Broken Frontier

The Skrulls lay a heavy attack on England. What’s it all about? Can Captain Britain, Pete Wisdom and the rest of MI13 stop them?

I hate coming into the middle of the story. This is issue one and it feels like I missed a miniseries somewhere. Turncoat Skrulls who look like John Lennon, what? Thing is the story is pretty good, if a little confusing. The Skrulls are laying a heavy invasion into England and the English superheroes are a little slow on what the target is or what the dirty bastards are really after. The fight scenes are awesome, if a little over the top in the violence department. But it all feels like I joined the program already in progress.

What helps even less, is I really don’t know who any of these people are. Black Night is the only character I readily know of and Cornell bothers to explain his powers. If only I had gotten that kind of explanation for Captain Britain and Pete Wisdom. I only know that they are mutants but am clueless as to what their powers are and Spitfire is completely new to me. What all this boils down to is that this issue is a little new reader unfriendly. Part of it is my fault for not having a PhD in Marvel history. Most of it is the writer’s fault. Regardless of anything else, the issue says number 1 on the cover, it shouldn’t feel like a work in progress.

All of that aside, I like that the British power structure reacts to the crisis as quick as it does. Placing people in the proper spots quickly and telling all superheroes that it is their job to help their country out in its time of need. I have no idea if the British government does indeed react that quickly, but it would be nice if some folks in Washington took note... forget all the committee hearings when there is a crisis and DO SOMETHING.

The Skrulls come from all angles and it appears that there are quite a few teams being aped by the shapeshifters. This makes for spectacular battles, but again leaves those not in the know just a little lost. In the end that is what this book is, it all seems really cool, but a little messy and less then comprehensible.

Leonard Kirk on the other hand shines. I first noticed him on Agents of Atlas, and he has progressed quite nicely since providing art on one of the most entertaining books of the last three years. While he is still super clean in his overall art, it seems that he may be taking cues from Gary Frank and Tommy Lee Edwards. The faces square up a little bit and he is employing extra lines to convey emotion and action. It is a unique style that will be exciting to watch develop. While the script and characters may leave me a little lost, Kirk makes sure to let the reader know what is going on in each panel.

This one gets a tentative recommendation. I am guessing your mileage will vary on your knowledge of this character set, but for myself and other new readers to these heroes, it is all very interesting and intriguing if less than crystal clear. I’ll be around for at least one more issue to see if I can make heads or tails of it.