Top Of The Pile: Wisdom - Rudiments of Wisdom

Collecting the six-issue Max comic run by Paul Cornell, Wisdom: Rudiments of Wisdom is a heady mix of eccentric superheroes, British mythology and gritty personal drama filtered through the lens of Terry Gilliam.

Published in 2007, it also stands as a superb prelude to the late, lamented Captain Britain & MI-13.

Here the cocky mutant secret agent Pete Wisdom is leading a slightly different espionage team to the one seen in the more recent comic: Captain Midlands and John (Lennon) The Skrull are there, but so are Tink, the foul-mouthed punk fairy, and Maureen Raven, the psychic.

Knowing what becomes of Captain Midlands (the geriatric super soldier) and the skrull in Captain Britain's title, it's easy to draw comparisons between MI-13 and Torchwood for the organisation's meatgrinder-like knack of churning through recruits.

The Rudiments of Wisdom is a series of stories that gradually link up to form an apocalyptic story arc that has England invaded by Martians from an alternate dimension.

Along the way MI-13 tangle with militant fairies, giants (with villages on their heads), a legion of Jack The Rippers and - aided by Shang-Chi, The Master of Kung Fu - a dragon stuck in human form.

Continuing the Torchwood analogy, this is a title - being in the Marvel's Max imprint - for mature readers, splattered with f-bombs and some suggestive - but certainly not graphic - sex scenes (that Pete Wisdom is a bit of a play-ah!)

With pencils by Trevor Hairsine and Manuel Garcia, inks by Paul Neary, Hairsine and Mark Farmer, The Rudiments Of Wisdom is a visual delight as well as a rollickin' good read, managing to conjure up a sense of the magical prevalence in Marvel's version of the United Kingdom without burdening the readers with too much psychobabble.

My only problem with the whole collection is the cover - what's up with Pete Wisdom's middle finger? There's something not quite right there...