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Post by tingramretro on Nov 14, 2016 4:21:45 GMT -5
Captain Britain #8 (Dec '76)Script: Chris Claremont Art: Herb Trimpe/Fred Kida "Riot on Regent Street"  A deceptively mundane (by superhero comics standards) beginning to this issue, with CB helping Inspector Kate Fraser to take down some more of Vixen's armoured goons (last seen in issue #3) leads to some major revelations. First, Fraser (who won't be seen again after this issue; a shame, as Claremont seems to have been slowly building an interesting relationshop between her and the Captain) reveals to him why the absent Dai Thomas dislikes superheroes so much; on a visit to a police conference in New York some years earlier, Thomas was injured and his wife was killed by a collapsing building during a superhero battle, and Thomas is now determined to "stop that sort of madness from spreading to London". Suddenly, Thomas is a much more believable character and his viewpoint easier to understand... From there, following a brief, pointless interlude in which Brian describes fighting forest fires on Darkmoor (eh? forest fires? We've never even seen trees on Darkmoor!) to Courtney Ross while Jacko Tanner seethes and plots revenge on his love rival, things get more interesting as Brian's peace is shattered by the sudden appearance of his previously unmentioned twin sister, Betsy, who has rushed over to Thames University to tell him that their equally unknown brother Jamie has had a serious car accident! Hasn't this woman ever heard of a phone? Until now, we've known nothing about Brian's family other than vague hints that his parents were dead; now, in the space of two pages, we find out that he has a twin sister who is a charter pilot(!), a brother who is a Formula 1 racing driver (!!!) and that, oh yeah, his sister is evidently given to weird psychic flashes, as she loses control of the plane in which she is flying Brian and herself home after seeing "horrible monsters--all around us"! The plane crashes, and after switching to his super powered form, Brian pulls the unconscious Betsy from the burning wreckage...only to be confronted by a weird figure on a white horse, who declares that Betsy's mind has been destroyed by "Monsters of the mind! Monsters spawned by the demon dreams of Dr. Synne!" It's all a bit overwhelming, but you can't say Claremont doesn't know how to move a plot along when he wants to. This is Betsy, by the way. Please note that she is in no way, shape or form Japanese. 
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 14, 2016 4:30:28 GMT -5
Note to Chris Claremont, should he ever see this: moorland is characterised by low growing vegetation on acidic soils. Low growing vegetation, Chris. Not trees. Definitely not forests.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2016 9:34:09 GMT -5
tingramretroThat's cover from Captain Britain #8 (Dec '76) is one action filled cover and very dramatic. I just loved covers from the United Kingdom - I wished they were sold here and I find them more dynamic and bolder than ours.
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 18, 2016 11:25:33 GMT -5
Captain Britain #9 (Dec '76)Script: Chris Claremont Art: Herb Trimpe/Fred Kida "Demon-Fire!"  "Only moments ago, what should have been a normal landing at a private West Country airfield had turned into tragedy!" according to the opening caption of issue #9. So, Brian and Betsy Braddock's home is evidently in the West Country! You can't say the Captain doesn't get around. He's still pretty unpracticed at this superhero stuff though, as Dr. Synne...the elderly weirdo on the horse who is still boasting that his "demon dreams" have "destroyed Betsy's mind"...seems more than a match for him, keeping him off balance by chucking fireballs from his hands (which the Captain immediately knows are "real enough" before they even make contact, despite the fact that Synne has already more or less admitted to being an illusionist), appearing and disappearing, and then apparently opening up a portal to Hades to cover his escape, where CB is taunted by demons who accuse him of being responsible for his parents deaths! All illuory, of course, but a rattled Brian still protests that "That was an accident--and they forgave me!" so there's clearly some dark secret in his past. Nonetheless, Brian fights his way back to reality to find that he has inexplicably transformed back into his civilian identity-handily enough, as his brother Jamie and a Braddock family employee named Mick (who will never be seen or mentioned again) have come from "the Manor" to investigate the plane