Britain Prevails! Marvel UK lives here...

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

Brits Are Confused About Who Marvel's Captain Britain Is:

https://www.cbr.com/brits-confused-w...in-britain-is/

[Katana500]

THE UNION #1 (OF 5)
PAUL GRIST (W) • Andrea Di Vito (A) • Cover by R.B. Silva
Variant Cover by Ema Lupacchino
DESIGN VARIANT COVER BY R.B. SILVA
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
EMPYRE VARIANT COVER BY TBA
The grand unveiling of The Union! A team of super heroes gathered from all over the United Kingdom, featuring Union Jack, Snakes, Kelpie, Choir, and their fearless leader, Brittania! But when disaster strikes on their first public debut, in the form of the invasion of Empyre, the fledgling team is immediately pushed to their limits! Don’t miss out on an exciting new chapter of Marvel from legendary creators, Paul Grist (JUDGE DREDD, JACK STAFF) and Andrea Di Vito!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

I'm not a massive fan of how the english character is dressed in the Union Jack. Makes it seem like England = Britain and makes all the celts on the team seem like token editions.

The name is a bit on the nose as well - makes it seem really politicized. I wish they had gone with a more neutral name. Oh well. Im still willing to give it a shot just for Kelpie!

[Husk]

I'm not a massive fan of how the english character is dressed in the Union Jack. Makes it seem like England = Britain and makes all the celts on the team seem like token editions.

The name is a bit on the nose as well - makes it seem really politicized. I wish they had gone with a more neutral name. Oh well. Im still willing to give it a shot just for Kelpie!

They could've updated his costume certainly. The worry for Marvel likely being if they did alter him, he wouldn't be recognisable as he isn't a major character. However, Union Jack only represents England in the line-up. However, none of the others seem to be bearing the sigils of their native flags in any way, even the colorisation of their costumes don't match that (although Kelpie's falls close). Britannia is the representative (and spirit) of Great Britain. She's dressed far more neutrally.

I agree on the name though. Something less political may have served for an easier transition into the spotlight. I wonder if that's the point though? With the United Kingdom falling apart (lets not forget, technically, this is a team of four countries and Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom but not Great Britain which only includes the three on that island), it may be the case that this team is specifically selected to act as a "Union" in these difficult times.

All are suffering from political dissent in the aftermath of Brexit, on both sides as no one (Leave or Remain) is happy with the resolution, and many in Scotland want independence and Northern Ireland want reunification with the Republic of Ireland. The United Kingdom has never been more divided. The inciting incident of the team could actually be a direct attack against the ideal they represent.

Moving away from that and onto the basics: Kelpie is the one I'm most intrigued by. I'm interested in the others (although I've never much cared for Union Jack), but Kelpie was the first to catch my attention and remains so.

[Loki]

I'm not a massive fan of how the english character is dressed in the Union Jack. Makes it seem like England = Britain and makes all the celts on the team seem like token editions.

The name is a bit on the nose as well - makes it seem really politicized. I wish they had gone with a more neutral name. Oh well. Im still willing to give it a shot just for Kelpie!

That might well be the point. If this team has been assembled by the government, and some civil servant or politician picked the members and came up with the group name, then both those potentially divisive choices would make perfect sense in context.

[Katana500]

They could've updated his costume certainly. The worry for Marvel likely being if they did alter him, he wouldn't be recognisable as he isn't a major character. However, Union Jack only represents England in the line-up. However, none of the others seem to be bearing the sigils of their native flags in any way, even the colorisation of their costumes don't match that (although Kelpie's falls close). Britannia is the representative (and spirit) of Great Britain. She's dressed far more neutrally.

I'm not sure Britannia is dressed all that neutrally. Her shield for example is a Lion which is the national animal of England, no connection to Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales there. I hope I am proved wrong but I fear Britannia will end up being English in all but name. Almost all personifications of the UK or Britain end up being English Stereotypes (since they are the biggest group and ignore the other three countries.

