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Post by tingramretro on Feb 17, 2017 10:50:54 GMT -5
Captain Britain #23 (March '77)Script: Gary Friedrich Art: Herb Trimpe/Frank Giacoia "The Night Big Ben Stood Still!"  This episode of our saga (with Frank Giacoia now replacing Fred Kida on inks) begins somewhat puzzlingly, as Captain Britain-still lashed to a stake awaiting execution-rather randomly announces that "It appears that Parliament has voted to refuse the Skull's ultimatum". How he could be in a position to know this is unclear, as it's clearly only just happened and it seems unlikely that the Skull's HQ has a live news feed in 1977, but never mind, let's just go with it! As it turns out, he was wrong anyway; even as the captive Prime Minister Callaghan declares that "no man is more important than freedom", Lance Hunter calls the Skull (better late than never) to confirm that Parliament has indeed voted to give in to his demands! Needless to say, this all seems more than a little unlikely, but what the hell; it gives Captain Britain and his star spangled counterpart the push they need to break free of their bonds and start beating up Nazi henchmen again, and that's the main thing! Meanwhile, back at S.T.R.I.K.E, Hunter rather abruptly wakes up Nick Fury (who he drugged, remember?) and tells him what's been going on. The surrender was a ruse to buy time; now, Hunter wants Fury to take over at S.T.R.I.K.E while he, Hunter, goes to try defuse the Skull's germ bomb-which the fiend has hidden inside the clock tower at Westminster! The bomb will detonate when Big Ben strikes midnight, apparently. Fury complains that he should be the one to tackle it, but his British counterpart rather satisfyingly overrules him and departs. Back in the Skull's warehouse base, our heroes have split up; Captain America is still happily beating up Nazis, while Captain Britain has been sent to look for an exit and seek out help. Even as Hunter races against time to find the bomb inside the clock tower while the Red Skull reaches for an ominous looking big red button, CB escapes from the warehouse and flags down a passing motorist! Unfortunately, by a staggering coincidence, the motorist is his nemesis, Chief Inspector Dai Thomas... An aside: rather irritatingly, Friedrich has made the same mistake everyone makes when referring to the Elizabeth Tower, calling the tower itself "Big Ben". In fact, Big Ben is only the name of the large bell inside the clock.
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Post by tingramretro on Feb 17, 2017 11:35:09 GMT -5
Captain Britain #24 (March 1977)Script: Gary Friedrich/Larry Lieber Art: John Buscema/Tom Palmer "The Fall of the Fourth Reich?"  There are some major changes this issue, right in the middle of a still ongoing storyline. First, while Gary Friedrich is still plotting the thing, he is now apparently being assisted with the dialogue by Larry Lieber. Second, Herb Trimpe, the co-creator of Captain Britain, is gone-replaced by John Buscema, with inks by Tom Palmer. And third, and rather more jarringly than either of those things, the strip is no longer in colour! Until the launch of this title, aside from parts of a few very early issues of Mighty World of Marvel and Spider-Man Comics Weekly back in 1972, all Marvel UK's titles had been printed entirely in black and white aside from the covers. When Captain Britain was launched on the world, his arrival was considered important enough to shell out for then quite expensive colour printing on at least part of his book; the CB strip itself and the Nick Fury reprints in the back (the Fantastic Four reprints that filled the middle of each issue were still monochrome). The trade-off was that this was the only Marvel UK weekly with a newsprint cover rather than the usual glossy one. However, sales clearly haven't been as good as Marvel hoped, since with this issue the whole interior of the book becomes black and white like the rest of the Marvel UK line...though it does now at least have a glossy cover. Small comfort, to us readers of the time... Anyway, on to the story: having escaped the Skull's clutches, Captain Britain wastes quite a bit of time trying to convince Chief Inspector Thomas to actually listen to his warning that the entire country is in jeopardy, and then getting away from Thomas and his men when they predictably refuse to do anything except try to arrest him. Commandeering Thomas's car, CB demands to be patched through to the S.H.I.E.L.D heli-carrier and, after being patched through to Nick Fury over at S.T.R.I.K.E Command by Dum Dum Dugan...crashes the car while swerving to avoid hitting a dog. Oh, Brian! Anyway, the stunned superstar eventually clears his head enough to give Fury the location of the Red Skull, and Fury duly assembles a strike team. We then shift scenes to the clock tower, where Lance Hunter is still trying to defuse the Skull's germ bomb before it blows at midnight (basically, this scene is only here to remind us of that particular plot strand) before cutting back to the Skull's lair, where Captain America and the Prime Minister are in a cell about to be blown up by an explosive device. Even as S.H.I.E.L.D launch their attack on the warehouse, Captain Britain returns and takes a flying leap at the bomb that's about to kill the two captives...only for it to seemingly blow up in his face! This story really is dragging on a bit now, and the whole interlude with Thomas is ridiculous, but it's certainly not short of action. I'm really going to miss those rich, vibrant hues, though...
