Hail Britannia
Captain Britain and MI-13 #11
Dracula has declared war on Great Britain and made his first attack against MI-13. Captain Britain and Pete Wisdom have escaped injury in their exploding car, but one of their backpacking friends is killed. The Black Knight and Faiza Hussain are stuck in freefall from 10,000 feet up, but Faiza actually manages to heal their injuries as they hit the ground. Faiza’s family, in the meantime, has been targeted by Dracula, and Spitfire’s dead vampire son has come back from the grave to drag his mother into Dracula’s service.
Verdict: Thumbs up. I’ve got some quibbles with the depiction of Dracula, but I’m a bit of a purist for the glories of the “Tomb of Dracula” series from the ’70s. Other than that, there’s nothing but win going on here. The interaction between Spitfire and her son is excellent, Dracula’s taunt at his old foe Blade is much appreciated, and Pete Wisdom’s leadership is wonderful to watch. This comic is huge fun.
Secret Six #7
Deadshot has apparently tried to kill most of the team, but he botched the job on all of them, and now they’re chasing him down to get revenge. Meanwhile, Tarantula, riding along with Deadshot with Bane unconscious in the back seat of the limo, figures out the truth — Deadshot’s an expert assassin, and if he’d wanted his teammates dead, they’d be dead. Everyone finally meets up in Gotham City, with the addition of all the supervillains who’ve been trying to kill them, plus Junior, Ragdoll’s creepy sister, plus the Mad Hatter, plus Huntress, Grace, and Lady Blackhawk. And then Bane finally breaks out his stash of Venom, and things really go nuts.
Verdict: Thumbs up. As always, great interaction between all the characters. Tarantula is just great here, as is Mad Hatter. And it was pretty cool seeing how Bane looks at the world once he’s got Venom in his system. Gail Simone and Nicola Scott are doing outstanding work with this series.