crash! Yep, this is where we get our first glimpse of Braddock Manor, which we are told has been the ancestral home of the family for "a quarter millennium" (for God's sake, Chris-just say "250 years", if that's what you mean!) since it was built by "a victorious General home from the European Wars" (uh, which war, exactly? There were a lot!) on land which has belonged to the Braddock's since before the Romans came! So, leaving aside the dodgy history: it now seems that in nine issues Brian Braddock has gone from being a student prodigy on work experience at a top secret nuclear research centre, to a kind of London based Peter Parker clone, complete with knock-offs of his supporting cast, to a minor aristocrat with a huge ancestral pile, servants, dead parents, a dark secret, a twin sister who lands her plane at a private airfield and a brother who has a racetrack behind the house. On the whole, I can't help thinking Claremont is getting just a tad carried away! Further exploration of the Braddock Dynasty will have to wait though: Brother Jamie has conveniently recovered from the terribe car crash which had Betsy so worked up just a few hours ago (a plot point hastily glossed over in one panel) but it seems, according to a grave faced Jamie, that the family and te entire area are in danger; Jamie's accident was no accident, it was a "declaration of war" caused by Dr. Synne, who "started his reign of terror a month ago among the local farms and villages", and who has transformed everyone who has opposed him (including the County's Chief Constable) into his "devoted slaves"! Everyone except the Braddock's, obviously. So, here we have a supervillain on a quest for "Power! Total and absolute", and he's started off looking for it in the West Country, an area best known for tin mining and the production of cider, cheese and clotted cream! That's a new and refreshingly original approach... Before Brian can really take it in, though, Betsy comes out of the daze she's been in since the plane crash and, duped by Synne's mesmeric influence into seeing her brothers as monsters (which she believes she remembers seeing kill them both), attacks Brian with an antique battleaxe! With a berserk Betsy lunging at him and Jamie too far away to grab her, Bri faces a terrible decision: "Only Captain Britain would have the power to restrain her! But if I switch to him now, I'll reveal my secret identity! And yet if I don't, Betsy may well kill us both!" See, this is why I hate family reunions. They're always so embarrassing... 
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 18, 2016 11:39:45 GMT -5
Incidentally, in the early 1980s The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe will tell us that Brian's family home is in Maldon, Essex. So, on exactly the opposite side of the country to where it's stated to be here.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 19, 2016 0:23:06 GMT -5
Incidentally, in te early 1980s The Official Handbook of te Marvel Universe will tell us that Brian's family home is in Maldon, Essex. So, on exatly the opposite side of the country to where it's stated to be here. Wait, so Betsy is an Essex Girl? That explains the later costume, though she forgot the white high heels. |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Nov 19, 2016 8:24:00 GMT -5
So, here we have a supervillain on a quest for "Power! Total and absolute", and he's started off looking for it in the West Country, an area best known for tin mining and the production of cider, cheese and clotted cream! That's a new and refreshingly original approach... This really made me laugh.  |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 19, 2016 23:26:57 GMT -5
So, here we have a supervillain on a quest for "Power! Total and absolute", and he's started off looking for it in the West Country, an area best known for tin mining and the production of cider, cheese and clotted cream! That's a new and refreshingly original approach... This really made me laugh. Maybe he was a fan of the Wurzels and thought his plan needed a brand new combine harvester... Ooh, arr! |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
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Post by Confessor on Nov 20, 2016 8:49:27 GMT -5
This really made me laugh. Maybe he was a fan of the Wurzels and thought his plan needed a brand new combine harvester... Ooh, arr! I gotta ask Cody, are you in the UK? I've wondered this for a while, based on your knowledge of UK pop culture and geographical stereotypes, but then, other times, your posts seem as if you're American. There are, I believe, currently four of us UK based regulars in the forum (me, tingramretro, tolworthy and Simon Garth) and I wondered if you were a fifth to add to our contingent. |
