Blogging about Bronze Age Reprints leads to encounters with interesting people!

Hi again, everyone. I'm working on some reviews that should be ready to publish in the near future. As the title above indicates, I've met some interesting people related to the Bronze Age of comics in recent years, I thought I'd share some stories about these encounters with you.

Last October, my hometown, Richmond, VA hosted the Virginia Comicon. There were multiple Bronze Age creators at this event, so I made sure I was there. I was accompanied on my trip by Melanorrigby, my co-blogger at Holiday Film Reviews and a big fan of comic books in her own right.

Artist Howard Chaykin was the first artist I got to meet. He was very friendly to us, talking with us about politics, his career, and even shirts (after I complimented him on his attire). Chaykin told me he considered his Bronze Age art to be inferior to his later work. I disagree, but I guess most of us are our own toughest critics.

Next up was Ron Wilson, penciler of many great stories in the 70s and 80s, most notably serving as longtime artist on Marvel Two-In-One. Since the Thing was the star of that book, I asked Wilson if he had any particular affinity for Ben Grimm. He said that it started out as just "a gig," but that he grew to love the character.

Wilson said Marvel Two-In-One Annual #7 was the best story he'd penciled. It's a big favorite of mine too, so I was excited to acquire this super-sized poster of its cover!

Lastly, we met Joe Staton, who provided art for DC, Marvel and Charlton Comics during the Bronze Age. I didn't get to talk to Staton very much due to time constraints, but he was very friendly and signed my copy of the E-Man TPB!

Meeting those three creators made for an exciting day. But it also reminded me that I haven't written at this blog about the many other comic book industry giants I've met. So here are some photos of me and other creators taken at earlier cons:

Comics legend Neal Adams, one of the greatest comic book artists of all time and a longtime advocate for rights of creators!

Comics historian Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson, granddaughter of Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, who was a co-founder of DC Comics.  Nicky promotes the work of her grandfather, which has been unjustly overlooked by other historians. She was very friendly and told lots of fascinating stories about her grandfather. Check out her official site to learn more about Malcolm.

Marv Wolfman, one of the best writers and creators of the Bronze Age. He wrote lots of great tales and co-created great characters like the Black Cat the New Teen Titans!

Danny Fingeroth, a long-time writer and editor at Marvel Comics. Fingeroth is also the author several books about comics history which you can learn more about and purchase at his official site.

Last but not least, here's a photo of me with Michael Golden, one of my favorite Bronze Age pencilers!

It's been a thrill to meet all these great people at cons over the last few years. If you get a chance to meet some of your favorite comic book writers and artists, please take advantage of that opportunity. I was able to tell them "thank you for all the great work" in person.

Thanks for visiting, please stop by in a few days for some new reviews!

J.A.

Captain Britain: Birth Of A Legend

Reprints Captain Britain #1-39 and material from Super Spider-Man & Captain Britain #231-232
Written by Chris Claremont, Gary Friedrich, Larry Lieber, Bob Budiansky, Jim Lawrance and Len Wein.
Penciled by Herb Trimpe, Ron Wilson, John Buscema and Bob Budiansky.
Inked by Fred Kida, Tom Palmer, Pablo Marcos, Frank Giacoia, Mark Esposito and Brian H. Moore.
Summary:
Over 300 pages of Captain Britain's early adventures!  Highlights include:

Thames University student Brian Braddock is serving an internship at Darkmoor Research Centre, a nuclear facility. Suddenly, Darkmoor is attacked by a man named Joshua Stragg who calls himself the Reaver. Stragg is armed with high-tech weaponry and assisted by a squad of armored thugs. 

Brian flees Darkmoor and takes off on his motorcycle, intending to get help. Unfortunately, he crashes. Two ghostly figures appear above Braddock. They are Merlin the Magician, from Arthurian lore, and his daughter Roma. Merlin presents Brian with a sword and an amulet and gives him a choice to pick the right one. He selects the amulet and Merlin tells him he has made the right choice.  

He is transformed into the super-powered Captain Britain! In this form, Brian possesses super-strength and agility, plus a staff that he uses to vault and defend himself from attackers. Stragg arrives on the scene and retrieves the sword, which magically covers the Reaver in a suit of armor. The villain attacks Braddock with the sword and a battle ensues. Captain Britain defeats Stragg and the United Kingdom has its first superhero!

