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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 21, 2016 10:26:17 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. Fry is just tremendous fun to watch or read. I first saw him in Blackadder II, which was being shown on the A&E Network, when I was in college. That was soon followed by the Young Ones, on MTV, with the University Challenge episode, featuring Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, and Ben Elton as the students from Footlights College, Oxbridge. When I was a bookseller, we got the American edition of The Liar and I scooped it up. I enjoyed the heck out of it and later picked up his memoirs, realizing how much of The Liar was autobiographical. Brilliant writer, tremendous performer, brilliant mind, and one not afraid to take a real stand on issues. Loved his portrayal of Oscar Wilde, as well as Jeeves. Whenever I read PG Wodehouse, I picture Fry & Laurie and hear their voices, in the dialogue. I was watching QI on Youtube, and enjoying it tremendously, when my girlfriend snuck behind my back and ordered up a set of the entire series for me. Love watching those shows, especially when they get Stephen going, either on a rant or laughing until he is about to burst, like with The Parthenon, or with jokes about his prep school tailor. I also don't mind a bit of Benny Hill, though a little goes a long way. |
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Post by mikelmidnight on Nov 21, 2016 12:56:07 GMT -5
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. I'm not British although I did live in London for several years. I'm not an Anglophile exactly (I don't have an unqualified appreciation for everything British) although I've accumulated some very obscure British comics in my time. |
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 21, 2016 18:44:42 GMT -5
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. I'm not British although I did live in London for several years. I'm not an Anglophile exactly (I don't have an unqualified appreciation for everything British) although I've accumulated some very obscure British comics in my time. Define "obscure"? |
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 22, 2016 3:40:20 GMT -5
Captain Britain #10 (Dec '76)Script: Chris Claremont Art: Herb Trimpe/Fred Kida "Dagger of the Mind"  Things are going from bad to worse for our orphaned aristocrat, as he and brother Jamie are forced to spend several pages trying to avoid being decapitated by the hypnosis maddened sister Betsy and her battleaxe. Eventually, Brian finally realizes that he's going to have to stop worrying about his secret identity and change into Captain Britain, after which "a simple nerve pinch" puts her out like a light (is Brian also half Vulcan? At this stage, anything seems possible). Leaving Jamie-who is now aware of his secret, of course-to look after Betsy, CB then takes off after the fleeing Dr. Synne, but he escapes. Brian and Jamie then take Betsy to a handily nearby clinic for "diseases of the mind" where she's strapped into what seems to be a high tech hairdryer while Jamie astutely observes that Brian has "changed inside as well as out". Jamie agrees to keep Brian's secret, but future discussion is forestalled by the arrival of Ramsey, the Director of the appropriately named Mordor clinic, who basically tells them to bugger off and leave Betsy with him, before revealing himself to us as...the servant of Dr. Synne! Betsy, we are told, is being prepared for "extensive brainwashing", and will then be Synne's to command... Well, what do you expect if you check your little sister into a clinic called "Mordor"?
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 22, 2016 6:59:12 GMT -5
Captain Britain #11 (Dec '76)Script: Gary Friedrich Art: Herb Trimpe/Fred Kida "Burn, Witch, Burn!"  After ten issues of manfully struggling against the odds, Chris Claremont has departed, leaving his new baby to stand on his two red booted feet and make his way in the world, with the able assistance of new writer Gary Friedrich. The first and most obvious result of this is that Brian Braddock, who'd previously been fond of melodramatic dialogue full of exclamation marks, is now talking like Hank McCoy in the early issues of X-Men, for some reason: when Jamie Braddock expresses his surprise at learning that Brian is Captain Britain, his grim faced brother replies "I share your incredulity, but none the less, it's true! Preturnatural forces and a capricious fate have somehow conspired to effect the impossible!" Who talks like that? He then declares "let's speak no more of this" before inexplicably wandering off into a forest for several hours to reflect on his changed circumstances. Leaping through the trees like a spandex clad Tarzan for no readily apparent reason, he muses on "the way to end the identity crisis I've been suffering" (which we haven't actually heard aabout until now, but never mind) and rather worryingly wonders "I can't simply kill off old Brian--or can I?" (well no, you can't-because that would be bloody stupid. Friedrich, what have you been smoking? And have you actually read any of the previous issues of this book?) Luckily, before the Captain can head any further down this strange road, he's distracted by the sudden appearance of an angry mob of shotgun toting loons dressed like French peasants from an old Hammer movie, pursuing two unarmed people, a man and a girl, who for some reason they believe to be witches! Of course, this sort of thing happened all the time in Devon in 1976...anyway, the Captain steps in and fights them, but finds himself inexplicably tiring as his foes seem to grow stronger. The culprit, of course, is Dr. Synne, who is "lurking sinistery behind the scenes" and feeding his "mental essence" into the minds of the villagers, determined that this will be the last time CB disrupts his "master plan" ( What plan?) Shot by the mob, the Captain survives because he is "protected by a supernatural power", but loses consciousness. Reawakening, he learns from the guy he had been trying to rescue that his girlfriend has been taken by the mob. Tracking them down to a nearby village (which looks as though it hasn't changed since the Middle Ages) they find the girl tied to a stake, about to be burned by the torch wielding villagers... I've been a little disparaging about Chris Claremont's take on Britain in this thread in the past, haven't I? I didn't know when I was well off...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2016 10:41:41 GMT -5
tingramretroYou are so lucky to have these wonderful covers over at England - I just loved all these covers that you posted so vivid, colorful, and fantastic artwork done by Herb Trimpe/Fred Kida.
