CAP WEDNESDAY - Captain Britain & MI13 #12 Discussion (Spoilers)

[The Sword Is Drawn]

Yep, the second Wednesday of the month is upon us, which can only mean one thing:

IT'S CAP WEDNESDAY AGAIN!

As regular as clockwork, Captain Britain & MI13 #12 comes out this Wednesday (Or Thursday in the UK) and as follows previous form this is a thread dedicated to it. The book has had quite a fair few new readers jump on board over the last two issues. If you are one of them, and there's any questions you may have about the issue, feel free to post them here. There are a fair few of us on hear who are regular readers and will be more than willing to fill you in on anything you think you might have missed in issues before you jumped on board.

This issue comes complete with a variant 'Wolverine Art Appreciation Cover'. It'll be interesting to see just how many people on here actually chose to pick up that cover.

As usual the book's writer, Paul Cornell, will be offering up his own Blog as a kind of Letters Page (I miss those). You can find it here:

http://paulcornell.blogspot.com/

And for those still unsure as to whether they want to pick up the issue or not CBR has a 7-Page preview up for you to look over:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...339&disp=table

And for those who really want to see it that preview has the Wolverine variant cover on display. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I'll shut up now, and let others chip in. I've placed spoilers in the title, so it's up to you if you want to use spoiler tags or not. Anybody who has not yet read the issue (And other folks who purchase their books via mail order or online, I'm going suspect that's probably the majority of you at time of posting) read on in this thread at your own risk...

[Expletive Deleted]

It's not Wednesday, yet.

I'll open this up again tomorrow.

[Expletive Deleted]

Open for business.

[The Sword Is Drawn]

Thanks, Expletive Deleted. I had actually planned to enter far more about the book in my second post to this thread. But work side-tracked me ad I didn't get the chance.

I am incredibly psyched about this issue. I'd rate the previous issue as probably being the best single issue comic book I've read so far this year. It's been great to see the espionage element which Cornell had going on in his Wisdom series feeding through into this one. It's not just because I love seeing some older characters being brought back in, it's more that it gives the series a much stringer sense of weight behind it when government agencies and national security are involved.

It's very hard to watch Spitfire though, a character we've learned to appreciate for the past year, having her strings pulled in a fashion which you have to figure probably will end very badly. Whether she is the character who Cornell will be killing off in coming issues remains to be seen, but you've got to worry.

For those wondering, no, that's not Dracula's daughter Lilith. They're not on speaking terms. This is demon Lilith, last seen bursting out of that door in #3, with the other demon nasties. And the other guy on Dracula's side is Captain Fate. He's a Man-Thing character - a ghost pirate, who appears to have shaved his head since last he was seen.

Oh, and for those interested (Because, no, you can;t use them here) I did another forum banner for this issue:



So, who picked this up? I'm actually still waiting for my copy to arrive in the mail. Fully expected it to have arrived last night (As it has the previous two months) but sadly, no.

[The Sword Is Drawn]

God Damn it! So, the online comics order which should be including this issue has still not been dispatched. Which is a major pain in the backside. Because here in the UK (I don't know whether you have the same in the States) we've got a four day weekend, due to Easter. During which there isn't really going to be any mail. Even if my order is dispatched today I won't be seeing it until Tuesday next week, in all likelihood.

So, I've thought to myself, sod it all I'm going to track me down a copy today. I'll be driving in Coventry after work and trying to pick myself up a copy there. Here's hoping that they're not all Wolverine Art variants at my local store...

So, who DID pick this up? The preview looked damned promising. Did it deliver?

[Aelle3]

Sorry to hear that your copy didn’t arrive, its so bloody irritating when the post is messed up by holidays, I was looking forward to reading your review (surprised no one has put one up yet). Iv still got to wait till the 16th to get issue 11 and sometime late April for 12.

[Aelle3]

on an side note what on earth does that wolverine cover have to do with MI13? looks like it should be on the wizard of oz

[bringthenoise]

Originally Posted by Aelle3

on an side note what on earth does that wolverine cover have to do with MI13? looks like it should be on the wizard of oz

Nothing. Marvel are putting Wolverine on variant covers for a whole lot of books this week to hype the movie.

