1992: CAPTAIN BRITAIN AUTUMN SPECIAL (Marvel UK)

From 1992: CAPTAIN BRITAIN rejoins the MARVEL UK ranks (and regains his own title... albeit only for one issue) with this AUTUMN SPECIAL.

The contents are all reprints from MWOM and CB Monthly (but presented here in colour... they were originally published in b&w) but the cover is a brand new piece. 

1977: CAPTAIN BRITAIN ANNUAL (Marvel UK)

From 1977: the one-and-only (to date) CAPTAIN BRITAIN ANNUAL.  

This UK hardback reprinted the strips from the first few issues of the 1976-77 weekly and would have gone on sale a couple of months after the comic itself had shuttered, in the summer of '77, after only thirty-nine issues.  As is normal practice for British annuals, the cover date (if included at all) references to the year ahead rather than the year of publication.  

Not all of the weekly's interior pages were colour (the centre-section, occupied by the Fantastic Four, were black & white) which, occasionally, meant that one page of CB's strip (if the strip ran long that week) would be published in black & white.  These were designated 'colour-it-yourself' pages by the ever hypefull Bullpen.  The previously mono pages were coloured... incredibly crudely... for their repeat outing here. 

1992: MARVEL UK AUTUMN SPECIALS House Ad

From late 1992: a strictly "that will do" MARVEL UK House Ad for three Autumn Specials: THE PUNISHER, CAPTAIN BRITAIN and GHOST RIDER. 

1989: CAPTAIN BRITAIN TRADE PAPERBACK House Ad (Marvel UK)

From 1989: A MARVEL UK House Ad for the CAPTAIN BRITAIN TRADE PAPERBACK which reprinted, in colour (the original strips were in black & white), the post-Alan Moore CB strips from THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL (Volume 2) and CAPTAIN BRITAIN Monthly.  

I picked-up a copy recently and I'll get around to scanning and posting the cover at some point. 

1990: NIGHT RAVEN THE COLLECTED STORIES (Marvel UK)

NIGHT RAVEN: THE COLLECTED STORIES, another early 1990s (1990 to be precise) outing for the MARVEL UK character, reprinted (as the name suggests) the strips from 1979's HULK COMIC (and reprinted in 1985's CAPTAIN BRITAIN monthly) in one A4 graphic novel behind a new David Lloyd front page.

Oddly for a noir character, M-UK decided to colour the strips for this book.  Whether this was to create some value-added appeal to readers or make it more desirable to the book trade is unclear.  However, the end results are rather nice and sympathetic to the original art.  

Unfortunately, it doesn't also collect the myriad of prose stories (some by Alan Moore) that weaved through the UK monthlies (somehow managing to dodge cancellation each time until landing in THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN THE BARBARIAN) throughout the early eighties.

1991/ 1992: NIGHT RAVEN: HOUSE OF CARDS (Marvel UK)

1991

1992

One book: two editions: MARVEL UK issued two different versions of the original NIGHT RAVEN graphic novel HOUSE OF CARDS only a year-or-so apart.

The 1991 first print was an A4 sized affair.  The second, published as part of the GENESIS 92 wave of material pitched specifically at the US market (although it wasn't part of the G92 sub-universe of characters), was a US-sized 'bookshelf' (aka "the Dark Knight format" for old 'uns) squarebound edition.

In my experience, it's actually the 1992 version that is the harder to find today.  I've only ever seen one copy… and this is it!

Whichever the version, it's well worth seeking out.

The character, of course, made his debut in 1979's launch issue of HULK COMIC.  Although the strip (latterly reprinted in 1985's CAPTAIN BRITAIN monthly and again, this time in colour, in a graphic novel compilation) couldn't escape Hulk's diminishing origination budget, the character did continue to appear in as series of prose adventures which ran across the M-UK monthlies (skipping from title to title as each was, in turn, canned) and included contributions from Alan Moore.

