Well 4 our of the 5 issues of this mini-series are down and I’m still enjoying it far more than I ever thought possible. Turning a character like Alpha who at first you can’t stand into one that you are rooting for takes talent and Fialkov has been pushing that talent into each issue so far. I’ve become a fan of Alpha.
Don’t get me wrong, the comic still has a few flaws. I’m not a huge fan of the art style they use to draw him (at least it’s not as bad as what they were using in Spider-Man) and his vulnerabilities seem a bit too transparent with the entire world knowing who he is. This built in weakness is far too easy to exploit though as this is a mini-series which may put his powers back into the box at it’s conclusion might not be that big of a deal.
We open this issue with Alpha getting the snot beat out of him by a random villain who has a giant hammer. Even though Alpha is most likely far more powerful he just doesn’t have the experience necessarily to easily take this guy down. Fortunately someone else with a hammer, a certain God of Thunder, decides to stop in and zap both Alpha and this villain with some lightning to end their fight.
While wit prevails in their verbal exchange with Alpha complaining about being hit with lightning and Thor being Thor it does lead to a great exchange. With Thor being an actual God and Alpha having near God like powers he questions on how he can see humanity as being so small in the grand scheme of things. Instead of being worried (which that’s a very easy train of thought that could lead one down the path into being a super villain) Thor instead guides him that even the small moments can remind one on how amazing humanity is. Life is about the little things.
What’s great though is that while trying to save the day it gets Alpha to school a little late. One of the faculty sees him come in and tells him he’ll let it slide this time but to quit being late. Having a double life can be difficult and the making it to class on time concept is something we haven’t seen in Marvel in years but is played off perfectly here.
This isn’t the end of the book by any means as two things happen that are going to lead into the next and final issue of this mini-series. First the monster that he created which started to go on a killing spree is on the loose and has taken over quite a bit of the hospital he was recovering in. Alpha tries to save the day but the monster is absorbing every blow he lands.
In the midst of the fight though his super hearing kicks in. I’m not sure if it’s by chance or his subconscious mind picks it up but he hears his mother scream. Back at his house we see that the thugs he has unintentionally been antagonizing through the series so far are lighting his house on fire with his mother in it.
He flies home and you can see the force of his flight pushing in on him. While the crowd outside of the hospital thinks he left in fear from overwhelming odds the truth is that he is leaving to try to save his mother. The issue closes with him above his house with flames billowing out of the windows.
Is he too late? While I doubt that due to the nature of the book so far it would put an end to his one weakness and make him quite a different character in the span of a single issue. I don’t think they are going to do that to Alpha and I don’t think they’d make such a potential personality altering experience so soon after making him a likable character. Also how is this all part of a plan from The Superior Spider-Man as hinted at in the first issue? We’ll hopefully find out next issue!
Writer: Joshua Fialkov
Artist: Nuno Plati