Anyway, I'll be picking up my copy later today. I've been enjoying Vampire State so far, hopefully this will keep the momentum up.

[Aelle3]

I knew about the variants, but I assumed they would have to be in some way relevant, like Wolverine and Wisdom having a drink or something

[Expletive Deleted]

Originally Posted by Aelle3

I knew about the variants, but I assumed they would have to be in some way relevant, like Wolverine and Wisdom having a drink or something

The gag is that they're all famous paintings or illustrations with Wolverine in them. Relevance would've spoiled that.

Although it probably wouldn't have killed them to homage a British artist for this particular cover.

[The Sword Is Drawn]

Originally Posted by Expletive Deleted

The gag is that they're all famous paintings or illustrations with Wolverine in them. Relevance would've spoiled that.

Although it probably wouldn't have killed them to homage a British artist for this particular cover.

Indeed. In fact, some kind of homage to British Modern art would have been cool.

I could see some kind juxtaposing of Damien Hirst's Shark in Formaldehyde to Logan in the Weapon X tank.

[Guest_1001]

I've read it, boys and girls! And you will NOT be disappointed.

But I'll use spoiler tags, just in case anyone wants to avoid any spoilers until they've read the book. I think that would be the best option.

spoilers:

- Kenneth, in his Baron Blood garb, has magically teleported Spitfire to the moon alongside Dracula's castle. Spitfire, under Dracula's mind control, has to go along with whatever he wants, although she is very reluctant to do so. - Meanwhile, MI:13 are wiping out the vampires in the civil service but, realising that this is what Dracula wants them to be doing, Pete calls a meeting. Faiza reassures the Black Knight that she wasn't thinking that all the resources should go into finding her father. Pete tells MI:13 that one of the vampires said "the head" just before he died. Blade concludes that this must mean the head of Quincy Harker, an old colleague of his. - Spitfire is forced to feed on a poor, innocent Frenchman named Louis. - A little more about Quincy Harker, with Blade revealing that he's one of the few people who knows the location of his head, somewhere in Oxfordshire. - Spitfire, looking noticeably shaken, enters a room with Baron Blood to find Dracula introducing her to Lilith and Captain Fate. Lilith taunts her a bit, which Dracula warns her against, saying that they would have to work together when they get their homeland. Lilith apologises but Spitfire cares more about the fact that she was just forced to murder someone. Captain Fate asks if he may show Spitfire the new Serpent's Crown. - We see the Serpent's Crown being built, Captain Fate's huge magical warship, enlarged by Lilith's magic in order to have the power to subdue Britain and contain a thousand vampires. - Spitfire asks Dracula that even though she has to obey him, why would she ever agree to do anything for him? Dracula has some very convincing dialogue about how being a vampire will change her, as well as mentioning how he used to be a Christian. - Captain Britain and Blade talk while en route to Oxfordshire. Mildly amusing. - Spitfire is trying to use her wrist-communicator to reach MI:13 but Dracula's mind control won't allow her to. Kenneth returns and asks Spitfire if they should suggest to Dracula that they can destroy the communicator. Spitfire knows that Dracula wouldn't agree though, knowing that he must want her to use it at some point. Spitfire asks Baron Blood if the vampires took anyone else. Kenneth says "two others" and offers to show Spitfire. - A mystical woman named Diana Hetherington is visited by MI:13, has a chat with all of them (Pete Wisdom fans will enjoy this bit), and then reveals the skull of Quincy Harker from a box. - Baron Blood shows Spitfire the location of Faiza's dad on the surface of the moon, buried underground. Kenneth says he'll awaken as a vampire in three days, along with twenty-five others ("including one of your men" - I presume this means Killpower). - Some more dialogue in Diana's house and Blade reveals what Quincy's skull actually does; every vampire who wants access to Britain has to be invited individually. Pete points out that it makes the skull a fantastic anti-invasion weapon and thinks that their early arrival will put them one step ahead of the vampires. Until the vampires break through the windows a moment later. - Dracula is observing what is happening on earth and is very happy. He reveals that he didn't ambush Blade because he knew he would be led to the skull of Quincy Harker if he didn't, which was also the reason he told one of his vampire "agents" to say "the head" before he died. Dracula also mentions that Union Jack's rivalry with Blade could be a bonus for not ambushing Blade. - Fighting with vampires. Twenty-eight minutes until sunrise (which they know because Cap says he can feel the world turning. How cool is that?) but Blade says it doesn't matter; the vampires are protected against the sun. Cap gets hit by a magic spell. - Back on the moon, Lilith is the one using the spell on Cap but Dracula tells her not to worry about the enemy and to focus on the target instead. Captain Fate -- who looks very badass here, thanks to Leonard Kirk -- admires Excalibur and the Ebony Blade and says "the Magus Blade wants them". - Cap is down and says "whoever is doing this knows something about how Merlin made me", which I assume is because Lilith was released from the gate at the same time as Merlin. Faiza is holding back the vampires with Excalibur but, using Lilith's magic, an ethereal Dracula appears. Dracula magically summons Quincy Harker's skull into his hands and crushes it, informing Pete, 'this war in which you thought you were engaged -- ? It's a game. And I just won." So, another fantastic cliffhanger and another fantastic issue. Diana Hetherington has some of the funniest lines in the book, it has to be said, and although I don't know much about Captain Fate, I'm looking forward to seeing more of him. He seems very cool. So next issue, I imagine, the vampires will all begin their invasion, using the Serpent's Crown.

