Captain Britain And MI:13 #12 – Review

By Paul Cornell (Writer), Leonard Kirk (Pencils), Jay Leisten (Inks), and Brian Reber (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: A story about Dracula attempting to take over Great Britain could easily come across as silly unless the tension and drama manages to set the tone both early and often. Fortunately, Paul Cornell is aware of that fact. He proves it by using the story to both raise the stakes of his series as a whole and create opportunities to add more depth to his already compelling cast.

The Story: Captive under the power of Dracula, Spitfire is escorted around the vampire base by her son. She learns some things about Dracula’s grand plan and the preparations that he has made in order to carry it out. Meanwhile, Captain Britain and the rest of the MI:13 team try to find “the head” that may help them combat Drac’s plans.

What’s Good: Simply put, Paul Cornell is writing one hell of a vampire story. It puts the dense mythology about Dracula and his minions to very good use. In addition, the distinctly British flavor of Cornell’s writing keeps things from becoming too serious thanks to a healthy dose of dry humor and clever wit. As for the artwork, Leonard Kirk and his team continues to make sure Captain Britain is as much fun to look at as it is to read. The action hits hard, most of the vampire-related imagery is downright haunting, and each panel is filled with an impressive amount of detail.

What’s Not So Good: My only real complaint about Captain Britain and MI:13 #12 is that a few scenes come across as visually confusing. Either the action is a bit to cluttered or the perspective used for the scene makes things look a bit off. While it is a minor complaint (and some may not find it distracting), I figured it was still worth a mention.

Conclusion: I really can’t recommend Captain Britain enough. The writing is damn near perfect, the artwork is always pleasing, and the stories are a brilliant mix of insane and intelligent. It’s just good stuff all around.

Grade:  B+

-Kyle Posluszny

Captain Britain and MI:13 #8 – Review

By Paul Cornell (Writer), Leonard Kirk (Pencils), Michael Bair w/Jay Leisten & Craig Yeung (Inks), and Brian Reber (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I initially gave Captain Britain and MI:13 a look because of the way it launched as a tie-in to the Secret Invasion. I fully expected to drop the book following the event because, in all honesty, my pull list was starting to get out of hand. But a funny thing happened during only a few short issues. Thanks to Paul Cornell’s writing and some imaginative, vibrant artwork, I found myself quickly drawn into the magical world of the Marvel heroes operating across the pond. Now, seven (going on eight) issues in, I can safely say that I am glad that I stuck around.

The Story: The team, currently without the help of Captain Britain, continues the fight against the demon Plotka and its army of Mindless Ones at the Cloverleaf Estate. Captain Britain, meanwhile, continues to face down his inner demons as a prisoner trapped within Plotka’s soul stealing Dream Corridor. A lot of questions get answered in this action-packed issue, most notably regarding the nature of Plotka, its army, and its ultimate goal.

What’s Good: In all honesty, I have very few complaints about this latest issue. It excels in nearly every area I take into consideration when writing a review. The twisting storyline is wonderfully bizarre and extremely refreshing thanks to the heavy emphasis on magic and the occult. In addition, the writing is laced with dry, British humor that does wonders for both the team dynamic and the overall flavor of the series. As for the artwork, the creative team perfectly compliments the story with some incredibly trippy, kinetic visuals that somehow manage to keep the nearly non-stop action manageable and, for the most part, fairly easy to digest.

What’s Not So Good: My biggest complaint is that series still hasn’t done enough to get those new to the characters (like me) enough information to get totally up to speed. I like the characters enough to keep reading, but I don’t really feel like I know them at all. For a re-launch, Captain Britain is not exactly friendly to new readers.

The other issue I have with the book is that, occasionally, it feels as though there is just way too much going on at once. The creative team does a nice job keeping everything in check for the most part, but I did find myself re-reading sections from time to time just to make sure I understood everything. It’s not a big complaint by any means, especially considering how much is going on, but I feel it’s something worth noting.

Conclusion: A fine package of storytelling, artwork, and character moments, Captain Britain and MI:13 #8 is well worth the cash. Be sure to check it out if you are looking for something from a different corner of the Marvel Universe.

Grade: B+

-Kyle Posluszny

Captain Britain and MI:13 #7 – Review

By Paul Cornell (Writer), Leonard Kirk (Penciler), Michael Bair (Inker), and Brian Reber (Colorist)

Captain Britain and MI:13 continues to roll out, and I keep buying it. Though I’m not entirely sure why. Now that it’s no longer part of the Secret Invasion, it feels cut adrift from the rest of the Marvel Universe, and the cast is, let’s face it, a collection of B-listers. Captain Britain is still a goody-two-shoes dweeb, Peter Wisdom continues to confuse me (Is he Peter Pan or not? If not, why should I care about him?), and the Black Knight is still wearing that damn helmet but not the damn armor. I have no problem with superheroes not wearing costumes– I don’t miss Power Man’s yellow shirt, but if you’re going to be getting into sword fights, shouldn’t you wear some protection? As for the Spitfire/ Blade storyline, it is still completely unconnected to anything else going on in the book.

On the plus side, Plokta, maker of the Mindless Ones, is one of the creepiest villains to ever grace a comic book. He’s a white mask floating above a mass of cosmic protoplasm, and he’s not evil as much as completely and unabashedly selfish. His trick is to give his enemies a vision of their fondest wishes and waits until they’re entranced. He then sucks their magic powers to create more of those one-eyed golems that bedevil Dr. Strange from time to time.

The art is pretty good, but the writing lacks the sort of depth that would make me really care about the characters. I have to admit, I haven’t read Captain Britain since Alan Moore wrote him, so a lot of the details of the book don’t mean much to me, but I imagine a lot of readers are in the same situation. Cornell has the rest of this plot line to convince readers that he can make this book work, otherwise I don’t think it’ll be around much longer.

Grade: B-

– Andrew C. Murphy