Jaspers' Warp
"Jaspers' Warp" | |
---|---|
Publisher | Marvel UK Marvel Comics |
Publication date | September 1981 โ June 1984 |
Genre | |
Title(s) | Mad Jim Jaspers The Fury |
Creative team | |
Writer(s) | Alan Moore Dave Thorpe |
Artist(s) | Alan Davis |
Inker(s) | Jenny O'Connor John Aldrich Steve Craddock |
Jaspers' Warp, sometimes referred to as Crooked World,[Note 1][1] is a superhero comic book storyline from the British Captain Britain strip printed across several Marvel UK titles between 1981 and 1984.
The story is noted as one of the few Marvel Comics works by acclaimed writer Alan Moore, and among the earliest works by artist Alan Davis. It has received consistent critical acclaim and been reprinted by Marvel on several occasions. The storyline is also credited with officially coining the designation "Earth-616" in reference to the events of the mainstream shared fictional Marvel Universe. While it was first used in print by Moore in the episode "Rough Justice" (in The Daredevils #7) it is generally agreed to have been devised by the strip's initial writer, Dave Thorpe.[2]
Creation and publication history
Captain Britain had originally been created in 1976 for the British comics market but his original weekly title, created by Marvel's New York staff, was a failure. The character was resurrected by Dez Skinn in 1979 as a guest star in The Black Knight, a serial in Hulk Comic, with the story now created in-house by Marvel UK, written by Steve Parkhouse with art from John Stokes and Paul Neary. While well received by readers, Hulk Weekly and other parts of Skinn's "Marvel Revolution" were not a sales success, and he left the company after only a year.[3] Neary took over as Marvel UK editor-in-chief and strove to keep new Captain Britain material going. However, budgetary restrictions meant he was only able to afford novices. Editor Dave Thorpe was given the job of writer - his first and, as it would turn out, last professional comics work. He and Neary devised a story span out of the Black Knight strip, featuring Captain Britain on an alternate world in order to allow Thorpe's ambitious plans without disrupting the main Marvel Universe. Neary also decided that the character's Star Sceptre needed to go, and instead the character's source of power was internalised in his revised suit, which was designed by Alan Davis. The latter had begun professional comics work only a short while before, and the work on Captain Britain would be his first regular, ongoing serial.[4]
The new Captain Britain feature debuted in
Thorpe's replacement was Alan Moore, had contributed short stories to Marvel UK's
While both the strip and publication drew acclaim (including an
Plot
Captain Britain and Jackdaw are transported from
Believing Captain Britain is responsible, the Status Crew unleash the Fury, a bio-mechanoid that had previously purged Earth-238 of superhumans. Saturnyne and the Avant Guard abandon them and Jackdaw is killed. The Fury is impervious to Captain Britain's furious attacks and easily breaks his arm. After a surreal encounter with the Fury's creator Jaspers he finds himself in a graveyard for the Fury's victims and berates Merlyn for sending him to such a place before the Fury obliterates him. Merlyn and Roma recover his remains and rebuild him in Otherworld and return him to Darkmoor on Earth-616, unaware of his death and resurrection. He returns to Braddock Manor and finds it has been rebuilt by Mastermind; after the computer attempts to talk him into suicide he is able to reprogramme it to be more benevolent. Soon after he receives a phone call from his sister Betsy in London. She has put her telepathic abilities to use as a member of S.T.R.I.K.E.'s Psi Division, but it had been infiltrated by agents of Vixen, and now Betsy and her friends are under attack from the hired assassin Slaymaster. Captain Britain is able to defeat Slaymaster after a battle on Denmark Street, and takes Betsy and two other surviving telepaths - her lover Tom Lennox and their friend Alison Double - back to Braddock Manor.
Soon after he is abducted by the
Jaspers meanwhile has rapidly seized control of Britain, with S.T.R.I.K.E. having rounded up anyone with any hints superhuman talents into concentration camps. Captain Britain and his remaining allies head to London to help but are largely forced underground, with Jasper's warping abilities causing problems for Allison and Betsy, and Linda still traumatised by the return of the Fury. Vixen meanwhile attempts to assassinate Jaspers before he attracts the attention of The Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D., but he is too powerful and simply turns her into a docile animal. Captain Britain sets off to confront him but Jaspers' enforcers kill Tom before capturing Betsy and Alison. Despite his best efforts, Captain Britain finds Jaspers' ability to change reality on a whim makes him impossible to fight, and things get worse when the Fury - having escaped the chasm near Braddock Manor - arrives. After trouncing the hero it moves on to Jaspers, who has also created a new Crazy Gang. Realising that the immunity the mutant's Earth-238 version built in does not apply to the Earth-616 version, the Fury attacks Jaspers and a reality-bending battle begins; their duel causes so much damage to reality that Merlyn is killed. The Fury finally transports Jaspers to un-space, where there is no reality for him to alter, and is able to kill him. Returning to Earth-616 drained, it is attacked by Captain Britain. When the damaged machine fights back Captain UK - snapped out of her malaise by Saturnyne - finishes the Fury off.
