Editor's Note: Captain Britain and MI:13 #6 arrives in stores tomorrow, October 15.

"Hell Comes to Birmingham: Part One"

Issue #6 of Captain Britain and MI:13 sees the team dispatched to Birmingham, UK (as opposed to the one in Alabama) to tackle a magical disturbance that has turned some of the city's inhabitants into mindless zombies. How anyone could tell the difference isn't made clear, but either way, it's up to Captain Britain and his team to address the cause of the problem.

It's a fairly straightforward story that features a slightly underwhelming concept for its central villain once he's revealed, but Cornell adds enough interesting wrinkles that this issue is still an enjoyable read. As usual, the plot itself is used as a mere skeleton upon which the writer can hang the flesh of characterisation, comedy, and imaginative ideas. We get a chance to see exactly what Faiza's powers can do, and it's a refreshingly constructive talent, rather than the kind of destructive power that is usually wielded by superhero characters. We see Faiza's relationship with the Black Knight continue to gradually develop in a satisfyingly unforced and natural manner. We see some smart, decisive leadership from Pete Wisdom, who as a character is really growing into his new role as the head of MI:13. We witness further conflict between the vampiric Spitfire and the single-minded vampire-hunter, Blade, spinning out of their confrontation at the end of last issue. And, finally, we're treated to the welcome return of Captain Midlands, a character who seems less buffoonish here than he did in the pages of Wisdom, grounding Captain Britain's mission with a genuine, almost noble sense of humanity and social conscience.

Leonard Kirk's art keeps things interesting, with plenty of action scenes that give him a chance to produce some dynamic visuals. Most impressive, though, is his surreal design for the villain, Plokta (doubtless a deliberate allusion by Cornell, whether it's to the computing acronym or to the Sci-Fi fanzine of the same name). The way that the character is depicted by Kirk makes him feel reminiscent of the kind of villains that Steve Ditko used to draw for Dr. Strange, or the adversaries that Grant Morrison used to feature in his Doom Patrol series, and it ensures that the character is more interesting on a visual level than he is on a conceptual one. There are also plenty of little touches of detail that make Kirk's panels a pleasure to read, whether it's the inclusion of a Captain Britain action figure in the hands of a small boy playing with his Spider-Man toys, or the authenticity of the British police uniforms that he has used as reference for the officers who appear at the start of the issue.

As a Birmingham resident myself, I was slightly disappointed to see the action of the issue confined to a single housing estate in the city (which might as well be anywhere, for the purposes of the plot). Kirk isn't given the opportunity to show any establishing shots of the city, which seems a shame considering how infrequently we get to see English locales other than London in American superhero books. Then again, the plot provides no real reason to explore the city, so maybe it's best that Cornell chose to put the needs of his story above the opportunity to throw in a few cameo appearances from the city's landmarks. It's possible that future issues will widen the scope a little, but for the moment, it looks as though those British readers eager to see Birmingham brought to the pages of this book in all its (*ahem*) glory will have to wait.

The final pages of the issue provide a development that wasn't immediately clear to me, because it concerns a character from Captain Britain's past that hasn't appeared before under Cornell's pen. As someone who has only really been following Brian Braddock's adventures since this title launched, that meant that the conclusion of the issue didn't mean a huge amount at first glance. Despite this, I was able to put things together for myself thanks to the clear context of the scene (and there's always wikipedia if you're really stuck), and it makes for a decent cliffhanger that feels oddly reminiscent of the choice faced by Spider-Man during the recent "One More Day" storyline. After the previous arc's memorable gag at the expense of House of M, I'm starting to wonder whether Cornell is planning a gentle dig at some of Marvel's other recent big events, too.

When deciding on my rating for this issue, I couldn't decide whether to award it 3.5 or 4 bullets. In the end, I plumped for 4 bullets, because although it doesn't quite reach the giddy heights of some of the previous issues, it provides some compelling moments of characterisation, establishes a pretty strong basis for the arc as a whole, and features a high standard of art throughout. And the excitement of seeing Hodge Hill - an area of the city that's just a few miles away from my home - in the pages of a Marvel superhero title is enough to earn it a little extra goodwill for the moment.

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