InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "COME FLY WITH ME"

colonel_green (colonel_green) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-03-11 20:31:00

Entry tags:

char: black knight/dane whitman, char: blade/eric brooks, char: captain britain/brian braddock, char: excalibur/faiza hussain, char: pete wisdom, creator: leonard kirk, creator: paul cornell

Dracula vs. The United Kingdom

"Vampire State" begins in Captain Britain and MI13 #11, pitting our intrepid heroes against the archtypal villain and a vampire army over the creation of a homeland for vampires.

The last issue saw Dracula send vampire-missiles to kill everybody in MI13, except Spitfire, who was visited by her undead (in more ways than one) son Kenneth. Of course, Dracula's attempt to kill everyone fails, since they're the stars, though he does ice the chick Brian was chatting up.

Faiza and Dane's survival is particularly innovative; their jet gets blown up, so they plummet to earth, and Faiza heals them as they impact the ground, in the second or so of consciousness before she would get splattered.

Dracula himself paid a visit to Faiza's family, and here we see the result:

Being confirmed elsewhere...

One of the things I'm really liking about this arc so far is that Cornell has actually managed a fairly unique take on a character who has been played and written literally hundreds of times over the last 100 years. The takes on Dracula that I’ve seen in the past, dating back really to Stoker’s book, almost always emphasize him as a solo operative, perhaps with one or two pawns and servants to help out; he’s a monster-movie villain. Cornell’s greatly broadened the scope, emphasizing Dracula’s past history as a king and commander of men. If you're going to use such a familiar figure, having a relatively fresh take is a big help.

We zip out for a page with Jackie and Kenneth, and we're, back...

Not sure about the codename (too generic, too many past uses as team names and such, for it to really stick to her), but the "steward" costume she's had these past two issues is a great design. I always thought it was weird, given that she was established from the first panel she appeared as a superhero fangirl, that actually becoming a superhero didn't lead to her immediately testing names and tacky costumes.

Anyway, this book is really good, and needs sales, so you should all buy it, if you aren't already.

(Post a new comment)

	dorksidefiker 2009-03-11 07:01 pm UTC (link)
	I supposed this means the tag for Faiza should be amended to be char: excalibur/faiza hussen (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Why doesn't this thing have an Edit thingie? dorksidefiker 2009-03-11 07:02 pm UTC (link)
	Hussain, sorry. Cannot spell to save my life. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	angelophile 2009-03-11 07:02 pm UTC (link)
	HOLY SHIT!!! MOTORMOUTH AND KILLPOWER!!!! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	dorksidefiker 2009-03-11 07:04 pm UTC (link)
	I'm probably damaging my geekcred here, but... who? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	colonel_green 2009-03-11 07:08 pm UTC (link)
	Don't feel bad; they're extremely obscure Marvel UK characters. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	jasiri 2009-03-12 10:53 pm UTC (link)
	I find the use of your icon particularly ironic for this comment. (Reply to this) (Parent)

angelophile
2009-03-11 07:20 pm UTC (link)

Two characters from Marvel UK's 90s revamp, from the same stable as Death's Head II, Warheads, Knights of Pendragon, Hellsangel and others.

Motormouth, aka Harley Davis was a foul mouthed runaway who got implanted with dimension hopping teleportation equipment. Killpower, aka Julius Mullarkey is a genetically engineered superbeing made with human and animal DNA, with the body of Arnie at his prime and the mental age of a child.

Cornell did say he was going to try and squeeze in some of the Marvel UK characters and I'm gratified he did so. I used to love those guys and I never imagined I'd ever see them again.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dorksidefiker 2009-03-11 07:23 pm UTC (link)
	Ooooh, I actually remember them. My brother was a huge Marvel UK fan, and I got a good deal of it by default (for many years, he was my source for comic books). I just couldn't put names to faces, such as it was. Thanks for the info! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	majingojira 2009-03-11 08:20 pm UTC (link)
	For some reason, I keep hearing Dracula's blood-note being read in Crispin Freeman's "Alucard" voice. And it's working to well. (Reply to this)

