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Captain Britain and MI 13 #1
Posted 29 May 2008
Writer: Paul Cornell
Artist: Leonard Kirk
Letters: VC's Joe Caramagna
Ink: Jesse Delperdang
Colors: Brian Reber
Publisher: Marvel
4.50 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by Adam McGovern
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Civil War was ill-conceived from the start; a parable about
curtailed liberty and privacy doesn’t work when those under fire
are not ordinary citizens like us but superheroes who are the comics
world’s equivalent of the elites doing the real-life spying,
waterboarding, etc. The Initiative has been a lot more to the
point, a kind of “Civil Service” that rings true with the
way superheroes might be reigned in by a real-world government.
“Centered on the
shape-shifting Skrulls, Marvel smartly draws
parallels with the current ‘clash of civilizations.’”
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Secret Invasion is even more so; though grounded in the
creaky recycling of a group of villains that’s been around since
the dawn of the Marvel Age, it offers rich potential for allegories to
current impulses to suspect and demonize whole races (and those who
may see shades between perceived “us”es and
“them”s). Centered on the shape-shifting Skrull aliens,
Marvel has smartly drawn parallels with the supposed clash of
civilizations between the West and Islam, showing Skrulls of varying
fervency between fanaticism for the cause of infiltrating and
conquering our planet, and principled alliance with Earth.
The saga will likely grow more drawn-out and convoluted than it
needs to be, but that’s the beauty of being able to pick and
choose which of its many tie-in books you concentrate on. An early
leader is Captain Britain and MI 13.
This book concerns the cleverly-named branch of Britain’s
secret service that investigates supernatural and other unexplained
phenomena, now expanded to be a general directorate for all superhuman
activity. Thus the misfit militia last seen in the brilliant
Wisdom miniseries that concluded last year is merged with
stalwart mainstreamers like Captain Britain, the Black Knight and
Spitfire. The book is already a geek paradise for U.K.-hero fans, and
a promised-land for fans of the work writer Paul Cornell did on
Wisdom. That series’ artists are not back this time, but
Leonard Kirk’s mix of classic subtlety and spectacular
composition (recently on view in offbeat landmarks like Agents of
Atlas and Warbound) combines with Cornell’s laconic
sensibility and traditional chops for another kind of creative dream
team.
Britain makes a fine locale for the overall Skrull story; while
America’s policy on terrorist attacks is retaliation,
Britain’s is resilience – how much the society can
maintain its institutions and values, not how fast they can be
suspended in the name of emergency – and to see superheroes
operate under such constraints lends an interesting layer of drama and
an uncommon element of suspense. The multicultural London of 2008
makes the book’s allegory explicit, with a positively portrayed
Muslim woman doctor character (whom the story suggests will become
something much more) figuring prominently in the first issue.
Cornell’s ear for his homeland’s vernacular (and his
humorous sense of its reverse-colonization by American expressions) is
keen, and the mix of amoral characters like Pete Wisdom and boyscouts
like Captain Britain, and between magical realms and political spheres
of influence, is dynamic and free of clichés. You really feel
the grandeur of the invasion our heroes are up against, and the
intimate conviction and determination they’re bringing to it.
Marvel seems to be gambling on this as an ongoing series, so we can
hope for both a memorable battle and a prosperous postwar.
—CCdC—
Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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