ICFD Cover of the Week - 5th May 2013

 

 

 



Well, firstly my apologies for the lack of the usual Cover piece last week. Work had to take a priority. But I'm back now, and as you can see I've decided this week to go with the cover to Dragon's Claw #1, from July 1988. Art by the brilliant Geoff Senior.

Dragon's Claws is a series which I feel I've kind of neglected somewhat on this blog. Along with Knights of Pendragon it really shouldn't be underestimated of just how important this series was in bringing about the early 90s Marvel UK imprint. It was more evidence that the British office was more than capable of producing well-written material outside of licensed properties from toy companies and kids cartoons. This was something else. Something original.

My reason for not having covered it more has nothing to do with the quality of the title. Not at all. It actually remains one of my favourite series, and one which I'm actually a little disappointed that we haven't seen revived in some fashion. The only reason I haven't, I guess, is that it exists in its own continuity. It wasn't a series which was part of the Marvel Universe. Which in many ways was actually it greatest strength.

For the uninitiated, Dragon's Claws was set in a theoretical future in which a global extreme sports competition, named 'The Game,' got out of control and became an all out war. The world's government, in an attempt to restore some kind of order, decide to set up an organisation by the name of N.U.R.S.E. (the National Union of Retired Sports Experts. Really.) who set about hiring former players in to try and police the fallout from the collapse of The Game itself.

And that's where Dragon comes in.

The guy in the pretty awesome green armour, above.

Dragon was THE star of The Game. His team was arguably the best. But he retired. Bought a farm. Settled down. But as so often happens in stories such as these he couldn't leave the past behind. When a former rival gang attacks his home he decided to accept that Government offer, become an agent, and get the team back together... :)

I love this first cover. There's a tendency in comics that whenever you do the cover for a new team book you always do the same thing. Full team line-up, front and centre, in a pose which frequently looks pretty unatural.

With Dragon's Claws #1 I see this cover like a rolling Sports News Channel feature. Action footage from The Game, with the tagline for the story, and overlays of other individuals involved. Perfect sports news feature. Style wise I actually think it's a far better match.

Panini collected Dragon's Claws back in 2008. I can honestly say that, even now, I do not know what the rules of The Game actually were. But damn it I want to. That Earth was given the Marvel Multiverse number of 'Earth 5555,' so while it's not part of Marvel mainstream continuity it is considered part of the larger whole. It could be visited again some day.

If only we still had an eXiles team up and running...

ICFD Cover of the Week - 21st April 2013

 

 

 

 

This week's cover is from Captain Britain (vol 1) #19 from February 1977. Art I *think* by Herb Trimpe.

I love the pure melodrama of this cover.

This comes from the same 'Two Captains' crossover story which brought us the kidnap of Jim Callahan . You know I'm always surprised that the Red Skull hasn't been used as a Captain Britain (and affiliate) foe more often. He's always been a Captain America foe, and I can quite understand that. But ideologically while clearly America was an adversary for Nazi Germany I would have thought that Great Britain would be the bigger thorn in Hitler's side.

The largest European nation to say 'No' to that regime. 'No' to any alliance. 'No' to being invaded. A Country which survived nightly bombing raids, and could nt be taken down.

Sure, it's an American led comics industry. I know. As I am frequently reminded (seemingly even by the writers, these days) we are often no longer considered more than a footnote in American comics. But I still remain surprised thast more stories haven't chosen to take advantage of that.

ICFD Cover of the week - 14 April 2013

 

 

 



This week's cover is that of The Knights of Pendragon (vol 1) #4 from October 1991. Art by Alan Davis.

People in packing crates, eh? Dai Thomas makes an unnerving discovery about Omicorp's operations in foreign climes...

Davis was responsible for the first five covers for Knights of Pendragon, each of which were pretty striking, and also used as adverts in other Marvel UK titles of the day, for the most part as uncoloured artwork.

Knights of Pendragon was a brave project, in many regards. I mean aside from the use of Captain Britain (Who by no means plays as large a part as some covers might suggest) the cast of the series was primarily bigger names' supporting characters and characters created purely for this book. The first few issues, in fact, are pretty much Dai Thomas working on his own, and even as a familliar character to Captain Britain and Excalibur readers he was hardly what you might call a big name, by any means.

