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Captain Britain has fallen! What hope does Avalon have?

Magic. Usually, when people first hear or read that word, the mind conjures up images of people like David Copperfield or card tricks or simple sleight-of-hand trickery. In Clive Barker’s short story “The Last Illusion”, he made a very simple declaration that when you see ‘magic tricks’, they are merely illusion, and as for real magic… well, you don’t really want to see that. In most fictional worlds, magic is a very serious force to be reckoned with. Its powers, whether for good or evil use, seem limitless, and its uses are infinite.

But what happens when Magic has to do battle with Technology?

This is, in essence, the premise of Captain Britain and MI13. It’s the midst of the Secret Invasion; the Skrulls are attacking the Earth, and it’s up to our heroes to strike back and defend us. In England, Captain Britain is leading a group of super-powered heroes (Peter Wisdom, Spitfire, and a Skrull that looks and acts like John Lennon) against an attack on Earth’s magic. Also assisting is The Black Knight. At the end of last issue, with the Skrulls destroying the Siege Perilous and also apparently killing Captain Britain, things were looking mighty grim for humanity. In Issue #2, things go from bad to worse.

The opening of the issue has extraordinary power as, with the death of Captain Britain, the inhabitants of that isle feel the death in their very souls, showing how connected Cap B. was to the very essence of the land itself. All entrances to Avalon are closed off except for the one that the Skrulls have temporarily opened on one of their ships, and the invasion of Otherworld begins. Last issue, we were also introduced to a spunky young doctor, Faisa Hussain, who, while assisting The Black Knight, appeared to be killed by a Skrull. However, she is resurrected here, and with some very interesting and… ahem… eye-popping powers. Wisdom, along with Spitfire and Skrull John, have just seen Cap B. killed and are trying to find another way into Avalon. Wisdom, with no apparent options (and still hearing those weird voices), calls on an arcane treaty to a former paramour of his, Tinkabelinos Hardleg, to assist in opening a portal to Otherworld. When I heard that name, I was not expecting to see the girl that emerged. They get a pass into Otherworld, which is already under heavy attack. They meet up with a giant called Oberon, who instructs them to go to the cave in which the sword Excalibur rests in the stone. But who among this trio will be worthy? Will they be able to assist the other magical beings in a war against technology? And what exactly do the Skrulls want with the magic?

As with the first issue, this is a great page-turning read. Writer Paul Cornell does a fantastic job of not only capturing the essence of what was so great about the Marvel UK comics, but he also has a terrific knack for action and humor that evokes a Whedonesque quality. That’s a good thing, boys and girls. I love the exchanges between Faisa and Black Knight, and laughed out loud at Wisdom’s objection to Spitfire calling him ‘sir’ as well as some of Oberon‘s lines. It’s great having a British writer working on a British book. And lest we forget, the great art by Leonard Kirk and Jesse Delperdang. Their combination of quiet moments mixed with big widescreen action is spot-on. And the Super-Skrulls that they design are just awesome. The stakes are escalating at a geometric rate on this series, and the cliffhanger has left me salivating.

And it’s not illusion. This book is magic.

Captain Britain and MI13 #2
“The Guns of Avalon: Part Two”
Written by Paul Cornell
Pencils by Leonard Kirk
Inks by Jesse Delperdang
Colors by Brian Reber
Letters by VC’s Joe Caramagna

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