The story begins in utter chaos. Captain Britain, a Superman-like hero powered by a mystical amulet, is assisting Saturnyne, the leader of an interdimensional governing power, her Avant Guard bodyguards, and two sidekicks, Jackdaw and Dimples, in pushing a stagnant alternate Earth into blooming into a progressive one. Not only is the group trapped in a despotic England that has declared a superhero holocaust, but also reality seems to be shifting around them. Cautiously, the group searches for the cause of the disturbance.

Confusing? You bet. In fact, in the book’s introduction, Moore admits that even he had little understanding of what was happening in this, his first Captain Britain storyline. So, waist-deep in the morass, the young team of Moore and Davis rolled up their sleeves and went to work.

To begin with, they created a villain called The Fury, a cyborg hunter of superheroes. This unstoppable, indestructible foe blasts metahumans with its arm cannon as Moore writes, “A gland oozes. A circuit is complete.” The introduction of The Fury has two immediate impacts on the storyline that provided one enormous benefit for Moore and Davis. The storyline impacts are that Saturnyne and her Avant Guard run from The Fury and escape to another dimension, stranding the others, and that The Fury kills Jackdaw and Dimples, the two sidekicks. The one enormous benefit was that until they felt more comfortable with the storyline, Moore and Davis could concentrate on just one character, the eponymous Captain Britain.

The preceding action was accomplished in just the very first story, “A Crooked World.” It should be noted that as this is an English magazine-style comic book, each individual story is only 8-12 pages long. To capitalize on the premium on space, there are multiple panels per page, sometimes as many as nine or ten. Clear artwork is essential in such cramped space, and Davis delivers brilliantly throughout the book, but in this uncomfortable first issue his panels are workmanlike and rigid. Additionally, Moore, who Warren Ellis dubbed a master of multiple-panel comic books, writes a choppy and rushed story.

But as that story finishes, the reader can almost hear Moore and Davis sigh in relief. As best they could, they punched through the walls of a confining storyline and gained enough wriggle-room to end it with a bang.

Captain Britain then meets Mad Jim Jaspers, the mutant and former Member of Parliament responsible for both the reality shift and the superhero extermination. Unable to defeat someone who can color outside the lines of the universe, Captain Britain jumps from Mad Jim’s flying teacup, only to crash near the empty grave of Captain UK, this universe’s alternate version of Captain Britain. As Captain Britain peers into the grave, The Fury approaches, and, after a brief struggle, kills Captain Britain.

Surprising? Not to fans of Swamp Thing. For, just like when he jump-started that spent character, Moore killed Captain Britain only to rebuild him, to refocus him, to truly make him Moore’s character. Moore accomplished this by having the wizard Merlin, Captain Britain’s mentor, and Merlin’s daughter resurrect Captain Britain tissue by tissue. While Merlin’s daughter recreates Captain Britain’s body, reminiscent of the origin of Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen, Merlin himself concentrates on his mind, allowing readers to revisit Captain Britain’s history. Then, when all is completed, Merlin reanimates Captain Britain and sends him back to our Earth.

Finally freed from the gravity of a convoluted storyline they didn’t create, from this story onward the storytelling breaks the stratosphere. Davis’ artwork is vibrant and colorful and makes each tiny panel convey the message of a full-page effort, while Moore unleashes his wise and adventurous and whimsical imagination, giving it room to gallop and sniff around.

The next story, “An Englishman’s Home,” tells of Captain Britain reclaiming his family’s manor from an evil computer. The two following stories show him preventing the murder of his sister, a psychic working for STRIKE, the British version of SHIELD. With those baby steps out of the way, Moore and Davis plunged into their first major storyline.

