Following the quite surprising media “storm” brought about by the appearance of Gordon Brown in issue #1 (something that yours truly, who was reading the comic anyway, hadn’t even spotted), Paul Cornell’s Captain Britain and MI:13 suddenly finds itself under something of a spotlight. It’s a good job, then, that it’s already proving to be such a good series. Cornell seems to be bringing one of the strongest attributes of a certain time-travel related TV show for which he writes to the comics table – that is, a reliance on strong central ideas.

Finding himself in the position of having to essentially show “the British front” of an editorially-dictated war with the Skrulls, Cornell’s priority is therefore to find a unique angle, rather than simply playing out the events of Secret Invasion in different costumes. This he does by having the Skrulls go after the strongest card that Marvel’s Britain holds – not superheroes, as in the States, but magic. What we get, therefore, is a twist on the usual trope of magic always being able to win out in a technological situation - bring technology into a magical world, and the unfamiliar technology will triumph. It’s a neat idea, and at the same time as this victory enhances the Skrull threat, we can already see from the world of Avalon that Cornell is building up (even the Green Knight gets in there at one point!) the sort of themes that are going to inform the series as a whole, the strengths of Marvel’s “British mythology” that it’s going to play to.

That aside, there’s little that’s hugely remarkable about Captain Britain (save for the fact that its titular character is afforded a significant impact without actually appearing in its pages, right from the excellent opening page that compares the difference between the British and American public’s “discovery” of the deaths of their champions - although, you know, if Braddock is actually dead, I’ll buy the trade paperback and EAT it). But as with the first issue, this is simply a finely-crafted, strongly-executed, terrifically entertaining slice of superhero comics. Cornell already brings no small measure of confidence to his storytelling, even this early in his comics career, and he litters the pages with sharp dialogue (choice examples including “Don’t call me ’sir’, it’s… weirdly horny” and “this voice… is half like Gandalf and half like Mr Kipling”) and great characters (it’s no small feat that Faiza is already so likeable and well-defined, given that she’s only had a few pages of each issue in which to be introduced).

The solid craftsmanship extends to the art, as well, with Leonard Kirk on career-best form - although there are certain action beats that could do with being a bit clearer, his character design is strong and there’s a great sense of energy. He’s clearly going for something of a Bryan Hitch style, and on the whole pulls it off rather well.

The overriding feeling about Captain Britain and MI13 - quite aside from the fact that getting Paul Cornell into the industry was an absolute masterstroke on Marvel’s part, and they need to take full advantage of his talent while they can - is that, from a UK-based reader’s perspective, it’s fantastic to have a proper, British superhero comic of which to be proud. The last one I can really think of was Miracleman, and before that… well, Moore’s Captain Britain, really. Cornell is carefully building up his own little corner of the Marvel Universe here, and packing it out with characters about whom I can’t wait to read and discover more. And that’s before Cap himself has even had a chance to come out fighting.

Over the last decade or two, Chris Claremont’s output has varied wildly between the two extremes of “crap” and “worse crap.” A fairly decent run on Fantastic Four aside, he hasn’t remotely hit the highs he did during his era-defining run on X-Men. Indeed, even the merest hint of the writer he was has remained almost entirely buried beneath his lengthy expository dialogue and super-villains with nothing more than a codename to define them.

That is, until now. GeNext is, astonishingly, the return of the Chris Claremont everyone used to love. Two issues in, and both of them are great, character-based fun that - shock horror - work both as single issues and as part of a serial. There are perhaps a few too many references to confusing continuity pulled from X-Men: The End (which this is loosely sequelising) but you can easily gloss over the if you don’t get them, because it’s possible to figure out what they are from context alone.

By spending his time with a small cast who may or may not end up as the new generation of X-Men (because they’re not all actually interested in that) Claremont has created some distinct personalities already. This issue spotlights No-Name and Colossus (the grandson of the original) and their growing attraction to one another, in the context of No-Name’s mysterious personal issues. By dispensing with any traditional superhero plot structure, Claremont is free to explore the cast, leading to superhero-tinged teen angst done brilliantly. Even an appearance by the Shockwave Riders, some obscure and immediately forgettable (I wish…) villains from Claremont’s X-Men: Revolution days couldn’t ruin the book. Let’s just hope he doesn’t screw it up by making the climax to the series involve mind control…

On art is Patrick Scherberger, who you may remember was the winner of CBR’s first ever “Comic Book Idol” competition. It’s great to see him actually working in the industry, and he really excels himself on this book, giving it a youthful, energetic look with his detailed and dynamic pencils. This issue actually gives him ample chance to spotlight his range - in a nice visual touch, sketches from Colossus’ artbook are included on most pages. It’s a nice little gimmick that further expands the character and universe at the same time, eventually tying in with the story on the final pages.

