Revolutionary War (comics)

Last updated
Revolutionary War
MarvelComicsRevolutionaryWar.jpg
Cover to the Revolutionary War collected edition, art by Mark Brooks.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
Title(s)Revolutionary War: Alpha
Revolutionary War: Dark Angel
Revolutionary War: Knights of Pendragon
Revolutionary War: Death's Head II
Revolutionary War: Super Soldiers
Revolutionary War: Motormouth
Revolutionary War: Warheads
Revolutionary War: Omega
FormatsOriginal material for the series has been published as a set of one-shot comics.
Genre
Publication dateMarch - May 2014
Number of issues8
Creative team
Writer(s)Alan Cowsill
Glenn Dakin
Andy Lanning
Rob Williams
Artist(s) Brent Anderson
Rich Elson
Gary Erskine
Tom Palmer
Nick Roche
Will Sliney
Editor(s)Stephen Wacker

Revolutionary War is a comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics. It was released as a set of eight one-shot issues between March and May 2014, and was created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the end of Marvel UK's short-lived attempt to break into the American comic market, addressing several story points that had been left unresolved due to the mass cancellation of the imprint in 1994.

Contents

Creation

In 1992, Paul Neary took over as editor-in-chief of Marvel's British division. He planned an ambitious expansion for the company that included exporting a large number of titles to the booming American market. [1] [2] After initial success the line was expanded but encountered problems by 1993, when the American direct market rapidly collapsed. Marvel UK attempted to weather the storm by cancelling many series; however, this was not enough and the company cancelled the remaining titles in 1994, [3] going out of business shortly afterwards. The abrupt nature of rescheduling and cancellation left numerous series without resolution. [4] Following the end of the imprint the majority of the characters launched went into a long period of dormancy. [5]

Some 15 years later several Marvel UK characters reappeared in the acclaimed Captain Britain and MI13 in 2008, followed by several prominent appearances by Captain Britain in series such as Secret Avengers and Uncanny X-Force . Revolutionary War meanwhile followed up on characters from cancelled titles Dark Angel , Knights of Pendragon , Death's Head II , Super Soldiers , Motormouth and Killpower and Warheads . [6] Editor Stephen Wacker teased the series via Twitter in September 2013. [7] Writer Andy Lanning claimed he had been agitating Wacker to greenlight the series for a year, ever since he realised the anniversary was approaching. [8] The series was announced at 2013's San Diego Comic-Con. [9]

Former Marvel UK editor Alan Cowsill joined Lanning as to write the storyline. He also created the character Agent Keller for the story, who was later used as a character in the 2019 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Captain Marvel . [10] Irish artist Nick Roche, a self-confessed fan of the original Death's Head, was assigned to draw the Death's Head II issue. [11] Due to most of the characters having spent two decades in obscurity the duo were given considerable creative freedom by Marvel in terms of story content. However, for space reasons they were unable to feature all the characters they wanted, with Black Axe, Death Wreck and Wild Thing among those that missed the cut. [12] While Captain Britain and Pete Wisdom were created separately from the 1990s-era Marvel UK characters, Lanning included both in the story as he felt it would be "sacrilege" to do a British-set series without them. [5] The more recently created MI-13 would also feature in the storyline. [13] Lanning hoped that the series would be successful enough to see the characters feature in future Marvel comics. [14]

Publication history

The storyline was released across eight one-shots - Revolutionary War: Alpha was issued in January 2014, followed by the six individual titles and closer Omega in March. [15] Simon Coleby was originally announced as artist for the Knights of Pendragon issue, [16] but instead Will Sliney drew the issue.

Plot

Workers at a Crossrail construction site in Canary Wharf come under attack from Mys-Tech Psycho-Wraiths. Captain Britain and Pete Wisdom arrive and make short work of the creatures, but their return has attracted the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. Captain Britain, Wisdom and M.I.13's Commander Hunter meet with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Nick Fury and Agent Keller at The Shard, where they explain the incident is one of several recent revivals of Mys-Tech bases, despite the organisation having seemingly been defeated when an alliance of British superheroes foiled their attempt to sacrifice the population of Britain to Mephisto at the Battle of London Bridge. The group decides to recruit the surviving veterans of the conflict to combat the resurgence of Mys-Tech; Wisdom and Keller locate Colonel Tigon Liger, the sole surviving member of the Kether Troop. Initially a drunken mess, Liger pulls himself together after being reunited with his sentient gun Clementine. Captain Britain meanwhile travels to Darkmoor Castle to recruit Dark Angel - only to be attacked and captured by erstwhile ally Death's Head II. [17]

