Captain Britain launches off the back of Secret Invasion as Pete Wisdom and Skrull John uncover a Skrull infiltrator in the British government. Over the course of the issue, Cornell introduces his cast, showing them all responding to the Skrull threat in their own ways. After Young X-men and Mighty Avengers have both done generic “round up the cast” issues in recent weeks, Cornell really shames that approach by introducing people in the context of, you know, an actual story that’s happening.

Cornell gives the Black Knight a fairly blatant personality overhaul - he even admits it in-story - but it manages to make him one of the most interesting cast members. Artist Leonard Kirk gives him a new, non-ridiculous costume that echoes the original while making it a little less ceremonial. It’s no mean feat to make a chracter from the Avengers C-List into a credible support, but this is a Black Knight I can be interested in. As with any overhaul, there are going the staunch Black Knight fans might not like it, but even if it prevents both of them from buying the book, it’s a risk worth taking.

Likewise, Captain Britain himself gets something of a makeover, though it’s on the conceptual level rather than his look or personality. It’s been a while since he was interesting, and it never helped that under Chris Claremont there’s been a lot of emphasis on the Captain Britain Corps and him being the protector of reality. Reverting him back to the level of a simple, superheroic icon akin to Captain America gives him both a nice focus and a more conventional angle.

Cornell has really thrown himself into the world - there’s a little less exposition than I’d like about what the Siege Perilous actually is in Marvel continuity, for those of us who haven’t kept up with Captain Britain trivia. It feels a little under-explained, given that it’s the focal point of the story and the thing we’re supposed to be worried about. There are also a few bits where it feels like Cornell is hamming up the “British” dialogue for the benefit of American readers, but to be fair, this is comics, that’s just the shorthand you use when you can’t make use of accents. Overall, it’s actually pretty refreshing to see British superheroes, in Britain, with a  British writer who knows how to show that in a mostly subtle way.

The issue goes out with a literal bang - it’s fair to say that Captain Britain probably isn’t going to die (at least, not permanently) so it’ll be interesting to see what the resolution is. Looking at the cover preview of issue #2, it’s bound to involve Excalibur. That said, it’s worth remembering that “Captain Britain” is a title that can be passed on. Between Cornell’s immediate mastery of superheroics and Kirk’s engaging artwork, there’s no good reason Captain Britain should fail. Get on board immediately.

(also, I don’t usually mention it, but how fantastic is that trade dress? Best looking comic I’ve seen in years.)