1984: CAPTAIN BRITAIN Monthly House Ad (Marvel UK)

From the SPIDER-MAN WINTER SPECIAL 1984: a rare half-page colour House ad for the (launched-slightly-later-than-billed) CAPTAIN BRITAIN monthly.

1984: CAPTAIN BRITAIN and THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL House Ads (Marvel UK)

This full-page of MARVEL UK House Ads appeared in the 84th issue (the last with all black-and-white interiors trivia fans) of THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN THE BARBARIAN monthly from October 1984.

The top one previews the about-to-launch (it was slightly delayed, actually going on sale in December/ January) CAPTAIN BRITAIN monthly, a return to his own title after half-a-decade bumming around assorted (always about to close) M-UK monthlies.  What's interesting here is that they still hadn't quite nailed the line-up: Jeff Hawke (presumably reprints) never did appear.  Incidentally, a fanzine article from this period revealed that Alpha Flight was part of the in-house dummies, a strip that eventually went into MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS instead.

The other half-pager is promoting what was actually the final issue of THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL's second run (finally ending a run that, despite various name and frequency changes, could be traced back to the launch of M-UK back in 1972) and the beginning of a reprint run of the X-Men related Magik four-parter.  Another full-page add elsewhere in the same issue announced that, as of the following month, it would be continuing in the pages of Conan itself (a merger every bit as bonkers as when the original Savage Sword was folded into THE AVENGERS in the seventies).

The final issue of MWOM itself was distinctly lacklustre and apparently only allowed out the door to prime readers for the upcoming merger.  The page count was dropped and the interior colour abandoned altogether.  Needless to say, the changes extracted no downward pressure on the cover price.  

1982: THE DAREDEVILS LAUNCH AD (Marvel UK)

THE DAREDEVILS, edited by Bernie Jaye, is often lauded as one of the greatest of MARVEL UK's offerings, although it only managed to scrape an underwhelming 11 issues before merging into THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL (a combination which, to my mind, was actually superior… until the last issue anyway).

The line-up featured brand new Captain Britain strips by Alan's Moore and Davis alongside reprints of Frank Miller's run on Daredevil and some out-of-place sixties Spider-man reprints ported across from the recently defunct SPIDER-MAN POCKET BOOK.  A hefty number of text features (including new Night Raven prose adventures), most penned by Alan Moore (the copious amount of Moore material makes this a more popular than usual run of back issues), rounded out each issue and gave it a more adult for-the-fans feel.  

Launched at the end of 1982, this was amongst the final black & white comics launched by Marvel UK.  The following year saw the revival, as a colour monthly, of THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL… a title that would absorb this one within the year.  

The other half-page (I actually forget where I swiped this page from) is a Quinn/ Howett gag strip… a reliable standby in most of Marvel's British titles during this period.  

1992: CAPTAIN BRITAIN in COMIC COLLECTOR MAGAZINE

COMIC COLLECTOR issue 2 (April 1992) was - planned or not - a bit of a MARVEL UK special.  Not only did it preview the launch of OVERKILL/ GENESIS 92 (see my previous post) but it also included this nice three-page Hero History on CAPTAIN BRITAIN by Phil Hall.

Although a lot of water has passed under Tower Bridge since 1992, I reckon this is a still a great little primer for Britain's best.

1976: CAPTAIN BRITAIN TEASER AD (Marvel UK)

This MARVEL UK House Ad, from SUPER SPIDER-MAN AND THE SUPER HEROES (phew) issue 189 (22 September 1976), is - believe it or not - the first glimpse of CAPTAIN BRITAIN.

Yup, despite looking nothing like the character that would emerge only a month later, this was a teaser for Marvel's purpose-built (by - ahem - US creators) British hero.  It looks like Storm Shadow.

What does this tell us?
The Bullpen were very keen to keep the design under wraps?  CB was originally going to have a very different look... and a sword?  With a month to go before launch, Stan and co. still hadn't settled on a design?
I'm not really sure... but it's a fun find.

