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Alpha Flight 28 page 9 by John Byrne (& Keith Williams)
Artists: John Byrne (Penciller) , Keith Williams (Inker)
14 Comments - 696 Views - 13 Likes
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Published page
Artwork Details
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DescriptionSometime in our hobby, you have to get (very) lucky. Especially in the current over inflated context. And I certainly was in this case.The previous owner posted this page for sale. I reached out without much hope given the superstar status of Byrne and difference in time zones. He came back to me later in the day to tell me that he had offers but that he would rather that the page went to me considering that I already owned the following page of that same issue. For which I am immensely and eternally gracious (you know who you are, dear sir). Owning a two-page sequence from Byrne from any quality title in his huge production is truly something special. Now I have written in the corresponding description that the next page is burned in my mind and extremely recognizable (https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=70897). The same can certainly be said for this one. This is a page featuring true villainy at work. Guardian-Courtney doesn't hesitate to use Flashback as a human shield in panel one like any true villain would (no honor among thieves and all that). The mechanical monster is fun in design even if he masks Wild child from being fully seen (a favorite from those days) but it's Guardian and Flashback's facial expressions which i find are pit perfect. From Guardian's worried face to the WTF on Flashback's. Then KRAK! (what a horrible crunching sound to my teenage self btw, you really feel like his ribcage gets crushed). Again the expression on Flashback's face is perfect. You can really feel the pain of death here. Then we get to panel 3, my own fav' of the whole page, the one that got burned in my mind. The true horror faced by Flashback which is underlined by the fact we see his eyes under his mask. What a horrid face. To me, his power set was a bit abstract until this VERY moment when we get to tragically understand what it may mean as a consequence to use future versions of oneself to fight to the death. That was incredible when I first read it and it sill is to this day. Then the two-remaining panels shows us the consequence of what just happened. Flashback stance in the fourth really enhance his disarray as his doubles are fading into nothingness. Him rushing to his last one while holding his neck, likely having trouble to breath, is a great detail that adds so much credibility to the scene and the character. So much tension and emotions on this 5-panel grid that Byrne perfected on FF make for such a great page by a master storyteller, one of (THE?) best of his generation. This is part 9 of my 2022 CAF birthday party. Social/Sharing |
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Comments on this Artwork
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Ruben DaCollector 
Member Since 2008
1 - Posted on 2/15/2022
Great looking page featuring one of the coolest looking costume designs ever created for Marvel. Kudos for acquiring the page that gives you two consecutive pages now. But I'd be remiss if I didn't mention I remember the days when pages like this one were plentiful, worth maybe $125 and nobody really wanted them. My, how times have changed...
Filmore W. Bedwick
Member Since 2003
1 - Posted on 2/15/2022
Man, Oh, Man!!!! One of my Alltime Fave AF pages!!!! Hulk Green with Envy but very happy 4 u!!!!
J H
Member Since 2019
2 - Posted on 2/15/2022
You plucked a dark comic reading moment right from my head. This battle stuck in my head, and that onomatopoeia was my first full understanding of where it could go. Gruesome. Your whole future dies in your arms? Whoa. And what great art. Byrne really brought the fire on this title, imo. Gritty, dark, and emotionally real. And what a cool sentiment by the seller. Good on you, whoever did that. Great score. Congrats!
Michael McIsaac
Member Since 2020
2 - Posted on 2/15/2022
Definitely one of the most memorable pages from Byrne's run on the book, if not the entire series. Even though Flashback was a villain, I remember being stunned when I read this issue as a kid as to what happened to him. Big congrats on getting this page!
Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 2/15/2022
Nice Byrne anatomy and facial features that works to bring forth the great emotion on the page. Very good character development and storybuilding with his writing.
Nick - Barry - Matt - Hal - Namor
Member Since 2015
1 - Posted on 2/15/2022
Sooooooo beautiful! Congrats on sequential pages! Karma - you've done good by others!
Jason Hussa
Member Since 2017
1 - Posted on 2/16/2022
Absolutely 100% right on, all around, Fred. Narratively speaking, even with everything else that Courtney had done in the preceding issues to show readers her/its true colors (and there was plenty), throwing Flashback into the line of fire so callously and without hesitation took things to a whole other level, and then what happened NEXT... :)
And the art itself here is top notch. Veering out of anything that could be considered "standard superhero fare" thanks to panel three's terrifying, skeletal, death-like scream, and the (what might be innocuous in other contexts) simple fading away of Flashback's doubles, when paired with the dialogue, this page struck an indelible chord to anyone who read it back in the day (as is evidenced by the other commenters!) thanks to the all around storytelling prowess of John Byrne.
Having a two page Byrne sequence is great, but the fact that (with your page 10) you have THIS two page sequence (with an even more intense storytelling / memory crescendo building out of this one on THAT page!) is simply outstanding. A very kind and wonderful decision on the part of the seller - that was really fantastic of them.
Reading this as a kid was one of the first times I remember stepping back from a comic and thinking, "I bet this was exactly the moment that the creator had in mind and was working towards, from the first moment they created Flashback... This is something we've never seen before, and where the story really starts...!". Of course, then Mr. Byrne immediately left the book. :) But it was a moment I'll never forget, both story-wise and in the context of that larger worldview of creation/intention (whether I was right or not - doesn't matter either way, ultimately. The thought was the key).
EPIC congrats, F M. Another wondrous birthday countdown! Here's to many more healthy years of celebration and sharing beautiful art!! :) Happiest of happy birthday wishes, Fred.
F M
Member Since 2005
1 - Posted on 2/17/2022
Jason Hussa wrote:
Absolutely 100% right on, all around, Fred. Narratively speaking, even with everything else that Courtney had done in the preceding issues to show readers her/its true colors (and there was plenty), throwing Flashback into the line of fire so callously and without hesitation took things to a whole other level, and then what happened NEXT... :)
And the art itself here is top notch. Veering out of anything that could be considered "standard superhero fare" thanks to panel three's terrifying, skeletal, death-like scream, and the (what might be innocuous in other contexts) simple fading away of Flashback's doubles, when paired with the dialogue, this page struck an indelible chord to anyone who read it back in the day (as is evidenced by the other commenters!) thanks to the all around storytelling prowess of John Byrne.
Having a two page Byrne sequence is great, but the fact that (with your page 10) you have THIS two page sequence (with an even more intense storytelling / memory crescendo building out of this one on THAT page!) is simply outstanding. A very kind and wonderful decision on the part of the seller - that was really fantastic of them.
Reading this as a kid was one of the first times I remember stepping back from a comic and thinking, "I bet this was exactly the moment that the creator had in mind and was working towards, from the first moment they created Flashback... This is something we've never seen before, and where the story really starts...!". Of course, then Mr. Byrne immediately left the book. :) But it was a moment I'll never forget, both story-wise and in the context of that larger worldview of creation/intention (whether I was right or not - doesn't matter either way, ultimately. The thought was the key).
EPIC congrats, F M. Another wondrous birthday countdown! Here's to many more healthy years of celebration and sharing beautiful art!! :) Happiest of happy birthday wishes, Fred.
Thanks for the great essay in response to mine Jason ;)
I think anyone who read AF to the end of Byrne's tenure remembers those two shocking pages.
K Gearon
Member Since 2011
1 - Posted on 2/18/2022
Is that Guardian having someone guard him?! I'll admit I haven't read this, but no mistake it's Byrne art. I actually really like his Guardian - I immediately think Byrne's rendition as soon as I think of the character. Congrats!
Peter Venkman
Member Since 2003
1 - Posted on 6/13/2024
Killer page from Byrne's final issue on the title he created.
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