Published March 1984
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciler: Alan Davis
Inker: Alan Davis
What's Going On?
It is finally time to confront Jim Jaspers, and it turns out that Captain Britain is sorely outmatched. It seems as though his only strategy is to punch things, and (being the reality warper that he is) Jaspers does not sit still for him. Instead, Jaspers plays with reality, making the Captain question where and who he is, until he leaves a battered Captain for dead.
- Continuing her effort to prepare Captain UK to do something worthwhile in the upcoming battle, Saturnyne has Captain UK take off her civilian clothes and don her Captain Britain Corps uniform.
- The Fury has finally caught up with Captain Britain again in the last panel of this issue
Writing!
Moore's entire run has been leading this, the resolution of the Jim Jaspers and Fury plots. Now that we're here, I find myself wondering what the hell is Captain Britain doing in this fight. This seems like a horrible mismatch, and not in a "the hero is the underdog" sort of way; this feels closer to Spider-Man vs. Galactus. I mean, come on...CapBrit is just trying to punch Jim Jaspers to death? That is as far as his planning got? Well, whatever. I am very curious to see if the resolution feels like forced bullshit or if it is satisfying. This issue did make me wonder exactly what made Merlin choose Captain Britain as his champion in this battle. Is the difference between CapBrit here and in the beginning of Moore's run just that he's going to try harder?
Art!
I liked the idea of the Captain tearing away Jasper's reality like paper. I think it would work better if Jaspers was an illusionist rather than a reality warper, but it's still a cool visual.
Retrospectively Amusing:
- The last time Courtney Ross made an appearance was in 1978 (Marvel Team-Up #65-66), and she was a plain-looking brunette at the time. It is interesting to see Alan Davis drawing her both off-model here and obviously not similar to Saturnyne. I'm assuming that she is supposed to be older in this scene --- that would explain the white hair --- but Brian does not look older, which is odd. As for Saturnyne, Alan Davis and Chris Claremont eventually reveal (in the pages of Excalibur) that Ross and Saturnyne are alternate reality doppelgangers; Davis is clearly not modeling Ross after Saturnyne here, so it's going to be interesting to see just when that plot started.
Worth Noting:
- Captain Britain has no qualms about killing Jim Jaspers. Unusual for a superhero at the time, and (as far as I can recall) not terribly typical of his character.
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