Out this Week - Revolutionary War: Motormouth and Avengers Undercover

Well, here we are into the third month of Revolutionary War already. This week sees the turn of Harley Davis, know better to many as 'Motormouth'. This time out the writer and artist pairing of Glenn Dakin and Ronan Cliquet will be taking on the reins, with Mark Brooks on the lead cover, and a variant cover by Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire:

There is 3 page preview up at Comic Book Resources, for the curious, and this is probably one of the books I've been most curious about. As we saw in the Alpha issue Harley's former partner-in-crime Killpower was separated from the other UK heroes some time ago, lost into an alternate dimension at the Battle of London Bridge. Furthermore, as was mentioned in the solicits, apparently Harley is a... mum now??

REVOLUTIONARY WAR: MOTORMOUTH #1

GLENN DAKIN (W) • RONAN CLIQUET (A)
Cover by MARK BROOKS
Variant Cover By DECLAN SHALVEY
• When Mys-Tech returns and threatens the safety of Great Britain, MI:13 need to try to convince MOTORMOUTH to come out of retirement.
• Harley Davis’ days of being a hero are over, though.  Now, her day job is being the mother of  her two children. Until an explosive Mys-Tech attack calls her out of retirement!
• Be there as Motormouth gets her mojo back!

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99 

Two kids. I wonder who the father is. 

The story also picks up directly from where the Alpha issue left off for SHIELD Agent Keller and Col Tigon Liger of The Warheads. Both of whom are trying to locate Harley - who has always had a knack for not being found when she doesn't want to be...

I just love the darker tone this preview seems to have compared next to some of the other recent Revolutionary War issues. It's clear that Harley is in a pretty bleak place, right now. In her original Marvel UK stories she was always the mouthy teenager who the world could never bring down. Always cheerful. Frequently very funny. I suppose in some kind of messed up way Motormouth was the nearest Marvel UK had to a Kitty Pryde figure in the imprint years. And while they are quite different characters, seeing the ever positive Harley Davis broken by the real world has a similar powerful effect to it as the X-Men trend of putting Kitty in peril. People sympathise with her. She's an easy character for the reader to connect with.

This is exactly the kind of contrast I'd been hoping we'd see in Revolutionary War - how the intervening years have effected our forgotten heroes. I really look forward to it.

In connection with Motormouth, this week's issue has also reminded former Marvel UK editor John Freeman of his time editing the character. He's been talking about it over at Down The Tubes. You should check that out.

This week see the launch of another new series at Marvel, with ties to the British side of universe. For all of you who read and enjoyed Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker's Avengers Arena series, you'll want to pick up the continuation of that story. The name has changed, but the creative team and the surviving cast (including former students from 'Braddock Academy') are all still here in the new series Avengers Undercover.

What's the premise this time?

Well, here's the solicit blurb:

WHEN TEEN HEROES INFILTRATE THE MASTERS OF EVIL, WHO WILL BREAK BAD?
Damaged by their experience in Murder World, five conflicted young superhumans go rogue and infiltrate the Masters of Evil, planning to bring the Avengers’ rivals down from within. But the longer the teens spend undercover, the more they descend into darkness, and as they start to build relationships with these multi-layered criminals, the line between good and evil blurs. What will happen first…joining the Masters for real, or getting exposed and killed? If you thought Murder World was dangerous, just wait until “Most Promising New Talent” Harvey award-winner Dennis Hopeless and acclaimed artist Kev Walker surround you with Evil!

Avengers Arena has been one of the rare gems of Marvel's recent history, which while some might only see tenuously connected to Marvel's Britain I've certainly enjoyed a lot.  The first run is a hard act to follow, but it's great to see the Hopeless/Walker pairing got to continue into a second run. They do great work together.

Both Revolutionary War: Motormouth and Avengers Undercover are out tomorrow - Wednesday 12th March.

Infinity: The Hunt and a few Bits & Bobs.

Hi folks,

Sorry that it's been a while since my last posts. Life has been getting in the way a bit.

But I thought I'd pop on this evening to tell you about a book that's coming out today (Wednesday 11th September) which may be of interest to long term Captain Britain and Marvel UK fans.

Marvel is back into Event Season again, right now. 'Infinity' kicked off a few weeks back, and while Captain Britain himself doesn't sound likely to be playing any part in it somebody close too him certainly seems to be.

This is the cover to Infinity: The Hunt #1, which came out today.

 

 

Take note of the blond at top left, wearing a suspiciously familiar green bodysuit...

 

Yes. That's Meggan Braddock (who does keep on getting booted back to that costume, doesn't she?). And if any further confirmation of it actually being Meggan were required you'll find it on page 1 of the Preview currently up at CBR.

 

 

 

 

 

And it's called the 'CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS'. Inspired by the 80s series of the same name.

 

Meggan's appearance here, alongside Wolverine (the Jean Grey School), Hank Pym (Avengers Academy) and She-Hulk (Future Foundation), is as a representative of Braddock Academy - the school for British teen heroes, which her and Captain Britain have been running of late.