I agree on the name though. Something less political may have served for an easier transition into the spotlight. I wonder if that's the point though? With the United Kingdom falling apart (lets not forget, technically, this is a team of four countries and Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom but not Great Britain which only includes the three on that island), it may be the case that this team is specifically selected to act as a "Union" in these difficult times.

All are suffering from political dissent in the aftermath of Brexit, on both sides as no one (Leave or Remain) is happy with the resolution, and many in Scotland want independence and Northern Ireland want reunification with the Republic of Ireland. The United Kingdom has never been more divided. The inciting incident of the team could actually be a direct attack against the ideal they represent.

Moving away from that and onto the basics: Kelpie is the one I'm most intrigued by. I'm interested in the others (although I've never much cared for Union Jack), but Kelpie was the first to catch my attention and remains so.

Just seems like such an unecessarily risky name - which I think will put some people off. Certainly the team seems to have had a bit of a mixed reaction especially from Scots - the comments on twitter are overwhelmingly negative and even the press picked up on it here.

I hope you are right though! and it explores these complex issues. I will be extremely dissapointed if Selkie and Snakes just follow Britannia's lead with no complaint as glorified sidekicks.

Selkie really excites me! There are almost no Scottish Superheroes, so I cannot wait to read about her! Maybe like Scotland she can go for a solo career

That might well be the point. If this team has been assembled by the government, and some civil servant or politician picked the members and came up with the group name, then both those potentially divisive choices would make perfect sense in context.

I remember reading that the team falls apart before it even begun. So maybe some of the characters aren't exactly pleased with the whole situation.

[king of hybrids]

I’m going to wager that the Union is (in-universe) one of those Big-standard government* organised team that they bribe/coerce/manipulate the heroes into joining, with the name being something some grossly overpaid City PR firm devised; probably as a response to Wisdom and Betsy effectively being enemy agents, the vaguely Arthurian heroes at the mercy of Monarch and the rest being overly associated with the Avengers/Euroforce or too vocal in their politics (Excalibur and Outlaw)

Odds are they don’t get along, but the Skrulls/Kree or Cotati cut the Marvel Method of HR disputes on hold until its too late.

*Marvel governments being cartoonishly stupid

[Loki]

That might well be the point. If this team has been assembled by the government, and some civil servant or politician picked the members and came up with the group name, then both those potentially divisive choices would make perfect sense in context.

And Paul Grist has confirmed on Facebook that this is exactly the case. Team name, costumes and even individual member names all government imposed, and the members aren't exactly happy about it.

[Drops Of Venus]

Brits Are Confused About Who Marvel's Captain Britain Is:

https://www.cbr.com/brits-confused-w...in-britain-is/

God, it looks like all hell broke loose on Twitter after this Captain Britain thing went viral (and CB isn't even on the damn team! LOL). The replies on Marvel's tweets are a mess, and a lot of people seem to think this book is some sort of pro-Brexit propaganda, which I'm pretty certain it's not. Poor Paul Grist. I hope his story doesn't get drowned out in the middle of all this negativity.

I'm not a massive fan of how the english character is dressed in the Union Jack. Makes it seem like England = Britain and makes all the celts on the team seem like token editions.

I also thought it was pretty weird that they made the England representative be Union Jack instead of someone with a more neutral look, but according to the writer, everything in this book has a point, even his design choices: https://twitter.com/mistergrist/stat...02181682708480

Let's see how they explore this. I'm curious to know what exactly is Britannia's background. She is supposed to represent all UK, but where does she come from exactly? Making her be just english, irish, welsh or scottish would seem like giving one of the countries more representation than the others, so I'm wondering if she's gonna turn out to be from Otherworld (which has been described as the ''subconscious of the British Isles'', or something like that) instead, making her a more neutral hero that can represent all of the UK.

The name is a bit on the nose as well - makes it seem really politicized. I wish they had gone with a more neutral name. Oh well. Im still willing to give it a shot just for Kelpie!

I'm sure politics is very much the point. Paul describes the team as ''government run propaganda stunt'': https://twitter.com/mistergrist/stat...31470206029824

I feel like this book will end up surprising people in a positive way.

