Captain Britain #4

History

The 1985 Captain Britain monthly was launched in January of that year as the character's first dedicated solo title since his 1976 weekly, and was the first Marvel UK title distributed to American readers. The series was primarily written by Jamie Delano — recruited by Alan Moore's recommendation — and drawn throughout by Alan Davis, with Ian Rimmer serving as editor. Issue #4 is a notable exception in the writing credits: Mike Collins scripted 'Sid's Story' as a one-off, stepping in for Delano, while Davis continued as penciler. The anthology format of the title — pairing the main Captain Britain strip with reprint backup features — meant that issues also carried installments of Night-Raven and the first two Abslom Daak, Dalek Killer stories (reprinted from Doctor Who Weekly), as well as the Free-Fall Warriors original strip in its final installment for the title.

Trivia · 8 facts

• The main story, titled 'Sid's Story,' is cover-dated April 1985 and written by Mike Collins (not regular writer Jamie Delano) with art by Alan Davis.
• This issue marks the first full appearance of the expanded Technet roster: Fascination, Thug, Ferro, Elmo, Ringtoss, Pandora, and Paradok all debut here, completing the team whose leader Gatecrasher and teleporter Yap had first appeared in issue #3.
• Gatecrasher and the Technet were created by Jamie Delano and Alan Davis; the Technet would go on to become recurring antagonists in Excalibur and later appeared in Fantastic Four and Rocket Raccoon stories.
• The issue contains a significant continuity connection: Fascination is presented as an earlier version of the Special Executive member of the same name who appeared in Doctor Who Magazine's 'Executive Action,' linking Marvel UK's superhero and Doctor Who publishing lines.
• Backup content in issue #4 includes reprints of Night-Raven (art by David Lloyd) and the fourth installment of Abslom Daak – Dalek Killer (by Steve Moore and Steve Dillon, originally from Doctor Who Weekly), plus the Free-Fall Warriors strip ('Mission: Improbable!' by Steve Parkhouse, Jerry Paris, and Garry Leach).
• The 1985 Captain Britain series was the first Marvel UK title distributed to American newsstands, giving the Technet and all related characters their first exposure to a US readership.
• The entire 1985–1986 run — including this issue — has been collected in the Captain Britain by Alan Moore & Alan Davis Omnibus (2009) and the Captain Britain Omnibus (2021), making 'Sid's Story' widely accessible to modern readers.
• After the 1985 series concluded, most of the cast introduced across this run — including the Technet — migrated into the Marvel Comics US series Excalibur, which launched in 1988.

Cast · 28 characters

Full credits

Key issues in Captain Britain