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Underground > Comic Books >

Paul Cornell's Wisdom // Captain Britain & MI-13.

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Essential Dazzler

16:13 / 12.05.08

Reading my earlier contributions to this thread is a very weird experience for me., I re-read the seires recently and loved pretty much every second of it. Captain Britain and the Fucking-Awesome Squad is the first new monthly I'm buying since I dropped most of my pull-list at the end of last summer.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

16:27 / 12.05.08

I'm looking forward to it, although I want to find some samples of Kirk's artwork to amplify or dampen that, depending. He looks competent but we'll see how it goes.

What is so enticing about a group of misfits, working in some kind of semi-detached governmental fashion, solving weird shit crimes? Oh, and Captain Britain, who I loved from the minute I laid eyes on him back in the very first Excalibur special...

17:37 / 12.05.08

I'm properly excited about this series. That Wisdom issue with Shang Chi and the red dragon's one of the most enjoyable comics I've read in yonks. I think at least part of the appeal of Cornell's storytelling, and the whole Brit-Marvel Universe, is that it's a small corner of the MU where the weirdness is still slipping in.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

03:16 / 13.05.08

On rereading, the page with the history of the Skrull Beatles -- showing up on the Earth scene, the high times, that one panel when the gang splits up -- Gerry and the Skrull Pacemakers -- is just so bewilderingly funny. Tres Nextwave. I hope for more of that.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

17:04 / 13.05.08

Here's a preview, sans dialogue. With a Super-Skrull with all the powers of the original Avengers. Which is sort of awesome.

18:06 / 13.05.08

Makes you wonder why we had the last two or three Excalibur series, really.

And I do love saying "John the Skrull" any chance I get. Just rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

19:24 / 13.05.08

Yeah, none of that "Magneto and Charles on Genosha or Muir or whatever" stuff. Excalibur has to be (a) British, (b) preferably written by someone actually British, (c) including Captain Britain in some way, and (d) Batshit random & insane.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

19:58 / 11.06.08

Second issue of Captain Britain and MI-13 is out today, and I'm going to be very happy when the Secret Invasion schlock recedes into grim waters and leaves the title alone to actually develop some character. So far, we've got endless battle scenes with people and Skrulls. Which was cute the first issue but is now starting to chafe, just slightly.

I like the first story page, with the bit about how the British experience the loss of their hero in comparison to America's loss of their Captain. It surprised me because it was tinged with a bit more anti-American flavour than I would expect to get past Marvel Editorial, but it's interesting -- at first.

Spitfire manages to earn her place in the story by the end of the issue, talking about Churchill. I also like the implication of Britain's "secret history" in the Marvel Universe; it was hinted at previously, during Wisdom, and I like how little bits and pieces are dropped about why the government has MI-13.

The whole "magical beings can't deal with technology" thing has played out, Cornell, bite it. Seriously. As story logic goes, it shows terrible shortsightedness, and is only there to shoehorn in plot movements that serve a shoddy storyline.

Faiza has the potential to be quite interesting, but I don't like her ambiguous powers so far -- I like how conflicted she is, and how exemplary she is of how people would be in a world of super-beings. I think I would have actually liked to see her as a new Captain Britain, particularly since it is an official legacy, but they've tried to replace Brian before and it didn't go well.

Pete Wisdom is not worthy. Thank you. He's always on the bleeding edge of potentially being a Gary-Sue, so I liked that.

Dane Whitman makes me happy. Acknowledging all his history is a great step.

How is Skrull John not the keystone of this story right now? How it there not more comedy? I miss all the bitter comedy!

Tink!

13:56 / 12.06.08

Not been to the shop yet, so i've missed #1 and #2. Please tell me Captain Midlands is still on the team? Plz?

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

15:04 / 12.06.08

I think so, but I can't be sure -- the first two issues have been fairly messy with Skrulls everywhere, sigh, and I think he may have been in the first one.

15:28 / 12.06.08

I believe he was mentioned in the first issue, but not seen. I haven't seen issue 2.

