This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog looks at the earliest 1970s stories of Marvel’s Captain Britain.
CAPTAIN BRITAIN Vol 1 #1 (October 13th 1976)
NOTE: At first, this superhero’s stories were being published only via Marvel U.K. but as the 70s rolled along he was introduced into their overall continuity. Reprints of old Marvel stories were featured as backup series to the Captain Britain tales, hence the cover references to the Fantastic Four and Nick Fury.
Title: First Story
Villain: The Reaver
Synopsis: British college student Brian Braddock was working as an assistant to Dr. Hugo Travis at the Darkmoor Energy Research Center, a scientific organization probing the supernatural energies and anomalies of the Darkmoor area.
Joshua Stragg aka the Reaver, a villainous mad scientist in the U.K. was leading his high-tech-armored men on a raid to kidnap all the scientists at D.E.R.C. to make them work for him. Brian Braddock tried to escape but was pursued.
The subsequent violence was a catalyst for Darkmoor forces from what came to be called the Otherworld. Merlyn, supposedly the “real” Merlin of Arthurian legends, and Roma, the Lady of the Northern Skies chose Brian Braddock to be the recipient of superpowers bestowed by eldritch energies from the Otherworld.
The Amulet of Right and the mystic Quarterstaff turned Brian into the costumed superhero called Captain Britain. Stragg and his men had not seen Braddock’s face clearly, so his real identity was safe. Using his new powers – flight, a skin-tight force field, enhanced senses and enough strength to lift a couple tons – the hero defeated Stragg’s armed thugs.
Joshua Stragg seized the Sword of Might given his aggressive, violent nature and gained his own superpowers, plus his own costume. The hero and the villain fought, each one struggling to master their new abilities. Continue reading
FANTASTIC FOUR Vol 1 #166 (January 1976) 
CAPTAIN AMERICA Vol 1 #193 (January 1976) 
This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will look at some of the stories Marvel Comics created around the licensed I.P. of Micronauts toys. 
BARON KARZA – The evil, black-armored Baron Karza was a very impressive villain, despite being one of the most blatant Darth Vader ripoffs this side of Japan’s Swords of the Space Ark movies.
SPACE GLIDER ARCTURUS RANN – The leader of the Micronauts. Rann was the very first Micronaut (the Microverse’s version of Astronauts), who was placed in suspended animation and sent out in a spaceship called The Endeavor on a 1,000-year mission of exploration throughout the Microverse. 
DAZZLER Vol 1 #1 (March 1981) 
This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at licensed I.P. Rom the Spaceknight’s crossovers with Marvel Comics characters. 
ROM Vol 1 #5 (April 1980) 
DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU Vol 1 #22 (March 1976) 
While fleeing those villains, Jonathan was accidentally exposed to the Zero Fluid, transforming him into a super-powered being able to shoot Zero Energy from his hands in the form of rays of concussive force. That concussive force from his hands could allow him to fly, as well, the same way the Fantastic Four villain Blastarr does. 
YOUNG MEN Vol 1 #24 (December 1953) 
Synopsis: Steve Rogers aka Captain America is now teaching at a prep school called the Lee School in a New York suburb. James Buchanan Barnes aka Bucky is one of his students. In old school comic book disregard for the passage of time, Bucky is still that young despite having been a teen in 1941. 
This weekend’s light-hearted and escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog is a Double Feature. The main event is a look at the early adventures of Marvel’s neglected hero El Aguila (the Eagle). 
EL AGUILA 
Through trial and error, Alejandro found that long, slender metal objects were the best conductors for his bioelectricity and gave him the most accuracy with his energy blasts. He began using a sword through which to shoot his rays but to conceal his mutant nature publicly pretended his swords contained micro-generators that accounted for the rays he projected. 
AMAZING FANTASY Vol 1 #15 (August 1962) 
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