime soon. Maybe...

We’re back to our regularly scheduled episodes and in this one we cover three issues, including one of our least favorite to date, Marvel Fanfare #28. Just a very odd, unnecessary story. But! We also meet Purple Girl AND witness the return of Beta Flight! Mantlo’s really starting to put his stamp on this book and it is absolutely motoring along. In this episode, Chris: really doesn’t want to waste...

Happy summer, folks! We pulled together something akin to a double-sized issue: we dig into Alpha Flight Annual #1 (which might be both of our favorite single issue) and have a conversation with Professor Joseph A. Stramondo on disability, ableism, and the word “cripple”. It’s a fascinating conversation and one we’re sure you’re going to enjoy. In this episode, Chris: creates the AI that will kill...

This summer has been busy, y'all, and with our presentation at The Uncanny Experience right around the corner we thought we'd drop another tasty treat from behind ye olde Patreon wall into the feed this week: our true to the movie's runtime conversation about  Thunderbolts* . Which we both really liked! A lot! Plus, it's now available for digital rental or purchase (that simula...