MARVEL TEAM-UP #66

Stan Lee presents: SPIDEY and CAPTAIN BRITAIN -- together

”MURDER WORLD”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker/Colorist: Dave Hunt
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: Spider-Man and Captain Britain awaken in Arcade’s Murderworld, where they are soon separated to face their own deathtraps. Cap battles evil funhouse mirror versions of himself, then finds his love interest, Courtney Ross, a prisoner. While Cap tries to rescue her, Spider-Man escapes a holographic battlefield by sneaking into Murderworld’s maintenance tunnels. The web-slinger messes with the complex’s systems, then heads back out to find Captain Britain.

Spider-Man and Cap meet up and rescue Courtney, then, thanks to Spidey’s earlier mischief, Murderworld blows a fuse and explodes. The heroes and Courtney emerge from the underground complex in Manhattan, where Captain Jean DeWolff picks them up. Elsewhere, Arcade vows to rebuild Murderworld and have his revenge on Spider-Man.

MARVEL TEAM-UP #65

Readers may recall that I already wrote about this issue and the next a couple years back as part of my very first review series here, on the subject of Captain Britain. But that post was written primarily with attention to Cap’s side of the story and wasn't done “in-depth”, so here's the revised and expanded version (and forgive me if, between this issue and the next, I regurgitate a bit of that old post).

Stan Lee presents: SPIDEY and CAPTAIN BRITAIN!

”INTRODUCING, CAPTAIN BRITAIN”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker/Colorist: Dave Hunt
Letterer: Bruce Patterson | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: Spider-Man swings across Manhattan to Empire State University, where he changes to Peter Parker for a meeting with the Dean of Students. The dean informs Peter that the school wants an exchange student from England to board with him for foreseeable future. Peter is introduced to Brian Braddock, and the pair leaves the dean’s office.

In England, a mysterious American assassin named Arcade is hired to kill Brian. Back in the U.S., later that night, Peter changes to Spider-Man for a night out, but passing police sirens outside awaken Brian, who spots the web-slinger swinging away from Peter’s bedroom. Assuming Spider-Man has harmed or kidnapped Peter, Brian changes to his alter ego of Captain Britain and gives chase.

The costumed heroes have a brief skirmish but in the end make peace. Captain Britain recaps his origin for Spider-Man, then the duo is captured by Arcade.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART EIGHTEEN - EXCALIBUR VISIONARIES: ALAN DAVIS, VOL. 3

Much like "The Cross-Time Caper", my Captain Britain review series was intended to be relatively short. I figured maybe one post per book, except two for the Omnibus -- a total of eleven installments. But here we are on part eighteen! Hopefully folks have stayed with me this long. As I noted way back when I stated the series, I hadn't intended on blogging when I read the stories, so my "reviews" are little more than recaps with my own random thoughts tossed in, stream-of-consciousness style. My next, much shorter review series -- to be announced on Monday -- will be in the same format, but then I'll get into issue-by-issue reviews of a classic Marvel run, which will be structured more like my TRANSFORMERS series.

So if you've made it this far into my ramblings on the subject of Captain Britain, I really appreciate that. Let's see of we can tough it out for one last post. Much like Alan Davis at this stage in EXCALIBUR, I'm starting to get a little bored with my subject matter!

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART SEVENTEEN - EXCALIBUR VISIONARIES: ALAN DAVIS,VOL. 2

Note: This volume contains a fill-in issue and a one-shot called EXCALIBUR: XX CROSSING, neither of which involved Alan Davis in any way. I didn't read either of them for my marathon session.

Alan Davis's run as writer of EXCALIBUR continues with our heroes moving into Braddock Mnor as their new base of operations, thanks to Brian's lighthouse having been destroyed during the anti-Phoenix/Necrom affair. It's nice to see Davis drawing the house again, and the place looks pretty much exactly as it did during his previous run with it. We even get to return to the caverns beneath the manor where the Mastermind computer resides, now joined by Widget.

Davis writes, but does not draw, the two issues immediately following number 50. The first is a throw-away adventure following a group of saurian analogues for Excalibur from a world where dinosaurs rule the Earth. The second of these presents Davis's attempt to unify all previous Phoenix-related stories into one single origin for the Phoenix Force. It's certainly a handy issue for Phoenix-philes, but since we're concerned mainly with the Captain Britain related aspects of this run, it is of little concern for this review. I will mention however, that it guest stars the X-Men, and the beautiful Davis cover makes me wish he'd drawn the interiors.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART FOURTEEN - EXCALIBUR CLASSIC, VOL. 4

"The Cross-Time Caper" continues as Excalibur -- sans Kitty, who was transported back to our Earth during the previous issue's Jamie Braddock story -- travels to an Earth ruled by longtime X-Men foe the Shadow King, in a 2-parter illustrated in sub-standard fashion by Chris Wozniak. Despite his amateurish style, Wozniak somehow becomes the series' regular guest penciler from this point.