But that's not what Knights of Pendragon was about. It wasn't a traditional Superhero book. It had roots in folklore, myth and legend, obviously, but it was also a little bit high concept. This notion that across the centuries, whenever the land is truly, catastrophically, threatened, a primal force rises up to make Champions of ordinary men and women, is in some ways a quite traditional Fantasy concept. Yet at the same time, the modern world setting, and the issues it also explores (of environmental concerns and multinational corporations) are really rather cleverly and sensitively done. This was far more than the standard 'Caped Good Guy fights Nefarious Villain' story, that was for sure.

I love this cover because rather than being that of a standard superhero comic (with the traditional poses and framing thereof) this looks far more like that of a pulp crime novel, set in somewhere exotic. Which was very much the tone of Knights of Pendragon at this point. The less said about how the second volume turned out, the better, arguably. But the first run remains an absolute classic, in my book. And a concept which it still surpises me that Marvel haven't tried to revive somewhere in the past 20 years.

ICFD Cover of the week - 07 April 2013



This week's cover is going back to the 70s to the very first issue of Super Spider-man & Captain Britain.

Yeah, I know it *says* No. 231, but that's because it continued the numbering of Marvel UK's previous Spider-man reprint title.

This actually might have been my very first contact with the character of Captain Britain. As a kid, growing up with Teachers for parents, I got forced around a *lot* of School Jumble Sales. Sometimes that meant long days hanging around as my parents helped set up and take down said events, but the boon of a long day would be the chance to pick through old comics and annuals, at the sale itself. These usually pretty battered and faded old books were my first exposure to Marvel Comics as actual Comics. I mean I knew who Spider-man was, much like how I knew who Batman was, or Superman, or The Hulk, through coming in contact with them via cartoons and film. But these were the first times I'd actually gotten my hands on physical comics, themselves.

After having acquired a handful of Super Spider-man Comics at a previous Jumble Sale, I was looking for more at the next. I gathered up pretty much anything which bore the 'Super Spider-man' name, and upon getting home and thumbing through them I found this very issue.

Who the HELL was 'Captain Britain'?

A question I've been answering ever since...

I'll be honest, as a single issue it was not the greatest ever Captain Britain introduction. This issue continued directly on from the final issue of Captain Britain's own solo title, which I had obviously not been reading. The Queen was being mind controlled into authorising an attack on an African country by a guy rather imaginitively named "The Manipulator" and his evil Henchman The Highwayman.

Not exactly your 'classic' Marvel Supervillains.

But it was set in Britain, London to be precise, and that connected with young me instantly. I'd been to London. We had cousins down there.

I think the Spidey story in this issue featured Kraven the Hunter, if i recall rightly. Which was a bit more mainstream. And I'd picked up issues with The Scorpion and The Punisher too. But frankly, back then, the simple fact that I held a Marvel comic in my hands was enough to blow my tiny little mind. ;)

I believe this cover was drawn by Ron Wilson, from online searching. Sadly, this was another book which magically disappeared from my possession at some point in my childhood. Probably back to a Jumble Sale, once more. But it remains an issue which started a fascination with a pairing we so infrequently now actually SEE in comics.

To British readers in the late 70s the pairing of Captain Britain and Spider-man was a given, due to this very title, and the Marvel Team-Up between the two by Claremont and Byrne. Heck, many folks don't even recall that Brian was (Albeit a little briefly) Peter Parker's college room mate. Now it's just another connection increasingly left unexploited by modern writers. When the two appeared together in a recent issue of Secret Avengers there didn't really seem to be any acknowledgement of familliarity between the two. And this was *before* the recent changes in Superior Spider-man.

A wasted opportunity in my opinion.

ICFD Cover of the week - 31st March 2013

This week's cover is a little bit like cheating...

As it's from an issue which hasn't technically come out yet.

For those of you who have been reading Kieron Gillen's Iron Man series, you will know that Death's Head has been making some quiet guest appearances. This resulted in the final panel of the last issue, looking a little like this:

Yup. A 30 foot tall Death's Head and Tony Stark in a Gladiatorial Arena, on an alien planet, with a battle about to begin. 

You see, back in the summer Iron man played an important part in allowing the Avengers and X-Men to destroy The Phoenix. Well... it had to be done. There was global peril, and... stuff.

