I bought a stack of Alpha flight, I think the first couple of years, and hit the one where the original writer left, you know.. the one where they're in an epic battle, and Jean-Paul and Jeanne-Marie are sitting in a corner crying their eyes out over (a-not-even-dead-yet) Walter while everyone else is fighting for their lives.

Yeah... I was a bit disgusted... and it only got worse from there, so I never did finish reading the whole stack. Sigh.

As for the artistry and JP's sexuality, yeah, that was intentional. JP's artist and authors conceived him as gay long before they were ever allowed to actually say it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northstar (see the section on sexuality)