Moving away from that and onto the basics: Kelpie is the one I'm most intrigued by. I'm interested in the others (although I've never much cared for Union Jack), but Kelpie was the first to catch my attention and remains so.

Agreed. Kelpie is my favorite so far, just based on first impressions.

[Loki]

God, it looks like all hell broke loose on Twitter after this Captain Britain thing went viral (and CB isn't even on the damn team! LOL). The replies on Marvel's tweets are a mess, and a lot of people seem to think this book is some sort of pro-Brexit propaganda, which I'm pretty certain it's not.

He's confirmed on Facebook that it isn't. I'd quote him, but I don't want to do so without his permission.

[Danvidar]

https://www.newsarama.com/49236-marv...c2e2-2020.html

aHR0cDovL3d3dy5uZXdzYXJhbWEuY29tL2ltYWdlcy9pLzAwMC8yNzcvMDYzL29yaWdpbmFsL1hPZlN3b3Jkcy1NYXJrQnJv.jpg

Well it seems that Brian will be getting the sword back.

[Panic]

Absolutely everyone is carrying a sword, so I'm not sure if it means anything long term.

Anyway, I hope it's a decent showing.

[Knightmare]

Does anyone here think Brian would still be able to pull Excalibur from the stone like Secret Invasion?

[Panic]

I don't see why not. I think under a British writer he would, but with an American writer... we know they can't resist giving him a kick as they pass.

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

If anyone is still confused as to where the idea of the 616 universe came from, here's what Alan Davis posted on Tom Brevoort's Marvel blog in April 2007:

616 is an alternate, and some say older, ‘sign of the beast’, 666. It has some basis in Greek numerology (ZAZ?) but I don’t recall the details. Although credited to Alan Moore, like much of the other Captain Britain folklore it was in place before he joined the book. (In actual fact the only significant addition Alan and I co-created was the Fury.) Jim Jaspers, the Crazy Gang, Saturnyne, the Omniversal organisation (Avante Guarde) Captain UK, etc were all conceived by Paul Neary or Dave Thorpe. Most of the more classic elements were Paul’s (he had worked on an Arthurian Black Knight strip for Marvel UK some years earlier that utilized Captain Britain and introduced Jackdaw). Dave Thorpe, who wasn’t a fan of the modern superhero genre, was responsible for most of the more madcap or satirical elements–such as recording his opinion of the Marvel Universe with the designation 616.

The irony is that the Multiverse was created out of Marvel UK’s desire to use Marvel US characters–which wouldn’t have been tolerated at the time. Setting the stories on an alternate Earth offered the opportunity to use any of the Marvel stars without concern for continuity–but Dave had no love for Marvel characters and Alan was offered SWAMP THING before he had finished his first arc so we never took advantage of the possibility.

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

MARVEL TALES: CAPTAIN BRITAIN #1
Written by CHRIS CLAREMONT
Penciled by HERB TRIMPE, JOHN BYRNE & ALAN DAVIS
Cover by INHYUK LEE • VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY INHYUK LEE
A legendary hero flies the flag for the United Kingdom as we celebrate the legacy of the House of Ideas with the era-spanning MARVEL TALES! In Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe’s incredible CAPTAIN BRITAIN (1976) #1-2, Brian Braddock must choose between the Sword of Might and the Amulet of Right. Only one will transform him into Captain Britain, champion of Albion! Then, Brian takes a trip across the pond and ends up in Spider-Man’s neighborhood — but their first meeting turns downright murderous, courtesy of Arcade, in MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) #65-66 — by the fan-favorite team of Claremont and John Byrne! Then, the sword is drawn in EXCALIBUR (1988) #1 as Claremont joins artist Alan Davis to team Captain Britain and his girlfriend Meggan with a trio of ex-X-Men — Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and Phoenix — to form the UK’s most offbeat super team! Collecting CAPTAIN BRITAIN (1976) #1-2, MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) #65-66 and EXCALIBUR (1988) #1.
88 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$7.99