Still, not everybody was happy about that. Like The Voldi. An alien race which just happened to worship The Phoenix as their God. They're really not happy about it. And as Tony Stark decided to start going out into space (He is now a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, believe it or not), and had the misfortune to encounter The Voldi, he was arrested and tried for Murder.

His 'get out' was to invoke the rite of "Shay-Tah Run," a trial by combat. Which he thought would put him at an advantage. Until The Voldi chose a certain 30 foot tall time-travelling Bounty Hunter to represent them... 

Which leads us to this week's cover...

Which, frankly, is a little work of genius. 

And, yes, rabid fanboys. Calm down. It's by Greg Land. And I care not for your complaints of lightbox tracing. This is brilliant. And a brilliant Cover always remains a brilliant Cover, regardless of your other thoughts on an artist. 

The current Death's Head mini-resurgence may prove to be little more  than a blip in the long term, but I'm loving it while it lasts.

Iron Man #8 is out on the 17th April. 

ICFD Cover of the Week - 24th March 2013

And... we're back.

The broadband has been restored.

I ended up without an actual phone line after they 'fixed' the broadband,  but this is not the place for petty recriminations. This is the place for covers. And this week I'm going with the following little entry, from only last year...

The cover for The Ultimates (vol 4? I lose track...) #6, with art by Kaare Andrews.

And yes, it was only last year. At the time this issue came out I was convalescing after surgery, and wasn't quite up to posting about it. I was so damned excited about the Ultimate universe's Jamie Braddock becoming the new Captain Britain. But when it was revealed that he was taking on the mantle because that universe's Brian Braddock was dying of cancer, it was a little bit too near the nose for me to talk about, at that time. 

Current Avengers head honcho Jonathan Hickman was the writer of that Ultimates relaunch, at the time, and while the Captain doesn't appear to be in his mainstream Marvel plans he's shown quite a bit of interest in the Braddocks in his Ultimate work, with Brian and Professor James Braddock previous having featured in his Ultimate Comics: Thor mini. That series alone handled magic and mythology so well, in modern and believable setting, that I really hope he does write a mainstream Captain Britain story some day.

Hickman introduced ultimate Jamie Braddock, and the new European Union's 'Excalibur Class' Super-Human program at the start of this volume. Jamie was very much a front an centre member of Hickman's Avengers, enough to get himself on this cover, clearly. It's a really nice piece, showing the always suave older Braddock sibling actually making something of his life. I was so, SO hoping this would be the beginning of a sustained tenure of a Captain Britain featuring in a prominent Marvel team book.

Sadly, not to be...

Hickman's Ultimates tenure did not even last a full year before he was moved on to other larger projects at Marvel. His Ultimates run was very much a return to the roots of the Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch vision of the team, as a much more international organisation, with stories taking place across the entire globe. He was quietly replaced on the book by Sam Humphries, whose vision of the team was far more focussed on being a US only team, dealing with an America which was literally falling apart, State by State. While it's not been a bad run per se, obviously it's a very different tone and vision. One which I'm far less interested in personally. And sadly one which Jamie Braddock is not part of.

Both Jamie and Ultimate Spider-woman (The female Peter Parker clone) were the only heroes at home when the US SWAT teams broke into the Triskelion and tried to reclaim control of The Ultimates program. Both were taken by surprise, and subsequently taken down. But while we've seen Spider-woman back in action since Ultimate Jamie remains MIA.

So much as this is cover of the week I guess it's also somewhat of plea to see Jamie return, also. Because I see Hickman's concept as the exact kind of thing which the Ultimate universe does which only it can do. Mainstream Marvel's Jamie Braddock became mentally unhinged, unable to truly accept the world around him as reality, and (thanks to Rick Remender) dead. In the Ultimate universe Jamie never got involved with any of the unsavoury pursuits which led to his brother disowning him, and leaving him to be driven made by an African warlord. The Ultimate universe's strength, to me, is in its ability to play 'What if...?' in an ongoing and sustained fashion. While it often has characters who bear the identity of all the heroes in mainstream Marvel, that doesn't mean they have to be the same individuals underneath the mask.

Just ask the current Utimate Spider-man, for example.

Having the other Braddock brother become Captain Britain is a concept with real potential. One which somebody really needs to run with, instead of mothballing.

Here's hoping we eventually get to see his return.

ICFD Cover of the Week - 10th March 2013

This week's cover is the cover to The Sensational She-Hulk (Vol 2) #24, from February 1991. 

