Cluttered Like My Head

 And onwards to issue 8. There's a letter in this month's issue bemoaning how the issue is becoming the Alan Moore monthly, and complaining that the 4 page backup strips are a step too far. Well - this time around instead of one of those backup strips with 'The Special Executive', we have a 4 page Daredevil pisstake by Moore with sumptuous art by Mike Collins and Mark Farmer. The strip has moments of quality - I like the intro text panels where it says that "Noo Yawk is grim, and gritty and realistic. There are big black buildings with little white squares on, and water towers, and manholes and lots of other gritty stuff." I think it tails off though and after 4 pages of gags about him not being able to see anybody outstays its welcome.  Before that of course, we have another fantastic Captain Britain instalment. The Fury is getting closer to our heroes and at the end of the episode, Captain UK from the previous issue makes a reappearance and it definitely fee...

  Another issue, another fine Alan Davis cover, and the disappearance of the Marvel Superheroes logo from the front - it lasted all of one issue.  I wonder if they knew that there was pressure on them for sales by this point. There's an excellent Alan Davis poster featuring the cast of Captain Britain, Nightraven and Daredevil. It also has a lot of blurb on the posted explaining what it's all about, and a competition where if you can get your local newsagent to display the poster, they will replace it with a signed copy. It's a shame because it's really firing on all cylinders by this point.  The Captain Britain strip, taking place at the trial of Saturnyne, again features multiple Captains from different universes fighting against the slightly rigged process. There's a prologue and epilogue though which features Linda McQuillan (another alternative Captain Britain I believe) having nightmares - in the prologue she sees the death of Miracleman (at this point, not in...

 In which I track back and actually read issue 5 now, having already read the following issue.  There's a couple of characters in here that do stuff with time - one of the members of the Special Executive (Cobweb) apparently has constant psychic contact with a number of past and future versions of herself, and when Betsy Braddock scans her mind, she will be "plunged into a word where time has no meaning, where past, present and future melt into a terrifying kaleidoscope" which of course, is how I felt reading these issues in the wrong order.  Anyway - this time around we get to see the Special Executive for the first time - there's also a 2 page colour poster and a text page explaining who they are. There's also a piece explaining why the Spider-Man strips have been dropped (basically, they felt out of place), some fanzine reviews focussing on some publications from Ed Hillyer, and as well as the second part of Alan Moore's article on sexism in comics, there...

  Our reading journey brings us now to issue 5 which as well as featuring a price increase from 50p to 60p, also includes a Marvel Super-Heroes logo on the cover as well as the Daredevils one. Were the two comics merged at this point? It's unclear and I can't find any mention of it inside.  In a previous issue they had asked people whether they should continue with the Spider-Man strip? I guess the answers came in negative as its no longer featured - in its place is a slightly larger page count for Captain Britain, a Nightraven text piece, and a Special Executive script that was originally printed in Doctor Who Monthly (I believe)  The latter is a good choice - the Special Executive pop cup in the main story as well this month, so the intro script, although it makes mention of Gallifreyans, is a good piece of background. The lead strip is excellent as usual - as I said with the previous issue, the quality of the art is visible month-on-month. This story has appearances of...

Despite us having 57 Streaming Services, there seems to be nothing on, so I cheekily located my DVDs of Chancer and pressed play a week or so ago. We've made our way through S1 and there's much to recommend about it, as well as much to criticise. It's definitely a creature of its time.  Firstly - Clive Owen. His character is a complete shit. He repeatedly uses people he supposedly loves, at one point his on-off girlfriend says she has his foot marks all over her back, yet they keep coming back for more. But he's magnetic - you can't take your eyes off of him, every character in the show is defined by how they interact with him, and even though the dialogue is full of cliche "Crane's Law, Rule Number One..." and "Don't you trust me?" he gets away with it on charm.  As I said, the rest of the characters are defined by how they interact with the lead, and whilst they're generally well played, their stories are obviously seen as a lower p...

 And with issue 4, I think we are up to April 1983.  I had a wilderness year after the UK Captain America comic was cancelled where my parents made it clear how they felt about superheroes - which is part of the reason why I didn't read this title when it was originally released. I am reminded with this issue as to how close they must have been to each other though as this one still has subscription offers for the Scooby-Doo comic, and I distinctly remember that being launched towards the end of the earlier title.  Behind a dynamic Captain Britain cover, we get another instalment of his story from Messrs Moore & Davis. I don't think it's disingenuous to say that the artwork here seems a step up from the earlier issues - they seem more finished than they did previously - maybe Davis had more time to work on them. Notable this time around for featuring the US villain Arcade, as well as another early appearance of Betsy Braddock. It's an enjoyable romp - particularly w...