Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain Appreciation 2021

[Havok83]

I would say the story of Excalibur is 'suppose' to be Betsy and her friends in this run. However, what we actually got is Apocalypse's history and playing his own thing in order to setup the event for X Of Swords(but those tournaments sucked so bad that I don't even want to recall them as they are like tortures to my mind...).

Apocalypse isnt even in the book anymore. We are talking about where its at now

[Rnap22]

The series itself just needs a soft reboot. Maybe once the Betsy/Kwannon/Morgan thing wraps up. I’ve always said a lot of the concepts are good, but it’s always just the execution, disjointed transitions of scenes, toooo much happening or getting resolved off panel and not everyone getting some sort of meaningful moment. I honestly like the Otherworld stuff. I’m not thrilled about some of the execution of it all. I felt Otherworld was much creepier and menacing in the X of Swords main issues than here. Maybe it’s the art? Look at the preview for New Mutants and see how creepy Jamie is in it.

Soft reboot. Move on from the Betsy/Kwannon stuff with a good resolved ending of it between the pair where they can become a wonderful team up pair in the future. I’d be interested in seeing how Betsy may feel stretched between being Krakoan, British and Otherworldian (is that a word?!LOL). She has commitments and responsibilities to all three nations now. I’d also put her on the council since she does represent all three and Krakoa having extensions of the nation in two of them for sure. But I think Betsy really needs to be upping the confidence level. Seriously she seems like when she first joined the X-men and was kind of unsure if she belonged and then held her own against Sabertooth and then put the smack down on Juggernaut and then was like “let’s kill Havok”. Where’d that Betsy go?!

[Psigal]

The series itself just needs a soft reboot. Maybe once the Betsy/Kwannon/Morgan thing wraps up. I’ve always said a lot of the concepts are good, but it’s always just the execution, disjointed transitions of scenes, toooo much happening or getting resolved off panel and not everyone getting some sort of meaningful moment. I honestly like the Otherworld stuff. I’m not thrilled about some of the execution of it all. I felt Otherworld was much creepier and menacing in the X of Swords main issues than here. Maybe it’s the art? Look at the preview for New Mutants and see how creepy Jamie is in it.

Soft reboot. Move on from the Betsy/Kwannon stuff with a good resolved ending of it between the pair where they can become a wonderful team up pair in the future. I’d be interested in seeing how Betsy may feel stretched between being Krakoan, British and Otherworldian (is that a word?!LOL). She has commitments and responsibilities to all three nations now. I’d also put her on the council since she does represent all three and Krakoa having extensions of the nation in two of them for sure. But I think Betsy really needs to be upping the confidence level. Seriously she seems like when she first joined the X-men and was kind of unsure if she belonged and then held her own against Sabertooth and then put the smack down on Juggernaut and then was like “let’s kill Havok”. Where’d that Betsy go?!

As much as I like Betsy, I just found she can't even handle herself as she lost her body once again and needs her brother to call for a clone body to save her...again. Would you really trust this person to have great responsibility and give her important duty? She is so incompetent in the whole Excalibur...Failed as a leader, lost as a fighter and being helpless as a spirit.

And thats what we are complaining that CB Betsy started from 0 at the beginning of Excalibur and even at almost the end, she remains at 0 and much worse, lost her body again and it makes her -1. Betsy is actually one of my favorite Marvel Comics character right now, it actually hurts seeing this...

[Knightmare]

Excalibur is considered an X-Team though. And part of the reason that Captain Britain's role hasn't had much to do with mutant kind is because Captain Britain wasn't a mutant. That's a role that could be reframed now with Betsy.

Excalibur is barely an X-Team, they've never really taken part in any X-Event(barring X of Swords) or had any real interactions with the main X-Verse.

Captain Britain(Brian) was in an X-Team for a long while and had plenty of cameo appearances in X-Events, but never any serious interaction. Betsy on the other hand is in an opposite position being a part of an institution that has nothing to do with the X-World, but now finds itself messily intertwined with it. It doesn't make sense to me that Excalibur and Captain Britain should have closer ties to Krakoa.

I guess it comes down to a simple question. What is Excalibur and Captain Britain mission statement? Every X-Team post DoX seems to have a job to do, but not Excalibur.

[Psycwave]

I think we've got to let go of the dated thinking about Excalibur and it's place in the x-line or what the team has been in the past when the rules of what is and isn't an x-team have completely changed. Right now it's a x-team and a driving force in the overall narrative and expansion of Krakoa.