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 20, 2016 10:40:49 GMT -5
Maybe he was a fan of the Wurzels and thought his plan needed a brand new combine harvester... Ooh, arr! I gotta ask Cody, are you in the UK? I've wondered this for a while, based on your knowledge of UK pop culture and geographical stereotypes, but then, other times, your posts seem as if you're American. There are, I believe, currently four of us UK based regulars in the forum (me, tingramretro, tolworthy and Simon Garth) and I wondered if you were a fifth to add to our contingent. We need more recruits, if we are to achieve our ultimate objective: Power! Total and absolute! |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 20, 2016 11:21:36 GMT -5
No, I'm a yank, from the middle of the country. My local public broadcasting station (WILL, Champaign, Illinois) has long been a broadcaster of British television. I started watching British comedies back in the late 70s, with things like Monty Python, Fawlty Towers and Doctor in the House. Also, Mystery, which featured the Jeremy brett Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Morse, Touch of Frost and Prime Suspect. I became a fan and have watched tons of stuff, been introduced to the alternate comedy world when MTV brought The Young Ones over, while I was in college, discovered Black Adder, Last of the Summer Wine and Yes Minister on the early version of the A&E Network (back in the mid-80s, and then saw people like French and Saunders and Fry & Laurie as they became available on cable and video. The internet gave me access to QI, which has taught me all kinds of obscure British history and stereotypes.
As I've grown older, I found that British drama drew me in more than the bulk of the US offerings, as they are better written and more focused, and very character driven. Same with the comedy, as well as the British style of humor has always spoken to me. The by-product is that I have a very dry sense of humor and it takes friends and colleagues a minute to "get" a joke I just made, or realize I am joking and then burst out laughing.
So, yeah, call me an Anglo-phile. I learned about Essex Girls from British comedians making jokes about them, the Wurzels from Never Mind the Buzzcocks, and a lot about UK life from police dramas.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 20, 2016 14:36:40 GMT -5
ps. My favorite modern authors are Nick Hornby, Kim Newman, Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett. Sense a trend here?
Thanks to Youtube, I have seen a lot of QI, Have I got News For You, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Mock of the Week, Sean Lock, Phil Jupitus, Bill Bailey, Jimmie Carr, Dylan Moynahan, Top Gear, Graham Norton, Parkinson, Catherine Tate, Victoria Wood, Goodness Gracious Me, Gavin & Stacey, etc, etc...
I have the Secret Policeman's Ball boxed set, dvds of Graham Linehan's shows, Steve Coogan's Alan Partridge and Saxondale, The Sweeney, The Avengers, The Champions, the Saint, The Prisoner, The Professionals, Department S, Jason King, Doctor Who, Ripping Yarns, To The Manor Born, The Good Life, Keeping Up Apeparances, Black Adder, Mr bean, Thin Blue Line, Are You being Served?, Yes Minister & Yes Prime Minister, Not the 9 O'Clock news, Spaced, A bit of Fry & Laurie, Ab Fab, French & Saunders, the original Office, Young Ones, Red Dwarf, The Dangerous Brothers, Vicar of Dibley, Doc Martin, Hustle, Callan, Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes, New Tricks, Danger Mouse...........
Well, let's just say I have a lot of British tv and movies, and have watched even more. I knew Stephen fry and Hugh Laurie in college, in the 80s, before House and Sherlock Holmes. I was stunned when Rik Mayall passed away and watched Kate Beckinsale in Cold comfort Farm, and her father, several years before, on Rising Damp (shown on A&E, in America, in the 80s). I knew Joanna Lumley from the New Avengers, before Ab Fab came to the US, on Comedy Central.
I worked for Barnes & Noble Booksellers, for 20 years, which helped feed a lot of this, along with WILL (their entire Saturday evening programming is Britcoms). I worked in the Champaign store and we sold tons of British tv dvds. WILL is part of the University of Illinois, at Champaign-Urbana (my alma matter) , so there has always been a big Anglo-phile community. My co-workers and I would swap recommendations for shows, which is how I discovered Black Books and The IT Crowd, as well as Doc Martin and Wallander.