Inside the castle, Dark Angel is troubled by a series of visions and learns of Captain Britain's kidnapping. She is still paying off her father's debt to Mephisto and has to attend to him before she can begin a search, and is further delayed when Psycho-Wraiths attack Darkmoor. She drives them off, though her friend Doris is injured in the battle. She attempts to make a new deal with Mephisto for more power to fight Mys-Tech but he instead sells her out to the Psycho-Wraith Prime. [18]

In the Lake District, former Knights of Pendragon Dai Thomas and Kate McLellan are investigating an Omni Corporation fracking operation, while their old team-mate Union Jack takes Wisdom to Avalon so they can warn Albion of Mys-Tech's return. They find the Green Knight overgrown just as Kate and Dai discover the real reason for Omni's fracking - a door containing Zombie King Arthur and his Zombie Knights of the Zombie Round Table. Albion, Jack and Wisdom arrive from Avalon to help in the battle. Wisdom grabs Zombie Excalibur and takes it to Avalon, using it to free the Green Knight - who takes on the aspect of Mo Farah and crushes the Zombie Knights. [19]

Death's Head II delivers Captain Britain to Psycho-Wraith Prime at Darkmoor Research Centre, only for Mys-Tech to renege on the deal and send their troops to attack him. Overwhelmed, he sends a distress call thousands of years in the future to his companion Tuck, who is destroying an illegal robot research facility on the planet Eopia with aid from the original Death's Head, who head back in time after receiving the signal. In Darkmoor, A.I.M. scientist Doctor Evelyn Necker is allowed to investigate Death's Head II for her Minion project, and spots her future self in the cyborg's memories before she is interrupted by the arrival of Tuck and Death's Head. She sets Death's Head II on them, having reactivated the Minion core programming, but Death's Head's attempts to kill his successor instead restore his usual personality. Necker unleashes her mass-produced Death's Head 3.0 robots on the trio, but Death's Head II destroys them all after installing a Trojan programme in them. Necker escapes, capturing Death's Head. Death's Head II reveals discovering the Mys-Tech base was his reason for betraying Captain Britain. [20]

Three of the Super Soldiers - Guvnor, Gog and Dalton - are starring in a film about themselves in Scotland, with their leader Major Hauer as technical advisor. Wisdom arrives on set to warn them of Mys-Tech's return shortly before the Psycho-Wraiths Killmuzzle, Big Gunz and Andrea DWarKin attack Edinburgh. The chance to get in on some real action delights the Super Soldiers - though it is a ploy to draw Hauer out. Realising this, he attempts to draw them away while Wisdom evacuates nearby civilians. The rest of the Super Soldiers refuse to leave him behind, but Hauer is captured. [21]

After her partner Killpower was lost during the Battle of London Bridge, Harley Davis (Motormouth) is living under the radar in poverty with her telepathic daughter Victoria and son Albert in South London. Keller and Liger search for her but she avoids their calls, and the Psycho-Wraiths discover Harley first. She gives her children her teleporting trainers so they can get to safety before fighting off the intruders. Her resolve strengthened, she takes Liger's call, hoping to find a way to recover Killpower. [22]

The Psycho-Wraiths succeed in capturing the Pendragons, though Dai is able to get a warning to Liger first. He is haunted by the loss of his team, and meets with occultist ally Master Key (a.k.a. Albert Swinburne) who believes he has located the rest of Kether Troop in Hell. They locate a gateway to the team at the hidden thirteenth floor of the Shard. However, it is a trap - Keller has also been taken over by Mys-Tech, who plan to use the captured Captain Britain, Dark Angel, Dai Thomas, Death's Head, Albion and Hauer to power a new Monotrace Core, only needing Swinburne to complete the process of bringing Hell to London - led by Mephisto's new chosen one, the corrupted Killpower. [23]

Killpower leads Mephisto's army through the Core's main wormhole into the Shard, opposed by Wisdom and a rag-tag group of British-based heroes. Mephisto's forces also prevent the X-Men, the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy from intervening. Liger is able to free the heroes captured at the Core, and a pummelling from Captain Britain allows Keller's personality to resurface. However, the group are attacked by the embittered Killpower. Motormouth turns the battle, returning from Hell with Kether Troop and the other heroes lost in the Battle of London Bridge. Her scream allows Killpower to briefly shake off Mephisto's influence and he begs to be killed before the group guns him down. Dark Angel uses the last of her power to close the wormhole to Hell. Afterwards, Motormouth loudly rebuffs Fury's attempts to recruit her; Liger and Keller slip away to search for Kether Troop; Mephisto tells Dark Angel that the release of the energies from the banished Mys-Tech servants clears her debt; Tuck, Death's Head and Death's Head II leave the planet; Dai returns to policing while the rest of the Pendragons head to cleanse Avalon and Hauer meanwhile receives a new post as head of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s European division. While in France the Guardians of the Galaxy are incorrectly credited with saving the world, the British heroes celebrate in London. [24]

