StarlightCitadel

Captain Britain and MI:13 cancelled

2009-05-19T08:55:00.001-07:00

Sadly, this time it is not a rumor. The book is officially cancelled:

http://www.paulcornell.com/2009/05/goodbye-captain-britain.html

This book is 50 times better than most crap Marvel is putting out right now, and yet it gets cancelled.

I guess if they slapped an "X" on the front cover, maybe they would have marketed the book a lot more and the fans would have tried it and found out that they actually enjoyed it.

It's sad to see something really good getting cancelled when there is total trash still being published month after month. Whatever

Excalibur in "Fables"?

2009-04-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

So I recently picked up all the tpb's of Fables after hearing so many good things and I have to say I was absolutely blown away by this series.

It's magnificently written by Bill Willingham and illustrated by Mark Buckingham, who's a perfect fit for this book. Previously to reading this series, my favorite Vertigo book was Sandman. This series eclipses Sandman in all aspects and that's saying a lot, because I hold Sandman in such a very high regard.

If you haven't tried this series yet, I highly recommend it. You will not be disappointed.

So you're probably asking 'okay, that's great, but what does this have to do with Excalibur or King Arthur'? Well, here's the thing. One of the things that Willingham does so brilliantly in this book is tie in mythos and stories from the past and reinvent them into his own vision. And that's what he did with Lancelot and Excalibur.

If you find after reading this article that you would like to read the complete storyarc, it covers Fables #61-69.

A little bit of a setup before going on. Lancelot's armor has been kept in Fabletown's mayoral building (which also hosts several other nicknacks and trinkets). On rare occassions, Lancelot's spirit will speak through his armor.

This time, Lancelot calls to Ambrose (a former prince and a man of high morals and nobility):

Lance explains to Ambrose that he has a destiny and Lancelot will be his guide. Lancelot then dresses Ambrose in his armor and it immediately becomes like new:

Lancelot then takes Ambrose over to Excalibur, which resides in a stone in the same room and advises him to pull it free:

After Ambrose proves worthy of wielding Excalibur, Lancelot then knights him:

Lancelot's origin and fall from grace is then recounted to Ambrose:

After Lancelot finishes telling his story, their quest begins.
BUT, I'm not going to tell you what happens next because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who plans on getting this story. Needless to say, it's one of my favorite stories from Fables and it is VERY heavy on the King Arthur mythos.

John 5:19--
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

Captain Britain Omnibus delayed

2009-03-05T10:02:00.001-08:00

This book was originally due out this month, but according to Marvel's website, it's release date is now listed as May. Grrrrr!

Captain Britain and MI:13 #9 overview

2009-02-15T14:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick rundown on Captain Britain and MI:13 #9 starting with the cover:

Now, contrary to what that cover would have you believe, there is no happy reunion for Brian and Meggan in this issue, which is very disappointing. More on that later, but let's move on to the beginning of the story.

If you remember from last issue, Captain Midlands had just betrayed the team to Plotka, as he led them into a fantasy realm, thereby trapping them inside it.

Unfortunately for Captain Midlands, Pete Wisdom wasn't having any of that and decides to meet out some quick retribution, destroying Midlands' fantasy world of living with his wife again, who had passed away some time back:

Pete then turns his attention to finding a way out of the fantasy realm and back to Earth. Realizing their only way back to Earth lies in the power of the fake Ebony Blade, Wisdom goads the blade into a rage by pronouncing that if left in this fantasy realm, the blade would only have the six of them to "feed" on:

Wisdom then uses the mystical powers of the blade to cleave through the fantasy realms, ripping many of them apart as he works his way back to Earth:

Meanwhile, Alistaire finally finds Brian in another part of the fantasy realms and guides him to the doorway leading back to Earth:

But as they leave, they fail to notice Meggan in their midst, who unknowingly gets left behind:

The team finally makes it back to Earth and they confront Plotka:

The heroes are unable to defeat Plotka, but Captain Britain suddenly arrives through the doorway that Alistaire had led him to:

Keep in mind, Captain Britain's powers are now reliant on his level of confidence and theoretically have no limits, as Plotka soon finds out when Brian grabs Plotka and pulls him into Plotka's own fantasy realm:

Plotka is then imprisoned inside a contraption that Alistaire had rigged up. With Plotka powerless and defeated, the people that had been turned into Mindless Ones, revert back to their human forms:

The story then cuts to Dracula on the moon stating "they (Captain Britain and MI:13) know about the sword". Apparently, Dracula is behind the ruse of the fake Ebony Blade and is now preparing to launch an assault on Britain, with Dr. Doom as his ally:

Needless to say, the next issue is going to be very interesting.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path---Psalm 119:105

Paul Cornell interview

2009-02-11T13:43:00.001-08:00

Newsarama talks to the writer of Captain Britain & MI:13. There are upcoming spoilers in this article:

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/020911-Nine-Cornella.html

Character appearances this month

2009-01-29T11:29:00.000-08:00

*Spoilers for Dark Avengers #1 and Mighty Avengers #21*

This month in Dark Avengers #1, Morgan Le Fay makes a brief cameo, as she's seen spying on Dr. Doom and his fellow members of their secret cabal comprised of villains.

Apparently, she still has it in for Doom for betraying her, and at the end of this issue she confronts Doom and begins to mystically attack him:

Unfortunately, the story ends there, so the full battle will be shown in the next issue.

In Mighty Avengers #21, Modred has made the decision to become the living embodiment of the Darkhold, as every spell and verse now flows through his body:

Modred then helps Cthon take possession of Quicksilver's body to use as his vessel:

It will be interesting to see where both these stories progress from here.

"Therefore, whether YOU are eating or drinking or doing anything else, do all things for God’s glory." - 1 Corinthians 10:31

The sword is drawn!

2009-01-19T16:20:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Starlight Citadel.

I started this blog because I wanted to share my affinity for these characters and the the King Arthur mythos with others and what better way than through a blog?

To understand how I came to this point, we have to journey 28 years ago, back to 1981 where it all started.

You see, that was the year a certain movie called "Excalibur" was released in the theaters.

As an eleven year old, I remember watching this movie and being completely engrossed in it and captured by it's majestic story. I must have watched this movie at least four or five times back then. I sat stunned, as visions of the Lady of the Lake, Merlin, the Knights of the Round Table, King Arthur and his sword Excalibur enfolded before me. I was completely mesmerized.

All of a sudden, a whole new and fascinating world was opened to me. Of course I had heard of King Arthur as a younger child, but it wasn't until I watched this movie that the story resonated so much with me.

*A quick fact--Excalibur starred three men that would go on to establish themselves as very fine actors: Liam Neeson, Patrick Stewart and Gabriel Byrne.

A year later, Avengers #225 & 226 came out, featuring the Black Knight:

Just look at the cover to #225! It's fantastic! The Black Knight looks like he is jumping off the cover. He instantly reminded me of the Knights of the Round Table from the movie. I decided right then and there to hunt down and find all of the back issues that the Black Knight had appeared in and I eventually ran across Marvel Super-Heroes #17:

Needless to say, I was blown away. This was the comic that cemented the Black Knight as one of my favorite characters. It's a tale that wonderfully incorporates Merlin and the King Arthur mythos into his origin, and it remains one of my favorite reads.

Three years later in 1985, Captain America #305 & 306 came out on the spinner racks:

These two issues featured Captain America teaming up with Captain Britain (an emissary of Merlin) in Great Britain to defeat his confused foe Modred. As I read them, my memory harkened back to the movie Excalibur and all the things that I enjoyed about that movie came back to the forefront of my mind. I was now deeply entrenched in the stories unfolding from these two characters and couldn't get enough of them.

The Black Knight would go on to become a member of the Avengers, the Defenders, Ultraforce, Heroes for Hire, a valued and trusted Pendragon of the Lady of the Lake, as well as a friend and compatriot to Captain Britain (they teamed up in a back up story called "The Otherworld Saga" that ran in Hulk UK comics).

Captain Britain would be featured in two short series of his own, followed by The Fury storyarc, before going on to join the British super hero team Excalibur in the one-shot special from 1987:

It would then spin off into the regular series that started in 1988:

That series, most of which was beautifully illustrated and written by Alan Davis, would span 10 years and 125 issues, centering on Captain Britain's tumultuous life, his wife Meggan, his teammates and the mythology consisting of the Captain Britain Corps, Merlin, Roma, Avalon, and many other exciting things.

The Black Knight would be reunited with Captain Britain in the short 2001 Excalibur mini-series:

And both are now featured in the most recent comic series Captain Britain and MI:13 :

This series began in 2008 and is one of the finer reads in comics these days. It's superbly written by Paul Cornell and illustrated by Leonard Kirk.

So now you know the history behind my fascination with these characters and the mythology behind them. If you haven't already, do yourself a favor and read these marvelous books and watch the movie. You'll be glad you did.

*Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud--Proverbs 16:9