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| CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND THE MIGHTY DEFENDERS No. 1, September 2015 |
Based upon the premise that “years ago” it was actually Doctor
Ho Yinsen who donned Iron Man’s first suit of armour rather than the playboy
industrialist Tony Stark, this theatrically titled “Secret Wars” tie-in
comic unconvincingly bands together some of the lesser known heroes of
the “Marvel Universe” into “a very small [super] team” and then, simply upon
the whim of the “omnipotent ruler of Battleworld”, forcibly pits them against
the formidable military power of their principality’s neighbour, “the fascist
futuropolis of Mondo City”. Somewhat perturbingly however, any of this book’s 27,618
readers in July 2015 who thought so ludicrously contrived a narrative couldn’t become any more bizarre were in for a serious
shock when towards the comic’s end Al Ewing introduces the blatant Judge Dredd
and Cassandra Anderson wannabes Boss [Luke] Cage and Boss [Emma] Frost; “Wake
up, Creep. We’ve got you down for resisting arrest, illegal border crossing,
and extremist ideology.”
In fact the “shop thy neighbour” lawmen are so similar in
look and dialogue to John Wagner’s “2000 A.D.” co-creation that any potential
buyer simply flicking through the back pages of this publication must doubtless
have quickly double-checked the cover to make sure they hadn’t inadvertently
picked up an issue about the Mega-City One street judge. Certainly it is clear, what with their over-sized shoulder-pads, bullet-shaped helmets and reference to perps, just why “Marvel Worldwide” Editor Tom Brevoort chose a British comics
writer with a proven track record of writing "Future Shocks" to pen so blatantly unoriginal a script.
Admittedly this cheesy concoction does still somehow manage to
provide some modicum of entertainment, especially when it quite cleverly connects
to former major story-arcs such as the Spider-Verse by having Hobie Brown
replace his world’s dead spider-man as Spider Hero, or a dying Brian Braddock
handing the mantle of Captain Britain over to Doctor Faiza Hussain during the
Age of Ultron. But sadly Ewing’s reimagining of She-Hulk as “the Thor for this
domain”, a green giantess who walks around with the decidedly tiny “Gavel of
Thor” strapped to her hip, is infinitely less successful an idea...
Fortunately all of this magazine’s disconcerting nonsense is
wonderfully illustrated by “Excalibur” artist Alan Davis. Indeed for many, “Theirs Is A Land With A Wall Around It…” may well be worth the price simply for its dramatically dynamic cover
depicting the “London-based Muslim medical doctor” stoically leading the
Defenders against an unknown foe. Whilst for others the Englishman’s pacey
panelling provides Mondo City’s invasion of Yinsen’s barony, and otherwise
dialogue-heavy storyline, with some much needed spectacle and tension.
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| The variant cover art of "CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND THE MIGHTY DEFENDERS" No. 1 by Frazer Irving |
I like She-Hulk and I like Judge Dredd and Psi Judge Anderson but your review has put me right off this comic. She-Hulk with Thor's Gavel? Come on! Get real! And Luke Cage and Emma Frost impersonating Mega City One's most iconic heroes?! Old Stony Face would have them locked up in an iso-cube for a very long stretch. Although upon reflection, perhaps it should be the comic writer who ought to be locked up along with the editor for allowing this nonsense to be published in the first place! YUK!
ReplyDeleteI didn't think you'd like this particular "Secret Wars" tie-in Bryan. It is rather dire imho. A shame too, as the idea of this under-used version of Captain Britain leading a new team sounded fun.
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