Sometime after that, Captain Britain foils a bank robbery. In the moment of his triumph, he's confronted by police inspector Dai Thomas of Scotland Yard. The inspector isn't crazy about super-powered vigilantes confronting criminals and tells Captain Britain that he better watch himself. Thomas will arrest the superhero if he continues to interfere with police business.

Brian learns that it's not easy to be a superhero and live the normal life of a college student. He attempts to have a relationship with Courtney Ross, a fellow Thames University student. He is often forced to cancel their dates, so he can run off to fight crime. Another student, Jacko Tanner bullies Brian and doesn't understand why Courtney is interested in Braddock.  

Subsequently, a super-villain who calls himself the Hurricane attacks the campus of Thames University, seeking a fight with Captain Britain. Hurricane wears body armor and a backpack that enables him to create and direct strong gusts of wind.  

Captain Britain is defeated by Hurricane. Instead of killing him, the villain straps Captain Britain to a supersonic Concorde jet plane! Can Captain Britain figure out a way to escape and defeat the Hurricane?

Later, Brian's twin sister Betsy visits Brian and tells him their brother Jamie has been injured in a car accident.

The accident was caused by a new villain who calls himself Dr. Synne, who creates illusions and controls people's actions through telepathy.

When Captain Britain attempts to stop Synne, the villain takes over all the minds of the people nearby and sends them after the captain. Even Betsy is not immune to Synne's power and attacks her own brother with an axe!

How can Captain Britain triumph over Dr. Synne without harming the people who under Synne's control?

Meanwhile, Nick Fury, director of Supreme Headquarters International Law Enforcement Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.) arrives in London on SHIELD's helicarrier. He's joined by Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America. Fury tells Rogers that their visit to the UK may be one of the toughest assignments they've ever faced.

Captain America heads directly to Braddock Manor, home of Brian and his family, to investigate a computer under the manor. This brings him into direct combat with Captain Britain. After a brief but spirited duel, they come to their senses and agree to work together.

They will need each others' help, because the villain they are dealing with is none other than Cap's arch foe, the Red Skull! The nazi kidnaps British Prime Minister James Callaghan and holds him for ransom.

Callaghan will die unless Parliament agrees to hand over control of the UK to the Skull. If any attempt is made to free the PM, Red Skull will explode a germ bomb that's set atop Big Ben!

Captain Britain and his U.S. counterpart must pull out all the stops if they want to defeat Red Skull and save the Prime Minister. Nick Fury is also trying to locate Callaghan, with assistance from Lance Hunter, director of Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies (S.T.R.I.K.E.). Hunter is England's version of Fury and just as good at fighting crime.

Finally, Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her jubilee (the 25th anniversary of her coronation) in London. A villain known as the Manipulator hopes to ruin the festivities. He possesses a mystic gem that gives him the power to brainwash people. Manipulator uses the gem to take control of Captain Britain and forces the hero to attack the Queen!

Captain Britain's assault is halted by a super-powered cyclist called the Highwayman, who is actually a lackey of the Manipulator. When Captain Britain is defeated by Highwayman, the hero is arrested by Dai Thomas.

The Manipulator later uses his gem to brainwash the Queen herself, which allows her to be captured by the villain. With Captain Britain in police custody, how can he rescue Queen Elizabeth and end the Manipulator's crime wave?

Review:
The stories reprinted in Captain Britain: Birth Of A Legend were mostly new to me, since for years, the original issues were very hard to find in the United States. So I don't bring any nostalgia to this review, but I generally enjoyed this book.

Story:
Chris Claremont wrote Captain Britain's origin story and the first ten issues reprinted in this book. They're mostly fun stories and Claremont does a nice job building Brian Braddock's world. Connecting Captain Britain's origin story to Arthurian legends is a nice touch by Claremont.

Braddock has a bit of Peter Parker in him too. Jacko Tanner serves as a stand-in for Flash Thompson, and Brian often has to leave dates with Courtney Ross so he can change into Captain Britain when criminals show up. Dai Thomas serves as a Jonah Jameson-type character, with his distrust of Captain Britain. Claremont had introduced Thomas a couple years prior, when the inspector appeared in a Blade story, which (I guess) means Claremont considered Captain Britain's adventures to take place in the same shared universe as Marvel stories that were published in the United States.