Art by Bryan Hitch.

Yes,  two weeks running for Bryan Hitch. But two very different covers. Given that Death's Head has made guest appearances in two Marvel books this month I thought I'd dig out a Death's Head guest appearance from yesteryear...

The issue was drawn by Hitch and written by fellow Marvel UK alumni Simon Furman.

And yes, the story genuinely is about an antique vase. And yes, She-Hulk and Death's Head genuinely do  tussle over it. With quite a toll of villains also in the mix.

While DH's US guest appearances were somewhat limited in number this issue holds a similar charm to me as the Motormouth & Killpower Hulk story does. It's a character I loved reading finding a new audience, across the Atlantic. Plus it doesn't take itself too seriously. This, for me, is Death's Head's strength as a character. He could turn up at any place, any time. Something I'm always glad to see writers take advantage of. 

ICFD Cover of the Week - 3rd March 2013

This week's cover is that of Dark Angel #9, from April 1993. Art by Bryan Hitch.

I absolutely love this cover. If you ever needed one specific image which truly encapsulated the character of Dark Angel then this is pretty much it. So much in fact that I've met quite a few people over the years who through the mists of nostalgia have this cover in their heads as being that of the first issue of her title. It was not. The title was actually called "Hell's Angel" for its first 5 issues, (something which was changed after threats of legal action from a certain motorcycle organisation which some of you might have heard of... :) ), and the book's first issue cover arguably focussed more on the X-Men guest starring than on Shevaun Haldane herself....

It was the 90s. The X-Men were everywhere...

I love the energy pulses on this cover. I love the use of colour and the way that all this energy is just flowing out so joyfully from Dark Angel. In panel Shevaun was always a little severe. Not without good reason, of course. She always had a lot to contend with. Very little downtime, very little chance for the reader to see this kind of side to her. Here, presumably either in the night sky or out in space itself, she's just letting herself go for a change. No MYS-TECH. No Anti-Being. Just enjoying the use of her powers and seeing what she can do.

Bryan Hitch has always been an artist who goes into an hugely rewarding amount of detail in the backgrounds of his work. This cover is no exception. Much as though I love the use of colours I would love to see the original black and white inked version of this cover. The detail is incredible, and it would be great to see that detail as originally conceived. 

As I've said many a time before I really wish we'd seen Dark Angel make an appearance while Abnett and Lanning were running Marvel's cosmic line a few years back. It was brilliant to see her having made a brief cameo at the end of Captain Britain and MI13, but in terms of a proper comeback I think that probably would have been her best bet. Because while Marvel Cosmic is getting somewhat of a high profile relaunch this year, through Brian Michael Bendis' Guardians of the Galaxy relaunch and Jeph Loeb's integration of the kids cartoon version of Nova in to the Marvel Universe proper, I honestly doubt that Shevaun Haldane is on either of their radars, even at a distant background level.

A great shame. Dark Angel remains a favourite character of mine (obscure though she may be) and while her origins may be tied a little tightly with MYS-TECH and Mephisto it would not take an awful lot to reintroduce her to new readers as a likeable cosmic level character. Just as long as they kept her in that costume. Was never really a fan of the revamp.

ICFD Cover of the Week - 24th February 2013

For this week's cover I have to admit to cheating a little bit...

How?

Well this week's cover was never actually published. At least not in print form. But don't let that put you off, because it actually is readily available online.

Right back when I started this Blog (Ouch! Was that really 2007?) my first entry proper was a piece on a wonderful little series which, while advertised, never saw print before Marvel UK was closed.

Loose Cannons was a fully painted spin-off series from Marvel UK's Warheads - the book about the heavily armed dimension hopping units of the same name, who traversed Marvel's multiverse in order to claim artefacts and technology for the Mys-Tech corporation. 

The Warheads program comprised of a number of different troops sent out to secure different objectives, and explore different universes, each mostly named after the different 'emanations of God' from the Kabbalah. The main Warheads series principally focussed on, 'Kether Troop,' was fronted by Col. Tigon Liger - A grisly old action hero with half his face torn off. courtesy of Wolverine.

