MI-13 (comics)

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Publication information
MI-13
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Excalibur vol. 1 #101 (1996) New Excalibur #01 (2006, named)
Created by	Warren Ellis Chris Claremont Michael Ryan
In story information
Member(s)	Captain Britain Pete Wisdom John the Skrull The Black Knight Spitfire Faiza Hussain

MI-13, sometimes written MI13 or MI: 13, is a fictional British intelligence agency in the Marvel Comics universe. It was introduced in Excalibur vol. 1 #101, by Warren Ellis, but it would go unnamed for ten years until New Excalibur #01.

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.

1 History
2 Members
3 Notes
4 References
5 External links
- 5.1 Interviews

[edit] History

MI-13 is the latest in a long line of fictional British intelligence agencies dealing with weird happenings within the United Kingdom. Following the likes of S.T.R.I.K.E., Resource Control Executive (R.C.X.), Department of Unknown and Covert Knowledge (D.U.C.K.), MI-13 evolved from the remnants of the Weird Happenings Organisation (W.H.O.)^[1] 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 along side Pete Wisdom, however, it went unnamed until 2006 when Wisdom revealed himself to be an agent of MI-13 in New Excalibur #01 (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, which had seen Stuart leave MI-13.

Most recently in the first issue of Paul Cornell's Captain Britain and MI: 13 (July 2008) series, England is attacked by a Skrull armada and a wave of empowered Super Skrulls during the Secret Invasion crossover event, the British government recruits Spitfire and Captain Britain to MI-13 and charges them, along with John the Skrull (a Skrull turncoat loyal to MI-13) and Pete Wisdom, with protecting the Skrulls' target, the Siege Perilous.^[2]^[3]

[edit] Members

All superheroes native to the British Isles are considered part of MI-13, meaning they can be called by the government^[2] at any time.

“	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	”
—Paul Cornell^[3]

Heroes such as The Black Knight^[4], Captain Britain^[5], Union Jack and Spitfire^[6] 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^[7]; its members included Captain Britain and, MI-13 spy and field team leader^[8], Pete Wisdom along with Juggernaut, Sage, Dazzler, and Nocturne.

Vampire hunter Blade is set to join MI:13 in Captain Britain and MI: 13 #5^[9], while Faiza Hussain, a new character first introduced in the series, is set to join during its Secret Invasion tie-in issues^[10].

Other shown members with official positions within the agency have included:

Name	Position	Status	Additional notes
Alistaire Stuart	Director^[11]	Inactive	Left to work as Scientific Adviser for MI6 after being convinced MI-13 could not stand against an other dimensional Martian invasion.
Captain Midlands (Sid Ridley)^[12]	Field agent	Active	An elderly and right-wing Captain America analogue.
John the Skrull^[12]	Field agent	Active	A Skrull infiltrator in the form of John Lennon, who went native in the 1960s.^[13]
Maureen Raven^[12]	Field agent	Inactive (Deceased)	Mother of Jonathon Raven, who 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 clairsentient who had the power to take control of people.
Micromax (Steve Wright)	Field agent	Active	Micromax is a mutant who has been sent to the United States to assist ONE*^[14]
Sir Mortimer Grimsdale^[12]	Joint Intelligence Committee Chair (ruling over MI5, 6 and 13)	Inactive (missing, possibly deceased)	Replaced for an undetermined amount of time by a Skrull impostor.^[2]
O^[12]	quartermaster^[1] and part-time occult physics researcher	Active	The character's design and name are based on Charles Hawtrey's character in Carry On Spying^[1], while his position is an analog of James Bond's Q
Pete Wisdom	Field team leader^[8]	Active	Mutant and agent of several of the previous agencies.
Rana Mousabi^[15]	Special agent	Inactive (deceased)	Killed by werewolves who then wore her skin.
Rory Campbell	Mutant liaison and Management^[11]	Inactive	The first person Stuart recruited for the, then unnamed, department, Campbell later left when he took the role of Famine as part of Horsemen of Apocalypse.
Tink^[12] (Tinkabelinos Hardleg^[16])	Field agent	Inactive	Otherworld fairy and daughter of Oberon