Fortunately, Alan Davis soon returns for a 2-parter in which Illyana Rasputin -- Magik of the New Mutants -- corrupted by her demonic powers, rules the Earth (sensing a pattern?). Davis's visuals are as spectacular as ever, but as usual, this installment of "Cross-Time" feels like a waste of paper. Claremont's stories have become less and less inspired with every chapter of "Cross-Time", but mercifully, the story is drawing to a close.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART THIRTEEN - EXCALIBUR CLASSIC, VOL. 3

Issue number 12 of EXCALIBUR begins a storyline called "The Cross-Time Caper" -- labelled on the cover as part 1 of 9. "Cross-Time Caper" ends in issue #24. Even with one inventory issue along the way (#20), that still means this supposed 9-part storyline actually clocks in at twelve parts! Chris Claremont is known for "writing to the moment" and abandoning his established plans when an apparently better idea comes to him. Presumably, that's what happened here to lengthen "Cross-Time".

Unfortunately, the result is a story which long overstays its welcome. Never mind that sending the heroes of a relatively new series off on an extended trains-dimensional romp, away from their supporting cast and home environs, before they've even hit a dozen issues, is probably not the best-conceived idea -- making that story about two times longer than it probably should've been only exacerbates the problem.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART TWELVE - EXCALIBUR CLASSIC, VOL. 2

Note: EXCALIBUR CLASSIC volume 2 contains the 1989 EXCALIBUR SPECIAL EDITION comic, "Mojo Mayhem".  Even though it's written by Chris Claremont, I did not read that story as part of this marathon, due to its negligible contributions to the series' ongoing continuity.

The six issues in EXCALIBUR CLASSIC volume 2 comprise two main story arcs.  The first is EXCALIBUR's segment of the 1988 X-Men crossover, "Inferno".  With New York overrun by demons, Rachel senses that her baby brother Nathan is in danger and takes off to find him, and Excalibur pursues their teammate.  In New York, the demon infestation affects each member of the team in a different way.  Meggan is corrupted and becomes the Goblin Princess, with Captain Britain acting as her bodyguard/slave.  Kitty manages to free the two of them with the use of the Soulsword, a demonic blade which once belonged to her friend, Illyana.

The "Inferno" crossover gives us some potentially interesting character development, but overall it feels like a time-killer -- a case of the title participating in a crossover because it must, not because it has anything interesting to contribute.  This seems especially odd considering Rachel's connection to Nathan and Kitty's connection to Illyana, as both those characters are integral to the main crossover event in UNCANNY X-MEN, X-FACTOR, and NEW MUTANTS.  Doubly peculiar is that Chris Claremont, one of the masterminds behind "Inferno", wrote the EXCALIBUR segment and could easily have given the group a larger role in the proceedings if he had so chosen.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART ELEVEN - EXCALIBUR CLASSIC, VOL. 1

From Captain Britain's perspective, EXCALIBUR picks up with our hero deep in sorrow over the apparent death of his twin sister, Betsy, now known as Psylocke of the X-Men.  Brian Braddock has turned to the bottle for solace, and Meggan is unable to snap him out of his alcoholic funk.  Deciding she needs help to get through to Brian, Meggan travels to the Muir Island Research Centre in Scotland to enlist the aid of Kitty Pryde, who she apparently met behind the scenes during Cap's recent encounters with the X-Men.

Soon, Opal Luna Saturnyne sends the Technet to capture Rachel Summers -- Phoenix, who she views as a threat to all reality.  Kitty and her other former teammate, Nightcrawler, team up with Meggan and eventually Cap and Rachel, to best the Technet and a group of creatures called the Warwolves, sent by Mojo to capture Rachel for his own reasons.  In the aftermath of their team-up, Cap, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Kitty, and Rachel choose to honor the memories of their loved ones by banding together as a new super-group: Excalibur.

AN EXCALIBUR PRIMER

I tend to write my posts here assuming some pre-existing comic book knowledge on the part of the reader, but at the same time I don't want to confuse anybody.  So, as I did last week with TRANSFORMERS, I'll be tossing out little nuggets like this one before starting a new review series (or in this case continuing one that has moved into the pages of a new title).  If you're already an Excalibur Expert, please feel free to skip the below, though I would advise reading at least the final paragraph.

Art by Alan Davis and Paul Neary

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART TEN - PAVING THE WAY FOR EXCALIBUR

Presenting a special extra-length post to close out the Classic Captain Britain era!