04:45 / 14.06.08

IS Cornell wriing more WHO eps for season 4? I just got/watched the first dvd set and was slightly underwhelmed by the first three eps (Pompei was cool). Nothing like Cornel and Moffat to breeze in and blow out the kinks...

10:16 / 14.06.08

Wrong thread, doood.

The whole "magical beings can't deal with technology" thing has played out, Cornell, bite it. Seriously. As story logic goes, it shows terrible shortsightedness, and is only there to shoehorn in plot movements that serve a shoddy storyline.

It really is, isn't it?

I really wanted Cornell not to go the route of magic being just another kind of technology that's not as good as real technology-with-lasers. Magic that can be shot at is, on the whole, boring, and totally wastes its narrative and conceptual potential.

I didn't hate the issue, but the skrulls need to fuck off.

12:06 / 14.06.08

I'm trying not to gripe over the fact that the Skrulls are invading a magical realm and collecting arifacts,and Doctor Strange, who should be watching over this sort of thing, is off polishing his Wand of Watoomb...

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

15:39 / 14.06.08

Composite Magic Skrull dude is sort of awesome, though. Particularly the Devil-Head and vaguely Hindu God vibe.

I don't like the idea of "magic" being vulnerable to "technology," because technically that would mean you could smack a sorcerer around with, say, a piece of rock tied to a stick. Or even just a bone.

16:51 / 14.06.08

Maybe if you sneak technology into a magical realm, it "transforms"and becomes magical, or it begins to operate via magical laws of physics, etc.

Perhaps Doc Strange is off camping with Night Nurse and is therefore out of the SI loop.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

16:58 / 14.06.08

Strange's current M.O. seems to be avoid taking part in events at all, in fear of "upsetting the course of human development." Which is an appropriate response, honestly, and we should all do that with events.

(Actually, it reminds a bit of Alan Davis's JLA: The Nail, when all the mystics met in Fate's tower and the Spectre forbade them from interfering in human evolution).

You know, it occurs to me that between Hulkling, Xavin, and Skrull John, there are a number of hero-skrulls running around who could be doing more...

Janean Patience

17:32 / 14.06.08

WHY HAVEN'T WE SEEN ANY CONDEMNATION OF THIS INVASION FROM THE SKRULL HERO COMMUNITY thunders right-wing demagogue and former Avengers leader Henry Peter Gyrich in his column today

20:53 / 14.06.08

Nah, Papers, the awesomesness is all about the xtreme absurdity. I Laughed Out Loud.

Haus of Mystery

21:41 / 15.06.08

Bought issue 2 of this. 1 was all sold out in London. Bit lost, but there's potential here. Just lose the fucking skrulls and allow the comic to breathe and carve out it's own unique identity.

22:04 / 15.06.08

Hulkling, Xavin, and Skrull John

Am so glad I don't write fanfic, right now. Or, slashfic. (I only fan-plot. Totally different animal.)

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

15:50 / 16.08.08

Dear Secret Invasion,

Please stop crossing over into fresh books I want to enjoy.

(Also, could you please fulfill my BSG dreams and have everybody be a Skrull, the human race having died out in 1973 only nobody remembered?)

Thanks!

21:32 / 16.08.08

Can't get past the decsion made by Character B in the latest issue. And Faiza is definitely drifting into "pet character" status.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

21:37 / 16.08.08

Which decision?

Faiza could be interesting -- particularly once they had her dialogue sounding more natural, she seemed to take off a bit. Unfortunately her ability's vague and we haven't had any actual story space devoted to her.

23:54 / 16.08.08

All of the "no killing" stuff. It does make about half the team fairly useless...

11:59 / 17.08.08

Can someone post here when the skrulls have fucked off so I can buy this again? After three issues, I hit my saturation point and cannot bear to risk reading it until they are gone.
Thanks.

