Captain Britain Weekly #1 (October 1976)

In the Marvel Universe, heroes can come from anywhere. Even though the company's books are primarily set in the United States (Marvel is an American comic company, after all), it's been established in many stories over the years that in the MU, other countries have their own superheroes. For example, Canada has Alpha Flight, Russia has the Winter Guard, Japan has Big Hero 6, etc. 

Naturally, the United Kingdom in the MU would have superheroes of its own, most notably one Brian Braddock, aka Captain Britain. Appropriately enough, Braddock debuted in an anthology comic that was printed in the UK. It's sadly unknown who created the character, but it is believed that John Romita Sr. may have at least designed him as he was designing many Marvel characters at that time.

While originally only appearing in stories published in the UK, Brian Braddock would go on to become known to US comic readers thanks to his being a member of the original incarnation of the X-Men spinoff team Excalibur. The UK stories would also introduce his twin sister Betsy, the future Psylocke and holder of the Captain Britain mantle herself. He currently operates as Captain Avalon. So, with that out of the way, let's look at Captain Britain Weekly #1! 

The cover is a Larry Lieber and Frank Giacola piece. It's pretty basic, depicting our man Brian swinging a sword, which somehow knocks away instead of cutting into a bunch of armored goons. Maybe he's knocking them around with the flat of the blade? Anyway, it does put Brian front and center, and it's surprisingly dynamic and action-packed. It also promises a free mask. I got no such free mask.

"Captain Britain"
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Herb Trimpe
Inker: Fred Kida
Colorist: Marie Severin
Letterer: Irving Watanabe
Editors: Larry Lieber, Neil Tennant

The story begins with our man Captain Britain fighting a golden-armored man known only as Reaver and his silver-armored goons. Brian Braddock, the man in the red-and-blue union suit, is amazed at the power he has as Captain Britain. He's having a surprisingly easy time against Reaver and his Silver Knights, even though he's a physicist, not a hand-to-hand combat expert.

As he and Reaver fight, Brian Braddock starts to flash back to how this all started. The story actually begins at Darkmoor Research Centre, a nuclear facility located out in the middle of the moors.

"Busy, busy, busy, busy..."

The location is an ideal place for the complex. If something goes wrong, there's nobody around for miles, so the fallout shouldn't hurt anyone. Braddock, a young university student at this time, is working here as an assistant here for a Dr. Travis as basically a summer job. The center is developing a new fusion reactor that promises to not only be safe, but also can help solve the world's energy crisis (this was originally published in the 1970s). Travis fears that this could attract those who want to steal the secrets in this complex for themselves. Travis's fears are shown to not be completely unfounded.

"Surprise, mothertruckers!"

Joshua Stagg, the Reaver, has come to collect some fusion secrets. In the chaos, Dr. Travis is killed. Brian manages to escape. Reaver tells his men to get after him, as he wants no witnesses to his theft. Brian manages to speed away on his motorcycle. It's revealed that Stagg is after the fusion reactor to corner the energy market. As he rides on, Brian is blinded by the hovercraft Stagg used to arrive at the reactor in the first place.  Unable to see where he's going, he ends up going over a cliff.

"I never got to see Paris!"

Yeah, that's going to hurt.

Somehow, our man Brian survived that whole thing. He manages to crawl away from the wreckage, despite his being badly hurt and likely in a truckload of pain. A voice welcomes him to the Siege Perilous. A pair of figures greet Brian and say that they have made a choice for him.

"Choose your adventure, Brian Braddock!"

One rock has an amulet hanging on it. The other has a sword embedded in it, not unlike the mythical Excalibur. Brian is told to pick one of them. The world may be at stake. Because drama.

I enjoyed this story, but I was surprised by how short it was. That's because at the time I first read it, I was unaware that it was actually originally one story in an anthology title. This Captain Britain title was originally from, naturally, the United Kingdom. It was the one new story. The other two stories were reprints of older stories starring the Fantastic Four and Nick Fury. 

What the story does manage to do well is basically set up the conflict. Brian has to make a big choice, and there's a villain to be stopped. I do think this could have been expanded further in some place, especially since we don't get much of an idea of who Brian Braddock is as a character. But that's not the story's fault, it's just it didn't get a lot of "time", as it were.

Herb Trimpe's art here is pretty good, it kind of reminds me of Jack Kirby's at times. It's dynamic has such a surprisingly different feel from the Hulk art he's more famous for.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2016 trade paperback Captain Britain: Legacy of a Legend. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!