Captain Britain (comic)
Captain Britain is a British comic feature published by Marvel UK - the British division of Marvel Comics between 1976 and 1985, in various anthology magazines.
The first of these was named after the strip and debuted the first incarnation of Captain Britain, Brian Braddock. The strip was revived in 1980 and appeared in various British comics before headlining a second eponymous series in 1985. After this was cancelled in 1986, many of the characters and concepts were incorporated into the Marvel Comics series Excalibur.
Creation
Marvel UK had been established in 1972. In order to fit in with the style of British weeklies, titles such as
Publishing history
Initial run (1976-1977)
Captain Britain | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel UK |
Schedule | Weekly |
Title(s) | Captain Britain #1-39 Super Spider-Man #231-253 |
Formats | Magazine |
Genre | Superhero |
Publication date | October 13, 1976 - July 6, 1977 (Captain Britain) July 13 - December 14, 1977 (Super Spider-Man) |
Creative team | |
Writer(s) | Chris Claremont Gary Friedrich Larry Lieber Bob Budiansky Jim Lawrence |
Penciller(s) | Herb Trimpe John Buscema Ron Wilson Pablo Marcos |
Inker(s) | Fred Kida Tom Palmer |
Editor(s) | Larry Lieber |
The title launched with some fanfare, even garnering reviews (albeit a negative ones) in
Captain Britain #8 would introduce Brian's twin sister, model Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock, who was revealed to have psychic powers, with the following issue debuting Jamie Braddock, their playboy racing-car-driving older brother. However, Claremont left the title after the tenth issue; accounts differ as to whether this was due to the logistical difficulties of working on the title when fax and courier services were in their infancy,[2] or through disputes with title editor Larry Lieber.[1] His replacement was Gary Friedrich, best known for his role in the creation of Ghost Rider. Friedrich had also had a stint writing Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos and added the modern incarnation of the lead to Captain Britain as a guest character; subsequent storylines featured Captain America and the Red Skull, firming up the strip's connection to the Marvel Universe. In Captain Britain #17, Friedrich also established the British equivalent of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies or S.T.R.I.K.E. for short.[1]
Due to most of the staff involved having only visited Britain as tourists, stories attempted to appeal to a British audience by featuring prominent London location such as Heathrow Airport, Regent Street and Big Ben, or figures such as the Queen, especially the forthcoming Silver Jubilee and then-British Prime Minister James Callaghan, who made several guest appearances.[9] Paul Neary would later note that these were a major weakness of the series, doing nothing to tie the character to modern-day British readers. Sales were moribund, and Captain Britain went to black-and-white from #24 to cut costs, attempting to soften the blow with another free gift - Captain Britain's lesser-spotted 'Superjet'. Alan Davis would also recall that - unknown to the American creative team - the 'lion mark' had previously been used by the Egg Marketing Board to denote the quality of eggs, leading to many jokes at the character's expense.[10] In a 1986 article for Amazing Heroes, N.A. Collins named Captain Britain's first costume among the six worst male superhero looks in comic history up to that point, noting the "weird sunroof mask" and the "tacky Avon jewellery".[11]
Sales failed to improve, and after 39 issues Captain Britain was merged with Marvel UK's
Meanwhile, Captain Britain had already appeared alongside Spider-Man in America. Claremont was working on Marvel Team-Up with John Byrne and decided to use the format as an introduction for Braddock via the device of him briefly rooming with Peter Parker. The two-issue storyline also saw the debut of Arcade and his Murderworld. However it was not enough to raise any immediate interest in the character from American readers, and in Britain a black-and-white reprint of the Marvel Team-Up issues (split into three episodes apiece) ended Captain Britain's run in the pages of Super Spider-Man, concluding in #253 (dated December 14, 1977) a little over a year after the character's debut.[1]
Revival (1979-1986)
