Here’s the cover of Super Spider-Man and Captain Britain No. 248, cover dated 9th November 1977, released a week earlier in newsagents back then, with a cover by Pablo Marcos, which features a dramatic encounter between the webslinger and goons of the supervillain, the Tinkerer…
But wait – what’s that half-hearted strapline announcing? A team up between Captain Britain and New York’s arachnid adventurer? Why’s an encounter like that getting second billing?
Truth be told, the Spider-Man and Captain Britain encounter gets the lead strip spot inside the issue, but quite what the Marvel Bullpen were thinking, when the comic is, after all, named after both superheroes, is a mystery. Perhaps even the merger of Super Spider-Man and the Titans with Captain Britain in July 1977 was not enough to convince Marvel fans the Captain was worthy hero?
Or, perhaps the short run for Super Spider-Man and Captain Britain, running for just 23 issues, suggests Marvel were simply using up already completed CB stories?
We suspect the latter is more likely.
Nevertheless, inside, fans of both heroes were treated to the start of a reprint of Marvel Comics Marvel Team-Up #65 – 66 by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, a wonderful story pitting the heroes against Arcade.
For the reprint, of course, the tale was told in black and white, stretched across six weekly episodes, and with its end came the end of Spider-Man and Captain Britain, too, Britain’s hero replaced by… Captain America, and the title becoming Super Spider-Man.
The story was reprinted again in the Captain Britain Summer Special, published by Marvel UK, that collection utilising the cover of Marvel Team-Up #65 by George Perez, Joe Sinnott and Annette Kawecki – strangely, not used during the story’s run in Super Spider-Man and Captain Britain.
After the end of his run in Super Spider-Man and Captain Britain, Braddock resurfaced with the debut of the weekly Hulk Comic, the hero partnered with the Black Knight, a story written by Steve Parkhouse and drawn by John Stokes. “The Black Knight” was itself reprinted, in Captain Britain Volume 4: The Siege of Camelot, by Panini, back in 2010.
The character returned to regular publication in 1981, with a redesigned costume in issue #377 of the Marvel Superheroes anthology, initially written by Dave Thorpe and illustrated by Alan Davis, continuing in that title until #388, his series moved into a new monthly comic, The Daredevils, written by Alan Moore, who introduced the concept of the Captain Britain Corps and the broader Marvel Multiverse. When The Daredevils was canceled after eleven issues, Captain Britain stories were featured in to The Mighty World of Marvel (Volume Two), later moving to the new series, Captain Britain Monthly. A chequered history, indeed – and as well know now, that was just the beginning!
Web Links
• Captain Britain (Brian Braddock) at Marvel.com
• Amazing Spider-Talk – Lost Gems – Marvel Team-Up #65-66 by Chris Claremont and John Byrne
• Wikipedia – Captain Britain Page
• Marvel UK in Print – the downthetubes Quick Guide
Captain Britain Volume 4: The Siege of Camelot
by Alan Moore, Steve Parkhouse, Alan Davis, Dave Thorpe
Published in 2010 by Panini
Captain Britain returns to fight alongside the Black Knight and Merlyn to save the fabled Camelot and Otherworld from the hideous hordes of Necromon! Plus, Captain Britain is reborn, as the acclaimed Alan Moore and Alan Davis begin their momentous run and Britain’s hero faces the terrifying Fury!
Collects Hulk Weekly #42-55, 56-63, Marvel Super-Heroes #387-388, Daredevils #1-11 and The Mighty World of Marvel #7-13.
This article has been updated to correct the printing chronology of the early Captain Britain adventures. With thanks to Paul Nash
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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