Collected editions

TitleISBNRelease dateContents
Revolutionary War 9780785190165 28 May 2014Revolutionary War: Alpha, Dark Angel, Knights of Pendragon, Death's Head II, Super Soldiers, Motormouth, Warheads, Omega

Reception

Jesse Schedeen reviewed Revolutionary War: Alpha for IGN and was also broadly impressed, feeling the issue did well to deliver a large amount of exposition required for the story. [25] Zack Wilkerson of Multiversity Comics was more reserved; despite enjoying the premise he felt the opening issue lacked impact. [26]

Philip Tibbetts of Den of Geek was positive about the complete series, especially for its political commentary of "the changing nature of Britain and Britishness", and enjoyed the way the series was structured to show off the various characters. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Wisdom</span> Fictional character

Pete Wisdom is a fictional secret agent appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in Excalibur vol. 1 #86, and was created by Warren Ellis and Ken Lashley. Wisdom is a British Secret Service agent with the mutant ability to throw "blades" of energy from his fingertips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madman (Marvel Comics)</span> Comics character

Madman is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is portrayed as one of the Hulk's enemies and as the brother of the Leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marvel UK</span> Imprint of Marvel Comics that has become defunct since 1995

Marvel UK was an imprint of Marvel Comics formed in 1972 to reprint US-produced stories for the British weekly comic market. Marvel UK later produced original material by British creators such as Alan Moore, John Wagner, Dave Gibbons, Steve Dillon, and Grant Morrison.

The Knights of Pendragon are a fictional team of heroes featuring in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters appeared in two series published by imprint Marvel UK between 1990 and 1993. The first incarnation was written by Dan Abnett and John Tomlinson, with art by Gary Erskine. The series featured a mixture of new and extant characters, and takes place in the shared Marvel Universe.

Warheads was a Marvel UK comic book series which ran for 14 issues in the early 1990s and was followed by the two-issue mini-series Warheads: Black Dawn. The stories contained in the comic were also serialised in the UK comics anthology Overkill. The Warheads were mercenaries employed by the nefarious and Faustian Mys-Tech organisation to capture advanced technology or mystical artifacts from alien worlds, time periods, or other dimensions.

<i>Deaths Head</i> Fictional character in Marvel Comics

Death's Head is a fictional comic book character, created by writer Simon Furman and Geoff Senior. Originally published by Marvel UK, he later appeared in comics produced by their parent company. Death's Head is a robotic bounty hunter and superhero. He has a characteristic habit of adding "yes?" to the end of his sentences.

Mys-Tech is a fictional organisation appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They were depicted as a shadowy Faustian organisation who acted as the main villains in a range of initially successful but short-lived comics launched in the US by Marvel UK in the 1990s. Some of these stories also were published in anthology form in the UK in the Marvel UK comic Overkill.

Hurricane is a name used by many different fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digitek (character)</span> Comics character

Digitek is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in Digitek #1, the first issue of a limited series published by Marvel UK. The strip was also published in Marvel UK's weekly anthology title Overkill. The character was created by writers John Tomlinson & Andy Lanning and artist Dermot Power.

Genetix is a team of superheroes in American comic books published by Marvel Comics under the Marvel UK imprint. The team was created by Andy Lanning, Graham Marks, and Phil Gascoine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motormouth (comics)</span> Marvel comics character

Motormouth is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Paul Neary and developed by writer Graham Marks, with initial designs by Gary Frank. As the title character of her own series, Motormouth was part of a line of original comics released in the early-to-mid 1990s by Marvel UK. She is a teenage street rat from London, England, with a fierce temper who curses constantly. She is 5 ft 4 in tall and weighs roughly (105 lb.

Dark Angel, originally Hell's Angel, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics under their imprint Marvel UK. Created by Bernie Jaye and Geoff Senior, the character first appeared in Hell's Angel #1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Jack (Joseph Chapman)</span> Comics character

Union Jack is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the third person to take on the role of Union Jack. He first appeared in Captain America #253.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killpower</span> Comics character

Killpower (Julius Mullarkey) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character appears primarily in British comic books from Marvel UK. He is the partner of Motormouth and first appeared in Motormouth #1. Killpower was created by Gary Frank and Graham Mark.

Super Soldiers was a comic book published by the Marvel UK imprint of Marvel Comics in 1993. Part of the shared Marvel Universe setting, it centered on a team of superhuman British soldiers, with some plot aspects drawing on the background of Marvel's successful Captain America character.

MI-13, sometimes written MI13 or MI: 13, is a fictional British intelligence agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. MI-13 is depicted as operating out of Portwell House in Whitehall. It was introduced in Excalibur #101, by Warren Ellis under the call sign "The Department" for ten years until New Excalibur #1 explicitly mentioned the term "MI13"; although invariably referred to as such, the agency's official name is the Extraordinary Intelligence Service (EIS).