The character had been a conclusive failure for Marvel. As a result, they realised that they needed to recruit from the British comic scene, and in August 1978 Stan Lee headhunted Dez Skinn, the force behind the Eagle Award-winning House of Hammer horror anthology. In what the specialist press called "the Marvel Revolution", Skinn insisted on funds being made available to make homegrown material.[12] Among his efforts was Hulk Comic, a weekly styled like Marvel UK's rivals boys' comics. The title mixed reprints with new material, including a fantasy strip starring the Black Knight, a character Skinn had always liked but felt was a poor fit with the modern day America. Skinn believed readers at the time would take to Marvel superheroes better if they could be blended with more popular boys' comic genres, such as fantasy.[13] The serial was written by Steve Parkhouse, who was deeply interested in Celtic and Arthurian myths, also drawing on the works of Ursula K. Le Guin, Larry Niven and J. R. R. Tolkien. This gave a perfect opportunity to reintroduce Captain Britain, now under a British-based creative team, with veteran John Stokes on art duties, later joined by Paul Neary.[14]
Brian Braddock made a cameo as an as-yet-unnamed figure of mystery in the first three-page episode. His identity was made clear in the fourth instalment, and after positive reader response Captain Britain's role in the story gradually increased, filling in some of the fictional backstory explaining his absence in the process.[14] Hulk Comic failed to sell as well as hoped and the number of original strips dwindled (with the title twice modifying its name in the process) but the popularity of The Black Knight saw it (aside from occasional breaks, at one point being replaced by a reprint of Captain Britain's origin from Captain Britain #1-2) continue until the title was finally folded into Spider-Man Comics in May 1980.[1] It was the only strip to occasionally displace the Hulk from the front cover.[13] The same year did also see the publication of a one-off Captain Britain Summer Special, reprinting selected issues of the 1976 series and some extant Black Knight material. Skinn would later describe the serial as "epic" and felt it was one of his proudest achievements at Marvel.[13]
Captain Britain strip
Captain Britain | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel UK |
Schedule | Monthly |
Formats | Original material for the series has been published as a strip in the comics anthology(s) Marvel Superheroes The Daredevils The Mighty World of Marvel Captain Britain. |
Genre | Superhero |
Publication date | September 1981 - February 1986 |
Number of issues | Marvel Superheroes #377-388 The Daredevils #1-11 The Mighty World of Marvel (Vol. 2)#7-16 Captain Britain (Vol. 2) #1-14 |
Creative team | |
Writer(s) | Dave Thorpe Alan Moore Jamie Delano Alan Davis |
Artist(s) | Alan Davis |
Editor(s) | Paul Neary Bernie Jaye Ian Rimmer |
By then Skinn had quit Marvel UK, with Neary taking over as the offshoot's editor-in-chief.
The combination of Thorpe and Davis initially seemed to work well, though Davis would later recall Thorpe's work was very experimental for the genre, reflecting he was ahead of his time. Among Thorpe's creations were the
This allowed the strip to cover the character's resurrection and history in a new title, The Daredevils, in January 1983. The title's critical success allowed the page count of the Captain Britain strip to increase in page-count.[16] In keeping with the heavier tone of the "Jaspers' Warp" storyline at the time, the anthology also featured reprints of Frank Miller's acclaimed Daredevil run and appearances by Marvel UK's masked vigilante Night Raven. Despite both the new title and the ongoing strip receiving good notices,[2] including an Eagle Award, The Daredevils was a sales disappointment and was cancelled after 11 issues in November 1983, with Captain Britain transferring back to the relaunched Mighty World of Marvel. Following the conclusion of the "Jaspers' Warp" storyline in June 1984, Moore left the series.[1] The writer has stated that this was due to Marvel firing editor Bernie Jaye; however, Davis recalled that Jaye had resigned on her own terms, and that Moore had departed due to a financial dispute. Despite this, Moore still recalled enjoying the results of his work on the title, feeling it was overshadowed at the time by his work on Marvelman and V for Vendetta.[17]
Meanwhile the character was also selected for a sizeable role in
Davis would briefly take over writing the story himself until being joined by
Sales were initially respectable but began to fall, while Davis felt Delano wasn't interested in the superhero genre and was also finding his own time to be taken up by a lucrative role as artist for DC's
After cancellation
Following the end of the Captain Britain series, most of the cast would appear in the Marvel Comics spinoff series Excalibur.
