Paul Cornell brings his first arc of Captain Britain – and with it, his obligatory Secret Invasion tie-in – to an end, and I have to say – what with making references to Clerks and Jasper Fforde in Fantastic Four : True Story and now this, he’s rapidly edging himself among my favourite writers currently working in the industry. An experienced telly bod he might be, but we must remember that he’s coming to this book with very little in the way of “proper” American comics background – and yet he’s guiding it with a firm hand, structuring and pacing it perfectly and with a superb blend of character, dialogue and action.

As a finale, it’s as rousing as the series has been up to this point, as Braddock and Wisdom take the fight to the Skrulls; and in classic fashion the thing the invaders are seeking – magic – turns out to be the thing that undoes them. Victory doesn’t come without cost, however, and it’s tremendously disappointing that not every member of this immensely likeable burgeoning team (we realise come the closing pages that what we’ve been reading all along is an origin story) makes it to the end. But rather than feeling cheap, it’s a natural and appropriate end to this character’s story – and besides, as Wisdom subsequently muses, there’s always loss involved in what he does (there’s a pleasing nod at this point not only to the original Wisdom mini, but to an X-related  association, controversial as it is, that’s as old as the character himself).

In interviews leading up to the beginning of this series, Cornell stated that one of his goals was to make Captain Britain a proper hero again – rather than simply a slightly lame Captain America knock-off that we Brits were characteristically slightly ashamed of. In addition to redefining (or, perhaps, restating) notions of heroism (as Wisdom makes the distinction from “bring a hero back” to “bring hero back”), one of the strongest points of the way the story wraps up is that the British characters aren’t simply reliant on however Brian Michael Bendis decides to defeat the Skrulls over in the main title – they solve the problem their own way, and defend their own territory (even if, okay, there is a rather unsubtle – but funny – nod to how Bendis wrapped up a completely different story). Rather than simply being an annexe of the same battle, it’s an entirely separate struggle, and one that they independently win. At the same time, Cornell recognises that dressing up in a flag simply doesn’t mean the same thing here as in the US – “You have no idea what this flag means,” says Braddock, almost every line out of his mouth in this series so far an iconic one, “it isn’t popular, it’s not a gesture.”

The job is done, and Britain has a hero again – in fact, it has plenty, and a brief amusing cameo by Merlin confirms the creation of yet another. Successfully navigating out of a crossover that isn’t even finished yet while constructing a brand new lineup for an instantly classic, old-fashioned superhero yarn (albeit one with certain modern touches) is no mean feat, but Cornell and Kirk have achieved it with aplomb. All we await now is to see how they get on when the series begins to strike out on its own – but on the evidence so far, it’s going to be a lot of fun finding out.

• download lord of the flies dvd

Alright, forget the cautious optimism of my last review. Let’s have our cards right out on the table – Captain Britain and MI:13 is the successor to Ultimates 2 as Marvel’s best current ongoing superhero comic, Paul Cornell is absolutely brilliant, and in a world where All-Star Batman and Ultimates 3 top sales charts, it’s incredibly heartening to see comics readers with common sense making this thing a smash hit, sell-out success.

Cornell’s main achievement, really, has been in giving British readers, finally, a hero – in fact, a set of heroes – of which they can be proud, instead of faintly embarrassed. It’s only taken him three issues, but already the reestablishment of Captain Britain – of all people – as a genuine superheroic force to be reckoned with is firmly in place courtesy of an air-punchingly brilliant closing few pages that doesn’t want for bombast yet stops short of outright arrogance (“We just don’t like to make a fuss”).

Those disappointed by the lack of actual story in the last issue or so of Secret Invasion, meanwhile, might find rather more to engage with here in MI:13. Rather than being hamped by launching in the midst of a crossover, the series has made excellent use of the overarching plot, and has shown one of the front lines of the Skrull invasion in a far more immediate and tangible sense than its “parent” title.

It’s also been a showcase for Cornell’s entirely sure-footed knack for dialogue – and while this issue is lacking slightly on the wisecrack front compared to last month, there are choice speeches throughout, whether it’s Skrull John defiantly taking a stand against his own people, or the magical (er, quite literally) sequence that reveals the source of the voice in Pete Wisdom’s head. Strong character development has been a cornerstone not just of the early issues of this run, but going back to Wisdom as well – and even at this early stage the book’s a candidate for one of the best supporting casts out there (the disappointment at the non-appearance of Captain Midlands so far is surely tempered by the promise of the next arc’s title, “Hell Comes to Birmingham”).

Leonard Kirk’s vibrant and clear artwork is the icing on the cake, really – kudos to his Canadian pen for its grasp of UK-style backgrounds, streets and landmarks, though; are you watching, Greg Land? His triumph comes with the genuinely iconic imagery of the closing splash page, complete with a fantastic bit of new costume design. And if there’s a criticism, really, it’s simply that the cover is completely unrepresentative of the issue’s contents. A minor quibble, though, when you consider that the attention to detail present in the series is such that each issue has had a page at the end devoted to helping readers find out more about the character – here, yes, it’s true that it’s basically an advert for some trades, but it’s evidence of an inclusive approach to the series, and it’s pushing Alan Moore books, so who can complain?

If I’m honest, my opinion of the series is probably coloured slightly by the fact that it’s a British writer, writing proper British characters – upholding a longstanding Marvel tradition and kicking the arse of the likes of Secret Invasion in the process. But even if I were American, I can’t see myself not enjoying this – it’s entertaining, swift-paced, action-packed comics with a sharp edge, driven by great ideas. Aside from its use of mythology, it may not be the weightiest comic out there – but damned if it isn’t up among the most enjoyable.

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

bee movie divx movie online

, 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.