What's funny for me is to see references to American tv in some shows, especially Columbo and Dallas.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Nov 20, 2016 17:37:18 GMT -5
What's funny for me is to see references to American tv in some shows, especially Columbo and Dallas. I'm not surprised. Both programs were very popular over here. In the case of Dallas (and to a slightly lesser extent Dynasty), it was also an utterly era defining piece of television that was followed obsessively by the majority of viewers here in the UK in the early-to-mid '80s. To tie it all together, the Wurzels even had a hit with the song "I Shot J.R.", which tapped into Britain's fascination with the show. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 20, 2016 17:59:31 GMT -5
What's funny for me is to see references to American tv in some shows, especially Columbo and Dallas. I'm not surprised. Both programs were very popular over here. In the case of Dallas (and to a slightly lesser extent Dynasty), it was also an utterly era defining piece of television that was followed obsessively by the majority of viewers here in the UK in the early-to-mid '80s. To tie it all together, the Wurzels even had a hit with the song "I Shot J.R.", which tapped into Britain's fascination with the show. And that's the thing; we got some of the best of British tv imported to our shores, while some of our better ones were sent in exchange. I'm sure your side got more of our junk than we got here, since it had to compete with our higher budget crap. I watched The Saint, in syndication, when I was a little kid, before Roger Moore took over as Bond. When I first saw Live and Let Die on network tv, I wondered why Simon Templar was playing James Bond. Champaign was also a major Doctor Who hotbed. The University had a large Doctor Who Appreciation Society, stemming from the first broadcasts of the Tom Baker series. WILL eventually had Doctor Who on weeknights, at 10 pm, and brought in each new series as it became available, right up 'til the end of the original BBC run. PBS was publicly funded and ran annual (then quarterly) pledge drives, with Doctor Who marathons a big staple. While in college, in Champaign, I entered my first comic store. It was owned an operated by one of the senior guys in the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, who appeared during pledge breaks, during the program. As time went on,a lot of British actors were brought in for pledge drives, both for fundraising appearances and to grab viewers and boost pledges, often with autographed merchandise, including several of the cast of Are You Being Served?, which is extremely popular on US PBS stations (WILL was showing it nightly, in the 90s). Champaign saw John Inman, Mollie Sugden, and Trevor Bannister, as well as some of the stars from the detective series and Masterpiece Theater (where I first saw the Jeeves & Wooster series, with old favorites Fry & Laurie). |
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 21, 2016 4:12:35 GMT -5
No, I'm a yank, from the middle of the country. My local public broadcasting station (WILL, Champaign, Illinois) has long been a broadcaster of British television. I started watching British comedies back in the late 70s, with things like Monty Python, Fawlty Towers and Doctor in the House. Also, Mystery, which featured the Jeremy brett Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Morse, Touch of Frost and Prime Suspect. I became a fan and have watched tons of stuff, been introduced to the alternate comedy world when MTV brought The Young Ones over, while I was in college, discovered Black Adder, Last of the Summer Wine and Yes Minister on the early version of the A&E Network (back in the mid-80s, and then saw people like French and Saunders and Fry & Laurie as they became available on cable and video. The internet gave me access to QI, which has taught me all kinds of obscure British history and stereotypes. As I've grown older, I found that British drama drew me in more than the bulk of the US offerings, as they are better written and more focused, and very character driven. Same with the comedy, as well as the British style of humor has always spoken to me. The by-product is that I have a very dry sense of humor and it takes friends and colleagues a minute to "get" a joke I just made, or realize I am joking and then burst out laughing. So, yeah, call me an Anglo-phile. I learned about Essex Girls from British comedians making jokes about them, the Wurzels from Never Mind the Buzzcocks, and a lot about UK life from police dramas. It is always a pleasure to meet someone who appreciates the finer things in life, and there are few things finer than Stephen Fry, though I can only apologize on behalf of my nation for Doctor in the House. |
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