Pick of the Week
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Size: pages
Price: 2.99
You know how sometimes, people from bigger sectors in the entertainment industry will show up writing a comic book, and you hear from them for a while, and it’s a biggish deal because they worked on such and such a TV show, or wrote such and such movie? Their first work is OK, and after that, you don’t really think about them very much, because the work remains just OK. Well, Paul Cornell has worked in British TV, including the granddaddy of all geek TV, Doctor Who, among other things. He’s written novels, and radio dramas and all sorts of things. Then he showed up, and did the Wisdom mini-series for MAX, which went largely unnoticed, and did a couple issues here and there. Then last year, Captain Britain and MI13 started up, and the first issue was Pick of the Week. It was an excellent start to a series, trying into Secret Invasion, and we were all very happy. The funny thing about Cornell is that he’s not one of those guys I was talking about. No, since the start of Captain Britain, he’s gotten more and more comfortable with the comic book form, and the exceptional skill he brought to his other work is now more evident with every issue he puts on the stands.
Cornell understands how to write a good story. It is as simple as that. I marvel at the way he puts characters together and lets them interact. A classic move is to just keep your characters in the places they least want to be, and just when it seems like things are OK, yank the rug out from under them again. This method works exceptionally well for episodic television as well as sequential comics. Take the addition of Blade to the team. It seemed to make no sense at first, but after a couple of issues it was a master stroke. Blade goes on to out Spitfire as a vampire, then unexpectedly proceeding to start a relationship with her, and then gets the rug yanked out from underneath him completely. Then, at the same time, you have Faiza (who may have some superhero name I don’t know) and Black Knight starting up a very strange relationship where they come from very different places and a complicated relationship where she is his squire, but also wields Excalibur. The sword. From King Arthur. And those are just the personal relationships! Of course, that’s what I seize on first, but in the background of all this, Dracula has launched a war against the UK, utilizing the much celebrated vampire missiles from last issue. It’s an extravaganza, and there’s something for everyone!
As if this wasn’t enough to make you excited about reading comics, you get a glimpse of another side of Cornell’s talent. Following the explosion of the vehicle they were flying in, Faiza and Black Knight find themselves plummeting towards the earth. You flip the page, and the panels and word balloons are left behind, favoring paragraphs of prose amongst the illustrations. I don’t mean caption boxes, I mean third person prose, telling what’s going on in Faiza’s mind. The method has never been used in this book, but it worked perfectly, and was completely unexpected. More importantly, it didn’t grind the story to a halt, as heavy text often can. I love to see this kind of experimentation with comic book pages, especially when it works. Plus, Cornell’s written a few novels in his time, so he’s got the skills to pull it off.
I think I’d be negligent of my duties to not mention the reclamation of Dracula going on in this title. I’ve read Marvel comics for a long time, and I know that Dracula is part of the world, but it was never a part of the world I wanted to read. Honestly, if I picked up an issue of Avengers, and it was Captain America vs. Dracula, I probably wouldn’t give it a chance. In Captain Britain, Dracula is being given a new lease on life, so to speak. Despite the fact that Dracula looks plenty old school with his double-breasted tuxedo and cape neck flare thing (like Count Nefaria and Vision!), Pete Wisdom also calls him “the leading military strategist of our time” because he’s centuries old and knows more about war than anyone. He commands an army of vampires, some of whom, you’ll remember from last issue, are also missiles. He’s scary in the larger sense, not just the “suck your blood” sense, and it works very well.
Lately, I’ve been appreciating artists who can get their characters to really act. As I look through the these Leonard Kirk pages, I see many faces with many different expressions. It’s not overdone, but I can tell what the characters are going through without having to read the words. Couple that with good composition, and an excellent sense of tone and timing, and you’ve got some very strong work from Kirk. It seems that a portion of this issue was drawn by Mike Collins, and I assume that’s the conference chamber scene, but to be honest, the Kirk pages are the star here, and the big page reveals at the end of these issues are always fun. Still, it must be noted that none of this makes up for Blade’s haircut. We might want to start a petition or something.