end of spoilers

It's also very satisfying to see Leonard Kirk do the entire issue himself, it has to be said.

[eagle2000]

The only Marvel book I buy on a regular basis. Mind you, Spitfire's son's "costume" certainly is...... interesting.

[CaptainCanada]

Originally Posted by eagle2000

Mind you, Spitfire's son's "costume" certainly is...... interesting.

That's the classic Baron Blood look (though, on the original, I can't remember if it actually was a costume or not; I thought he just looked like that).

Cornell's said he wants to really show Dracula as a master strategist here, and he pulls off some clever moves (though the main one, that he wants Blade to lead him to where Quincy Harker's skull is, is perhaps one that somebody really should have considered). I like how he's written handling his armies; he's full of aristocratic pretensions, like insisting that all his top subordinates act with proper lordly protocol towards each other and their titles.

Spitfire, meanwhile, is semi-under his control; enough to make her do what he tells her to, but not enough yet to actually influence her personality. That will obviously be the crux of her story here.

This issue is mostly Dracula's show; not much with actual cast stands out, apart from Blade's terse explanation for what he plans to do to get Jac back.

[jackolover]

I have never read anything so epic as the fall of a soverign country, like the way it is written here. The way Dracula defeats the British, in the elaborate technology and the forward planning culminating with the total defeat of a nation was awesome, because of the mental concept of it all. I mean Britain went through the war with Germany, and now the reality of what could have hapenned is shown here on the page.

MI13 tried to do everything it could to ward off the inevitable, but Dracula played them like a piano. After the missiles of vampirism ambushed the heroes specifically, and the infiltrators distracted the MI13 from assembling a counter attack, Dracula had his allies prepare a warship using magical powers, and then to top it all off, the Hussains were cultured on the moon in Drakulas castle, together with Spitfires utter degradation despite her resistence, makes this one of the most profound defeats on the page one could witness.

The cover is the best of the 3 so far in the Invasion. The bizarre lecture delivered by Ken to his mother in the most mater of fact way, made it seem all the more unreal. I will say this though. The use of time by Dracula when he was speaking to Lady Jacqueline, was an insight into the the way time exists for vampires as against humans. It really begs how time is so vital, when a vampire is dependant on the next drink od blood, to the awareness of when sunrise is, to the centuries that a really long lived vampire uses for time.

Captain America couldn't get out of this one.