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| Images copyright MARVEL COMICS |
Time again to turn back the clock to 1976 and gaze once more upon some iconic images from the pulsating pages of CAPTAIN BRITAIN, as published by The Merry MARVEL U.K. Bullpen. Okay, the comic was actually prepared Stateside, but 'twas printed over here and had some input from the British editorial team, minor as it was.
Looking at the comic now, it has to be said that it was quite a slick publication, considering that some of the other U.K. Marvel weeklies often had a makeshift appearance to them. Apart from his origin perhaps, there was really nothing original about the good Captain's tales, which were fairly generic superhero fare, but Marvel has to be given credit, at least, for trying to give us Brits a hero of our own.
Okay, peeps, don't forget to return for part four.
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Yes, CB was pretty good in these early issues - in my memory it started to go downhill once the new year came in, that long and tiresome Red Skull story and then the loss of colour. Thanks, Kid, for including the festive back page from #12 - by an amazing coincidence tomorrow I'll be exactly the same age (to the very day) as my dad was when that issue came out. I'd forgotten there was an ape in the picture - I pinned up that picture at Christmas for several years following. On the last splash page Dr. Synne says he first intends to dominate the empire then the world - by "empire" I assume he means the British Empire ? We didn't have much of an empire left by 1976 to dominate !
ReplyDeleteLoving this series, Kid! I know you've got all the weeklies, monthlies and the annuals, but have you also got the 3 seasonal specials as well?
ReplyDeleteI reckon they brought in Captain America in the hope that an 'A-lister' might give the mag a sales push, CJ. And where CA is, can the Red Skull be far behind? As for the 'Empire' - obviously Synne meant whatever was left of it at that time.
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I believe I do have the Specials, JP. I think the first one was reprints from the original b&w version of the '70s mag.
Kid, I suppose I meant how daft it sounds - the writer (Gary Friedrich) obviously had no idea how somebody like Dr. Synne would speak, by 1976 even the most deluded flag-waving traditionalist knew we didn't still have an empire so Dr. Synne wouldn't have ranted about dominating "the entire empire" then the world - he'd have gone straight to dominating the world.
ReplyDeleteYes, but he obviously intends to dominate the world a bit at a time, so the 'Empire' (or what's left of it) is as good a place to start as any. Also, I assume (not having re-read the story) that perhaps the writer was trying to portray Synne as one of those 'deluded flag-waving traditionalists' that you speak of. Or perhaps he merely thought that the mention of the 'Empire' made the strip seem more 'British'.
ReplyDeleteI forgot that Dr. Synne is bonkers so that explains it. It's just "the entire empire" that makes me chuckle - in 1976 that would have been a couple of African countries, Hong Kong, the Falklands and a few scattered poverty-stricken islands here and there.
ReplyDeleteDon't knock it, CJ - it's still far more territory than your back garden.
ReplyDeleteHey Kid, do I remember you saying recently that you were looking for a new copy of How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way? Cos the Works in sauchiehall street is selling it for £5 right now. Seems to Brrr selling pretty quickly though, cos they had a lot less on display today than they did yesterday.
ReplyDelete(apologies if it wasn't you who said it- I may very well be getting mixed up with someone else! I am very easily confused, after all!)
Ah Marvel UK. Look at that amateur art done by the fill ins. I could have drawn better and I was 13. How I miss you. I used to cut those mini posters put and stick them on my wall.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't me, DD, because I have four copies already, but thanks for letting me know anyway.
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Happy days, eh, Phil? I never coloured them, but it takes me right back, seeing them again.
For the record, I can tell you that the "festive pinup" was drawn by a chap called George Mina. He was one of the art bodgers in the Marvel offices (in High Holborn) at the time and Marvel UK boss Ray Wergen gave him the chance to have his art in the comic. Don't know if he got paid for it.
ReplyDeleteI know this because I was working at Marvel UK intermittently during 1976 (holiday job while still at Uni) before joining Dez's House of Hammer staff in August 1977 ...
Thanks for that, Al. The name sounds familiar. Did he go on to a career drawing for any comics companies, do you know? (I'll be kind and assume that the diminutive-looking Hulk was crouching in order not to hog the picture.)
ReplyDeleteAl- Thanks for the info on George Mina. Had suspected this was a local artist, as opposed to someone from the NY bullpen.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, do you know anything about Adrian Beeton (another UK artist), who did the CB/Cap America pinup in issue 17 (which we will see soon), as well as some detailed pinups in Fury 2 and Planet of the Apes 118 (another Nick Fury). Saw some of his comic work in 2000 AD around the same time, but not much is known about him.
You know I prefer the original CB costume, OK I know the Union Jack thing doesn't work. If they could've just got the lion right, which suffers a bit especially in the xmas thing, not such much, lion rampant as rampant...
ReplyDeleteJS, hopefully Al will read your query and respond to it, because I can find no personal info about Adrian Beeton on the net.
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I think I prefer the original costume too, DSE. The Union flag was overkill, but their heart was in the right place.