Loose Cannons was to introduce a new, all-female, faction by the name of 'Virago Troop,' fronted by Bodicea 'Bo' Kildare (front and centre), leading this new troop on similar kinds of missions. As the cover here shows (and I'm sure this won't exactly shock you, for a Dan Abnett Marvel UK book of this period) Death's Head II makes an appearance. As do a number of other familiar Marvel UK faces, from the logical periphery characters or the Warheads and the Mys-Tech board, to appearances from Evelyn Necker and Dark Angel. But what perhaps pleased me the most was that from the outset we had a further interaction with the cosmic elements of the greater Marvel Universe. The first issue opens with an encounter with the Shi'Ar, for example.

I love the artwork throughout this series, as with Harrison's work on a number of Overkill covers from the early 90s. It gives these characters a wonderfully three dimensional feel to them, in a way that regular comic book art of the period didn't. Back in the early 90s Marvel US was still very much a four colour world, barely even embracing airbrushing in its colouring. Yet here in Britain fully painted artwork wasn't exactly uncommon, and not just on cover work for that matter. It just seemed that we were streets ahead of our cousins across the Atlantic. Seeing explosions, or lightning, rendered like on the cover above was like associating in a totally different world.

The pairing of Mark Harrison's artwork with Dan Abnett writing will be greatly familiar to readers of 2000 AD, of course. The pair had quite notable success working on Durham Red, using a similar aesthetic. This series actually pre-dates that. Arguably it was probably the running of those Loose Cannons adverts in Marvel UK books which in part helped Harrison get work at 2000 AD. And we're damned glad he did. 

So, yes, unpublished in print. However, still readily available for viewing online. It's been a few years since I posted a link to it, but back in 2005 Mark Harrison posted a version of the complete 4 issue series online. The final 10 pages of issue 4 exist as storyboards, as the art was never completed before the axe fell. But they're perfectly readable, and I'd certainly recommend checking them out.

The series can be found here: www.2000ad.org/markus/loosecannons

ICFD Cover of the Week - 17th February 2013

This week's cover comes from Transformers #117, from June 1987. Art by Geoff Senior.

An awesome cover. Although, somewhat misleading too. In reality Rodimus Prime and Galvatron actually only appear in the issue in flashback form. But Transformers issue featuring Death's Head were always the best. In this one he gets to spend most of the issue drinking in some intergalactic bar, whilst deciding to take on the Bounty placed on Galvatron's head. 

Which of course was a bit of a waste of time, as he'd actually fleed to the past, a while earlier. Well, to 1987, anyway. Which while 'present day' for the reader was the past for Death's Head, as he originated from the timeline of Transformers: The Movie, which was set in the far, far future (snigger) of 2005...

Confusing, yes. But the cause and effect nature of the time travel stories in the UK Transformers were honestly what kept me reading those books as a kid, long after I'd ceased to much care about the toy line, or the frankly sporadic fashion in which we ever got to see the post-Movie cartoons in Britain. 

Always loved the house style of the comics, too. And their creative uses of the Letters Pages.

ICFD Cover of the Week - 10th February 2013

Captain Britain vol 1 #23 (March 1977)

This week's cover takes us back to the 70s, and to the middle of the big 'Two Captains' storyline from the first run of Captain Britain.

That's one hell of a dramatic cover there. Captains Britain and America up in front of a Nazi firing squad, as The Red Skull tries to seize control of Britain and turn it into some kind of modern day Nazi superstate.

But that's actually not the most interesting thing about this cover. Awesome though it is to see Brian Braddock and Steve Rogers teaming up it's actually the figure of the man between the two of them that's of most interest.

Who is that? Why none other than (at the time, obviously) British Prime Minister James Callaghan!

I kid you not. A central part of The Red Skull's plot was the kidnapping of Jim Callaghan, and threatening to execute him unless the British Government handed him the reigns of power.

While it has always been Marvel's aim to set their comics in a plausible mirror version of the real world it still remains relatively rare to see real world political figures showing up in their comics. Remember all the fuss the other year over President Obama showing up in Amazing Spider-man? Well, forget that! Marvel UK were doing that kinda stuff a good thirty years before that issue was even conceived.

So, if you were under the impression that former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown showing up in Captain Britain & MI13 was a first, actually, you were wrong. Impressive though that was, he wasn't even the first Labour Prime Minister to appear in a Marvel comic.

And don't worry. Funilly enough, he does survive.)

I know! SPOILERS! All the way from 1977. :)

Artwork by Herb Trimpe

ICFD Cover of the Week - 3rd February 2013

The Incredible Hulk #409 - September 1993.