Collected editions
Title | ISBN | Release date | Issues |
---|---|---|---|
Captain Britain | 9781854000200 | 17 November 1988 | Material from The Mighty World of Marvel (Vol. 2) #14-16 & Captain Britain (Vol. 2) #1-14 |
Captain Britain | 9780785108559 | January 2002 | X-Men Archives featuring Captain Britain #2-7
|
Captain Britain Vol. 1 - Birth of a Legend | 9781905239306 | 2 February 2007 | Material from Captain Britain (Vol. 1) #1-23 |
Captain Britain Vol. 2 - A Hero Reborn | 9781905239726 | 28 November 2007 | Material from Captain Britain (Vol. 1) #24-39 & Spider-Man & Captain Britain #231-245. |
Captain Britain Vol. 3 - The Lion and the Spider | 9781846534010 | 26 March 2009 | Material from Spider-Man & Captain Britain #246-53 & Hulk Comic #1 & #3-30 |
Captain Britain Vol. 4 - Siege of Camelot | 9781846534331 | 16 April 2010 | Material from Hulk Comic #42-55 & #57-63 & X-Men Archives featuring Captain Britain #1-6 |
Captain Britain Vol. 5 - End Game | 9780785108559 | 6 December 2010 | Material from X-Men Archives featuring Captain Britain #1-6 & Captain Britain (1988 TPB) |
Captain Britain: Legacy of a Legend | 9781302906689 | 23 November 2016 | Material from Captain Britain (Vol. 1) #1-2, Marvel Team-Up (Vol. 1) #65-66, Hulk Comic #1, #3-5, #57-59, Marvel Super-Heroes #377-384 & #386, The Daredevils #3-4, The Mighty World Of Marvel #8-12 & Captain Britain (Vol. 2) #14. |
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Lowrey, Nigel (August 2008). "The Saga of Captain Britain". Back Issue! (29). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 35–43.
- ^ ISBN 9781854000200.
- ^ Ralph Macchio (w). "Welcome to Marvel Tales" Marvel Tales: Captain Britain, no. 1 (September 2020). Marvel Comics.
- ^ ISBN 9781302906689.
- ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
- Fantagraphics Books.
- ^ a b c Menzies, Robert (September 2015). "Captain Britain and the Moral Panic of 1976". Back Issue!. No. 83. TwoMorrows Publishing.
- ISBN 9780753510803.
- ^ "Essex Marvel superhero Captain Britain 'could be made into TV series'". 29 March 2016 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ ISBN 9781893905191.
- Fantagraphics Books.
- ^ "'Marvel Revolution' in England". The Comics Journal (#45): 14. March 1979.
- ^ a b c Millsted, Ian (May 2008). "The U.K. Hulk Comic". Back Issue!. No. 28. TwoMorrows Publishing.
- ^ a b (uncredited) (w). "Of Legends, Dreams and Otherworld" Captain Britain - A Marvel Summer Special (1980). Marvel UK.
- ^ "Dez Skinn Leaves Marvel U.K.". The Comics Journal (#54): 15. March 1980.
- ^ X-Men Archives featuring Captain Britain, no. 1 (July 1995). Marvel Comics.
- ISBN 9781605490274.
- ^ Tandarich, Dan (June 2010). "The Story of Marvel's First Limited Series: Contest of Champions, a.k.a. Marvel's Road Not Taken to the 1980 Summer Oympics". Back Issue!. No. 41. TwoMorrows Publishing.
- Fantagraphics Books.
- Fantagraphics Books.
- ISBN 9781605490274.