	volksjager 2009-03-11 08:25 pm UTC (link)
	How come he's leaving the Republic alone ? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	colonel_green 2009-03-11 09:44 pm UTC (link)
	Leprechaun non-aggression pact. Not really, but that's totally my explanation. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	volksjager 2009-03-11 10:00 pm UTC (link)
	Yeah you don't wanna piss off the little people... (Reply to this) (Parent)

	newnumber6 2009-03-11 08:28 pm UTC (link)
	Love Wisdom's "okay yeah this is a tragedy but we've got work to do" speech. Overall good issue, no wonder its one of the two comics I have left. (Reply to this)

	jarodrussell 2009-03-11 08:49 pm UTC (link)
	Sooooo glad I dropped this book. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	colonel_green 2009-03-11 09:45 pm UTC (link)
	What's wrong with it? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

jarodrussell
2009-03-11 09:55 pm UTC (link)

So glad you asked! :)

1. Pete Wisdom should never be seen without a cigarette or sober. It's a revolting display of normalcy.

2. If the best thing a writer can do with a Golden Age, semi-immortal, blond super-speeding heroine is accentuate her ties to Vampirism and bring back Dracula, then that writer sucks. Spitfire's the only interesting character in this abortion of a book, and she hardly ever got to do anything when I was reading because...

3. Faiza Hussein, or should I say Mary Sussein? The newbie turns out not only to have mad bio-control skills, but also pulls Excalibur from the stone, and kind of has UST with Black Knight, and saved Spitfire, and now gets to be sympathetic and brave because the vamps went after her family. All she needs now is to have Patrick Stewart adopt her, and we'll have the second coming of Marissa Picard.

In my inflated opinion, there's very little right with the book.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Mod aside rabican 2009-03-11 10:50 pm UTC (link)
	Jarod, please remember that this is meant to be a woman-friendly community, and in that light, calling things "abortions" to describe how awful they are could be considered insensitive (from either side of the political spectrum). Thanks! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: Mod aside jarodrussell 2009-03-11 10:54 pm UTC (link)
	Should I edit the post, and change the word? (I can find an equally explicit, yet not as charged word.) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: Mod aside rabican 2009-03-11 11:11 pm UTC (link)
	I don't think you can because I replied to you, but the thought's appreciated. Just remember for next time, and all that. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	rabican 2009-03-11 09:00 pm UTC (link)
	Y'know, on the one hand, I think Faiza's costume is gorgeous. On the other ... I'm kind of troubled by the implications of giving a Muslim character medieval European (aka Christian) armor to wear. I mean, she could pass for a Crusader with a different coat of arms. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	king_vinegar 2009-03-11 10:24 pm UTC (link)
	Honest question: have you got an example of the kind of thing you'd like to see her wearing? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

rabican
2009-03-11 10:46 pm UTC (link)

Well, not really, because I am, regrettably, much less familiar with Middle Eastern and Eastern history from that period than I am with the European, so I can't exactly say, "Oh, she should wear an outfit like a ____!" Especially since Faiza is Pakistani, and unless I'm even less informed than I thought, they weren't involved in the Crusades.

I don't know, maybe a modification of one of the outfits Saladin is often portrayed as wearing? (Google him.) I don't know how important he is in Pakistan's Sunni culture - he might just be a Middle Eastern hero.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	king_vinegar 2009-03-11 11:27 pm UTC (link)
	So what armour should an Englishwoman born in 1980's Essex wear? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	endis_ni 2009-03-12 07:18 pm UTC (link)
	If my sister's mates are any indication, specially reinforced white stilettos. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	king_vinegar 2009-03-13 04:47 pm UTC (link)
	Honest to god I didn't know this when I made that comment, but Faiza's wearing the Essex coat of arms (noted on Captain Britain's official Twitter. Seriously.) http://www2.newsquest.co.uk/essex/local_interest/history/coatofarms.html (Reply to this) (Parent)

	rabican 2009-03-15 08:45 pm UTC (link)
	... Kevlar? (Reply to this) (Parent)

	aulayan 2009-03-12 03:30 am UTC (link)
	I'm against this idea just because it turns her into "Just a Muslim Character" She's a Muslim, born and raised in England, it'd have been a real stretch for her to wear anything like a medieval Islamic knight. Whereas in Britain, and being under "The Black Knight", Mid-century European Knight makes sense. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	proteus_lives 2009-03-18 11:20 pm UTC (link)
	I think it's right way to go. She's Muslim but they are stressing that she's British first. Also the Muslims of Pakistan had nothing to do with the Crusades. Their religious conflicts have pretty much been limited to the Muslim/Hindu wars. (Reply to this) (Parent)