We’re eleven issues into this series, and I can honestly say it keeps getting more and more fun. The threat level never lessens, and it’s that sense of adventure and suspense that makes for the best kinds of superhero comics. Issue #10 was a perfect jumping on point, so if you’re curious, go back and find the last issue and this one, and you’ll be good to go. It’s not too late!
Josh Flanagan
It’s not Blade, it’s Eric Brooks!
josh@ifanboy.com
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I really need to pick this up in issues….and not in trade.
Considering the 100% of comments around the entire internet saying ‘This was fucking awesome!’ I can only imagine what I am missing out. Great review
(Battle for the Cowl was my pick btw)
Vampire Missiles from the Moon, coming soon to a drive-in movie theater near your face!
Paul Cornell rules.
That’s a really excellent cover
Is anyone else kinda hoping that Dracula wins?
I think what’s going on with Blade’s head is a tatoo thing and not a haircut thing. That would make clumsy work to undo if it were another character, but with Blade, all we really need is an accident bad enough to require the regrowing of a scalp. We’ll probably get that before we ever get the Sentry killed, but you never know.
I assume he can grow hair then. Do it!
According to the creators of the television series "the Venture Bros." the thing around dracula’s neck is called a "dracula trophy"
the more i hear the more i like about this comic
and cornell seems like really lovely bloke
@MisterBlank: The fact that you used ‘The Venture Bros’ as a reference point and you have the shamwow guy for your icon…..You’ve become my new favorite member! *thumbs up*
Marvel certainly has gotten some good mileage out of this book. It probably helps that the entire industry seemed to be upset when the rumors of cancellation was in the air.
i am loving the cover so much!! and this series even more!!
@TNC "MisterBlank’s comments, You’ll be saying Wow Ever time!"
Great series, great pick of the week. I loved this issue. I just… I felt something a bit more with Battle of the Cowl. I love this book, though. I love Paul Cornell, Kirk’s pencils are great. Read this book, Mithras demands it.
The relationship with The Black Knight and Faiza (codenamed "Excalibur" but thats not her superhero name now…is it?) is so much fun. Its like watching a romantic comedy and you just want to scream out "damn it you fool…kiss her already!"
I read this book a second time and it just gets better. Awesome goodness
Small nerd nitpick. It’s Doctor Who not Dr. Who.
This book is a lot of fun.
Jac’s "I’ll perk him later!" line last issue was worth pick of the week alone. Glad to see you’re catching up!
Damn you, UPS. SHIP FASTER! I need to move to a major city, this DCBS lag time is for the birds.
I didn’t buy a single issue this week.
Harumf! I Bought issues 1-3 of this title but just didn’t really resonate for me. I sent them to my brother in London and he didn’t like them much, stating: why do they always mix nationalism and super heroes!?
**mini Spoiler**
I really enjoyed this Issue for the exact reasons Josh stated, one moment in the book really stood out to me was right after the Vampire missles attacked Brian and Wisdom and wisdom is standing there stunned trying to comfort his date saying that they will get her and her friend some place safe, mean while Brian is solemly draping his coat over her friend. this really summed up how Cornell gets these characters so well, Brian being the vetern hero and Wisdom while experience still is getting used to living in the realm of superheroes.
@ drakedangerz i think Excalibur is her superhero name since all superhero names are technically code names.
Wisdom getting all the alcohol sucked out of him by magic and then proceeding to make everyone call him
"sir" was awesome.
I said this in the comments field on the issue listing too, but I honestly think that this is the best single issue comic book I’ve read so far this year. Hits all the right notes. The team are reacting to to Dracula’s attack with total professionalism, Wisdom walking and talking down corridors at Aaron Sorkin speed, and bringing all the intelligence guys together gives it a real vibe of 24 or Spooks (MI15 in the USA), maybe a little bit of Queen and Country.
