CBR: X-POSITION: Paul Cornell

[CBR News]

"Captain Britain" writer Paul Cornell previews exclusive artwork and
answers your questions about mutants, magic, and "MI:13," plus a query or
two about you-know-(Doctor)-Who.


Full article here (http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18183).

[jarrod]

Yay, my questions made it... except my Lockheed Q!?! :frown:

Was it because I threatened Nick Lowe bodily harm?

[Pach!]

Yay, my questions made it... except my Lockheed Q!?! :frown:

Was it because I threatened Nick Lowe bodily harm?

Perhaps they assumed you were joking.

[Joe Acro]

I think I'm too much of a supporter for Dane/Crystal to support him hooking up with Faiza.

Not to say it doesn't have interesting story possibilities, though.

[darknessatnoon]

LOL

The Inhumans will never allow Crystal to date outside her race again. I love Faiza. I hope their flirting goes somewhere.

[Monty_Cristo]

LOL

The Inhumans will never allow Crystal to date outside her race again. I love Faiza. I hope their flirting goes somewhere.

Faiza's father and mother just fainted.

[Seikun21]

Now this was a very cool X-Position. Cornell gives a great interview. He's a fan, and that's awesome.

By the way, who is Tangerine?

[Frank]

meh

Softball questions. Not really adressing the book's problems.

[RickyD410]

meh

Softball questions. Not really adressing the book's problems.

What ARE the book's problems? I was thinking about picking it up. Should I not? When does the first TPB come out?

[Frank]

What ARE the book's problems? I was thinking about picking it up. Should I not? When does the first TPB come out?

It's pretty servicable light super-hero adventures. Coming out of the great Wisdom MAX mini-series that had this cynical British edge, people were expecting more from Cornell on the new book.

[metalgorgomon]

What ARE the book's problems? I was thinking about picking it up. Should I not? When does the first TPB come out?

Heard it's a great series. I'm plannin on buying the (first) TPB too. But it hasn't solicited yet... Maybe in Jan 2009?

[Joe Acro]

What ARE the book's problems? I was thinking about picking it up. Should I not? When does the first TPB come out?
You should pick it up.

It's fun.:smile:

[CmX]

What ARE the book's problems? I was thinking about picking it up. Should I not? When does the first TPB come out?

I have no problems with the title at all. It's always a fun read and never a chore IMO. You should pick up an issue and go from there?

[Omega Alpha]

It's pretty servicable light super-hero adventures. Coming out of the great Wisdom MAX mini-series that had this cynical British edge, people were expecting more from Cornell on the new book.

What is this that you call "people"? I don't know any of those.

[metalgorgomon]

I've heard some people complained on how Wisdom acted differently compared to the Wisdom miniseries.
The Wisdom miniseries, which was awesome, had those cynical British edge, blood, sex and other things that are expected from a MAX series.

But that doesn't mean that CB &MI:13 is bad series at all. I've read some the first issues and I think it's one of the best Marvel new series that came out in 2008.
I understand that Cornell had to toned down Wisdom a bit since this series is not targeted to mature readers only.

Can't wait to pick up the TPB and I think I'm gonna buy the series monthly following the story in the TPB.

Too bad Psylocke seemed to be off the table for him upon her returning to 616..

[The Sword Is Drawn]

Now this was a very cool X-Position. Cornell gives a great interview. He's a fan, and that's awesome.

And I think that's what really makes a difference with this series. So many past writers of Cap on Excalibur didn't really know what to do with him. Mostly because they'd never read anything of him before Excalibur, and because they'd been (Misguidedly) hired to write an X-Book - while Brian is not an X-Character. It's led to a good many pretty poor characterisations.

This book has done more for Brian in #5 issues than, say, the Lobdell run of Excalibur in its entirety.

By the way, who is Tangerine?

She's an Empath from two future timelines visited in Excalibur. She turned up in Alan Davis' final arc on the book, and later in Warren Ellis' run. She's a lot of fun.

More info here (plug): Who The Hell is Tangerine? (http://itcamefromdarkmoor.blogspot.com/search/label/Tangerine)

What ARE the book's problems? I was thinking about picking it up. Should I not? When does the first TPB come out?

If you look across the majority of message boards on the Internet right now 95% of all comments towards the title are positive, and encouraging discussion. A lot of people are really on board with this book. Marvel only printed a very conservative estimate fr it when it launched, resulting in the first two issues getting two reprint runs.

The few complaints online seem to be from a small number of people who wanted the series to be a bit more 'Screw You' kind of grittier (In-keeping with the tone of Wisdom) or those who seem to believe that there is only one version of Captain Britain - and that's a guy drawn by Alan Davis, who appeared in a mask and is purely there for comic effect. They mostly haven't read anything of Cap outside of Excalibur and don't see that this version of Brian embraces all of four of his significant incarnations, whilst also reinvigorating the character.

