| MI-13 | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Excalibur vol. 1 #101 (1996) New Excalibur #1 (2006, named) |
| Created by | Warren Ellis Chris Claremont Michael Ryan |
| In-story information | |
| Base(s) | MI-13 HQ, Portwelll House, Whitehall[1] |
| Member(s) | Captain Britain Pete Wisdom John the Skrull The Black Knight Spitfire Faiza Hussain Blade Meggan |
MI-13, sometimes written MI13 or MI: 13, is a fictional British intelligence agency in the Marvel Comics universe, operating out of Portwell House in Whitehall. It was introduced in Excalibur vol. 1 #101, by Warren Ellis under the call sign "The Department" for ten years until New Excalibur #1 explicitly mentioned the term "MI13"; although invariably referred to as such, the agency's official name is the Extraordinary Intelligence Service (EIS).[2]
The department is closely associated with Marvel characters Alistaire Stuart and Pete Wisdom, and, after being named MI-13, it would subsequently appear in Wisdom, and most recently, the ongoing Captain Britain and MI: 13; both written by Paul Cornell.
It was originally overseen by Sir Mortimer Grimsdale, the Joint Intelligence Committee Chair in the Marvel Universe. After he was revealed to have been replaced by a Skrull, MI:13 became far more autonomous; he was replaced as JIC Chair by Lance Hunter [3]. Other intelligence chiefs shown as Sir Clive Reston, KCBE, Director of MI6; and the wheelchair-using Annabel Warner, newly appointed Director of MI5.
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MI-13 is the latest in a long line of fictional British intelligence agencies dealing with "weird happenings" within the United Kingdom. It followed the likes of Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies (S.T.R.I.K.E.), Resource Control Executive (R.C.X.), Department of Unknown and Covert Knowledge (D.U.C.K.), and the Weird Happenings Organisation (W.H.O.). It evolved from the remnants of W.H.O. [4] when Alistaire Stuart was asked by the government in Excalibur #101 (September 1996) to take the old W.H.O., Black Air (a corrupt department that had usurped W.H.O.'s and others' mandate), and all other related paranormal organisations and rationalise them into a single department.
This department was next seen in X-Force #115 (June 2001) with Stuart standing alongside Pete Wisdom. However, it went unnamed until 2006 when Wisdom revealed himself to be an agent of MI-13 in New Excalibur #1 (January 2006). In the New Excalibur series, M-13 funded the reforming of Excalibur superhero team.
Later that year MI-13 were later explored in Paul Cornell's Marvel MAX limited series Wisdom in which the department became involved in a military operation against Otherworld before signing a peace treaty, which includes a mutual defense pact, and facing a invasion of other dimensional Martians. The series also highlighted the clashes MI-13 have with other intelligence agencies, including MI6 who wish to have jurisdiction over "weird happenings" and believe all the specialist groups like MI-13 are doomed to fail. MI6 had convinced Stuart leave MI-13 to work for them as scientific adviser, leaving Pete Wisdom as the only senior officer reporting directly to the Chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee.
Most recently in the first story arc of Paul Cornell's Captain Britain and MI: 13 (July 2008) series, Britain is attacked by a Skrull armada and a wave of empowered Super Skrulls during the Secret Invasion crossover event. The JIC Chair, Sir Mortimer Grimsdale, is revealed to be a Skrull, leaving Wisdom in command of MI-13, with the Prime Minister stating the all British superheroes are now members of the agency "like it or not". While other superheroes face the Skrull onslaught on London, Spitfire and Captain Britain are dispatched, along with John the Skrull (a turncoat loyal to MI-13) and Wisdom, to link up with the forces of Avalon and protect Earth's magic from Skrull attack. In order for the mission to succeed, Pete Wisdom had to release the dark magic and demons imprisoned in Avalon; while this led to the dark forces, headed by Satannish, creating an anti-Skrull barrier around the United Kingdom, it also meant demonic forces would now be trying to conquer the nation. John does not survive the mission. [5]
MI:13 was restructured to support a semi-autonomous and public superhero team, headed by Captain Britain, while keeping the precise nature of the supernatural threat hidden from the public. The intention is to be both effective while ensuring the superheroes feel uncompromised [6] (a frequent problem with the American Superhero Registration Act).