BTW: It's a landscape add because - of course - SUPER SPIDER-MAN was living through the Titans Format era.

MARVEL UK HANDBOOK: NIGHT RAVEN

THE ROAD TO THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR:
THE MARVEL UK HANDBOOK

Here's a pre-GENESIS 92 character who may (or may not) be a participant in 2014's REVOLUTIONARY WAR series.

NIGHT RAVEN first appeared - of course - in HULK COMIC issue 1 and ran in the first 20-odd issues (I don't have the exact info in front of me) before succumbing to budget cuts.  It's a myth that the initial high quantities of originated British strips in HULK COMIC/ THE INCREDIBLE HULK remained for long and most were dropped within six months.  The sole survivor was The Black Knight.

The character was retooled as a text story for SAVAGE ACTION and then - like Captain Britain - played the cancellation-shuffle of the early eighties monthlies.

The Hulk-era strips were rerun in the pages of CAPTAIN BRITAIN monthly mid-decade and collected in trade paperback format a few years later.

A planned revival in the pages of STRIP (which had already serialised a DEATH'S HEAD series) was scuppered when the anthology was suddenly cancelled just before the strip was due to start.  Whoops.

1984: CAPTAIN BRITAIN HOUSE AD (Marvel UK)

This is a House ad for the about-to-launch (in January 1985) revival of CAPTAIN BRITAIN from Marvel UK.

The negative effect isn't my cock-up, that's how the ad originally appeared in the pages of RETURN OF THE JEDI weekly issue 79 (that's the same issue that featured CARAVAN OF COURAGE and appeared here).  Was someone trying to be fancy?  Did someone in the M-UK production department boob?  We'll never know...

1981: MARVEL SUPERHEROES - PART THREE (Marvel UK)

I didn't have much to say about the 1980 run of MARVEL SUPERHEROES issues... but things got MUCH more interesting the next year!

The strip line-up (The Avengers, The (Original) X-Men and The Champions) remained static through the first part of the year but the September issue (on sale in August) marked a major turning point for Marvel UK (and - to a lesser extent - the whole Marvel U): the arrival of the new (and overhauled) CAPTAIN BRITAIN.

The character had been left to drift around the Marvel line since the (swift) demise of his own weekly way back in 1977.  A run of new stories in SUPER SPIDER-MAN AND CAPTAIN BRITAIN weekly made way for a reprint of his US debut, a two-part story from MARVEL TEAM-UP.

Back in the UK, Dez Skinn made him a supporting character in the UK-originated Dark Knight supporting feature in HULK COMIC (the only one of the UK created strips to survive until the title's cancellation).  Several one-shot specials also reprinted selected material from the weekly as well as the TEAM-UP story.

But Marvel Superheroes marked the beginning of his revival, and an extended run of strips that jumped about from MSM to THE DAREDEVILS onto THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL before graduating (again) to his own title.

The other big innovation of the year was the introduction of the INSIDE COMICS text feature, often penned by a certain Alan Moore, that added a fanzine sensibility to the Marvel monthlies and belatedly recognised that readers might also be fans.

ISSUE 369

January 1981

ISSUE 370

February 1981

ISSUE 371

March 1981

Issue 371's editorial announcing Marvel UK's refresh of the monthlies (the "new direction"), notably the imminent launch of the Inside Comics text feature, a nod to comics fandom rather than casual readers.

The 1/2 page advert for the POCKET BOOKS line was also fairly rare by this point.  Marvel gave them less and less plugs in the weeklies and monthlies, possibly because they knew they were living on borrowed time.

ISSUE 372

April 1981

ISSUE 373

May 1981

ISSUE 374

June 1981

ISSUE 375

July 1981

First House Ad for the revived (and revamped) CAPTAIN BRITAIN from issue 375.