This series, though, really is about the whole cast - not just Cap. And if you've ever been a fan of Spitfire, the Black Knight or Blade you should be picking this one up monthly.

To date Marvel have not announced any trade. So go get those back issues!

[jarrod]

Nice to know Paul's a Tangerine fan... hope she gets worked in sooner rather than later. <3 <3

[CmX]

Thanks for that link Sword, Tangerine looks so cute! I love her 'fro! I hope she appears haha and it's so awesome that Cornell knows her conisderly she's a very obscure character.

[Steven F.]

Thanks for that link Sword, Tangerine looks so cute! I love her 'fro! I hope she appears haha and it's so awesome that Cornell knows her conisderly she's a very obscure character.

Dude...Tangerine ROCKS. LOVE her.

[jhota]

possible spoiler-y observation:


i find Cornell's non-committal answers concerning Meggan amusing, given the King Kong-ized Brian seems to be carrying Meggan on the issue 5 variant cover.

[Frank]

And I think that's what really makes a difference with this series. So many past writers of Cap on Excalibur didn't really know what to do with him. Mostly because they'd never read anything of him before Excalibur, and because they'd been (Misguidedly) hired to write an X-Book - while Brian is not an X-Character. It's led to a good many pretty poor characterisations.

This book has done more for Brian in #5 issues than, say, the Lobdell run of Excalibur in its entirety.



She's an Empath from two future timelines visited in Excalibur. She turned up in Alan Davis' final arc on the book, and later in Warren Ellis' run. She's a lot of fun.

More info here (plug): Who The Hell is Tangerine? (http://itcamefromdarkmoor.blogspot.com/search/label/Tangerine)



If you look across the majority of message boards on the Internet right now 95% of all comments towards the title are positive, and encouraging discussion. A lot of people are really on board with this book. Marvel only printed a very conservative estimate fr it when it launched, resulting in the first two issues getting two reprint runs.

The few complaints online seem to be from a small number of people who wanted the series to be a bit more 'Screw You' kind of grittier (In-keeping with the tone of Wisdom) or those who seem to believe that there is only one version of Captain Britain - and that's a guy drawn by Alan Davis, who appeared in a mask and is purely there for comic effect. They mostly haven't read anything of Cap outside of Excalibur and don't see that this version of Brian embraces all of four of his significant incarnations, whilst also reinvigorating the character.

This series, though, really is about the whole cast - not just Cap. And if you've ever been a fan of Spitfire, the Black Knight or Blade you should be picking this one up monthly.

To date Marvel have not announced any trade. So go get those back issues!

The thing is, that version of the British team in Wisdom, the version of Captain Britain in the Alan Davis Excalibur is what made these characters unique! It's what sets them apart from the rest of the characters in the Marvel Universe! I mean do we want a great British super-hero book or just this light super-hero book with no personality that you can pick anywhere on the stand with a different name?

And you say and small minority thinks this way but I would say most of comic fans do not read this book so I would say we're the magority compared to the same 12 posters that talk about it across the net.

The problem Sword is that you're ready to settle for less just to have a British super-hero book. I remember you as an avid fan of the last Claremont Excalibur book, having countless discussion about it even though it was an abomination.

The question is Sword why are you ready to settle for less? Don't you think your positive attitude is a detriment to book's successes and how it should be forged in the futur? If fans have an united front and it's strong enough that Cornell hears the problems and changes them to give us something better, should't it be better? Remember how he adressed the problem of Alystaire Stuart after fans kept screaming the age problem of the character? See I want this book to succeed but if people are just "content" then I predict it's going to go like all the previous incarnations of this book and end up on the cancelation block. Heck it's going to be like the last Alpha Flight book: people that talked about were happy, thought this was fun. But it never reached the masses because it wasn't groundbreaking. It didn't have the grassroot support to creat a buzz like Iron Fist for instance. Because if you want a fun super-hero book with no weight, you can just pick Guardians of Galaxy or whatever. And the British super-hero Universe cannot compete with cosmic characters, it's too much fringe. So they have to do what they do best and that's personality and attitude and weird, Dr. Who-style crazy ideas.

[Agent_Torpor]

Love the Tangerine character, absolutely despised the orange Ronald McDonald fro.

[RickyD410]

So, because of this thread and this X-Position, I went out and bought issue #5. And I loved it!! I'm so excited for the rest of the series. Normally I'd wait until the TPB came out, but I'm glad I didnt. I have to go order back issues now for issues 1-4. This was only my first ish, but it seemed like a great jumping on point. I still dont know anything at all about Spitfire, Union Jack, Faiza, or Blade. What little I know about Pete Wisdom, Captain Britain, and Black Knight is from New Excalibur. I think I definitely need to go find the Wisdom series now and order the TPB.