Clearly, this is a series that’s really only going to work for X-Men fans, and while it isn’t quite indispensable, it is highly enjoyable. You could do much worse, and if you’re not a fan of Young X-Men, this might just be the antidote. If Claremont can maintain this level of quality, it might even be nice to see him in charge of the “real” next generation of mutants.

This week’s Sunday Pages brings you news of two free comics from rising talent Marc Ellerby, some discussion of Chuck Dixon’s abrupt exit, and an article that’ll potentially transform the experience of watching The Incredible Hulk!
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For anyone interested, the annotations for X-Men Legacy #209 have now been posted, and are accessible from the main X-Men Legacy Index Page

DC appear to have been taking a looser approach to continuity of late. Perhaps it’s an acknowledgement that a succession of Crises have failed to sort things out once and for all, or simply that DC’s “shared universe” has always been somewhat less grounded in reality than Marvel’s, but I’ve noticed a growing attitude of “if the stories are good, precise continuity linkups don’t really matter a great deal”. And such an approach, whereby each new creator gets to do their own interpretation, rather than rigidly following everything that’s gone before, is holding an increasing appeal as far as I’m concerned. No, it’s not the way comics have worked in the past – but the DC universe, in all its forms, is pretty bloody old now. Some of these characters have existed for a very long time now, and Crisis or no Crisis, it’s increasingly difficult to reconcile character histories when they’re spread over such a long period of time. What I think we’re seeing, therefore, is a shift to more mythological status for the really big characters – rather than a fixed story, instead it’s the rough elements that are fixed in place. It’s an approach that certainly worked with All-Star Superman – and I’m seeing the influence of that title quite strongly on the “proper universe” Superman books of late.

The latest issue of Action Comics – which actually appears to be the first salvo in the Robinson/Johns run on both main titles – is certainly a case in point. Take, for example, the presentation of Jonathan and Martha Kent. Has anyone ever been able to nail down these two characters for any length of time? Their latest incarnation, courtesy of Superman Birthright, was as a slightly older version of their Smallville equivalents. But here, in much the same way as Jor-El was given a movie-esque overhaul at the beginning of Johns’ latest run, they’re tweaked yet again – still similar to the Birthright versions, but older (and with some clear foreshadowing that Jonathan won’t be around for much longer). And you know, I’m not sure it really matters. You can raise all sorts of questions about how each successive decade of continuity is supposed to tie into the previous one – but much as I’ve got a soft spot for the science-driven Superman stories of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, for example, they’re not hugely relevant to the current character, and I don’t see that it’s beneficial to anyone for readers to have to rely on vast amounts of prior knowledge in order to pick up on a run. As long as the creator’s own run is a self-contained, decent story that doesn’t contradict itself, that should be the key.

Of course, even as you’re shifting familiar elements around, it’s possible to overdo the references to the past. Johns builds up a new core Daily Planet staff here, and while it’s the source of some decent light material, I’m not sure it hugely works. Taking his cues perhaps a little too strongly from All-Star, we get the return of Steve Lombard (still as one-note a character as he was in the ‘70s – I can’t help but feel he’s only there as a recognisable link to All-Star, heat-vision-related prank and all) and Cat Grant, along with ‘90s supporting character Ron Troupe. It’s a collision of eras that doesn’t really come off, not least because much of Cat’s character is based around an event (the death of her son) that happened way before any of the Birthright or Infinite Crisis reality-shifting was done – a hangover from the past, in other words. And while we’re at it, since when did Clark become the bumbling, blue-suited buffoon again? One of the strengths of his recent portrayals was as a strong individual in his own right, the Pulitzer-winning investigative reporter.