Its' mission statement revolves around the exploration of mutant magic and Otherworld shenanigans. Even if Tini were to leave the book today it could continue on with no problem.

[Rnap22]

Excalibur is barely an X-Team, they've never really taken part in any X-Event(barring X of Swords) or had any real interactions with the main X-Verse.

Captain Britain(Brian) was in an X-Team for a long while and had plenty of cameo appearances in X-Events, but never any serious interaction. Betsy on the other hand is in an opposite position being a part of an institution that has nothing to do with the X-World, but now finds itself messily intertwined with it. It doesn't make sense to me that Excalibur and Captain Britain should have closer ties to Krakoa.

I guess it comes down to a simple question. What is Excalibur and Captain Britain mission statement? Every X-Team post DoX seems to have a job to do, but not Excalibur.

Mutant magic is really their only mission statement. But they really don’t have one as far the other books go. X-men has really been about world building and setting up plots, I guess, until an actual team is elected. X-force is the CIA. X-Factor is the forensic investigation team. New Mutants is now the training team. Hellions is the wet works team. Marauders is the.. uh, pirate team? Haha. S.W.O.R.D. is the intergalactic team. X-Corps is the business team I guess?

Excalibur has the potential to be a great book. Yes, it definitely needs a mission statement as to why they’re together or together still. As much as I didn’t care for Betsy becoming CB when things were announced, she has potential but it’s getting wasted. As of right now.

Every month I hope we get in the right direction and it’s still not happening for me. I read every issue as a Betsy fan. And I’ll continue to read and comment and give my opinion like everyone else.

[whitecrown]

Excalibur is barely an X-Team, they've never really taken part in any X-Event(barring X of Swords) or had any real interactions with the main X-Verse.

Captain Britain(Brian) was in an X-Team for a long while and had plenty of cameo appearances in X-Events, but never any serious interaction. Betsy on the other hand is in an opposite position being a part of an institution that has nothing to do with the X-World, but now finds itself messily intertwined with it. It doesn't make sense to me that Excalibur and Captain Britain should have closer ties to Krakoa.

I guess it comes down to a simple question. What is Excalibur and Captain Britain mission statement? Every X-Team post DoX seems to have a job to do, but not Excalibur.

Excalibur was part of the original AoA titles as X-Calibre. The book was originally planned to be part of Mutant Wars, the crossover that was replaced with X-Tinction Agenda, but you're right that Excalibur has never been as heavily involved in the X-Universe. However, it's always been characterized as an X-Book with X-Men characters, whether they are Kurt, Rachel, Kitty, Betsy, Alison, Juggernaut, etc.

I'm not a fan of the current Krakoa regime so I'm kinda glad Betsy is far removed from it, but her own material isn't really much of an improvement right now and while I don't like Hickman's run, it's been given a lot of attention so for Betsy to not really be a part of it is hurting her in the long run. I have no idea why she's not on the X-Council.

I think we've got to let go of the dated thinking about Excalibur and it's place in the x-line or what the team has been in the past when the rules of what is and isn't an x-team have completely changed. Right now it's a x-team and a driving force in the overall narrative and expansion of Krakoa.

Its' mission statement revolves around the exploration of mutant magic and Otherworld shenanigans. Even if Tini were to leave the book today it could continue on with no problem.

Exactly, especially because Brian Braddock was Excalibur's typical leader as Captain Britain and he wasn't a mutant. But that's not the case with Betsy so we can't apply those same standards to her now.

Mutant magic is fine and still a part of mutantkind. Just look at Claremont's UXM run and how for a mutant book, it was constantly dealing with magic or aliens. There is certainly a place in the fold for Betsy and her Excalibur with the X-Men.

[Ferro]

Mutant magic is really their only mission statement. But they really don’t have one as far the other books go. X-men has really been about world building and setting up plots, I guess, until an actual team is elected. X-force is the CIA. X-Factor is the forensic investigation team. New Mutants is now the training team. Hellions is the wet works team. Marauders is the.. uh, pirate team? Haha. S.W.O.R.D. is the intergalactic team. X-Corps is the business team I guess?

Excalibur has the potential to be a great book. Yes, it definitely needs a mission statement as to why they’re together or together still. As much as I didn’t care for Betsy becoming CB when things were announced, she has potential but it’s getting wasted. As of right now.