When last we saw Captain Britain, he was on his way home from Sat-Yr-9's parallel Earth.  He arrives in time to console his sister, Betsy, following her murder -- in self-defense -- of Kaptain Briton.  Shortly thereafter, Mastermind reveals to Brian and Betsy that their father was not a human being as they had always believed, but a citizen of Otherworld and a chief adviser to Merlyn.  Mastermind then takes on the holographic appearance of a human butler, to better serve Brian and his family.

Meanwhile, Garbriel and Michael, agents of the Resources Control Executive ("RCX"), the agency which has replaced STRIKE, have tracked down Linda McQuillan, Captain U.K., who is living in peace on our Earth.  They introduce her to the Warpies, mutated children created by the Jaspers' warp.  They want Linda to help them coerce Captain Britain into serving them as a symbol, hopefully preventing a coup of the British government due to civil unrest created by the reality warp.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART NINE - ALAN DAVIS TAKES OVER

CAPTAIN BRITAIN: BEFORE EXCALIBUR TPB (1988)

Following the departure of Alan Moore as Captain Britain's writer, Jamie Delano comes on board to continue the series.  But, per Alan Davis's foreword in the CAPTAIN BRITAIN OMNIBUS, Davis himself was doing the bulk of the plotting, and even often rewriting Delano's scripts to bring them closer in line with his own vision for the character.

As this era begins, Cap reflects upon the Jaspers' Warp saga.  Apparently the entire storyline took place over the span of only six months, which seems a very short amount of time to round up and incarcerate so many super-humans in concentration camps around the country.  But Captain Britain's adventures have been chronicled in real time up to this point, and since the story was told in six monthly issues, six months it is.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART EIGHT - JASPERS' WARP

Captain Britain vs. the Fury

After rescuing his sister Betsy and her fellow psychics from Slaymaster, and knowing the Vixen's forces will still be searching for them, Captain Britain brings them to live, at least temporarily, with him at Braddock Manor. Not long after, Cap is kidnapped by a group of dimension-hopping mercenaries from the future called the Special Executive, and taken to the "Omniversal Hub", where he has been called to serve as a witness for the defense in a trial against Opal Luna Saturnyne, charged with failing in her duties to save the alternate Earth where Cap first found her.*

While at the Hub, Cap learns that he is part of a corps of similarly costumed heroes -- one for every Britain on every Earth in the omniverse. It would be generous to say that our hot-headed hero does not get along with his fellow corpsmen, engaging in fisticuffs with them multiple times during the trial. The "Captain Britain Corps" is more of a throwaway gag here, but the concept would gain great traction later under Alan Davis and Chris Claremont.

TRANSFORMERS: REGENERATION ONE

I've decided to mix it up a little bit. Since my Captain Britain reviews will be going until around late October, I want to add a little variety to my content beyond the one-off posts I've been occasionally tossing up.

So, since I happen to be a huge Transformers fan, and since I happen to have the first two trade paperpbacks of TRANSFORMERS: REGENERATION ONE lying around, and since I just started reading them last week, and since I've been writing posts about them to use here... I'm going to be publishing REGENERATION ONE reviews concurrently with the Captain Britain stuff. These reviews will be more like the ones I plan to do going forward -- rather than a retrospective, covering chunks of issues per post a la Captain Britain, the Transformers reviews will summarize and break down one issue apiece.

And since I've managed to remain pretty much completely un-spoiled on this series, you'll be seeing my thoughts and speculations directly after reading the issue in question. I've already read five issues, and wrote a post for each one immediately after I finished it, even if I then read the following issue in that same sitting.

I'll post these reviews every Friday for the next twelve weeks (ten regular issues plus one "point five" issue plus one "primer" post to kick things off), starting tomorrow. Which means, for those keeping score, in the four weeks since I started this blog, I have changed my format three times. The posting schedule will now go:

• Monday: Captain Britain review
• Wednesday: Captain Britain review
• Thursday: Announcements, if necessary (there probably won't be many of these)
• Friday: Transformers review
• Saturday & Sunday: Whatever is on my mind for the week, if anything, and/or Captain Britain "supplemental material", if any (this will probably continue for maybe three or four more weeks)

Wish me luck...!

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART SEVEN - MOORE & DAVIS

CAPTAIN BRITAIN TPB (2002)

The "Jaspers' Warp" storyline, which -- excepting a few unrelated interludes -- comprises the entirety of the Alan Moore/Alan Davis run, is widely considered the height of Captain Britain's solo adventures. At the very least, it is certainly the best known of those tales. The story picks up exactly where the previous chapter ended, with Jim Jaspers' reality warp re-shaping the parallel Earth where Captain Britain and Jackdaw are stranded.