Man, thanks for the suggestion guys. I'm psyched! :biggrin:

[The Sword Is Drawn]

Thanks for that link Sword, Tangerine looks so cute! I love her 'fro! I hope she appears haha and it's so awesome that Cornell knows her conisderly she's a very obscure character.

She's a very obscure Excalibur Fan Favourite. But It does help that Cornell is an Excalibur fan. :biggrin:

possible spoiler-y observation:


i find Cornell's non-committal answers concerning Meggan amusing, given the King Kong-ized Brian seems to be carrying Meggan on the issue 5 variant cover.

Ha ha. Actually the inclusion of Meggan on that cover was Nick lowe's idea. But then I think a few of us realise that Nick's a bit of a fan of Meggan... In all honesty I think it's not really a question of IF Meggan will return, but WHEN. And the the answer to when, is simply going to be when the time is right. I wouldn't expect to see some big return to Cap's side during the first year. Hints at where she is, maybe, but this one has to be a builder. Why waste such a great opportunity.

The thing is, that version of the British team in Wisdom, the version of Captain Britain in the Alan Davis Excalibur is what made these characters unique! It's what sets them apart from the rest of the characters in the Marvel Universe! I mean do we want a great British super-hero book or just this light super-hero book with no personality that you can pick anywhere on the stand with a different name?

No we don't. But I also don't believe that's what we have here. Sure, it's a little difficult to read in what the tone of the series as a whole will be like (It's a bit early for that) but to date we've had much Skrull carnage, great character interaction and some great dialogue. Hell the series opened with Pete tearing his boss in two! And the rotation of cast and difference in setting very much will stamp a definite sense of place on the book, I have near absolute confidence in that.

And you say and small minority thinks this way but I would say most of comic fans do not read this book so I would say we're the magority compared to the same 12 posters that talk about it across the net.

A lot more are reading the book than you might expect. And the overriding impression appears to be positive. And it's not just the same 12 posters out there. I'm reading praise all over the place from here, Comixfan, Marvel.com's own forums, Millarworld, SFX, Revision 3, Newsarama (Except from that one frankly racist post that got all the heat last week), iFanboy, and plenty others.

I'm reading positive reviews all over. The only negative review I've seen was a spot on The Buy Pile, which basically criticised the book for apparently segregating itself from the rest of the Marvel Universe - being part of a brand wide crossover (?!) which made very little sense to me. :confused: Lol. I'm not saying it's a 100% infallible title, but if it was a bad book then you wouldn't get that many people in that many places talking positive about it. God knows you get far more page count on forums for a book people hate than one they've enjoyed. Just look at those New Excalibur threads.

The problem Sword is that you're ready to settle for less just to have a British super-hero book. I remember you as an avid fan of the last Claremont Excalibur book, having countless discussion about it even though it was an abomination.

Now let's not confuse things here, Frank. I'm a lifelong Excalibur fan. I'll always be happy if a genuine Excalibur book is out there, but even I gave up on that book. It had a lot of promise, and by its original planned stories could have succeeded. But when the editors screwed the book, and Claremont got ill, it crashed. Frank Tieri effectively ran the book into the ground, long before Claremont came back. But when he did, bar two issues, the book was bad. Chris Claremont has simply not been himself since he returned on that book. He's not the writer he was before. His early NEX was quite readable. The latter half of the book was directionless, choppy and widely contradictory. I can't praise that. In what he was trying to do in the start I can, but later deserves no excuses. And Die by the Sword truly was the worst book I've read this year.

The question is Sword why are you ready to settle for less?

I don't feel I am settling for less, Frank. And I'm not alone in that. It may not be quite the same - it's a little different but, I feel, just as good, by and large.

Don't you think your positive attitude is a detriment to book's successes and how it should be forged in the futur?

No I don't. If there's something I feel which is definitely wrong with any book I'll say so. That doesn't change.

If fans have an united front and it's strong enough that Cornell hears the problems and changes them to give us something better, should't it be better? Remember how he adressed the problem of Alystaire Stuart after fans kept screaming the age problem of the character?

And we have been promised an explanation. Considering how little we've actually seen of the guy, so far, I thinks it's a little early to criticise. The error in Wisdom was not Cornell's, it was Garcia's.

If you have a real problem with the book, Frank, and you can pin down exactly what details you dislike go over to Paul's blog ( http://paulcornell.blogspot.com/ ) and put your reasons to him. He's actually asking folks to use the issue threads he's putting up as a letters page for the book.

