This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog follows up on the Captain Britain post from a few weeks ago. That post is HERE.
CAPTAIN BRITAIN Vol 1 #16 (January 26th, 1977)
NOTE: Originally Captain Britain was only published in the United Kingdom via Marvel UK. The series was published weekly instead of monthly.
Title: A Hero Unmasked
Villain: The Red Skull
Synopsis: Picking up from the previous issue, Chief Inspector Dai Thomas (from Chris Claremont’s Blade stories) still mistakenly thinks Captain Britain is a villain. He has several other policemen hold Cap while he starts to peel off the hero’s mask, which would expose him as Thames University physics student Brian Braddock (brother of Betsy Braddock aka Psylocke from the X-Men).
Reluctantly, Captain Britain uses some of his super-strength and agility to break free of the cops before they can unmask him. The other police on hand start shooting at C.B. when – out of nowhere – Captain America intervenes. He’s used to authorities in the U.S. often being wrong about superheroes so he offers to fight off the cops while Captain Britain escapes.
Brian knows his force-field leaves him in no danger from the police bullets anyway and feels it will hurt his public image more if he runs off while a Yank roughs up London bobbies. The two Captains fight it out for a time before reconciling. C.A. explains to C.B. and the cops that he’s there with the okay of HMG and could use Captain Britain’s help against a world-threatening menace.
Watching all this on a viewscreen is the menace that C.A. is referring to – the Red Skull. Continue reading
Yes, before Batman, before Captain America and even before Superman himself, came the Clock, written and drawn by George E. Brenner. The Clock was the first masked crimefighter in comic books, debuting in 1936, while the much more popular Batman didn’t come along until 1939. I’m not pointing that out to diss Batman, but to point out what a shame it is that the Clock seems to have been forgotten by most of the world. The figure is pretty much the middle character between Pulp heroes like the Shadow and the Moon Man and comic book superheroes. The Clock’s influence on 
FEATURE FUNNIES Vol 1 #17 (February 1939) 
CAPTAIN BRITAIN Vol 1 #1 (October 13th 1976)
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. 
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. 
FANTASTIC FOUR Vol 1 #166 (January 1976) 
CAPTAIN AMERICA Vol 1 #193 (January 1976) 
This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the independent comic book character the Black Coat, a masked hero in 1770s New York City. 
The Black Coat is really Nathaniel Finch, brilliant young scientist and friend of Ben Franklin himself. Our costumed hero runs his own covert network of rebels called the Knights of Liberty, men and women who risk everything to fight against tyranny. His coal-black horse Phobos stands ever-ready as well.
THE BLACK COAT Vol 1 #1 (2006)
The saved Franklin visits with our hero in his civilian Nathaniel Finch identity at the New York Sentinel, Finch’s patriot newspaper. Rumors of war breaking out at any moment are everywhere. British General Savidge has secretly allied himself with shadowy conspirators called the League – an evil version of the Founding Fathers’ Masonic Lodges. 
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. 
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