Captain Britain TPB [Paperback]

Collecting a classic and definitive run from the very early '80s, CAPTAIN BRITAIN features some outstanding writing and artwork. It's fascinating to see Moore and Davis in the very early phases of their careers. You can feel the presence of the great works to come from both highly-regarded creators. Moore's writing gives many hints of the more well-known adult-themes to come from him in the mid- to late '80s. Davis' style, while a bit rough at first, quickly develops as he gains more confidence with the characters (in fact, Moore spends almost the entire introduction praising Davis' work, and rightly so).

Be warned that the beginning of this book is not actually the beginning of the storyline, but it suffices. You are dropped into the middle of an ongoing story that the 2 inherited at the last minute. Within that last minute, however, a good chunk of the UK's superheroes are killed by The Fury, including Miracleman AND the title character! Using a format that will be familiar to readers of Moore's Swamp Thing, the Captain is resurrected and redefined, leading to a rematch that doesn't disappoint.

I am so happy to have found this treasure. I'm hoping that we will see more collections from Marvel UK in the future.

The book gets off to a head-scratching start; We're thrown into the closing chapters of a long-running story-arc that Moore & Davis had the misfortune of inheriting, but they do an amazing job of not only making the complex story and characters accessible, but actually making them interesting. Moore starts by killing Captain Britain, and rebuilding him from the ground up, as he would later do with DC's Swamp Thing. By the third or fourth chapter, Moore & Davis have hit their stride, and are beginning to impart their own voices on the book. Part of the fun is seeing how fast Moore and Davis grow as creators; Moore learns that sometimes silence can be just as powerful as words, and Davis becomes a confident, masterful storyteller in his own right. By the time I finished the book, I felt like I had just discovered a long-hidden masterpiece. I don't know if this is the ENTIRE Moore/Davis Captain Britain run, but if it isn't, I hope Marvel gets the rest into print again FAST. Fans of Marvel's Excalibur series will also be interested to know that this book contains the first appearance of Meggan, The Captain's future love interest. There's also a cameo appearance by the aforementioned Miracleman.

While not Moore's best work, it's still head-and-shoulders above 90% of the material out there. Give it a try!