From an old issue of Marvel Age about Bill coming on Alpha Flight.

[Phil]

Marvel has New Avengers # 16, with the whole-sale slaughter of Alpha Flight and Mailman Mike given the "Guardian" suit.

Marvel has "Heather" blasting the brains out of her cousins (volume 4) and "Mac", Aurora, Judd, and Snowbird (!) robbing a bank.

Marvel now has Carol Danvers leading Alpha Flight...

Personally I don't have a problem with any of this.
I much prefer it to Volume 3 and a lot of Mantlo's stuff.

It seems to me, and I may be wrong, that Alpha Flight is already gone.

Again, personally I'd say that the team is the most alive and prominent than it's been in decades.
I may be in the minority on that though.

[Tawmis]

It's bitter sweet.

So... I am a huge Adam-X fan (initially because he stomped Cable and X-Force in his first appearance), later as clues to the Shi'ar tie in came in (I love me some Shi'ar, especially Deathbird... Er... what was I saying? Oh yes!) So, after Fabian was dropped from X-Men, and after Adam-X got a few more appearances (in X-Force and Captain Marvel)... he vanished into the ether... much to my dismay. Then during the Dark Avengers storyline, he came back for a few appearances - mostly a mockery of himself (way, over the top dialogue, using swords, which he had never done, and doing away entirely with his costume, to a shirt and jeans)... and despite the utter mockery, I was still - somehow - happy to see him. Because it proved that he was a part of the Marvel Universe (despite the push years earlier to bury him). He appeared again (back in costumes) when Juggernaut was given the power of the Norse god of Fear or whatever - and was the only one able to actually cut Juggernaut (though it didn't help - made matters worse, really).

So it's a little like that... despite the slaughtered characterization... you're still kind of happy to see your characters you love being used... even if way out of character... It's like an abusive relationship. It hurts, but you still want more.

[Garry/Al-Fan]

At the point of the Hulk/Alpha Flight crossover, Alpha Flight still had a lot going for it: (1) the characters were still likeable; (2) they had common sense, and; (3) they were capable superheroes, if not perfect ones.

That all changed with Alpha Flight #29...quickly!

#29: The Hulk beats Alpha Flight in Roger's lab, then beats them again, in public, in the streets of Vancouver. Jeffries ducks the fight, but Heather doesn't...yet frets about her place in AF be questioned (but doesn't wonder about Michael's disappearance/problem).

#30: So, discounting the fact that (1) Michael Twoyoungmen is a long-time friend and confidante, (2) ignoring the fact that Michael successfully put Judd back together after "Marrina nearly disembowled him" [in AF# 2, which is part of the 20 issues Mantlo is quoted as having read], and (3) excluding the fact that Michael treated Aurora's "three cracked ribs" in AF# 27, Heather goes in search of LIONEL JEFFRIES...who's only known medical expertise is turning people into monsters. The whole team witnessed Lionel's medical proficiency; Heather experienced it...as did the doctors, nurses, and patients Lionel transformed.

But no one witnessed Lionel's "restoration to sanity"...not even Madison, because the way it is depicted, Lionel's "healing hands" touched only his helmet, not his head.

#31 The biggest absurdity comes when Madison invites Lionel to "join Alpha Flight" (Mantlo, pg. 4)...when Madison himself wasn't even an official member of the group, yet. Moreover, Lionel had an epic fail in front of AF, the doctor(s), and other real medical professionals when his "healing hands" don't heal.

Meanwhile, Snowbird abandons her search for the only person who knows how to help her: Michael...who, alone in the Northwest Territories, finds a cabin that should be in Banff, Alberta.

#32 "The whole team" does not confront Judd's problem: although Aurora, Northstar, Judd, Roger, and Jeffries do...Heather, Shaman, and Snowbird do not.

#33 Heather in her Courtney-suit goes off, alone..."leaving the team at home." Wolverine and the X-Men guest-star; the rest of AF barely in their on magazine.

#34 Heather in her Courtney-suit, Wolverine, and Judd against Lady Deathstrike and her samurai...the rest of AF not a factor in resolving the problem.

#35 Team can't really help Snowbird without Michael, who successfully completes his spirit tests and (finally) returns.

John Byrne's successors had a golden opportunity to build upon the solid foundation, to utilize the best elements---the elements that made AF both unique and popular---and make the team stronger. Instead, free from any pretense of consistency or plausibility, the creative team(s) were given carte blanche to do what they wanted, and they didn't waste any time.

The goal...the vision...the purpose...was to get rid of original Alpha Flight, yet (somehow) capitalize off its popularity. It is the most cynical approach to sequential storytelling I've ever seen.