ISSUE 376

August 1981

ISSUE 377

September 1981

ISSUE 378

October 1981

ISSUE 379

November 1981

ISSUE 380

December 1981

- TO BE CONTINUED - 

1981: CAPTAIN BRITAIN HOUSE AD (Marvel UK)

This is where it all (re)started: Here's the 1981 Marvel UK house ad that heralded the return of CAPTAIN BRITAIN.

1985: MARVEL UK NORTH AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION POSTER

Here's something I found online (apologies it's not of the highest quality but I'm sure you'll get the idea): what appears to be a promotional poster, from MARVEL UK, sent out to US retails to announce the North American distribution of their key monthlies: CAPTAIN BRITAIN, STARBURST and DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE.

The magazine-format Captain Britain was not a strong seller and shuttered after 14 issues.  Starburst, after an extended hiatus, is still published today although Marvel dumped it not long after this poster appeared.  Doctor Who Magazine, of course, survived the demise of Marvel UK itself a decade later and continues to appear, every four weeks, today.

M-UK subsequently started adding US and Canadian dollar prices to their weeklies but I've no idea how many copies actually crossed the Atlantic.

1985-86: CAPTAIN BRITAIN

After spending the late seventies in post-cancellation purgatory and the early eighties dodging closure (and the accountant's axe) by jumping from one ailing Marvel monthly to another, it finally looked like CB had found a permanent home in December 1984 (with a January 85 cover date) and the launch of his own monthly.

Inevitably, it was not to be and fourteen months later he was officially homeless.  For a while.  But what a ride.

-  Since the cancellation of his own weekly, CB had appeared in SUPER SPIDER-MAN AND CAPTAIN BRITAIN, HULK COMIC (as a supporting character in the Black Knight strip), two all-reprint specials, MARVEL SUPERHEROES (with a new costume and, for the first time, a British creative team), THE DAREDEVILS and (the revived) THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL.

-  CB's monthly was an all-British affair, a mixture of new strips and reprints (initially Night Raven and Abslom Daak) from the Marvel UK archive.  However, in-house dummy editions featured a different line-up: alongside the new main strip, M-UK had planned to reprint John Bryne's Alpha Flight (which eventually appeared in MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS) and the cross-company X-MEN/ TEEN TITANS team-up (which didn't make it across the Atlantic).

-  At first glance, CB monthly offered a less value-for-money package compared with its contemporaries.  It boasted an overall reduced page-count and no colour interiors.  INDIANA JONES (with no origination costs), in comparison, had more pages and more colour.

- The only free gift was (M-UK favourite) a giant poster in issue 11.  If it was intended to boost sales, it didn't work.

-  Marvel blamed cancellation on poor sales in the UK.  Export copies to North American comic book stores apparently sold well despite the magazine-sized dimensions and black & white interiors.

-  After cancellation, and a brief period in limbo, CB moved across to Marvel USA and became a founding member of the UK-based mutant team EXCALIBUR (by ex-Cap creators Claremont and Davis).  M-UK reclaimed him for a supporting role in KNIGHTS OF PENDRAGON but, perhaps surprisingly, didn't make him a key part of the early-ninties expansion into North America.  After the wholesale annihilation of the US-line (axed during the industry recession which followed the unsustainable boom years), M-UK Editor-in-Chief Paul Neary hatched plans to relaunch CB as a US-format limited series but the plans, and Neary, were canned when Panini took over responsibility for the British subsidery.

ISSUE 1

January 1985

ISSUE 2

February 1985

ISSUE 3

March 1985

ISSUE 4

April 1985

ISSUE 5

May 1985

ISSUE 6

June 1985

Front cover

ISSUE 6

Back cover

ISSUE 7

July 1985

ISSUE 8

August 1985

ISSUE 9

September 1985

ISSUE 10

October 1985

ISSUE 11

November 1985

ISSUE 12

December 1985

Price rises to 60p per issue.

ISSUE 13

January 1986

ISSUE 14

February 1986

Final issue

Editorial page

Farewell... for now.