Still, if there’s one praiseworthy element of this version of Clark, it’s in Gary Frank’s visual portrayal. I don’t know if it’s his decision or Johns’ to have Clark and Lois drawn to look almost exactly like Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder… but damn, it works, even as you’re left feeling like it shouldn’t. Over-reliance on shoehorning in movie lore was the undoing of the infamous Last Son arc, but Frank’s work is so good that it’s hard to dislike. And a visual interpretation is just that – there’s no real need to read too much into how the character’s being presented. It makes for an instantly iconic and “classic” looking Superman, and that’s fine by me.

Hmm, I’ve managed to get this far on a discussion about continuity without actually talking about the plot of the issue. Ah, well. Suffice to say, it’s a new Brainiac story, and one that looks set to finally address the background story of the Bottle City of Kandor in modern continuity (as opposed to simply plonking it in the middle of the Fortress one day, which is the way it’s been done up to this point). And it’s quite well-played, actually. Johns is at his best when he strips stories down to a simple, effective level – because, as a continuity nut himself, he’s well-versed enough in DC history to know which elements work best – and of particular note is the opening sequence on Krypton, showing the theft of Kandor as a more horrific event than it’s ever really been portrayed before (including some interesting material with Zod, the villain given a bit more dimension than in his last appearance). Meanwhile, as with the surprising Toyman story last month, Johns looks to be drawing all the disparate versions of Brainiac into a coherent, singular one, so it’ll be intriguing to see where he takes it. Again, though, it’s in unleashing the shiny terror of Brainy’s intricate machinery that Frank excels – he really is turning in some of the best work I’ve seen on a DCU Superman title for a while. With Renato Guedes down for James Robinson’s Superman run, it’s a very encouraging time artistically for comics’ most iconic figure.

I’d hesitate to call this a truly great comic, but it’s well crafted and constructed, and generally shows the more appealing side of Johns’ writing. If this is the style in which the Super-books are aiming to spend the foreseeable future, then I’ll happily get on board with it - this is Superman, after all, and I’d rather have entertaining stories that follow continuity loosely than dull ones overly concerned with fanboy-pleasing minutiae.

Greg Pak wowed readers with the most distinctive run on Hulk since Peter David left the title after a definitive 10-year run. With the Hulk movie release, interest in the character is high, and with Jeph Loeb writing the most ridiculously crap Hulk stories since John Byrne’s attempt to relaunch the character years ago, readers are bound to look to Pak to provide some quality Hulk-esque action with the “secret third part” of his Planet Hulk/World War Hulk trilogy.

Marvel have been pushing Skaar hard since the World War Hulk crossover ended, so we know they want it to succeed. It’s not exactly a safe bet, though - Pak, despite his credentials, is still widely seen as second-tier talent, and however enjoyable his Hulk/Hercules runs are, he’s no Millar or Bendis yet. To have someone in his position writing an entirely new character in a largely new environment - and a COSMIC one, at that, which traditionally spells doom - it all shows nothing short of astonishing faith from Marvel that Skaar is going to be a hit.

And, for a first issue featuring virtually unknown EVERYTHING, it’s not half bad. It’s very much a continuation of Planet Hulk in tone and story. There’s nothing in it that’s making it must-read comics on a technical or story level, but y’know, it looks like it could be fun. Pak has set up Skaar, aged him to a reasonable point and already given him some stuff to fight. For now, that’s enough. At the moment, his character is little more than a blank slate, but it’s not hard to see how this’ll get filled in soon. At least, let’s hope.

Skaar pretty much feels like Pak’s attempt to have a proper stab at the “Conan” analogue that Planet Hulk was often attempting to be. He’s now free to do this without the caveat that one day his lead character has to go back to Earth - after all, Skaar could potentially stay on this alien world forever, and although the likelihood of a visit to Earth isn’t exactly a small one, the planet Sakaar is well-realised enough that there’s plenty Skaar can do there. Sakaar is actually the most familiar element of the book, and seeing the place all gone to hell following the departure of Hulk is actually one of the more entertaining ideas the book is using.

The book should be accessible to non-Hulk readers, though it’s questionable how it’ll be expected to outsell Planet Hulk when it’s using a subset of ideas from the run. Who’s the target audience? Certainly, there’s nothing wrong with it and it’s always nice to read a first issue that doesn’t tease anything out, instead jumping right into the action - but the real issue at stake is whether Pak can make readers care enough to stick around. There’s nothing here that’ll send readers away - but so far, not a lot to keep them here either.