What more do I need to say? Pair Gary Frank's art with Peter David writing, and frankly how can you go wrong? An issue which brings you a Hulk vs Killpower face-off, a smattering of bad language, a ridiculous villain, and his threatening to drop a kidnapped Prince Charles off the top of Big Ben.

No. Really.

It makes me miss Motormouth & Killpower just picking it up.

These two are one of the few Marvel UK properties to actually get used in a US book of this period. And while I'm sure Gary Frank played a fair part in this happening (Being the Motormouth & Killpower artist)  it's still great to see.

ICFD Cover of the Week - 27th January 2013

This week's Cover of the week is from Captain Britain (Vol. 2) #10, from October of 1985. Art by Alan Davis.

I apologise for the somewhat grainy quality of the image. I have had to go searching online for this one, as sadly this is a comic which went 'missing' from my collection at some point during the 1990s, most probably having ended up junked of jumble saled by well-meaning parents. By that point I wasn't too upset, as I had the coloured version of the story inside collected in the 'Before Excalibur...' paperback. Although on reflection I might have to go about tracking down a copy at some point.

I've actually returned to this cover after having recently been revisiting Warren Ellis' Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis series from a couple of years back, which despite being an X-Men series very much goes back to the concepts laid out in this Captain Britain story.

The cover shows the Captain in this weird face paint version of his costume, fighting a Crocodile, which is part of a pretty messed up hallucinogenic dream sequence. Behind them we see the scarred and scaled face of Joshua N'Dingi - 'Doctor Crocodile' - former member of the RCX and also the man responsible for said sequence. On the left hand side his more human face, on the right the cybernetics which saved his life.

I remember this issue for one quite specific reason.

It was a bit messed up. :)

Granted, probably not by today's standards. But when I first read this story, as a much younger kid, it bothered me. I really wasn't old enough to fully understand some of the themes in play, but I was certainly able to grasp that there was something dark and vaguely adult here which made me uncomfortable. Something I'd also experienced with odd issues of Eagle or 2000 AD, at that time. Rereading it in my teens of course that was exactly the same thing which interested me, but you know how that goes...

Basically, in this issue, Brian has received a phone call telling him that his older brother, Jamie, is being held captive by a local Warlord in the African nation of Mbangawi. But all is not what it seems. Upon arrival the Captain is gassed, and sent hurtling into a greatly disturbing hallucinatory vision quest, led by a disturbing Dr Seuss style ape creature. Seemingly naked, with a likeness of his costume painted on, he runs from giant elephants, wrestles crocodiles and chases this ape creature, whose narration reveals details of Jamie Braddock's involvement with all manner of unsavoury pursuits from sex trafficking to the slave trade...

It's pretty dark, all in all. 

And then, faced with the facts and being a Superhero, Captain Britain beats down his Brother's captor and chooses to turn Jamie over to the authorities, right?

Well, actually, no. He's so disgusted with Jamie that he sides with the guy whose supposed to be the 'bad guy' and leaves his own brother to a life of hallucinatory torment.

The end.

Pretty unsettling stuff, no? It certainly blew my young mind at the time. It definitely was not the kind of thing which I had come to expect from Marvel's American stories. It was all pretty heavy, and for years I actually found myself trying to rewrite my own 'headcanon' of events, it had bothered me so much. But it also guaranteed that I have returned to this issue a number of times.

The fallout of this issue was later explored during Claremont and Davis' run on Excalibur. For me it's an incredibly important issue, both in terms of understanding Brian and also understanding the Braddock Family dynamic. Much as though a number of writers have tried to portray Brian as a 'perfect superhero' with impeccable, faultless moral values, it's honestly not true. Sometimes he does make harsh decisions. Sometimes he sides with the guy you are supposed to think of as the 'bad guy'. There's always very definite and strong sense of logic behind it, and his decision is ultimately justifiable in the grand scheme of thing. That doesn't mean that it always has to be 'nice,' however... :)

Either way, this is a cover which will always evoke a strong memory for me. Long after I actually still possessed a physical copy of the issue itself.

ICFD Cover of the Week - 20th January 2013

This week's cover is the slightly time worn cover to my copy of The Mighty World of Marvel (Vol2) #7, from December of 1983.

Creases, scuffs and all...

