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 Naming”). We do shout out our pals over at “The Forgotten Five / Best Issue Ever” and The Uncanny Experience, so if they’re new to you, do give them a look.

Next time, we check out what Fabian Nicieza has in store for our favorite Canadian superheroes. But first, I need a Gatorade. And a cigarette…

Issues covered:
Alpha Flight #83 - “Talisman, The Second” - cover date April 1990
Writer is James D. Hudnall
Artist is James Sherman
Letterer is Janice Chiang
Colorist is Bob Sharen
Editor is Danny Fingeroth
and Tom Defalco is simply “Chief”

Alpha Flight #84 - “Earth War, Part One, the Big Picture” - cover date May 1990,
Same creative team as last time but with:
John Calimee on Pencils
Mike Manley on Inks

Alpha Flight #85 - “Marching to Doom” - cover date June 1990
Same creative team as last time, but with the cover by Jackson Guice

Alpha Flight #86 - “The End of All Things” - cover date July 1990
Same creative team as before, but with Mark Bagley on pencils

Why Not?! Read Alpha Flight is brought to you by listeners like you, who subscribe to our Patreon, and by the Excelsior Embroidery Company, proud sponsor of Rudefest 3 in St. Louis this October. If you’re one of the vanishingly small number of people who both enjoy ska and live in the greater STL area, come on out and hear some truly fantastic bands and maybe buy a few things from Chris. In the meantime, check out the hundreds of designs including a dozen Alpha Flight patches more designs at excelsiorembroidery.etsy.com, where listeners of Why Not can use the coupon code WN503 to get 50 percent off any 3 items in the store.

Written, produced, and edited by Chris Baker and Tom Flynn
Music:"Oh, Canada" by Five Iron Frenzy

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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 such), some conversation around 20th Century German philosophy, and the way kids don’t sit properly in chairs. Maybe it’s more us chatting AROUND these two issues…

Alpha Flight #81 - “Prisoners” - cover date February 1990
James D. Hudnall writing
John Calimee penciling
Mike Manley on inks
Janice Chiang on letters
Bob Sharen on colors
Marc McLaurin as associate editor
Carl Potts as the Editor
And Tom DeFalco as simply Chief

Alpha Flight #82 - “The Under Kingdom: Part 2 of the Quest for Northstar” - cover date March 1990
Same creative team as last issue

Why Not?! Read Alpha Flight is brought to you by listeners like you, who subscribe to our Patreon. And by the Excelsior Embroidery Company. This week Excelsior is featuring a patch of the familiar X-Men icon but in a color scheme that evokes Magneto’s costume, because after all, he made some valid points. See this and hundreds more designs at excelsiorembroidery.etsy.com, where listeners of Why Not?! can use the coupon code WN503 to get 50 percent off any 3 items in the store.

Written, produced, and edited by Chris Baker and Tom Flynn
Music:"Oh, Canada" by Five Iron Frenzy

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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, we'll cover Spider-Man, don't you worry): I, Tom, kinda think we'll have to do The Odyssey, but I'm just writing this now and haven't mentioned it to Chris, so please let us know you want us to do that one such that he'll have no choice...

Written, produced, and edited by Chris Baker and Tom Flynn
Music:"Oh, Canada" by Five Iron Frenzy

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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 “I’ve seen that movie” jokes into the glorious future of the podcast!

We continue our struggle through the Hudnall era this episode. We’re getting through it as fast as we can, folks. Here's the link to the article about the Great Date Change in November of 1989 we mentioned.

Viva la lowbrow!
Viva la revolucion!

Issues Covered:

Alpha Flight #76, titled Bad News, cover date November 1989
Our familiar crew brought us this one, James D Hudnall writing
John Calimee penciling
Mike Manley on inks
Janice Chiang on letters
Bob Sharen on colors
Marc McLaurin as associate editor
Carl Potts as the Editor
And Tom DeFalco as Chief Prosecutor

Alpha Flight #77 titled Shattered Design, cover date mid-november 1989
Credits are the same as last issue except Mac McLaurin is now Managing Editor

Alpha Flight #78, titled Omens, cover date December 1989.
Back to our regular creative team

And I guess technically #79-80.

Why Not Read Alpha Flight is brought to you by listeners like you, who subscribe to our Patreon. And from the Excelsior Embroidery Company, proud supporter of the Eugene Judd Home For Wayward Youth, whose mission is to ensure the next generation of street smart toughs gets put through hell to properly prepare them for the future. This week excelsior is featuring a patch of the familiar X-Men icon but in the brown and orange tones of Wolverine's classic John Byrne costume. See this and hundreds more designs at excelsiorembroidery.etsy.com, where listeners of Why Not can use the coupon code WN503 to get 50 percent off any 3 items in the store.

Written, produced, and edited by Chris Baker and Tom Flynn
Music:"Oh, Canada" by Five Iron Frenzy

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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 reminder that we have a Patreon and will be posting to it pretty regularly moving forward, so if you want to hear about some of our non-AF interests or just want to buy us a coffee, do sign up.