So, because of this thread and this X-Position, I went out and bought issue #5. And I loved it!! I'm so excited for the rest of the series. Normally I'd wait until the TPB came out, but I'm glad I didnt. I have to go order back issues now for issues 1-4. This was only my first ish, but it seemed like a great jumping on point. I still dont know anything at all about Spitfire, Union Jack, Faiza, or Blade. What little I know about Pete Wisdom, Captain Britain, and Black Knight is from New Excalibur. I think I definitely need to go find the Wisdom series now and order the TPB.

Man, thanks for the suggestion guys. I'm psyched! :biggrin:

Glad you're enjoying it, Ricky. This issue is a good jumping on point. It's really where the series starts, in its own right.

[Elegance Liberty]

I really should check this series out at some point. I've LOVED every one of Paul Cornell's episodes on the new*Who series (my dad and I BOTH got extremely teary eyed at the end of the 'Family of Blood' two-parter, which stands as our mutual favorite episode) and he sounds like a very awesome guy.

[jarrod]

Love the Tangerine character, absolutely despised the orange Ronald McDonald fro.
I preferred Ellis' take myself... but really, a 616 Tangerine would probably be like neither as she'd be only 12-13 years old or so now.

[The Sword Is Drawn]

I preferred Ellis' take myself... but really, a 616 Tangerine would probably be like neither as she'd be only 12-13 years old or so now.

Indeed she would. And very much not in control of her powers, at that stage.

[Guest_1001]

The thing is, that version of the British team in Wisdom, the version of Captain Britain in the Alan Davis Excalibur is what made these characters unique! It's what sets them apart from the rest of the characters in the Marvel Universe! I mean do we want a great British super-hero book or just this light super-hero book with no personality that you can pick anywhere on the stand with a different name?

No personality? How exactly? Frank, you're so keen to point out what (you think) this book is but you never explain why. How does the book have no personality? What on earth do you mean by "no personality" anyway?

And you say and small minority thinks this way but I would say most of comic fans do not read this book so I would say we're the magority compared to the same 12 posters that talk about it across the net.

No, just because you criticise a book doesn't mean you're in the minority. You said it yourself; most comic fans don't read CB&MI:13 so why on earth do you think that automatically makes them dislike it?

The problem Sword is that you're ready to settle for less just to have a British super-hero book. I remember you as an avid fan of the last Claremont Excalibur book, having countless discussion about it even though it was an abomination.

I think you've proved your own ignorance there, Frank; I've known Sword for a few years (across various sites and under different names), read his site and his essay about New Excalibur. He didn't state he was an avid fan at all. Points he made that stick out in my mind was that the team had little purpose, the artwork (particularly during Frank Tieri's run) wasn't at all British and that it was a disappointment that the book wasn't allowed to go through with a Hellfire Club/Elias Bogan storyline because it clashed with Joss Whedon's storyline in Uncanny. In other words, I've known Sword long enough to know that he's British superheroes' greatest supporter but he's also their harshest critic. Sword never settled for anything in NEX and he knows a good thing when he sees it. And, rightfully, he sees it in CB&MI:13.

The question is Sword why are you ready to settle for less? Don't you think your positive attitude is a detriment to book's successes and how it should be forged in the futur? If fans have an united front and it's strong enough that Cornell hears the problems and changes them to give us something better, should't it be better? Remember how he adressed the problem of Alystaire Stuart after fans kept screaming the age problem of the character? See I want this book to succeed but if people are just "content" then I predict it's going to go like all the previous incarnations of this book and end up on the cancelation block.

The question, Frank, is why are you being so picky about a fantastic book. And again, you don't say why or where you think it's lacking. The book's fans aren't "settling" for anything. We're just glad we've finally got a book that is being handled properly. A British writer -- a fan, no less -- and excellent artwork from an artist that Paul Cornell himself has said he has "given homework" to in the past. And that homework is paying off, as did Pat Oliffe's art in #5.

And personally, I remember how Cornell addressed the problem of Alistaire Stuart's aging; he pointed out that it was wrong, but his editor and artist insisted that was how he looked. So how did he address it? He wrote it into his script:

"Al, move your elderly arse!" - Wisdom #6

What would you prefer? He ignored it?

Heck it's going to be like the last Alpha Flight book: people that talked about were happy, thought this was fun. But it never reached the masses because it wasn't groundbreaking. It didn't have the grassroot support to creat a buzz like Iron Fist for instance.

That's the thing; before Civil War, even the brilliant Captain America was only selling 30,000 copies. Groundbreaking? As a title, certainly. With that amount of copies sold? Not a chance, by your logic.

And I fail to see what that has to do with anything. CB&MI:13 has received great reviews across the board.