On a more fun note than dealing with mouldy books, a few weeks back I got the latest edition of the Captain Britain Omnibus.
It’s a very comprehensive tome (which you’d expect with a page count of about 1368!) collecting almost all of Captain Britain’s appearances up to his inclusion in the Excalibur team and comic in 1988.
Strictly speaking this might be the 2021 edition, it seemed to take a good couple of months to reach these benighted shores. To add to the confusion there is another 2021 edition published by Panini which focuses on the Captain Britain material by Alan Moore, Alan Davis, Jamie Delano and Steve Parkhouse.
Anyway, this edition has the following contents: Material from Captain Britain (1976) #1–39; Super Spider-Man & Captain America & Captain Britain (1977) #231–247; Hulk (1979) #1, 3–46; Incredible Hulk Weekly (1980) #47–55, 57–63; Marvel Super Heroes (1972) #377–388; The Daredevils (1983) #1–11; Mighty World of Marvel (1983) #7–16; Captain Britain (1985) #1–14; Marvel Tales (1964) #131–133; Marvel Team-Up (1972) #65–66; New Mutants Annual (1984) #2; X-Men Annual (1970) #11
That looks pretty comprehenive to me!
Weren’t There Earlier, Even More Comprehensive Editions?
Yes, I think there were! I’ve seen a bit of online debate about which is the most comprehensive edition to get. I think there was an earlier edition that included a couple of issues of Captain America (#305-306) co-starring our Captain which are missing from this one.
This Omnibus also omits any introductions or forwards from previous editions. It does however, have a generous extras section at the back filled with cover galleries and more.
Speaking for myself, I previously had the Panini 5-volume set of paperbacks and as far as I’m aware this omnibus covers all of that material. So I’m happy!
Whoops Me Do!
One thing to watch out for is on page 162 there’s a printing error. Caused by a corrupted image file perhaps rather than a printing error per se, it’s certainly a bit psychedelic and it maybe adds something to the cover to issue 20!
No, it’s not a product of Jespers’ Warp!
Personally, this isn’t a big enough issue to return the book but you know, a little disppointing in a book as expensive as this.
Cor, Blimey!
Now, is the 1970s material good? If you’re new to the material and lack that kick of nostalgia, I can’t exactly recommend it! It might even read rather oddly to non-UK readers. Being pulled from a weekly comic, the collected stories here have a cliff hanger every few pages which makes the pacing a bit strange.
Plus, the earliest material was written and drawn by Marvel US staffers, presumably guessing what would fit the UK market of the time. It can be all a bit “Hello, chaps!” and “Goodbye, darling!” which grates after a while. I guess it’s a case of US writers writing what they think the British talk like, instead what they actually talk like!
Once UK writers and artists take over it gets better. Of course once we’re into the 1980s, we reach the seminal work by Alan Moore and Alan Davis.
All of which is to say, if you’re only interested in the 1980s Alan Moore and Alan David material, then perhaps that 2021 Panini edition is the better bet. If like me, you do have nostalgia for the 1970s material then this Omnibus gives you the opportunity to get almost everything within one set of covers.
