Captain Britain

[Brian G Turner]

Deaths Head? I had 9 of the original 10 issues. Seriously interesting character with plenty of potential, yes?

Think I'm going to have to treat myself to a few comics - digital versions - next month.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Could be a fun read. The original Death's Head comics are rather valuable as they not only use Death's Head, but feature art by a very young artist called Bryan Hitch...

(Both versions of Death's Head turn up in Revolutionary War, which makes it kind of fun)

 

[Brian G Turner]

Ah, here's the Alan Moore Jasper's Warp collection on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0785108556/?tag=brite-21

Though, alas, used at £20. Again, a need for a re-release - unless it's available digitally.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Unfortunately split over 2 volumes, but both new I think - and the other volumes are available too

Captain Britain vol 4

Vol.5

 

[Brian G Turner]

Well, the reviews for Secret Avengers didn't sound too good for Captain Britain, and the sample I read of Death's Head in Revolutionary War was lacking in the original character. However, I've taken a punt with the first volume of Captain Britain and MI:13. Will see what that's like.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Well, the reviews for Secret Avengers didn't sound too good for Captain Britain, and the sample I read of Death's Head in Revolutionary War was lacking in the original character. However, I've taken a punt with the first volume of Captain Britain and MI:13. Will see what that's like.

A birthday present for yourself?

It's not too bad. There are some good ideas, and when Cornell hits the mark he does it with style - and CB has a central role, rather than just being on the sidelines.

 

[VALIS13]

Is Captain Britain actually set in Britain?

If so, I would have a hard time marrying the glamour of superheroes with the everyday dross that I witness on our fair isle.

Who is his nemesis? Chavman?

 

[Brian G Turner]

Is Captain Britain actually set in Britain?

If so, I would have a hard time marrying the glamour of superheroes with the everyday dross that I witness on our fair isle.

Who is his nemesis? Chavman?

I've only read a few collections, and Britain as a place doesn't really feature in those - the Alan Moore storyline that defines one of the greatest CB story arcs is more concerned with the Omniverse - alternative universes, with its own Captain Britain equivalents.

It's almost typical Marvel fare, in terms of colourful supervillains and alien races. But, somehow, Alan Moore, Jamie Delano, and Alan Davis, manage to do something different with it.

CB's most dangerous adversary is a man who can change the nature of reality - thus breaks the general convention that a superhero's greatest foe is a mirror-image of themselves.

2c.

 

[VALIS13]

In that case, I might check it out.

 

[Brian G Turner]

If you can find a collection of the Alan Moore stories, that's a good place to start - it can read a little confused at first, as he's closing existing storylines.

However, I started with the Jamie Delano arc - which effectively completes Alan Moore's - and it's here that we get to enjoy Captain Britain as a properly developed character.

Unfortunately, the collections are not easily available or cheap - though I think this omnibus may collect it all together:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0092I8LKC/?tag=brite-21

 

[Brian G Turner]

I've taken a punt with the first volume of Captain Britain and MI:13. Will see what that's like.

Um. That was awful. Cornell took Captain Britain back to the 1970's. Effectively undoing all the work Alan Moore, Jamie Delano, and Alan Davis put in.

Space Goblins trying to take Britain's magic? O.M.G. ...

Captain Britain wasn't even part of the story - which was just all mindless fighting littered with irrelevant dialogue, solved by deus ex machina at the end.

What we did see of the 'character' was just generic nonsense. And a sickening sense of 'Britishness' that just doesn't exist, IMO.

It was all just very...pointless.

 

[Cascade]

Bit of Threadmancy on my part but figured I had to jump in and defend 'Excalibur' which was my favourite comic book for a while in the late eighties early nineties. Cheesey yes but not Pulpy at all.

I was re-reading them recently and in a couple of issues (i think issue #5) there is an appearance by the band Cat's Laughing, whose drummer drawn in all his

 

[Last Action Hero]

It feels weird when you say 'Captain Britain' out loud.
I guess I am more used to the American one..

 

[J D Foster]

And then, just when Captain Britain had become really interesting, the series finished and Captain Britain spent a while languishing in cameo land, until joining up with a couple of ex X-men (such as Nightcrawler) in the rather pulp and pointless "Excalibur" comic, a US-release Marvel series.

Ouch, I love Excalibur, I have every issue and re-read it often. In fact it is the only series of comics that I collected which I have kept. It's so off the wall and quirky. As I boy I fell simultaneously in love with all three of the female leads in it.

 

[Verity]

I rather liked the Paul Cornell story, especially the Muslim doctor who ended up wielding Excalibur - I quite like the Arthurian legend stuff that gets mixed in with the superhero story.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Ouch, I love Excalibur, I have every issue and re-read it often. In fact it is the only series of comics that I collected which I have kept. It's so off the wall and quirky. As I boy I fell simultaneously in love with all three of the female leads in it.

I probably didn't sample enough of it - certainly if I'd have ever picked up just one or two Captain Britain's by Moore I would probably have abandoned them, too. I guess I should be more patient.

I rather liked the Paul Cornell story, especially the Muslim doctor who ended up wielding Excalibur - I quite like the Arthurian legend stuff that gets mixed in with the superhero story.

Welcome to chrons, and good to see a different opinion.

I guess at the end of the day the big plus is always if anyone reads - and enjoys - any Captain Britain. He'd languished for too long as a support player rather than a lead.

 

[J D Foster]

He is somewhat 2 dimensional in the Excalibur series no doubt about that. I always felt it was mostly a vehicle for the Phoenix's anguish and kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler's distress at loosing their friends. But the art, and the insane disregard for reality, especially in the early cross time caper story lines totally captivated me. I guess also that there was an attempt to make it a British setting. I couldn't really relate to Peter Parker's New York world. Despite every incidental character in Excalibur saying "cor blimey mate" I still loved it. I saw a while ago in a local comic shop Excalibur had been given a revamp, haven't been tempted to dip into that.

 

[Vladd67]

http://io9.gizmodo.com/a-wild-rumor-claims-marvel-is-planning-a-captain-britai-1766563175

 

[Brian G Turner]

http://io9.gizmodo.com/a-wild-rumor-claims-marvel-is-planning-a-captain-britai-1766563175

That could be wonderful - but please, Marvel, don't have a British national figure wishing he was like a US idealist (aka, wanting to be like Captain America - Marvel's original vision, and a statement made in the more recent comic series).