Yeah, I did debate removing those while touching up the contrast levels, but opted not to in the end. I like to think it gives it character. :)

The Mighty World of Marvel (As a British publication) first ran from 1972 to 1977, before changing its name to 'Marvel Comic,' and later 'Marvel Superheroes'. It was an anthology title, in the British tradition of such, which reprinted US material featuring mainstays like Spider-man, The Hulk, The Avengers and X-Men to rotating in runs of Nick Fury, Tomb of Dracula and even Planet of the Apes reprints later in its life.

This second volume began in 1983, primarily as an opportunity to reprint a number of specific US limited series. Sadly, it actually only lasted 17 issues, but reprinted early 80s runs of things like Vision and Scarlet Witch, Cloak and Dagger and in this case the justly classic Chris Claremont and Frank Miller Wolverine limited series from 1982.

I usually use this feature to display original UK cover artwork, which readers outside of Britain and Ireland may not have seen before. But this week I decided it might be interesting to showcase how US art was sometimes incorporated into the covers of UK reprints. At its base this is Miller's cover to Wolverine #3, with the image moved the bottom right of the cover, allowing space to add info on the other strips included to the left side of the cover.

The Alan Davis Captain Britain panel has then been added to the cover, along with a brief list of other content. Oddly Miller's image goes uncredited.

MWOM #7 has a couple of landmarks moments of its own though.

For one, you'll notice the 'Featuring The Daredevils' tag under the logo. The Daredevils was a Marvel UK anthology title which ran from January 1983 until November of the same year. It was designed to be more of a 'mature readers' title, reprinting slightly more sophisticated and pulpy material such as Frank Miller's Daredevil, Alan Moore's Night Raven text stories, and a few select Spider-man tales. It was also the home Alan Moore and Alan Davis' Captain Britain stories...

The Daredevils folded with #11, and became part of The Mighty World of Marvel with this very issue. Ironically, the only character who truly didn't survive this transition was Daredevil himself. :)

The second part of Jamie Delano's Night Raven text story 'Quiet Town' appears in MWOM #7, but the other landmark this issue supplies is through its Captain Britain strip. Remember, this was the first outing for these Alan Moore and Alan Davis stories, in their original black and white format. When The Daredevils was cancelled their Jaspers Warp storyline was well underway. This issue's strip, 'The Candlelight Dialogues,' is set in a concentration camp in Sir James Jaspers' newly created anti-superhuman world, and it actually serves as a pretty solid introduction for new readers to Captain Britain. But it's the campfire framing of the story which is of particular note. And the introduction of a certain chain-smoking teenager.

That winged girl (On the left in that final panel) is none other than Meggan Puceanu (Later 'Braddock' through marriage) in her very first Marvel Comics appearance. Sure, she doesn't look a lot like she does these days, in this early formative stage, but that's her. A Moore/Davis creation, yet to truly take shape.

If you actually find an issue or two of Mighty World of Marvel knocking around, it's well worth holding onto them. Granted, I had to adjust the contrast a lot to take the yellow out of that page I scanned, but the sturdy card stock covers have weathered an awful lot better than much of my older Marvel UK comics. The coloured pages from the Claremont/Wolverine stories also look pretty nice in that larger UK page size ratio.

ICFD Cover of the Week - 13th January 2013

Thundercats #128 - 29th December 1990

If you thought the Pair of Socks you got for Christmas was the suckiest gift possible, or that truly astounding Festive Jumper, take heart. You could have received Snarf.

The tiny furry %#$@.

Worst. Present. Ever.

ICFD Cover of the Week - 6th January 2013

This week's cover is from Action Force #27 (September 1987). 

For the benefit of my non-UK readers, Action Force is probably better known to you guys as G.I. Joe. 

Although that's really not the full story... 

Action Force actually began its life as a spin-off toy line from Action Man, both manufactured by Palitoy. The idea was to produce a line of much smaller figures (In terms of physical size) using a similar formula to the Action Man line, and based very much on historical military styles. Ironically, this smaller line of figures fast proved much more profitable that Action Man itself, and really took off far more in its own right.  

Palitoy were bought out by Hasbro in 1984, who having purchased all the Palitoy moulds then began incorporating their own G.I. Joe figures into the UK Action Force line. The logo, as seen above, began to mirror that of G.I. Joe to match this. Eventually, inevitably, Hasbro opted to re-brand the whole lot under the name "G.I. Joe" in UK as well. Thus confusing the hell out of a whole generation of British kids, for whom the term 'G.I.' meant absolutely nothing at all.