It’s good. Cornell said a while back that he wanted this arc to establish this book as a ‘supernatural espionage’ title. This issue pretty much cements that. It’s a lot better than much of Marvel’s output right now, and more people really aught to be checking it out.
Haven’t picked up this issue yet, but what I enjoy the most is that Captain Britain seems to be a hero and is almost proud or unashamed, depending on your perspective, about it. When he threw Excalibur back into the stone a few issues ago, it said a lot about the guy. He is worthy, but doesn’t need to have it to do his job.
The book is almost like a lighter version of Captain America, where there is focus on so many other side characters that it makes the stronger character that much better (I know that concept didn’t originate with Brubaker, but i digress)
I found some old giftie certificates in the attic and went to my old shop last month. I got 2-10 and they were fantastic. If I find $2.99 on the sidewalk – I’ll pick this up.
@3333 – Noted and fixed.
Ah man, so glad this got POTW. Captain Britian and Mi:13 on iFanboy’s recommendation is mostly responsible for getting me back into monthlies.
It was a good issue. Dane and Faiza are a cute item in this book, also Blade does need some hair or soemthing. He will look odd at all the meetings where they have to do suits much like in this issue. Also maybe name plates for everyone as well.
I think it probably would have helped if, say, Union Jack had worn the top of his uniform in that scene. I’m clearly in the minority here, but I actually like Blade’s (Or is it Eric nowadays) head tattoos.
Great to see a cameo of a certain Marvel UK character in the hospital scene. Certainly sounds like we’ll be seeing their partner next issue, too.
Hmm I was really hoping for a Ghost Rider POW…Tony Moore and a wackload of Flaming Skull heads! AWESOME!
@CAM – In Captain Britain?
I absolutely loved Spitfire’s complete transformation on the last page:
Dracula: "You will obey me in all things. You have no choice – For I am the Lord of vampires. Forget your former life. You belong to my nation now."
Spitfire: (Kneeling with Drac’s hand reaching toward her head) "Yes… Master."
Blade’s really going to have to kill her now.
hmmmm. Y’know, i’ve picked up the last two issues of this book (10-11) to give it a shot. I’m enjoying them, but I’m not overwhelmed. It may be that I haven’t built up the history with the characters (as portrayed here) yet. But… something’s missing for me. Something in the storytelling doesn’t quite connect for me like it should. And it really should! It’s got Dracula shooting vampire missiles from the moon! But… just not quite there. Yet. I gave it 3 stars, it’s definitely not a bad book, but it’s not POW worthy for me.
I tend to agree with you, however the book is good enough in my opinion to keep getting it. I DO think the story and art execution on the book is exceptional, and has been since the beginning. But the book is missing an intangible, the characters don’t resonate for me (except perhaps for Spitfire because of her Invaders affiliation).
I really love Marvel’s "fringe" books like Captain Britain, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Agents of Atlas. This issue was delightfully violent. The art really fell off by the end, but it didn’t dampen my enjoyment much. Really, I wish Cap’n B would get his helmet back.
Also did you notice that three of the members carry swords? How can you not love that?
Great pick! I am impressed more by this book every issue. Cornell handles a stable of obscure characters deftly and Kirk’s work is finally getting the respect it deserves (I feel like his work on Peter David’s Supergirl run and JSA were very strong/unsung). Top notch storytelling here.
Oh yeah, and agreed. Marvels "fringe" books are knocking it out of the park.
Fantastic review Josh, thanks for giving the book a push.
………yeah…..
i’m not goijnt to comment badly
@ theswordisdrawn: Oh! That was Union Jack! I get it now. Thanks.
I love Kirk’s pencils so much that when Collins took over, it just irritated me. But to be fair, that Kirby-esque panel of the vampire exploding in the conference room was pretty great.
I had three contenders this week with Immortal Iron Fist, Top 10, and Scalped. Scalped ruled the day, but Top 10 wasn’t far behind. I’m so glad this is continuing beyond this fourth issue.