On This Day: 12 Dec

Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition (Manga Publishing Ltd.) #01 (Jan 1996)

Sláine the Exile by Steven Savile (Black Flame; 2006) ISBN-10: 1 84416 387 3

First Appearances:

M.A.C.H. Zero in 2000 A.D. (IPC Magazines Ltd.) Prog 43 (17 Dec 1977)

Births:

David Wright (1912); Fred Kida (1920)

Deaths:

D.C. Thomson & Co., Ltd. chairman David Coupar Thomson (1954); Dudley Pout (1991); Luis Bermejo (2015)

Notable Events:

Charles H. Bennett attended the Punch table in 1866 for the final time before his death.
Douglas Bader was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1940, for his service during the Battle of Britain.
Bob Monkhouse was a castaway, alongside Denis Goodwin, on Desert Island Discs, on BBC Radio 4, in 1955.
Leonard Cottrell was a castaway on Desert Island Discs, on BBC Radio 4, in 1966.
Hogarth (an episode in the Omnibus documentary series) focusing on William Hogarth, and directed by Gerald Scarfe, broadcast on BBC One in 1971.
Baz & Co. newspaper strip ended in 1992.
Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future CGI animated series began on Channel 5 in 2001.
The Gorillaz released G–Sides in 2001.

Captain Britain Annual 1978

[1977] Annual. Original price £1.35
64 pages. Full color contents.
World Distributors Ltd.

SBN: 723504563

Contents:

 5 Captain Britain w: Chris Claremont; p: Herb Trimpe, i: Fred Kida, colouring by Marie Severin.

r: Captain Britain (Marvel) Vol.1 #01 (13 Oct 1976)

12 The Avengers full-color pin-up. p: Jack Kirby, i: Frank Giacoia.

r: Marvel Treasury Edition (Marvel) #07 (1975)

13 From the Holocaust… A Hero! w: Chris Claremont; p: Herb Trimpe, i: Fred Kida, colouring by Marie Severin.

r: Captain Britain (Marvel) Vol.1 #02 (20 Oct 1976)

21 Captain Britain full-color pin-up; a: UNKNOWN.

r: Captain Britain (Marvel) Vol.1 #01 (13 Oct 1976)

22 Mayhem on a Monday Morning! w: Chris Claremont; p: Herb Trimpe, i: Fred Kida, colouring by Marie Severin.

r: Captain Britain (Marvel) Vol.1 #03 (27 Oct 1976)

30 Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. full-color pin-up. a: Jim Steranko.

r: recolored cover to Strange Tales (Marvel) Vol.1 #167 (Apr 1968)

31 Hour of the Hurricane! w: Chris Claremont; p: Herb Trimpe, i: Fred Kida, colouring by Marie Severin.

r: Captain Britain (Marvel) Vol.1 #04 (03 Nov 1976)

38 Marvel Team-Up... full-color pin-up; a: John Romita.

r: Marvel Treasury Edition (Marvel) #09 (Sep 1976)

39 Captain Britain Has Been Beaten! w: Chris Claremont; p: Herb Trimpe, i: Fred Kida, colouring by Marie Severin.

r: Captain Britain (Marvel) Vol.1 #05 (10 Nov 1976)

46 Dr. Strange full-color pin-up; p: Bob Budiansky; i: Dan Adkins.

r: UNKNOWN.

47 Havoc at Heathrow! w: Chris Claremont; p: Herb Trimpe, i: Fred Kida, colouring by Marie Severin.

r: Captain Britain (Marvel) Vol.1 #06 (17 Nov 1976)

54 Fantastic Four full-color pin-up; w: (uncredited). a: (uncredited).

r: Fantastic Four (Marvel) Vol 1 # (?)

55 Wind of Death! w: Chris Claremont; p: Herb Trimpe, i: Fred Kida, colouring by Marie Severin.

r: Captain Britain (Marvel) Vol.1 #07 (24 Nov 1976)

While it is nice to have the (colored) pieces of the original Captain Britain saga collected, it is a shame that there isn't more made of the Britishness of the character in supplementary material - all of the room left over being padded with pin-ups is a bit of a cheat. Even a crossword puzzle or a wordsearch would have made the title more engaging, but… That really doesn't matter.

For the longest time, this was the only place to read those early stories unless a reader wanted to track down all the original issues. For that reason alone it deserves recognition. While far from a definitive edition, this is an attractive repackaging of the first Captain Britain story, on far better paper than Marvel had access to.

One should be thankful that there isn't a feature on the proper way to make tea.