The crisis is over, and Roma transports Captain Britain, Captain UK and Saturnyne to Otherworld to attend Merlyn's funeral with the rest of the Captain Britain Corps. After the ceremony she reveals to Captain Britain that Earth-616 is already rapidly healing from Jasper's warp, and that Saturnyne has returned to the Dimensional Development Council, rapidly blackmailing her way back into power. She then returns Brian and Linda to Darkmoor, where they briefly kiss before parting.
Reception
Jackson Ayres praised Moore's impact on the strip, noting the apparent moment of salvation for Earth-238 being instantly turned into its downfall.[6] Christian Holub of Entertainment Weekly would refer to the storyline as a "classic".[7] Comic Book Resources would later identify the impact it had on subsequent X-Men comics.[8] Despite his subsequent enmity towards Marvel Comics, Moore still thinks positively of the storyline, calling it "fun" and feeling it was overshadowed at the time by his work on Marvelman and V for Vendetta.[9]
Legacy
Aftermath
The conclusion of the story would be Moore's last work on both the character and for Marvel UK. Differing reasons have been given for his departure; in 2001, Moore himself recalled he was unhappy with the firing of Daredevils editor Bernie Jaye.[9] However, in 2007 Davis attributed it to a payment dispute and recalled Jaye had chosen to resign some months previously.[4] Davis would take over as writer himself briefly before being joined by Jamie Delano on the series, which would continue in The Mighty World of Marvel before becoming the lead strip of a new monthly Captain Britain magazine in January 1985.
Despite a fictional conceit where few were left with detailed memories of the events, subsequent storylines would follow up on several ideas developed for the "Jaspers' Warp" storyline. The storyline's return to Betsy Braddock, previously a minor supporting character in the original Captain Britain series, would continue to play a large part in subsequent stories, even briefly taking on the mantle of Captain Britain herself before going on to cross over with a major role in the best-selling Uncanny X-Men. Having made a brief introductory cameo in the "Jaspers' Warp" story, Meggan was given a large supporting role and would go on to be Captain Britain's partner for much of his subsequent fictional adventures. Both the Crazy Gang and Saturnyne would reappear both in Captain Britain's solo adventures and in Excalibur, which would also feature the Warpies - a group of children mutated by the effects of Jasper's powers.
Earth-616
Thorpe devised the term "Earth-616" as a narrative device to differentiate between the two Earths featured in the storyline. He intended it as a reference to the number of the beast, and to refer to the hellish alternate dimension.[2] However, when Moore used it in print the definition referred to the characters' "home" reality. The term was subsequently used in Excalibur and has since been picked up intermittently by other Marvel publications and media. Both Joe Quesada[10] and Tom Brevoort[11] have since gone on the record to state they dislike the term.
Reprints
Due to both the story's critical success and the growing reputation of its creators (Moore having swiftly found wider acclaim on
Moore would eventually consent to reprinting of the work some years after the event, in what he has referred to as a conciliatory gesture towards Davis.[9] As a result, the stories - including Thorpe's run - were repackaged as a seven-issue deluxe mini-series called X-Men Archives featuring Captain Britain from 1995 to 1996; these colour versions of the story would effectively become the masters for future reprints. In 2001, Joe Quesada would enter discussions with Moore in an attempt to persuade him to return to Marvel.[13][14] As a result, in 2002 Moore's part of the run only was collected in a trade paperback simply titled Captain Britain; however, the volume was missing promising indicia crediting Moore and Davis as creators for certain characters and as a result Moore reaffirmed his vow to never work for Marvel again.[15] In 2010 the complete storyline was split across Panini Comics' collections of Captain Britain material.
Collected editions
Title | ISBN | Release date | Issues |
---|---|---|---|
Captain Britain | 9780785108559 | January 2002 | X-Men Archives featuring Captain Britain #2-7
|
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) |
Sequels
Original Captain Britain creator
Instead in 2007 a sequel to the story was told in the X-Men: Die by the Sword series, which brought the death of Roma and the end of the New Excalibur title.[18]
Notes
- ^ The story has never been given an official name by Marvel or its creators.
References
- ^ "Jaspers' Warp (Moore's Run)".
- ^ a b "Dave Thorpe, the Man Who Invented Marvel's "616", Explains Where It Came from". 2 July 2019.
- ^ "Dez Skinn Leaves Marvel U.K.". The Comics Journal (#54): 15. March 1980.
- ^ ISBN 9781893905191.
- ISBN 9781302906689.
- ISBN 9781350060470.
- ^ "How Marvel's 'Knights of X' is modernizing the mythology of Captain Britain". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ "Jasper's Warp: How Alan Moore Helped Shape the X-Men's World". 13 November 2020.
- ^ ISBN 9781605490274.
- ^ "Newsarama | GamesRadar+". Archived from the original on 23 June 2007.
- ^ "Tom Brevoort Confirms "No More 616" - and It's the Last Fantastic Four Story". 13 January 2016.
- ISBN 9781605490274.
- ^ "News & Notes". Wizard. No. 119. Wizard Entertainment. August 2001.
- ^ Cotton, Mike (February 2002). "2002 Preview". Wizard. No. 125. Wizard Entertainment.
- ^ Cotton, Mike (July 2002). "The Wizard Q & A - Alan Moore". Wizard. No. 130. Wizard Entertainment.
- ISBN 9781854000200.
- ^ "Mad Jim Jaspers (Earth-616, Captain Britain foe)". www.marvunapp.com.
- ISBN 9781496837172.