Speculating Canada on Trent Radio Episode 12: Alpha Flight
Continuing the comic book theme, this week James Kerr and I discuss Marvel Comics’ Alpha Flight, the superhero team that the American Marvel Comics designed for Canada. James and I talk about some of the positive things that Marvel Comics did with their Canadian superhero team such as including the first gay character (Northstar), indigenous characters (Shaman, Talisman), French Canadians (Northstar, Aurora), characters of short stature (Puck), and characters with disabilities (Box, Aurora). We discuss the history of Alpha Flight, and its development in the context of other comics, the history of the Marvel universe, and the context of Canadian comics. … And… of course, we discuss the wonderful cheesiness of American visions of what a Canadian superhero would be.
This audio file was originally broadcast on Trent Radio, and I would like to thank Trent Radio for their continued support.
Make sure to allow a few minutes for the file to buffer since it may take a moment before it begins to play.
Yes, they were often cheesy and patronizing, but I loved Alpha Flight – during my high school years they were on the monthly must-read list, right alongside Amazing Spider-Man and Uncanny X-Men.
Definitely. I was so excited when I came across Alpha Flight and all of its delightful cheesiness. It added a lot of fun to the notion of the superhero.