Every month I hope we get in the right direction and it’s still not happening for me. I read every issue as a Betsy fan. And I’ll continue to read and comment and give my opinion like everyone else.

Otherworld and the nascent mutant sorcery isnt a team statement?
Krakoa and otherworld are conected, the gates are causing changes in avalon, arakkoans have recently returned to the earth.
theres literaly 10 realms of possible adventures AND arakko that also has their own brand of sorcery, rictor is but the first mutant to master it and in a recent xmen monday tini said the purpose of the lighthouse and in krakoan society, so what we saw with rictor can happen with any character of the many many many available on krakoa.

we even saw young mutants going to avalon trough the lighthouse, and betsy is an omniversal key conector betwen the earth/krakoa and otherworld, she is the main representation of this conection, and rictor is the main new sorcerer.


Side note to the usual "omg betsy is totaly gonna get into limbo, kwannon is psylocke its over gg" doomsaying:


And kwannon is a legacy character , by her VERY definition that's what she is.
Her current writing is due zeb wells expertise, not because her character is inheritly superior or in a better state than betsy, in a bigger more wise prespective: it's far more likely moment a writer of lesse calibre gets to her we get a completly difrent/awful take from what hill zeb wells established where she has a badly writen characterization as she does just 90's psylocke jim lee things, because characters with less history that have an important visual mantle tend to have that happen to them, just being used for the sake of it because they are visualy popular but don't really have the character foundation.
I mean look at wally west/tim drake/damian wayne/bat-girls, every newer legacy with an iconic mantle

that also happens to long standing characters! remember stormbot or 15 books a month Wolverine.
Betsy will always have claremont nostalgia on her side.

[whitecrown]

Betsy will always have claremont nostalgia on her side.

I wish we could get to the point where it is not nostalgia anymore but Claremont writing her again. The last time he writes her better not be Bloody Bess in that DOFP special.

[CGAR]

I will say one thing; I won’t like that she lost her body again when the whole point of the Wolverine issue was her creating herself in her own image with her own powers. And what we’re gonna toss that aside and not explore it? Just to have a clone body or an alternate body be taken over by her. That’s been done. I don’t like that at all. But I guess we’ll see how the story goes.

[Ferro]

I will say one thing I won’t like is that if shoe lost her body again when the whole point of the Wolverine issue was her creating herself in her image. And what we’re gonna toss that aside and not explore it? Just to have a clone body or an alternate body be taken over by her. I don’t like that at all. But I guess we’ll see how the story goes.

now shes the nexus of a of an endless group of telepathic magicaly enhanced beings, if not mostly mutants too, wich are all at her image.
Ironic, Betsy repeated the feat that gave her own body again, but on an omniversal scale, winning saturnyne at her own schemes.

[Psigal]

I will say one thing I won’t like is that if shoe lost her body again when the whole point of the Wolverine issue was her creating herself in her image. And what we’re gonna toss that aside and not explore it? Just to have a clone body or an alternate body be taken over by her. I don’t like that at all. But I guess we’ll see how the story goes.

Yea, I thought her new body is supposed to be something special. It is based on her original british body but could be modified by Betsy's thought like the hair and eyes color are natural purple(our guess). But now, it just got shattered into pieces and got replaced by another clone body from Minster Sinister and not even being resurrected by The Five. Such disgrace...

[nandes]

Yea, I thought her new body is supposed to be something special. It is based on her original british body but could be modified by Betsy's thought like the hair and eyes color are natural purple(our guess). But now, it just got shattered into pieces and got replaced by another clone body from Minster Sinister and not even being resurrected by The Five. Such disgrace...

...maybe you could try to read the comics instead of assuming bad things that haven't actually happened? Just a thought

[Ferro]

Yea, I thought her new body is supposed to be something special. It is based on her original british body but could be modified by Betsy's thought like the hair and eyes color are natural purple(our guess). But now, it just got shattered into pieces and got replaced by another clone body from Minster Sinister and not even being resurrected by The Five. Such disgrace...

A very overdramatic response to a clear story in progress, because it's obvious said "clone" is wrong in one way or another.

[Psigal]

...maybe you could try to read the comics instead of assuming bad things that haven't actually happened? Just a thought

Would you mind to explain what actually haven't happened? Isn't Betsy body got shattered along with the Starlight sword in the X Of Swords tournament? And isn't Jamie asked Minister Sinister to prepare a clone body of Betsy and that is the one we are seeing in Excalibur #18?

Would be a great help if I have mistaken something!