 

Braddock Academy was first mentioned in the pages of Avengers Arena, in which several of its students have been kidnapped and pitted against each other by Arcade, in his new version of Murderworld. Another student, Magic Boots Mel, turned up the pages of an Age of Ultron tie-in issue of Avengers Assemble. This third appearance will no doubt showcase even more of the Academy's student body. Has to make you wonder if Marvel doesn't have some kind of long term plan for them.

 

Infinity: The Hunt is going to be a limited series of four issues. And while the Contest of Champions aspect is going to be the main focus it will apparently be disrupted by Thanos' grand plans for Earth, as detailed in the main Infinity series. The Solicit is as follows:

 

 

Written by Matt Kindt, art by Steven Sanders, cover by Slava Pasarin.

 

* Hank Pym, Wolverine, and She-Hulk bring the students of the Marvel Universe together to announce a new Contest of Champions!

* This Contest of Champions pits the super students of schools all over the Marvel U (including some you've never seen before) against each other.

* However, the Contest is interrupted when Thanos' forces descend on Earth. What do they have to do with the young heroes?

 

 

Matt Kindt I'm not so familiar with, but Steve Sanders you may remember from Kieron Gillen's S.W.O.R.D. ongoing series, a few years back. While it seems a little bit of an odd premise for a tie-in series (and I find myself trying to remember if Wolverine is still supposed to be on Earth in Infinity proper) it may prove quite interesting.

 

Infinity: The Hunt #1 is out today.

 

 

In other news I just thought that some of you might like to take a look over the following...

 

I'm often asked by readers of this blog, and visitors to the Captain Britain & MI13 thread on CBR's forums, as to where people might find a full list of books from the Marvel UK 90s imprint. Well over at Down the Tubes former Marvel UK editor John Freeman has been putting together a list of all the Imprint Years projects from Marvel UK - including a number of those which never quite made it put into print before the closure.

 

You can find the list here. It's pretty extensive, and includes a few interesting hints towards where Marvel UK might have gone had it not closed. For those of you looking to fill holes in your collection, but not knowing what you should be looking for, this may also come in very handy.



 

And finally, I've had another Blog post up over Weekly Geek Speak's website. This time a lengthy post on the subject of Crossovers. You can find that article here. So if you're inclined, drop in over there too.

 

Until next time.

 

Mark

(Sword)

A few snippets...

Hello, everybody.

Firstly, a quick note of apology. If all goes according to plan this post should go up live on Friday night (15th March), scheduled in advance. I myself will be spending a few unscheduled days without net access, ahead of an engineer arriving on Wednesday to deliver a fibre optic connection. Unfortunately I have not had a chance to schedule a Cover of the week, for this Sunday. This feature will therefore be taking a skip week. Many apologies. Blame my rubbish phone line...

In other news, some of you may have picked up Age of Ultron #2 this week. I will admit to not having done so myself, but I did see the image which Bleeding Cool pasted up on Wednesday, and one thing did grab my attention from Bryan Hitch's artwork:

Many familiar faces there, but one in particular gets a good positioning near the page join:

Yup. One Brian Braddock. But most interestingly NOT in his Alan Davis designed costume, which Rick Remender put him back into for Secret Avengers. That's the MI13 costume, which Hitch of course was involved in designing...

I did get a bit excited about that. A momentary hope that maybe, just maybe, another part of Remender's retrofit might get pushed aside. That we might have the more intelligent, mythos simplified, stand out hero version of Captain Britain back. 

Sadly, no. Bryan Hitch started work on Age of Ultron the better part of 2 years ago. The uncoloured image of that photo wall first turned up as preview art LAST year. It's from before Remender put him back in the classic duds... :(

But it was a bonus to see MI13 period Brian again, I suppose. We miss him.

So, I hope you've all been picking up Iron Man, Avenging Spider-man and Avengers Arena this month. Granted Death's Head has been very much a background presence so far in Iron Man, but his guest appearance in Avenging Spider-man #17 was inspired. What looked at the outset to be a cameo turned out to be a full appearance, complete with a visit from the Time Variance Authority, no less! 

I'm not going to spoil this week's Avengers Arena #6. But for a second issue running the Braddock Academy kids are the focus. A lot more development for Nara and Anachronism, this time. And one hell of an ending. If you've not been reading this book so far, you really have been missing out.

Speaking of which, did anybody happen to read the Jean Grey School Memo at the back of Wolverine & the X-Men #25? You might have missed the following:

Too right, they're missing... 

You'd have to credit the Braddock kids with having the advantage in that match, mind. We live and breath Football ('Soccer' for American readers) this side of the Atlantic. ;)

That's all for now.

See you when the network is restored... :)

Mark

So, looks like we're finally going to see Captain Britain in Avengers Arena.

So, it's coming. The first post Marvel NOW initiative appearance of Captain Britain. In the pages of Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker's Avengers Arena.