(Anonymous)
2009-03-12 09:15 am UTC (link)

I think it's kind of awesome, myself. Because we can see her face, and it doesn't make her face any different - you cant say "okay, she doesn't look like she doesn't have recent pakistani heritage any more". The owning of both sides of her cultural background has been at least a minor theme of her story so far, and having her asian-coded face with her "britain!" coded uniform says "yeah, this is what I come from, what of it? It's mine."

-greenmask

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	rabican 2009-03-15 08:45 pm UTC (link)
	Okay, that's actually a good point. I can go with that. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	rotty0079 2009-03-12 11:14 pm UTC (link)
	She's like Fierabras, the converted Muslim knight who serves Charlemagne in the Matter of France. The fact that anyone would introduce such a character and then not make her an apostate weirds me the hell out. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ashtoreth 2009-03-13 03:02 pm UTC (link)
	I think the point is that Christianity not necessary for the service of Britain. It's a happy message.. (Reply to this) (Parent)

jlroberson
2009-03-12 08:36 am UTC (link)

>>Cornell has actually managed a fairly unique take on a character who has been played and written literally hundreds of times over the last 100 years. The takes on Dracula that I’ve seen in the past, dating back really to Stoker’s book, almost always emphasize him as a solo operative, perhaps with one or two pawns and servants to help out; he’s a monster-movie villain. Cornell’s greatly broadened the scope, emphasizing Dracula’s past history as a king and commander of men.

Not at all a unique or new take. This is how Marvel's Dracula, at least under Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, always was, and if the comics Code had allowed it he would have been this violent too. (In TOMB OF DRACULA there was one scene so violent they had to merely describe it--at length--in a caption, of Dracula mashing a man's face to pulp with his bare hands) But Dracula as king and leader of men was ALWAYS a huge part of Wolfman's Drac. This writer has simply brought it back. And pretty well, too, I think.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	colonel_green 2009-03-12 08:50 am UTC (link)
	I didn't say it was completely new; just fairly. It's not how you normally see the character portrayed in fiction. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	jlroberson 2009-03-12 05:52 pm UTC (link)
	That I'll agree with, but it was built over 30 years ago by Wolfman and Colan. It's wise of them to build upon it and for older fans of TOD like me, it's a treat. Come to think of it, in terms of what they did to flesh out the character, one could argue that they made more of him than Stoker ever did. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	angelophile 2009-03-12 06:12 pm UTC (link)
	Cornell's an unashamed, obsessive Tomb of Dracula fanboy, so... (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	jlroberson 2009-03-12 07:49 pm UTC (link)
	Okay, now I envy him this opportunity. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ashtoreth 2009-03-13 03:07 pm UTC (link)
	What delighted me most? The picture of Dracula they used for the briefing. It was a Colan! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	(Anonymous) 2009-03-12 09:16 am UTC (link)
	I am going to find those comics. Thank you for the info! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

jlroberson
2009-03-12 05:55 pm UTC (link)

Four relatively cheap ESSENTIAL volumes. Enjoy!

And the very best of it can be found(in story) in vol. 3. Though to be honest, it's one long novel till the end of the first series and you really can't cherry-pick it. I'm not sure Marvel knew it, but when it published that, it was publishing one of the first long-form graphic novels.

Anyway, unless one's a freak who doesn't like Colan(and in the DRACULA LIVES stuff in vol. 4, even Neal Adams and Steve Ditko show up. Adams gets to do Drac's origin and it's one of his best-looking stories), it doesn't disappoint.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	(Anonymous) 2009-03-12 09:17 am UTC (link)
	Yessssss. That is all. Just yesssss. -greenmask! (Reply to this)

	(Anonymous) 2009-03-12 09:42 am UTC (link)
	I enjoyed the beginning of this book but haven't been too pleased with this arc so far. However, these pages make me interested enough to keep it on my list. Kinda curious how it's going to wrap up. It almost seemed to be getting too scifi for me (if that makes sense). I want comic action in my comic books! (Reply to this)