It's interesting to note that these tales were written at the same time Claremont was making comics history during his legendary run on X-Men. They tend to be a lot lighter in tone than his X-Men stories, but that's okay.  A decade later, Claremont brought Captain Britain into the "mainstream" Marvel Universe, when Brian became a member of the team Excalibur. So I'm guessing Claremont was always fond of Captain Britain.

Speaking of the X-Men, these stories also feature the first appearance of Brian's sister Betsy Braddock. She would later learn that she possessed superpowers and gain fame as Psylocke. But in these tales, Betsy is just a supporting "younger sister" character.

Gary Friedrich takes over for Claremont and quickly brings in Captain America, Nick Fury and Red Skull. These stories are the high point of Birth Of A Legend and it's great to see the "flag faced" heroes of the U.S. and UK work together. Earlier in his career, Friedrich wrote Cap and Nick's adventures, so it makes sense that he'd bring these characters to Captain Britain's series.

Friedrich's stories also introduce the character Lance Hunter, director of STRIKE. Viewers of the TV series Marvel's Agents Of SHIELD will recognize that name, since he's played by actor Nick Blood. Hunter will be getting a spin-off series later this year, something that readers probably wouldn't have foreseen back in the 1970s.

At the end of the Red Skull saga, Friedrich sort of sidelines Captain America and Fury, allowing Captain Britain and Lance Hunter to save the day. This is a nice way to build up the newer (and British) characters in the eyes of the readers.

Bob Budiansky and Larry Leiber take over plotting and scripting after Friedrich departs. The stories decline in quality a bit after the Red Skull multi-part epic, but the book ends with the Manipulator/Queen Elizabeth II tale. Even though we know that the Queen will eventually be saved, this story is an exciting way to finish Birth Of A Legend.

In addition to Queen Elizabeth, these stories also include appearances by 1970s politicians like Prime Minister James Callaghan and President Jimmy Carter. Does it make the stories seem dated? Sure, but it also makes them feel a little more realistic. This also makes these feel more "Bronze Agey," which is a positive thing in my book.

There are some problems with these stories. First off, they were originally published as seven-page tales. This means that every seven pages, the action stops and starts up again, making it a bit of a slog at times. The next issues often re-told the last page of the previous issue, and sometimes they even include a "what happened last time" portion that takes up a page, or a least a few panels. This is a weakness of the source material, but readers should know what they're getting into.

Some of the villains aren't particularly compelling either. Manipulator and Doctor Synne are generic bad guys who posses "mind control" powers. Lord Hawk is basically an old man with a robotic bird. There's a reason why most of these villains haven't been heard from again.

Art:
While the stories are okay, the art is very strong from beginning to end. I always enjoyed Herb Trimpe's pencils and he gives Captain Britain's early adventures a nice Marvel house style appearance. Fred Kida provides nice embellishment to Trimpe's work. Here's a good example of their art:

Trimpe's departure coincided with Captain Britain switching from color to black and white. It's a drastic change, done at the time due to budgetary constraints. But the change is easier to swallow because John Buscema and Tom Palmer begin as the new art team. "Big John" was one of the best comics artists of all time and Palmer was arguably the best inker he ever had. With or without color their art always looked great.  Even a silly character like Lord Hawk looks great when depicted by Buscema and Palmer, as the image below demonstrates:

The final portion of Birth Of A Legend feature pencils by Ron Wilson embellished by several inkers. Wilson was always good and he provides some solid, enjoyable artwork in Birth Of A Legend. Here's a nice scan that features Wilson's pencils inked by Pablo Marcos:

How Does It Look?:
Since the original issues weren't easily available in the states, I've never owned any of them. Thankfully,  The Captain Britain's fans' page and blog, an excellent Captain Britain fansite, was kind enough to lend me this scan of the splash page for Captain Britain #14:

This is how the same page appears in Birth Of A Legend:

Extras:
Birth Of A Legend contains 30 pages of extras. These include pinups, vintage house ads, an introduction Stan Lee wrote for Captain Britain #1, and five pages of original art.

My rating:
Captain Britain: Birth Of A Legend is full of action and great art and is recommended. The sometimes-silly villains and change to black and white prevent me from giving it a higher rating than what you see below.

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 Sals.