Daredevils #4

"Killing Ground"
Published April 1983
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciller: Alan Davis
Inker: Alan Davis

What's Going On?
It's an all-out fight issue, as Captain Britain takes on Slaymaster.  Despite Captain Britain's personal force field and vast strength, Slaymaster is a far better fighter.  It takes all CapBrit has, and a tiny bit of help from his sister and her pal, to take out the villain.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- Captain Britain invites Betsy Braddock and her two remaining psychic friends to live with him at Braddock Manor.

- When Slaymaster is defeated, Vixen calls up Arcade to complain.  Apparently, Arcade was Slaymaster's trainer.  Arcade vows to finish Slaymaster's job, if only to settle a personal grudge against Captain Britain.

Writing!
I like that the issue begins with some bits of inner monologue, instead of the typical superhero fight banter.

I don't normally think of "fight choreographer" when I think of Alan Moore's strengths, but he's actually quite good.  He updates Slaymaster into a legitimate threat that, in his next appearance, will be a legitimate cause for excitement; despite Captain Britain's nigh-invulnerability and strength, Slaymaster is a capable opponent here.  I almost rolled my eyes when Slaymaster started his spiel about ninjas --- there isn't much more 80s and overused than ninjas, right? --- but his conclusion that his hand isn't much use, except for cutting, was pretty great.  In fact, the only misstep in the whole issue (and a subjective one, at that) was having Slaymaster and CapBrit face off within arm's reach, completely unprepared for battle, when they are in the middle of a knock-down, drag-out fight.

It sets up that great line about cutting, but why wouldn't you have them looking like they were ready to hit each other here?  It's such an odd choice that it had to come from the writer and not the artist.

Art!
Alan Davis is getting better with each issue.  The sketchiness from the previous issue is almost entirely gone.  Now, we are treated to some gorgeous and graceful-looking fight scenes!  Life is good.

Retrospectively Amusing:
- Alan Moore takes some time to ridicule superhero comic fans.  It won't be the last time.

The "Coming Soon" sign is a bit of an Easter Egg, too.  We'll be seeing Saturnyne and the Special Executive in the next issue.

- Either Captain Britain knows how to program the hologram of Braddock Manor so that select people can see the building for what it is, or he is going to have some confused roommates soon.

Worth Noting:
- Inspector Dai Thomas makes his return in this issue.  Apparently, he used to hate costumed heroes.  Given how friendly he was with Excalibur, I'm curious as to when that changed.

Daredevils #3

"...Thicker Than Water"
Published March 1983
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciller: Alan Davis
Inker: Alan Davis

What's Going On?
Captain Britain/Brian Braddock responds to a distress call from his sister, Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock, who is afraid for her life.  Betsy is a psychic working for the British government organization STRIKE; unfortunately, STRIKE has been corrupted at the highest levels, and the conspirators are killing psychics to cover their trail.  While Betsy is catching Brian up on current events, another of Betsy's psychic comrades is murdered.  Being a hero, Brian suits up and arrives at the scene as Captain Britain.  There, he meets the killer: Slaymaster!

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- It seems that the Vixen, lord of the underworld (or something like that), has taken over the British equivalent to SHIELD, STRIKE.  CapBrit mentions that he had crossed paths with Vixen's agents in the past, but never managed to get to the inner circle and meet/fight the man.  I'm going to go ahead and say that this Vixen will be a character operating in the shadows for a while.  Just a guess.

Writing!
It looks like Alan Moore is intent on revamping the Captain Britain universe; each issue has brought back a supporting character and/or villain from older CapBrit stories, and there is a lot of potential in what Moore has introduced (psychic secret agent sister, killer computer, multidimensional conspiracy, etc.).  That said, the reveal at the end of the issue that the mysterious killer is Slaymaster was a bit underwhelming for me.  It's not an awful reveal (although "I'm Slaymaster!" isn't the best bit of dialogue), but it is clearly intended to be awesome.  It's not.  Slaymaster has not been mentioned in this series yet, so casual readers don't know him, and even fans of the character haven't seen him in almost six years.  I'm sure Moore's update of the character will be a good one, but the build-up to the reveal could have done more.

Art!
It looks like Alan Davis is trying out some different things in this issue, and they don't all work well.  I thought the layout and clearness of the inked lines on this page was great:

I guess it's similar to Frank Miller's work on the bear scene in Wolverine Vol. 1 #1, but that doesn't make it less striking.  I'm a sucker for unusual action storyboarding, I guess.  Now look at this earlier page:

The background characters being sketchy is one thing, but Brian's head looks...unfinished.

The reveal of Slaymaster was visually interesting, but didn't quite work for me:

The panel layout is unusual, but works well for storytelling.  Having Slaymaster breaking multiple panels implies his importance, so that's good work, too.  And yet...is that the guy who is supposed to impress the reader?  His head and neck seem disproportionately large and that pose is not particularly threatening.  Still, subjectively "bad" Alan Davis art is still Alan Davis art; that is to say, even when it's bad, it's still pretty good.

Retroactively Amusing:
- One of Betsy's comrades refers to her as "Liz."  I was so used to Elizabeth Braddock being "Betsy" that it never even occurred to me that she could go by "Liz" instead.  Apparently, I'm an idiot.

- I always thought that Betsy Braddock had purple hair as a symptom of her mutant powers, like Polaris' green hair.  Apparently not; she dyes it, and has dyed it for over thirty years now.  Is this the only time any character has been confused by her hair?

- There is a villain called "The Vixen" and everyone seems to assume Vixen is a man.  I'm not an expert, but isn't "Vixen" an inherently feminine word?

- Slaymaster apparently values his anonymity enough to wear a disguise (that actually makes him stand out from a crowd, but whatever...), until he has the opportunity to show off his skills in public.  Then it's off with the mask, and time to announce his name to the crowd!

Worth Noting:
-While this is not the first appearance of Elizabeth Braddock, it is the first time she take recognizable shape.  Her trademark purple hair makes its debut here, and her interest in danger is hinted at.  The origin of her powers is not explained, and she has precognition in addition to her normal telepathy, but she is no longer the blonde-haired pilot that was introduced in Chris Claremont's original Captain Britain Vol. 1 run.

- Both Betsy and Slaymaster have difficulty recognizing Brian Braddock/Captain Britain because the character underwent a fairly major makeover at some point after Captain Britain Vol. 1.  He went from a slim, athletic type with side-parted hair to a hulking bruiser with a sculpted quaff.

- Slaymaster was a villain in Captain Britain Vol. 1, and he had a stupid costume that looked like a crappy Halloween version of Bullseye.  In his last appearance, he was presumed dead, having been eaten by sharks.  That is a sentence that I wish I had more opportunities to use.