<i>Captain Britain and MI13</i> American comic book series

Captain Britain and MI13 is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics and written by Paul Cornell, with art by Leonard Kirk. The series centers on the fictional British government agency MI: 13, which is dedicated to protecting the United Kingdom from supernatural threats. The main strikeforce is led by the superhero Captain Britain, and consists of various Marvel Comics characters that are of British descent or have a connection to the country. The series launched as a tie-in to the Secret Invasion event in May 2008 and ceased publication with issue #15.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lance Hunter</span> Fictional character

Lancelot "Lance" Hunter is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in Captain Britain Weekly #19 and was created by writer Gary Friedrich and artist Herb Trimpe.

Brian Braddock is a superhero appearing in British and American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created in 1976 by writer Chris Claremont and artist Herb Trimpe, with later contributions from Alan Moore and Alan Davis, he first appeared in Captain Britain Weekly #1. He is the first character in publication to use the Captain Britain moniker, later adopting the title Captain Avalon.

References

  1. Woolcombe, Alan (June 1992). "Genesis '92". Amazing Heroes . No. 202. Fantagraphics Books.
  2. Woollcombe, Alan R. (March 1993). "True Brit". Wizard . No. 19. Wizard Entertainment.
  3. Grant, Paul J. (April 1994). "Marvel UK Out of U.S.". Wizard . No. 32. Wizard Entertainment.
  4. Adams, Matt (July 24, 2014). "Graphic Novel Review: Revolutionary War". Dunmow Broadcast.
  5. 1 2 Santori, Matt (July 20, 2013). "Marvel Teases REVOLUTIONARY WAR". Comicosity.
  6. 1 2 Tibbetts, Philip (April 4, 2014). "Marvel's Revolutionary War review". Den of Geek.
  7. Johnston, Rich (September 16, 2013). "First Art: Death's Head II And Marvel UK's Return In January". Bleeding Cool .
  8. Reed, Patrick. "SDCC 2013: Andy Lanning Talks About The Reintroduction Of Marvel UK [INTERVIEW]". MTV. Archived from the original on May 17, 2023.
  9. Morris, Steve (July 19, 2013). "Comics Beat".
  10. Mulligan, Simon (March 21, 2019). "How St Helens writer contributed to new Marvel superhero movie Captain Marvel". St Helens Star .
  11. "Nick Roche to draw 'Death's Head 2'". Digital Spy. September 30, 2013.
  12. Freeman, John (January 24, 2014). "The Return of the Marvel UK Heroes: An interview with Alan Cowsill". downthetubes.net.
  13. "Marvel UK back with MI13, Death's Head". Digital Spy. July 22, 2013.
  14. Wheeler, Andrew (July 20, 2013). "The British Are Coming (Back): Andy Lanning on Marvel's 'Revolutionary War' [SDCC 2013]". ComicsAlliance.
  15. Freeman, John (December 10, 2013). "Sneek Peek – Marvel's Revolutionary War, reviving Marvel UK characters". downthetubes.net.
  16. Johnston, Rich (October 19, 2013). "A Few Creative Details For The Marvel UK Revolutionary War". Bleeding Cool .
  17. Andy Lanning , Alan Cowsill ( w ),Rich Elson ( a ). Revolutionary War: Alpha,vol. 1,no. 1(March 2014). Marvel Comics .
  18. Kieron Gillen  ( w ),Dietrich Smith ( a ). Revolutionary War: Dark Angel,vol. 1,no. 1(May 2014). Marvel Comics .
  19. Rob Williams  ( w ), Will Sliney  ( a ). Revolutionary War: Knights of Pendragon,vol. 1,no. 1(May 2014). Marvel Comics .
  20. Andy Lanning , Alan Cowsill ( w ),Nick Roche ( a ). Revolutionary War: Death's Head II,vol. 1,no. 1(May 2014). Marvel Comics .
  21. Rob Williams  ( w ), Brent Anderson  ( p ), Tom Palmer  ( i ). Revolutionary War: Supersoldiers,vol. 1,no. 1(May 2014). Marvel Comics .
  22. Glenn Dakin  ( w ),Ronan Cliquet ( a ). Revolutionary War: Motormouth,vol. 1,no. 1(May 2014). Marvel Comics .
  23. Andy Lanning , Alan Cowsill ( w ), Gary Erskine  ( a ). Revolutionary War: Warheads,vol. 1,no. 1(May 2014). Marvel Comics .
  24. Andy Lanning , Alan Cowsill ( w ),Rich Elson ( a ). Revolutionary War: Omega,vol. 1,no. 1(May 2014). Marvel Comics .
  25. Schedeen, Jesse (January 9, 2014). "Revolutionary War: Alpha #1 Review". IGN.
  26. "Review: Revolutionary War Alpha #1". Multiversity Comics. January 9, 2014.