Captain Britain and MI:13 #1
This review written by James Hunt on May.16, 2008.
Captain Britain launches off the back of Secret Invasion as Pete Wisdom and Skrull John uncover a Skrull infiltrator in the British government. Over the course of the issue, Cornell introduces his cast, showing them all responding to the Skrull threat in their own ways. After Young X-men and Mighty Avengers have both done generic “round up the cast” issues in recent weeks, Cornell really shames that approach by introducing people in the context of, you know, an actual story that’s happening.
Cornell gives the Black Knight a fairly blatant personality overhaul – he even admits it in-story – but it manages to make him one of the most interesting cast members. Artist Leonard Kirk gives him a new, non-ridiculous costume that echoes the original while making it a little less ceremonial. It’s no mean feat to make a chracter from the Avengers C-List into a credible support, but this is a Black Knight I can be interested in. As with any overhaul, there are going the staunch Black Knight fans might not like it, but even if it prevents both of them from buying the book, it’s a risk worth taking.
Likewise, Captain Britain himself gets something of a makeover, though it’s on the conceptual level rather than his look or personality. It’s been a while since he was interesting, and it never helped that under Chris Claremont there’s been a lot of emphasis on the Captain Britain Corps and him being the protector of reality. Reverting him back to the level of a simple, superheroic icon akin to Captain America gives him both a nice focus and a more conventional angle.
Cornell has really thrown himself into the world – there’s a little less exposition than I’d like about what the Siege Perilous actually is in Marvel continuity, for those of us who haven’t kept up with Captain Britain trivia. It feels a little under-explained, given that it’s the focal point of the story and the thing we’re supposed to be worried about. There are also a few bits where it feels like Cornell is hamming up the “British” dialogue for the benefit of American readers, but to be fair, this is comics, that’s just the shorthand you use when you can’t make use of accents. Overall, it’s actually pretty refreshing to see British superheroes, in Britain, with a British writer who knows how to show that in a mostly subtle way.
The issue goes out with a literal bang – it’s fair to say that Captain Britain probably isn’t going to die (at least, not permanently) so it’ll be interesting to see what the resolution is. Looking at the cover preview of issue #2, it’s bound to involve Excalibur. That said, it’s worth remembering that “Captain Britain” is a title that can be passed on. Between Cornell’s immediate mastery of superheroics and Kirk’s engaging artwork, there’s no good reason Captain Britain should fail. Get on board immediately.
(also, I don’t usually mention it, but how fantastic is that trade dress? Best looking comic I’ve seen in years.)
May 16th, 2008 on 7:44 pm
Agree with most of this, although I’d probably have been a bit more enthusiastic – I REALLY enjoyed this. It was jam packed with stuff, and yes, some of it was a bit difficult to follow if you’re not immersed in Marvel, but what it DID do effectively was tie in to Secret Invasion without assuming prior knowledge – it laid out the Skrulls as a threat and concisely explained what they can do. “John Lennon” was fantastic, too. My only gripe is that Wisdom didn’t get to show a huge amount of characte – but I’m sure that’s going to change as it goes on and he gets thrust into the centre even more.
Also really liked Kirk’s artwork – more than a shade of Bryan Hitch about it – and yep, agree with you on the trade dress, it’s lovely.
May 16th, 2008 on 9:10 pm
I thought it was brilliant as well. I was going back and forth as to whether to get it, since I haven’t really encountered any of the characters before, but I picked it up anyway since it’s Cornell.
It’s a nice, simplistic cover style – reminds me a bit of the Civil War dress (which I much preferred over what I got after the end of the event, in most cases).
May 23rd, 2008 on 11:50 am
AT LAST!!! Captain Britain by a British writer! Sounds like a no brainer but for so long this has not been the case. New Excalibur was appaling and the Captain has been treated as an idiot by soooo many. Only Alan Moore or Alan Davis seemed to know how to treat him with respect. Please though do not let this be the end of Brian Braddock as the nations protector, the dire Kelsey Leigh version of Captain Britain has forever tainted my memory. Hopefully we will get to see Mr Braddock fulfil his potential in this title as he states to be the symbol for his country that Steve Rogers was. Also with such a toybox of characters to play with I would love to see Union Jack and Motormouth make appearances here. Paul Cornell has been brilliant for Doctor Who (who is quite heavily tied into marvel UK continuity despite them trying to avoid it, Death’s Head anyone? The original, not the small head-big body-personality bypass version), so I dearly hope this will continue for a looooong time, however my faith in Marvel has always been a onesided affair….