Captain Britain And Mi 13 #13

You know how big brand wide events used to feel? How things would seem so epic, there was a level of constant threat, and when you saw characters you'd followed for years fall and die in battle it tore you apart?

How come Event books can't manage that, but Paul Cornell can, here?

I guess this is the midpoint of this arc (there's an annual and two issues to go) but it just keeps on throwing surprises your way, as a reader. Paul Cornell weaves a lot of epic sized action here with the kind of logical and intelligent tactical approach we've come to expect from this arc so far. Here, as the issue pans out you can literally pick out how Dracula has played every single one of MI13, constructing their final downfall from day one. And boy, isn't it a downfall! When I saw that final page I found myself almost double take. The level of carnage, and the implications it brings, genuinely changes everything. If the team survive this arc, in whatever form, the entire landscape of Marvel's Britain is going to have to be a very different place.

If you've seen the panel, you'll know why.

Kudos too to fill in artist Ardian Syaf. He actually drew the majority of this issue, but his pencils matched in so well with Leonard Kirk's work that while you could tell the difference under scrutiny, it did not detract one bit.

If you're still not reading this book you are really missing out.