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Post by starscape on Feb 17, 2017 14:51:37 GMT -5
Captain Britain #23 (March '77)Script: Gary Friedrich Art: Herb Trimpe/Frank Giacoia "The Night Big Ben Stood Still!" This episode of our saga (with Frank Giacoia now replacing Fred Kida on inks) I have the original art of this. It's signed Ron Wilson and it states on the back that the inker is in fact John Romita Comic Art Fans CB 23.  |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Feb 17, 2017 17:03:25 GMT -5
I have the original art of this. It's signed Ron Wilson and it states on the back that the inker is in fact John Romita The cover inking doesn't look very Romitaesque to me. GCD suggests John Tartaglione, with only the redrawing of "Sunny Jim" Callaghan's face being by Romita. But they think Fred Kida was still inking the interiors, so they could be wrong. |
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Post by tingramretro on Feb 17, 2017 17:14:38 GMT -5
I have the original art of this. It's signed Ron Wilson and it states on the back that the inker is in fact John Romita The cover inking doesn't look very Romitaesque to me. GCD suggests John Tartaglione, with only the redrawing of "Sunny Jim" Callaghan's face being by Romita. But they think Fred Kida was still inking the interiors, so they could be wrong. The interiors are very definitely not Fred Kida. |
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Post by izzyworlduk on Feb 27, 2017 18:41:49 GMT -5
I am one of a group of artists and writers who produce art fan fiction comic called AVENGERS UK. We produce ALL our own comics and share them on our Facebook page as folders. All our comics are FREE. This is all done for love not money. Last October we produced a special issue :"Captain Britain 40th Anniversary Special" feel free to share.... From "Avengers UK Presents: Captain Britain 40th Anniversary Special" for the whole FREE issue see: www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.845417588928919.1073741881.180164942120857&type=1&l=f3ca91eec2 |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 27, 2017 20:48:31 GMT -5
I am one of a group of artists and writers who produce art fan fiction comic called AVENGERS UK. We produce ALL our own comics and share them on our Facebook page as folders. All our comics are FREE. This is all done for love not money. Last October we produced a special issue :"Captain Britain 40th Anniversary Special" feel free to share.... From "Avengers UK Presents: Captain Britain 40th Anniversary Special" for the whole FREE issue see: www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.845417588928919.1073741881.180164942120857&type=1&l=f3ca91eec2I'm so glad you chose to join and share this! Once you get your image hosting sorted out, might I suggest launching your own thread in the Fan Art section so that people can follow your output on a regular basis? |
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Post by tingramretro on Feb 28, 2017 4:29:40 GMT -5
I am one of a group of artists and writers who produce art fan fiction comic called AVENGERS UK. We produce ALL our own comics and share them on our Facebook page as folders. All our comics are FREE. This is all done for love not money. Last October we produced a special issue :"Captain Britain 40th Anniversary Special" feel free to share.... From "Avengers UK Presents: Captain Britain 40th Anniversary Special" for the whole FREE issue see: www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.845417588928919.1073741881.180164942120857&type=1&l=f3ca91eec2I'm well aware of Avengers UK, you guys have been doing some amazing work. |
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Post by tingramretro on Mar 6, 2017 9:00:08 GMT -5
Captain Britain #25 (March '77)Script: Gary Friedrich/Larry Lieber Art: John Buscema/Fred Kida "Gathering of Gladiators!" ![]()  As Nick Fury and his men attack tbe Red Skull's base, Captain Britain frees Captain America and Jim Callaghan from their cell, having survived last issue's climactic explosion by muffling the blast with a protective force field generated by his quarterstaff (a handy trick which he rarely seems to remember to use). As the Prime Minister casually wanders off (assuring our heroes that he'll be fine, as "the Skull will most likely need all his troops for combat", and so won't have left any guards; there is such a thing as being too sanguine, Jim!) our heroes rush off to find the Skull, an uncharacteristically flippant Captain America declaring "okay, let's go after lobster head!" For some reason, I have trouble believing he'd say that line, but never mind. Anyway, we switch scenes at this point to the ongoing battle between Fury's forces and the Skull's men, the S.T.R.I.K.E guys continuing to be about the only effective good guys around at this point. Our two costumed Muppets do eventually reach the fight, but only manage to distract Fury as he's about to apprehend the Skull, giving the villain a chance to shoot him. As an anguished Captain America laments that he's gotten his friend killed (as though that was ever really a possibility), the Skull teleports away, followed by Captain Britain who has finally remembered that he's supposed to be a scientist and worked out how the teleporter operates. Our hero arrives on the Westminster clock tower seconds after the Skull, and they prepare to do battle as Lance Hunter (remember him?) clings rather desperately to one of the clock's hands, still trying to locate the firing mechanism of the Skull's germ bomb...