12:02 / 17.08.08

They are offfically fucked in this issue, thanks to a fairly blatant homage involving Pete Wisdom and a magic wish,

21:52 / 19.09.08

So, the racism in reviews, discussion, and interviews over this series is making me actually (pettily)) enjoy the thing more. Faiza's fun, for being the Kitty Pryde of the book, and there's always potential in a series where at least half the cast are deluding themselves in that blatant, awkward way.

And, alright, we all saw the Blade/Spitfire thing coming, but really, I thought they'd give it an issue or two. Because I was getting used to the movie-inspired less-crazy Blade, and Cornell's writing proper, classic, severe psychosis Blade. Which, means it probably won't link up very tightly with his recent MCP appearances, but well, so what?

Between this, MCP, and other recent series (The Order, The Last Defenders) there seems to be an unexpected (by me, anyway) resurgence of Invaders characters going on. Just hit me, that. Weird, but probably meaningless in the long term.

00:56 / 16.10.08

So, am I the only one here still all over this book? Yes, it's pretty by the numbers in its arrangement, and it's not as tight as Wisdom weirdly was even when it went to one-offs halfway through, but it's very good by-the-numbers, it's hitting the marks with actual emotion and energy.

I like that none of the cast are being played as incompetent to make the wise/witty character look sharper. Everyone has their angle, and they're all impetuous (well, they're superheroes, after all), and they're all being written with a fairly even hand. You can get your thrills from any of the main cast without feeling they're being slighted for some other character's (fans') benefit.

And it's very late seventies Marvel (like a Roy Thomas/Steve Gerber written actiony sitcom), isn't it?

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

15:41 / 16.10.08

I'm enjoying it. Midlands is back! Faiza I'm beginning to like, except that her power is ill-defined and I wish, I wish, I wish they'd slow down enough to explore what the significance of her wielding Excalibur might be.

15:18 / 21.01.09

Picked this up, got the back run, and really enjoying it - even the Skrull's issues were fun, if a strange way to introduce a new book.

What are the numbers like on it? Seems that a few people are worried that it's not getting much of a push from Marvel, but doing well in the UK?

I liked the last lines of the current issue, the idea of Dracula asking someone to get Doctor Doom on the phone for him, nice balance of sinister and silly.

Dark side of the Moonfrog1

15:43 / 22.01.09

TPB of the first few issues is out now in the UK and it's only £5.49 on Amazon! (I promise the final cover is a lot nicer than the preview cover currently up there...)

Captain Britain and MI-13: Secret Invasion

The UK version even has a lovely little foreword by Paul Cornell.

16:31 / 04.03.09

[E]xcept that her power is ill-defined

She's Takes People Apart Girl.

And, now, along with the people who're up in arm's with Faiza's carrying Excalibur, there's folks distressed - deeply, and seriously distressed - with Brian at a bar with Wisdom and two women.

I still miss John, and Mother-of-Killraven, but the series as it is hits all the right notes and misses a lot of potential (and common) pitfalls of modern supertights books. That bit about Blade being "even more old-fashioned" put me over the line. Hell, even I'd forgot how old he actually is, or those early circumstances.

The whole Marvel-70s vibe just keeps rocking my world more than anything else Marvel's currently releasing.

19:20 / 17.03.09

yes totally agree about 70s marvel being where its at. i think bendis has got to be thanked for htis to some extent, he made all those crazy assed characters with their magic and science accidents interesting again.

just got the first trade and liked it very much, maybe more than if i read it individually as after 40 minutes of reading the skrull invasion of earth was over and i'd had a rollicking read. liked the ending with faiza getting the sword too and the rather sensible british take on patriotism.

hope this doesn't get cancelled before the next trade comes out.

23:31 / 17.03.09

I think bendis has got to be thanked for htis to some extent, he made all those crazy assed characters with their magic and science accidents interesting again.

Not disagreeing, but I'd be interested to know why him above Brubaker's resuscitation of Lady Falsworth in Captain America, the reissuing of Tomb of Dracula in a few formats, or even the creators who generated most of the cast to begin with?

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