I've actually held off with posting about Avengers Arena up until now. It's a book which has upset a lot of readers from the outset. Fans of characters from Avengers Academy, The Runaways, Darkhawk, and that kid from the Sentinel series Marvel did a few years ago. 

Why? 

Because from its very concept Avengers Arena is not going to be good for their health. 

Anybody who's ever read Battle Royale (or seen the film adaptation of it) will find the very deliberate aesthetic rather familiar... 

Because it is. Intentionally so. The villain of the piece even tells you (thought not in quite so many words) that this is where he got the idea.

What villain, you say?

Well, the clue is in words 'Murder World' appearing on the cover to issue one. Who remembers a guy named Arcade? Old Captain Britain, Spider-man, and X-Men villain? Redheaded fella with a penchant for creating elaborate games designed to kill superheroes?

Him. 

He's had a run in with X-Factor in recent years, and a brief encounter with some of the Secret Avengers, but in his spare time it seems he's been somewhat ramping up his 'Murder World' concept. Gone are the giant pinball machines and Alice in Wonderland themed death contraptions... 

He's gotten himself his own personal Murder World Island.

An island in an undisclosed location, which he chosen to populate with teen heroes, kidnapped from around the Marvel Universe, who are then pitted in a game of survival. Against themselves. The one teen left alive will be allowed to live. But in order to get there they'll have to kill all of the others. Some comrades. Some strangers. Kind of brutal.

The kind of stuff which makes certain fanbases very angry (there have already been petitions).

But naturally, these are teen heroes we're talking about here. They're not likely to just capitulate to such requests to kill each other. Which is why Arcade has made it perfectly clear that anybody who protests, or refuses, will also die. By his very own hands. 

Which might initially seem an idle threat, or indeed a little beyond Arcade's usual MO. But then this happened at the end of issue one.

Yeah. It would seem Murder World is not the only thing to have received an upgrade...

But Arcade, and his new-found near omnipotence aside, why is this book of particular interest to this Blog? Well, because while the majority of teens on this Island (and Darkhawk, who is not a teen any longer) are established members of The Runaways (Chase and Nico), Avengers Academy (Reptil, Hazmat, Mettle and X-23), have been a sidekick for Drax the Destroyer (Cammi) or spent time operating hacked Sentinels (Juston) the series also introduces a new set of teen characters who started to be referred to by writer Dennis Hopeless in his early interviews for the book only as the students of 'Braddock Academy'. With no further context offered.

When poked by another poster over on Twitter, however, Dennis Hopeless stated that it was:

Which certainly guaranteed that I'd be on board for the duration.

So, it seems that holding on to old grudges of being beaten TWICE by Captain Britain, Arcade has decided to kidnap some of his new students. We've not seen a lot of them in the four issues of Avengers Arena so far, but here's who they are:

Nara: Described as '...an Atlantean with abandonment issues'. One of Namor the Submariner's people, but so far we know nothing more than that.

Cullen Bloodstone: '--Of the Monster Hunter Bloodstones'. Presumably that makes him the Son of Ulysses Bloodstone, and younger sibling of Elsa Bloodstone.

Anachronism: Whose real name is 'Aiden,' but has chosen that codename. He dresses very much like a junior version of 2000 AD's Slaine, and carries a HUGE axe around with him. He has apparently inherited '...the body of an immortal Celtic Warlord...'

Katy Bashir: Who pretty much sums herself up, above. She's principally a Flier.

And finally, the guy who's on the cover to issue 5:

Kid Briton: Who is an alternate universe, teenage, Captain Britain. Although, to what extent was not readily apparent.

Until now. 

I've been holding off posting about these guys since November, simply because I wasn't certain that they were ever going to be shown to be truly linked to Captain Britain or British Marvel. I had hoped, but a Twitter response is not the same as in-panel proof. Well, today Comic Book Resources have put up a preview of Avengers Arena #5 which now puts any question of the matter beyond doubt.

That certainly looks like it's Braddock Manor in the background. I have no idea what they are fighting there, but it's certainly Elsa Bloodstone, Spitfire, Meggan Braddock and Union Jack trying to contend with it. Which for me is all the link I need.

As for Kid Briton? Well, the preview not only features Captain Britain, but confirms that Kid Briton is also 'Brian Braddock'. A younger Brian Braddock from an alternate Earth. A guy OUR Brian Braddock feels has potential, but...

So, basically it's a bit like 'What if Captain Britain had all that power but was an impetuous ass-hat?' :) 

Kid Briton was 'pulled out' of his native dimension? Whether that was 'rescued from' or brought to ours for training, of course, remains to be seen. Only time will tell...

I was already on board with this book. I'm twice as on board now. 

But characters I have a vested interest in aside, it's actually been a really solid, character focussed book so far. Forget the controversy, it's actually really well put together. I cannot recommend it enough.

But if you need a British Marvel based incentive? Well, there ya go.. :)

Avengers Arena #5 is out next Wednesday (27th February).