This storyline begins with Captain Britain being escorted by four members of the Special Executive, an interdimensional mercenary group, to the Supreme Omniversal Tribune, where Saturnyne is being tried on charges of destroying the past alternate Earth. Captain Britain is asked to testify on her behalf, and initially refuses, remembering how Saturnyne abandoned him in that dimension. However, after seeing Saturnyne in chains, Captain Britain promises to do all he can to set her free. Unfortunately, it becomes apparent that the trial is stacked against Saturnyne. Captain Britain bluntly voices his displeasure, and when he fails to control himself he is attacked by two alternate versions of himself, Captain England and Captain Albion. Additional court officers try to restrain him, and after some internal debate the Special Executive decides to enter the fracas on Captain Britain’s side. After a long struggle, the Special Executive transports itself, Captain Britain, and Saturnyne back to Captain Britain’s manor on our Earth, where they begin to cope with their fugitive status.

There are many elements that make this a tremendous storyline. One is that the sci-fi and superhero elements are glued together with captivating writing and compelling storytelling. While the story is somewhat complex, Moore’s sharp writing keeps it from blurring into confusion. Another reason it succeeds is that Davis fully hits his stride with the artwork, fantastically and beautifully filling up his panels. Even letterer Steve Craddock distinguishes himself, giving each member of the Special Executive distinct voices through use of fonts. But the best element to this story is the pure fun. Not only to read, but also, apparently, to create. There are the trial announcers, a human in a suit doing play-by-play and an octopus on color. There is the Special Executive member Legion, a mutant who can produce multiple copies of himself, but with each version, unfortunately, cringing in pain when only one of them is punched. And there is Captain Britain’s fight with Captain England, where Captain Britain rears his fist back and testifies that he’s trying to rescue Saturnyne from an interdimensional government’s false charges of destroying a universe by battling an alternate version of himself. Captain Britain then stops in mid-punch to ask, “Do you ever get halfway through a sentence and find yourself unable to believe that you’re actually saying it?” This charismatic flippancy, the fuel that powers Moore’s current series Top 10, combined with the other elements that make this compelling storyline, screams for Moore and Davis to collaborate on a Fantastic Four series before they retire.

The next story, “Waiting For the End of the World,” serves as an interlude between the trial storyline to the grand finale, but, by blending darkness, humor, and captivating storytelling, it stands out as twelve of the best pages anywhere in comics. As the story opens, the Special Executive, with members ranging from a giant green golem to a walking insect with a Yorkshire accent to a flying scale model of Mt. Fuji who speaks only in haiku, are lounging on Captain Britain’s couch watching TV when Member of Parliament James Jaspers delivers a diatribe about ridding England of superheroes. Knowing that this was the beginning of the end in the past alternate Earth, Captain Britain, Saturnyne, the Special Executive, and the recently arrived Captain UK, the version of Captain Britain from the alternate Earth, debate what they should do. Meanwhile, Jaspers holds a celebration for his televised speech, and in four simple yet disturbing panels, Moore and Davis prove that this James Jaspers has the same reality-shifting powers as the alternate Earth Mad Jim by showing him turning white wine into red.

With that, Moore and Davis begin the final storyline. After temporarily halting The Fury, the Special Executive parts ways with the others. Shortly thereafter, Mad Jim uses both the political process and his reality-shifting powers to turn England into a superhero distopia. This prison-camp England is eerily similar to the one shown in Moore’s book V For Vendetta, especially during the Captain Britain tall tale told between two mutant inmates that begins the story “The Candlelight Dialogues.”

Captain Britain confronts Mad Jim, but is overmatched. However, The Fury tracks him down, and is pulled into a battle with Mad Jim. Without giving too much away, this ultimate battle flies to the limits of Moore’s imagination and Davis’ pencils, and, as a bonus, when it concludes, Moore and Davis introduce additional hilarious alternate versions of Captain Britain, including Kommandant Englander, the Nazi version, and Captain Airstrip One (“CapBrit! Doubleplusgood usmeet!”).

The final score for this collection is 4.5/5 Slushies. Points had to be deducted for the early stumbles, but, taken as a whole, this book is almost a masterpiece, and the trial storyline alone more than covers the $19.95 cover price. And it’s not only a great work, but also a window for watching a master develop his craft.

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