Captain Britain & MI 13 #14

Nicely done, Paul Cornell. Last issue we saw the entire team destroyed by Dracula's vampire hordes, and to make matters worse, the team was betrayed by Spitfire. When last issue ended, Dracula had taken over England and only Blade and Captain Britain were still alive. It seemed awfully brutal, but I figured the series was ending and the two biggest names had survived, so there was a small chance this could be how the series would play out.

It turns out Cornell had a clever out all along. By utilizing a previous villain from the series, he had established powers and motivation that totally work within the story. I loved the reveal sequence where we find out how prepared Pete Wisdom was to take on the vampire boss. Bringing in an awesome, obscure character like Killpower from Marvel UK was a delight too, since I used to read his comic back in high school. Factor in the great developments with Spitfire and Captain Fate, along with Faiza's Dad, and this was a rollicking good comic that straddled the line between rising action and climax, and handled both perfectly. I expected the return of another great Brit before the series ended, and I'm happy to see that happening too. I'm really going to miss this comic. Cornell's protagonists are smart and capable and handle super-villain conflict in the most logical way I think I've ever seen in a comic. Just fantastic.

Leonard Kirk gets some assistance from other pencillers, but it doesn't weaken the book at all. The art gang does a wonderful job maintaining a consistent look to make this a thrilling comic.

Excellent

Captain Britain # MI 13 #11

Damn, I love this comic. I'm behind reading it since it just arrived in my comic box, but I have to make sure to recommend it. The action picks up right after the last issue, with the various members of the team surviving their attacks in different ways. I really enjoyed how calm Black Knight was as he psyched up Faiza (now "Excalibur") to save them both. Her powers are still a tad ill-defined, but I'm ok with just leaving it as "super-healing." The main plot was good in this one, as Pete Wisdom starts to assemble his squad and the vampires take their places and declare war, but what makes this comic great is the little details. Black Knight asking if Faiza wants silence before they hit. The casual way Wisdom dresses down the other MI-agencies. The use of a spell to burn off being drunk, and the awful hangover it leaves behind. All great ideas and neat bits adding up to one of the best comics Marvel publishes. I will say that I'm still not cottoning up to Captain Britain the way I probably should be. He's being outshone by everyone else on the team. Blade in particular might make a better main protagonist for awhile.

Leonard Kirk's work is fantastic here. His vampires look like weird flaming monsters, and his take on Black Knight's armor is great. I like Excalibur's costume design too, putting two "knights" on the team. Mike Collins does the last few pages, and his work is decent, but doesn't hold up all that great next to Kirk's great looking pages.

Excellent