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Post by starscape on Mar 6, 2017 16:52:02 GMT -5
I have the original art of this. It's signed Ron Wilson and it states on the back that the inker is in fact John Romita The cover inking doesn't look very Romitaesque to me. GCD suggests John Tartaglione, with only the redrawing of "Sunny Jim" Callaghan's face being by Romita. But they think Fred Kida was still inking the interiors, so they could be wrong. Better update this to be accurate. The back says Wilson/Romita. I presumed that meant penciller/inker but it might well be the two pencillers. |
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Post by tingramretro on Mar 25, 2017 11:32:28 GMT -5
Captain Britain #26 (April '77)Script: Gary Friedrich/Larry Lieber Art: John Buscema/Tom Palmer "Hickory, Dickory...Death!"  Our story picks up back at Westminster with Captain Britain battling the Red Skull hand-to-hand on the hands of the great clock, as Lance Hunter (who the Captain at one point mistakenly refers to as "the Colonel") continues to try to defuse the Skull's germ bomb. The Skull attempts to teleport out but unfortunately drops his teleporter device and ends up dangling by his ankle in the Captain's grip, still screaming defiance. Meanwhile, that old crybaby Captain America is still lamenting the death of Nick Fury...at least until a couple of panels later when Fury wakes up and shoots the neo-Nazi who is about to shoot him in the back. to be continued after this brief intermission
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2017 12:17:05 GMT -5
Captain Britain #26 (April '77)The cover art done by John Buscema/Tom Palmer is action packed and I'm voting this is the best cover that I seen in this thread of your tingramretro!
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Post by tingramretro on Mar 25, 2017 14:21:54 GMT -5
Captain Britain #26 (Cont.)
Apologies for the mid review break. Life happened.
Anyway: Captain America reveals to Fury how he and CB escaped the explosion at Braddock Manor by hiding in an old WWII bomb shelter (which clears that particular mystery up several issues after everyone had forgotten it) before the intrepid pair return to fighting the Skull's men. Meanwhile, we get a protracted fight scene between Captain Britain and the Skull which ends with the Skull falling from the clock tower and landing hard while Captain Britain is saved from a similar fate by a jetpack wearing Captain America. The clock strikes twelve but the bomb fails to explode, Hunter having successfully disarmed it at the last minute. Unfortunately, the Skull is not yet out for the count, and is reaching for his fallen teleportation gizmo...
At this point, I'm really not sure this story is ever going to end!
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Post by tingramretro on Mar 25, 2017 14:25:34 GMT -5
Captain Britain #26 (April '77)The cover art done by John Buscema/Tom Palmer is action packed and I'm voting this is the best cover that I seen in this thread of your tingramretro ! It ain't bad, is it! |
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Mar 25, 2017 14:45:54 GMT -5
Captain Britain #26 (April '77)The cover art done by John Buscema/Tom Palmer is action packed and I'm voting this is the best cover that I seen in this thread of your tingramretro ! It ain't bad, is it! That is a seriously good cover -- no doubts there. |
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