In the meantime, we invite you to remember the 5th of November and a comic/movie that somehow feels even more relevant today…

Music this episode is from Zanzibar Records

Written, produced, and edited by Chris Baker and Tom Flynn
Music:"Oh, Canada" by Five Iron Frenzy

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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 know which time you think that happened)) and in addition to these two…issues…discuss meme fame, soft rock-jazz fusion music, and Chris invents a new word.

Alpha Flight #74 - “Dark Reflections” - cover date September 1989
Written by James Hudnall
Pencils by John Calimee
Inks by Mike Manley
Colors by Bob Sharen
Lettering by Janice Chiang
Edited by Marc McLaurin, Carl Potts and Tom DeFalco

Alpha Flight #75 - “Tigers In The Rain” - cover date October 1989
Written by James Hudnall
Pencils by John Calimee
Inks by Mike Manley
Colors by Bob Sharen
Lettering by Janice Chiang
Marc McLaurin is Mighty Fine Associate Editor
Carl Potts is Just Married
and Tom DeFalco is Editor In Chief

Why Not?! is brought to you by listeners like you who subscribe to our Patreon, and the Excelsior Embroidery Company, this week featuring a lovely script patch that reads “Biggest Slut At the Public LIbrary”. See this and hundreds more designs at excelsiorembroidery.etsy.com, where listeners of Why Not?! can use the coupon code WN503 to get 50 percent off any 3 items in the store.

Written, produced, and edited by Chris Baker and Tom Flynn
Music:"Oh, Canada" by Five Iron Frenzy

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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 Young Werther. So kind of a typical episode for us, we suppose.

Issues discussed:
Alpha Flight #71 - “Power Plays” - cover date June 1989
Writer is James D. Hudnall
Penciler is John Calimee
Inker is Mike Manley
Letterer is Janice Chiang
Colorist is Bob Sharen
Editor is Carl Potts
Associate Editor is Marc McLaurin
and Tom Defalco is the Editor in Power

Alpha Flight #72 - “End Game” - cover date July 1989
Writer is James D. Hudnall
Guest Artist is Gerry Talaoc
Letterer is Janice Chiang
Colorist is Bob Sharen
Editor is Carl Potts
Associate Editor is Marc McLaurin
and Tom Defalco is the Editor in Wonderland

Alpha Flight #73 - “Homeward Bound” - cover date August 1989
Writer is James D. Hudnall
Penciler is John Calimee
Inker is Mike Manley
Letterer is Janice Chiang
Colorist is Bob Sharen
Editor is Carl Potts
Associate Editor is Marc McLaurin
and Tom Defalco is the Still Not Canadian

Why Not?! Read Alpha Flight is brought to you by The Excelsior Embroidery Company. This week Excelsior is featuring a patch that looks like a charged playing card from Gambit: it’s pretty neat. See this and hundreds more designs at excelsiorembroidery.etsy.com, where listeners of Why Not?! can use the coupon code WN503 to get 50 percent off any 3 items in the store.

Written, produced, and edited by Chris Baker and Tom Flynn
Music:"Oh, Canada" by Five Iron Frenzy

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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 -“The Ties That Bind” - cover date February 1989
Script by James D. Hudnall
Pencils by Hugh Haynes
Inks by Gerry Talaoc
Letters by Janice Chiang
Colors by Bob Sharen
Associates by Marc McLaurin
Edits by Carl Potts
and Tom DeFalco as Archaeologist in Chief

Alpha Flight # 68 - “All That We Are” - cover date March 1989
Script by James D. Hudnall
Pencils by John Calimee
Inks by Sam Delarosa
Letters by Janice Chiang
Colors by Bob Sharen
Associates by Marc McLaurin
Edits by Carl Potts
and Tom DeFalco as in Here

Alpha Flight #69 - “And All That We Seem…” - cover date April 1989
Script by James D. Hudnall
Pencils by Hugh Haynes
Inks by Hilary Barta
Letters by Janice Chiang
Colors by Bob Sharen
Associates by Marc McLaurin
Edits by Carl Potts
and Tom DeFalco is the Dream Chief

Alpha Flight #70 - “...is but a dream within a dream” - cover date May 1989
Script by James D. Hudnall
Pencils by Hugh Haynes
Inks by Hilary Barta, Sam Delarosa, and Jon Nyberg
Letters by Janice Chiang
Colors by Bob Sharen
Associates by Marc McLaurin
Edits by Carl Potts
and Tom DeFalco is “Not Canadian”\

Why Not Read Alpha Flight?! is made possible by listeners like you, who subscribe to our Patreon, and by the Excelsior Embroidery Company, part of the Roxxon family of companies and legally required to say it is proud to be an official Sponsor of the Donald J Trump America 250th celebration at the Donald J. Trump Center For the Arts and Chicken Wing Emporium, please don’t park in the Circle K’s lot they will tow you. See the new Roxxon trucker hat and hundreds more designs at excelsiorembroidery.etsy.com, where listeners of Why Not?! can use the coupon code WN503 to get 50 percent off any 3 items in the store.

Written, produced, and edited by Chris Baker and Tom Flynn
Music:"Oh, Canada" by Five Iron Frenzy

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