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.

Daredevils #2

"An Englishman's Home..."
Published: February 1983
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciller: Alan Davis
Inker: Alan Davis

What's Going On?
Having survived (he thinks) his ordeal on the alternate Earth, Captain Britain returns home to the ruins of Braddock Manor, which was destroyed some time ago during a team-up with Captain America (Captain Britain Vol. 1 #18).  Or was it?  While the average Joe sees nothing but rubble, CapBrit sees the mansion unblemished.  He enters and is greeted briefly by his family's housemaid, and then by scenes from his past; the kicker seems to be the skeletons of his parents asking him to join them in death.  All he has to do is allow his old enemy, Mastermind, to kill him.  That's when CapBrit remembers that Mastermind is a hologram controlled by the computers in Braddock Manor's basement --- and holograms would explain all the crazy things he has seen since returning home!  The Captain then figures out how to shut down the computer (which is basically sentient and has developed a way to self-replicate and grow vast enough to cover an entire cavern), thus saving the day.

Sub-plots, oh the Sub-plots!
- There was an offhanded remark by Merlin last issue, where he mentioned that he might not have put Captain Britain's mind back together in the right order; the Captain may very well be insane.  As Merlin and Roma observe the Captain's actions from afar, he once again mentions the possibility of insanity.  I'm guessing that this issue marks the end of this brief subplot, since it acts as a red herring for the true villain.

- Apparently, the Fury is not satisfied with killing Captain Britain.  Despite seeing the smoldering husk of the Captain at its feet, the Fury's animal instinct tells it that the Captain has survived.  That might be a problem later.

- A mysterious woman with super-strength has a panic attack that roughly coincides with Captain Britain's death.  While she isn't mentioned by name, she seems to have felt the Captain's death and is afraid something (the Fury?) will come after her soon.

- CapBrit is the only person able to see through the hologram of Braddock Manor as rubble, and he is able to "sense" where the computer's core is.  His reaction is "It's almost as if my senses have been enhanced somehow.  But by who?"  That would be Merlin and Roma, sir.

- Captain Britain has a ridiculously futuristic supercomputer in his basement that has murdered his parents and tried to kill him.  Naturally, he knows enough about computers to reprogram this nearly sentient device so he can "put it to work for [him]."  That seems like a good idea.

Writing!
It was an interesting choice for Alan Moore to retcon the destruction of Braddock Manor.  At that point, the mansion had been destroyed for about six years; reestablishing it as Captain Britain's base of operations feels like a step back.  I suppose you can describe it as back-to-basics, but that's never been Alan Moore's thing.

Art!
This is basically a psychological drama issue, so there's not a lot of action inherent in the plot.  Luckily, Alan Davis can tell a story that doesn't require uppercuts.  Honestly, I think his strength is in facial expressions.  A personal favorite moment is when he pulls out his "I'm under mind control" googly eyes.

I'm not quite sure if I like Davis inking his own work, though.  There is a sketchiness to the finished product here that doesn't do his work justice.

Retrospectively Funny:
- As a reader of the X-titles, I knew that there were several villains named Mastermind.  I did not, however, know that Marvel UK had one, too.  This prompted me to do a bit of quick research; there are apparently five Masterminds in the Marvel Universe, none of whom has been particularly threatening since the Dark Phoenix Saga.

-  According to this issue, no one knows that Braddock Manor is still standing.  And yet, it has electricity and phone service.  I don't think the Mastermind computer can control minds outside of the house, so...I guess we're left to believe that Brian Braddock pays his bills several years in advance?

Daredevils #1

"A Rag, a Bone, a Hank of Hair..."
Published: January 1983
Writer: Alan Moore
Penciller: Alan Davis
Inker: Alan Davis


What's Going On?
Captain Britain (AKA Brian Braddock) is dead.  He was snuffed out by the cybiote being known as the Fury in an alternate reality, where the Fury had killed every super-hero; the Fury made sure to kill the crap out of Cap, too --- all that was left was ash and bone bits.  Apparently, that is not enough to keep a comic character dead, as the mysterious Merlin and his daughter, Roma, spend this entire issue reassembling and reviving the late Captain.  While Roma has the "easy" job of re-growing and improving a superhuman body from a hip bone...

Merlin is in charge of bringing back the mind and soul of Braddock.  To do this, he helpfully reviews the formative moments in Brian's life and adds some cryptic insights.  Having caught the reader up to speed, Merlin then adds mind to body and presto!

We have ourselves a living, breathing, and more powerful Captain Britain.  Even better, he wakes up on his own Earth, with no memory of his death; he happily assumes Merlin magically saved his life at the last minute and brought him home.  As Cap weeps with joy at his good fortune, Roma weeps with pity because she knows that Captain Britain is *dramatic pause* doomed.

Sub-Plots, oh the Sub-Plots!
- This introduces (I think it's the first mention of it, anyways) the concept of Merlin using Captain Britain as a pawn in a larger game.   You can't tell exactly what has taken place in this game, but the implication is certainly there that Merlin has been manipulating Brian for many years, perhaps even for his entire life.

-So, Captain Britain is doomed?  That might be mentioned again.  Just a guess.

Writing!
While it is unusual to spend an entire first issue in a recap, I have to admit that Alan Moore wrote a pretty satisfying issue.  It boils the character down to his basics and mentions some of the (presumably) major themes for this series.  Not much actually happens in this issue, but the Merlin conspiracy subplot introduces some interesting potential.

Art!
The coloring in my reprinted trade paperback is not the best, but that is certainly not the fault of the wonderful Alan Davis.  This issue is a little weird, because so much of it is being seen through a hazy effect, but Davis still manages to make a story that is almost entirely exposition fun to look at.

On a side note, I'm pretty certain that Davis uses almost this exact same panel sequence for Merlin in an issue of Excalibur in the issues leading up to Excalibur (Vol. 1) #50. 

It will be interesting to see how (or if) this adds context to those later stories.

Retroactively Amusing
- Since #1 issues are now seen as an inviting jumping-on point, it is funny to see this first issue acting as a direct continuation of a story from another title that just happened the month before.

Worth Noting
- This is actually the third "issue" of Captain Britain from Alans Moore and Davis.  The first two came from Marvel Super-Heroes #387 and #388.  I put quotations around "issue" because the story is obviously not a full issue's worth; Daredevils and Marvel Super-Heroes were anthology titles that combined previously published American comics with original British comics.  As such, the page-count is much reduced when compared to a normal comic book.  Still, these are some wonderfully dense and busy pages.

- Captain Britain's powers have been slightly altered in this issue.  His powers, once a byproduct of his costume, now originate inside him and the costume has become an amplifier for that power.  His personal force field (which apparently was a thing before) has been "limited," but it is not specified how or why.  His perceptions have been enhanced.

- Why am I covering a Captain Britain story in a X-Men-centric comic blog?  I originally started this with the intention of just re-reading the comics I already had, but reviewing them has given me a new taste for the era.  I've already ebay-ed a few X-Men spinoffs from the 80s to get a better picture of the times, with mixed results.  More importantly, though, reviewing these old comics makes me think about other old comics that I love, and sub-plots that I never really understood as a child.  For example, I have always been a fan of Chris Claremont and Alan Davis' initial run on Excalibur, but I never really understood a large portion of the supporting cast; Saturnyne/Sat-Yr-9, I'm looking at you!  So, since Chris Claremont co-created Captain Britain, and Claremont incorporated elements if this run in both Uncanny (circa #200) and Excalibur (vol. 1), and because Captain Britain stories eventually leave a large impact on future X-Man Psylocke's future, I've decided to review this Marvel UK title. *phew!*