Why this cover? Well, let me get to that...

Last summer Marvel Comics in the US did a huge crossover event called 'Avengers vs X-Men'. A lot of long time comics readers were pretty cynical and dismissive over the concept, from the off. The same old complaints rattled around forums online... "What is the point of one set of heroes fighting another set of heroes?" They weren't interested. I can understand the argument, but I couldn't help but think folks were kind of missing the point...

While those comics readers of my generation were dismissive of the whole thing themselves, they were finding a very different response to A vs X coming from their children. The kids didn't care that it was Heroes fighting Heroes. They weren't thinking in terms of higher concepts, ethics or 'what it meant to be a hero'. All they cared about was that it was Avengers AND X-Men, in a book TOGETHER. Forget logic, they were just excited because it was a crossover featuring BOTH. AT THE SAME TIME.

And for them it didn't get much more awesome than that.

When I was hearing such anecdotes during the summer, it immediately reminded me of another crossover from my own childhood, and through that to this very cover.

Back the 1980s Marvel UK owned the comics rights to both Action Force and Hasbro's other big seller, Transformers. Growing up, there were even cliques in the playground formed around which you were a fan of (And not everybody would accept 'both' as an option). The idea of a comics crossover featuring Transformers AND Action Force was pretty much enough to blow our tiny minds...

But that is exactly what happened in 1987. 'Ancient Relics' was the name of that crossover story, and to my mind this was the iconic Cover of that event. Granted the Transformer in the background, Blades, was hardly what you would call a Big Player in the Transformers world. But that wasn't the point. It was Flint, Scarlett and Wild Bill standing in front of sodding giant robot. Look at the SCALE! Things are ON FIRE! And they're all in THE SAME WORLD!!!

You can debate the creative merit of such a story all you like, but here too I think that's kind of missing the point. This was a story designed to showcase the two biggest brands of the day. And for a child of the 1980s it really didn't get much better than that...

ICFD Cover of the Week - 30th Dec 2012

Transformers (Marvel UK) #188 (Oct 1988)

Art by Jeff Anderson

ICFD Cover of the Week - 23rd December 2012

Well, what else would be appropriate...?

Captain Britain vol 2 #14

ICFD Cover of the week - 16th December 2012

Transformers (Marvel UK) #230 (Aug 1989)

Art by Andrew Wildman

ICFD Cover of the Week - 7th April 2009

Yeah, it seems like a lifetime since I last did one of these...

This week's (Laugh all you like) cover features Motormouth, in honour of her recent return to Comics in the pages of Captain Britain & MI13, and is from Overkill #5 running back all the way to June 1992.


The cover art was done by Simon Coleby. Simon is currently doing the artwork on Wildstorm's The Authority, with fellow Marvel UKers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Back in the early 90s, though, he was doing artwork spells on Warheads, Death's Head II, and did the link artwork for The Incomplete Death's Head which I was talking about not so long ago.

I'm not sure if anybody else drew Motormouth with that pony tail, now that I think about it. But it's certainly an interesting take on the character. And with a focus on those MOPED boots - very useful dimension hopping footwear that they were.

Currently, as readers of the last CB&MI13 issue will know, Harley's been hospitalised, and her partner Killpower is now imprisoned by Dracula.

Which leads us to that time of the month again. No, crass jokes, please. You know what I mean.

Tomorrow is CAP WEDNESDAY.

Wednesday 8th of April (Or Thursday 9th in the UK) is when you can get your hands on a copy of Captain Britain & MI13 #12. I can't guarantee Motormouth and Killpower are in it, but it CAN guarantee it will be good. So hunt it down.

As has become tradition, you can also acquire the latest animated forum banner I've done:


here: http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/8799/issuetwelvefinal.gif

Sorry, not had time to do a proper preview of the image this month. Things have been a little bit mental.

But before I go, I'd suggest all Death's Head II fans, if you are not already, try to track down a copy of Nova #23. The ongoing story of Evelyn Necker takes an interesting twist this issue, which readers of DHII will find eerily familiar...

Right, I'm off to get some shut-eye now.

Speak soon

Mark
(Sword)