Incoming writer Alan Moore, before he became THE Alan Moore, runs briefly with Dave Thorpe's premise but immediately and brutally takes the story in his own direction. In response to the reality warp, the British government activates a deadly robotic organism called the Fury, which we learn is responsible for this world's superhero purge of years past.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART SIX - A CROOKED WORLD

The CAPTAIN BRITAIN OMNIBUS

In roughly 2002 or so, Marvel published a CAPTAIN BRITAIN BY ALAN MOORE & ALAN DAVIS trade paperback. It contained only the material the two Alans produced together, but nothing else. I have no idea why they didn't include this small handful of stories, illustrated by Davis and written by Dave Thorpe, as well. They do a great deal to set up the Moore-Davis run (which will be covered in the next post).

As the Alan Davis era begins, we find Captain Britain and Jackdaw on their way home from Otherworld, when they are sidetracked by a trip to a parallel Earth. Along the way, Cap's costume inexplicably changes to the Davis-designed look -- a superior costume in my opinion, but the arbitrary change is somewhat jarring. Cap simply says something to the effect of, "my costume -- it's changing!" as they pass between dimensions, and that's the end of it.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN - THE BOOKS

Since I haven't taken the time in my series of Captain Britain reviews to speak about the books themselves, I think I'll do so here.  The stories I've been reviewing are contained in three volumes: BIRTH OF A LEGEND, SIEGE OF CAMELOT, and the CAPTAIN BRITAIN OMNIBUS.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART FIVE - ALONGSIDE MERLIN'S CHAMPION, THE BLACK KNIGHT

Art by Staz Johnson

Following his appearance in MARVEL TEAM-UP, Captain Britain disappeared for about two years, as Marvel U.K. quit its practice of producing original content.  Previously, it was unlikely that Cap's adventures had proceeded in real time, as most chapters led directly into the next.  However, around this time, when Marvel U.K. began to craft new stories once more, the new creators behind the captain eschewed "Marvel Time" and declared that our hero had been missing in action for the same two years his series had been on hiatus.

In the pages of Marvel U.K.'s HULK comic, Cap returned to fight alongside the Black Knight, a once and future member of the Avengers, headlining his own weekly 1-page strip.  The stories were written by Steve Parkhouse and illustrated by John Stokes.  Stokes's pencil art was inked by Paul Neary, who would soon become the editor-in-chief of Marvel U.K.  Neary's career has spanned decades since, with a stint drawing CAPTAIN AMERICA for Marvel in the U.S., a long stretch as the regular inker of superstar artist Alan Davis, a second term as the EiC of Marvel U.K., and currently, another long stretch as the regular inker of superstar artist Bryan Hitch.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART FOUR - MARVEL TEAM-UP

Art by George Perez

Before reviewing the above-mentioned stories, I would like to give a quick overview of my thoughts on Captain Britain's "Lieber Years".  I feel that, in a time when Marvel Comics were really taking strides toward more layered, sophisticated storytelling, Lieber's Captain Britain was a dinosaur of a simpler age.

I like Silver Age silliness as much as the next guy, and I'm sure Lieber's stories appealed to young children -- but from Stan Lee on, Marvel comics usually had something for everybody.  Even Stan's Silver Age stylings could appeal to teens.  And by the 70s, you had folks like Jim Starlin and Steve Englehart writing comics which, while understandable and enjoyable for kids, could also be read and appreciated by an older crowd.  Lieber's stories, on the other hand, seemed to be written strictly for children only -- which is certainly not a bad thing, but it is counter to the direction Marvel was headed at the time.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN'S COSTUME

There seems to be a debate in the fandom regarding Captain Britain's costume. I see a lot of folks who prefer the original over Alan Davis's redesign.  To each their own, but the Davis costume is Captain Britain to me.

Art by Alan Davis

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART THREE - THE LIEBER YEARS LIMP TO AN END

One positive thing I will say about these old Captain Britain stories is that the pace is frenetic. It feels like reading a comic strip, where every storyline leads directly into the next, with no downtime in between. I assume this is due to the weekly schedule of the series. On top of that, Cap's adventures went black-and-white about halfway through the Skull storyline, which adds to the "newspaper strip" feel of the whole thing.

Case in point: Immediately following the Captain America/Red Skull storyline, Brian Braddock passes out in his bed and dreams about nutty ol' Lord Hawk, a hermit for whom Brian constructed a robotic bird some time back.  To keep him company. A. Robotic. Bird.

Anyway, at precisely that moment, Lord Hawk has decided to take his bird out and terrorize England because things aren't how they used to be.  If I recall correclty, he wanted to return to a simpler time, when men and their robot birds lived off the land, and all those pesky modern conveniences weren't around to get in their way.