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 22, 2016 11:09:25 GMT -5
tingramretro You are so lucky to have these wonderful covers over at England - I just loved all these covers that you posted so vivid, colorful, and fantastic artwork done by Herb Trimpe/Fred Kida. I really like the art on these early issues, too. Just because you mentioned it, here are a couple of images that might not have otherwise made it into this thread. First up, the cover to the one and only Captain Britain Annual, published in late 1977. It's a hardcover reprint of the first seven issues of the series (up to the defeat of Hurricane).  And this is a back cover pin-up from the first Captain Britain Summer Special, which I believe may be the only work ever done for a British comic by the King himself.  |
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Post by mikelmidnight on Nov 22, 2016 12:30:46 GMT -5
Off the top of my head:
Alec by Eddie Campbell
The full run of Near Myths
Silver Age Superman by Ed Pinsent
The issue of Mad Dog with Alan Moore's Captain Airstrip-One story
Streetcomix issues by Hunt Emerson
Most of the runs of Escape and Heartbreak Hotel and Crisis
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2016 12:32:55 GMT -5
tingramretro You are so lucky to have these wonderful covers over at England - I just loved all these covers that you posted so vivid, colorful, and fantastic artwork done by Herb Trimpe/Fred Kida. I really like the art on these early issues, too. Just because you mentioned it, here are a couple of images that might not have otherwise made it into this thread. First up, the cover to the one and only Captain Britain Annual, published in late 1977. It's a hardcover reprint of the first seven issues of the series (up to the defeat of Hurricane). And this is a back cover pin-up from the first Captain Britain Summer Special, which I believe may be the only work ever done for a British comic by the King himself. I haven't seen the image that you posted for the Captain Britain Annual and I have seen on numerous times the image of both Captain America and Captain Britain on the bottom and that's a class by itself. Thanks for sharing these with me. |
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 22, 2016 12:52:55 GMT -5
The issue of Mad Dog with Alan Moore's Captain Airstrip-One story
Damn, I've never even seen that! Crisis, though, was actually pretty mainstream at the time. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 22, 2016 13:04:31 GMT -5
Wait, so the villain is a country vicar-turned-smuggler? We know all about your English country villages, in America, with you witch burnings and your giant Wicker Man sacrifices. Makes our out of the way, flea bag motels (with a taxidermy theme) seem rather quaint.  |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,218 
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Post by Confessor on Nov 22, 2016 13:06:57 GMT -5
First up, the cover to the one and only Captain Britain Annual, published in late 1977. It's a hardcover reprint of the first seven issues of the series (up to the defeat of Hurricane). I didn't buy it or have it bought for me, but I remember seeing that on book store/newsagents' shelves. It was probably advertised in the pages of other Marvel UK comics that I did buy too. |
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Post by tingramretro on Nov 22, 2016 14:04:56 GMT -5
Wait, so the villain is a country vicar-turned-smuggler? We know all about your English country villages, in America, with you witch burnings and your giant Wicker Man sacrifices. Makes our out of the way, flea bag motels (with a taxidermy theme) seem rather quaint. You stay out of our quaint country villages, boy! We don't like strangers 'round 'ere... |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 22, 2016 14:11:04 GMT -5
Wait, so the villain is a country vicar-turned-smuggler? We know all about your English country villages, in America, with you witch burnings and your giant Wicker Man sacrifices. Makes our out of the way, flea bag motels (with a taxidermy theme) seem rather quaint. You stay out of our quaint country villages, boy! We don't like strangers 'round 'ere... Yeah well, stay out of our small country towns, or we will sick Ernest T Bass on you! We remember the Revolution and the War of 1812. Andy Jackson whupped yer hide real good! (after the treaty was signed...) |
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Post by mikelmidnight on Nov 23, 2016 12:33:21 GMT -5
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