When Dracula moved to conquer the United Kingdom, he opened with a pre-emptive strike on MI:13's superhero team. [7] The agency swiftly regrouped along with MI5 and MI6, and began the elimination of all vampire agents with the British intelligence agencies. However they were (seemingly) unwittingly manipulated into leading Dracula to the location of Quincy Harker's remains, which were enchanted to ensure vampires needed to be invited (individually) into the country. Dracula was now able to lead his full army to the country and magically seal it off from the rest of the world.[8] Unknown to Dracula, Pete Wisdom had deliberately led Dracula to fake remains and MI:13 then used the captive demon Dr Plokta to trap the vampire in his own victorious fantasies, both to gain intelligence on him and to ensure he couldn't send in advance troops and find out the protection spell was still active. With the help of this, direct strikes, and actions by undercover agents, MI:13 ensured that Dracula was unaware until his forces entered UK airspace and were mostly wiped out. They then invaded his fortress, backed up by their reserves and the Special Air Service, and comprehensively destroyed Dracula's assets, his army, and the count himself. [9]
Members of MI-13 later attend an official reception in America presided over by Steve Rogers, given in their honor for being the first country in the world to get rid of the Skrulls.[1]
All superheroes native to the British Isles are considered part of MI-13, meaning they can be called by the government[10] at any time. Paul Cornell said, "One of the great things about [Captain Britain and MI: 13] is that, because all British superheroes are de facto part of MI-13, we can visit disparate parts of the Marvel UK scene without it being a big deal."[11]
Heroes such as The Black Knight[12], Captain Britain[13], Union Jack and Spitfire[14] have been shown/stated to work on behalf of MI-13. When the superhero team (New) Excalibur was revived, it was also funded by MI-13[15]; its members included Captain Britain and, MI-13 spy and field team leader[16], Pete Wisdom along with Juggernaut, Sage, Dazzler, and Nocturne.
Vampire hunter Blade joined MI:13 in Captain Britain and MI: 13 #5[17], while Faiza Hussain, a new character first introduced in that series, joined after the Secret Invasion tie-in issues[18]. Motormouth and Killpower were shown to be reservist of MI:13 in Captain Britain and MI: 13 #11, and later so were Dark Angel, Digitek, Death's Head II, and Tangerine in #15.
Other shown members with official positions within the agency have included:
| Name | Position | Status | Additional notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alistaire Stuart | (Former) Director[19]
Scientific Adviser |
Active | Left to work as Scientific Adviser for MI6 after being convinced MI-13 could not stand against an other dimensional Martian invasion. Has seemingly returned to 13 in a scientific role, with tension between him and Wisdom[6] Left dimensionally inflexible after an unspecified encounter with Morgan le Fey. |
| Captain Midlands (Sid Ridley)[20] | Field agent | Inactive | An elderly and right-wing Captain America analogue. Turned on the team and led them into a trap; later imprisoned.[21] |
| Constance[22] | Agent | Unknown | |
| Dark Angel | Reserve | Active | |
| Death's Head (II) | Reserve | Active | |
| Digitek | Reserve | Active | Superhuman; spent time on an intelligence gathering mission in the US. |
| Excalibur[23] (Faiza Hussain[5]) |
Field agent | Active | A young doctor, wielder of the legendary sword, Excalibur, and steward to the Black Knight. Progressed to knight status after slaying Dracula. |
| Farisa[22] | Agent | Unknown | A Muslim member of the agency. |
| John the Skrull[20] | Field agent | Inactive (deceased) | A Skrull infiltrator in the form of John Lennon, who went native in the 1960s.[24] Killed during the Skrull invasion of Earth.[25] |
| Killpower (Julius Mullarkey) |
Reserve | Active | |
| Maureen Raven[20] | Field agent | Inactive (deceased) | Mother of Jonathan Raven. Had affair with Pete Wisdom and was used by James Ransom to form a link with the Martian Masters of Earth-691 that allowed them to form a portal to Earth-616; Wisdom was forced to kill her to terminate the link. She was a clairsentient who had the power to take control of people. |
| Micromax (Scott Wright) |
Field agent | Active | Micromax is a mutant who has been sent to the United States to assist O*N*E*[26] |
| Motormouth (Harley Davis) |
Reserve | Inactive (injured) | |
| O[20] | quartermaster[4] and part-time occult physics researcher |
Active | The character's design and name are based on Charles Hawtrey's character in Carry On Spying[4], while his position is an analog of James Bond's Q |
| Pete Wisdom | Director [16] | Active | Mutant, formerly the field team leader; agent of several of the previous agencies. |
| Rana Mousabi[27] | Special agent | Inactive (deceased) | Killed by werewolves who then wore her skin. |
| Rory Campbell | Mutant liaison and Management[19] |
Inactive | The first person Stuart recruited for the, then unnamed, department, Campbell later defected when he took the role of Famine as part of Horsemen of Apocalypse. |
| Tangerine | Reserve | Active | |
| Unnamed teleporter[28] | Undercover Agent | Active | |
| Tink[20] (Tinkabelinos Hardleg[29]) |
Field agent | Inactive | Otherworld fairy and daughter of Oberon |