Brian Braddock: Captain Britain Appreciation 2021

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

Captain Britain by Simon Wyatt:

[Panic]

Not quite sure what Brian's powers are now, since both Chris Claremont and Paul Cornell respectively messed them up and then he became depowered. Jamie Delano had written it so that his physical powers (and flight) were innate with the costume as a prop stopping him from properly developing.

I think it was Davis, not Delano, who made that a plot-point. Delano had been given the old heave-ho by that storyline.

I've always secretly hoped they'd change his name as I knew that being named after a country other than America was always going to be a sticking point for an American publisher that treats anything outside of NYC as being a bit odd. But Captain Avalon is a clumsy name.

Agreed on both points. I'd rather they called him "Pendragon" or something. But the point isn't the name, it's that by giving Betsy the name, they are also really giving her Brian's supporting cast and rogue's gallery and reducing Brian still further. We know that most of the US writers have been reluctant to give British male readers a top-flight hero who, you know, does cool stuff. We've seen it again and again with the de-powerings and the character assassinations/ negative development, and it that context it's difficult not to see Betsy's new role as just a continuation of this unpleasant aspect.

But then I read the entirety of Excalibur back in the day, hoping he'd be treated as something other than an idiot or in the way. Barring the time when Alan Davis wrote it, that never happened. I can't say that I expect any respect to go his way now.

No, I feel the same way.

[Panic]

Marvel Reportedly Wants Henry Cavill For Captain Britain:

https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/...ptain-britain/

If Dark Horizons and the other big sites haven't run with it, and they haven't, I wouldn't pay it much attention, sadly. I always felt making Betsy CB was probably done with the consultation of the MCU guys - I've always been a bit suspicious with the way Feige has chosen his words so carefully on the odd occasion he's mentioned Captain Britain, and I suspect that Betsy will be CB if there is a movie appearance.

[Nomads1]

Here's hoping 2021 will see the return of the OG costume...

I like this costume (especially when Byrne drew it in Marvel Team-Up), but I think the helmet and the tall boots are a more distinctive look. IMHO, it's sort of become part of the character.

Peace

[Panic]

I think it's very difficult for anyone to compete with Davis when it comes to CB. I do think one problem with the 80's redesign was, though, that really only a handful of artists other than Davis could draw the helmet correctly.

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

If Dark Horizons and the other big sites haven't run with it, and they haven't, I wouldn't pay it much attention, sadly. I always felt making Betsy CB was probably done with the consultation of the MCU guys - I've always been a bit suspicious with the way Feige has chosen his words so carefully on the odd occasion he's mentioned Captain Britain, and I suspect that Betsy will be CB if there is a movie appearance.

You're most probably right on all accounts. With regarding wegotthiscovered.com, I heard that they're not the most reliable place for news anyway.

We can only try and make people more aware of what a fantastic character Brian Braddock is. Unfortunately, quite s lot of comic readers identify him with those Excalibur issues as well as those Avengers and X-Force issues penned by Rick Remender. A true character assassination.

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

Captain Britain by David Finch & Jonathan Glapion:

[Nomads1]

Does anybody know what happened to the other female Captain Britain, the one from the Avengers? I think they changed her name to Lionheart (a good name, IMHO), but I lost track of her after her appearence in Claremont's New Excalibur.

Peace

[Panic]

You're most probably right on all accounts. With regarding wegotthiscovered.com, I heard that they're not the most reliable place for news anyway.

I'd rather they pick someone blonde for Brian anyway - not that Henry Cavil couldn't wear a wig, but I'd worry that they wouldn't bother. I do like my heroes to look as close to model as possible.

We can only try and make people more aware of what a fantastic character Brian Braddock is. Unfortunately, quite s lot of comic readers identify him with those Excalibur issues as well as those Avengers and X-Force issues penned by Rick Remender. A true character assassination.

Remender's Secret Avengers was a blow coming off CB&MI13, where Cornell made so much effort to change the unpleasant direction Brian had been driven down by US writers. I mean, we were all so hopeful, CB seemed to be building up momentum, and then Remender comes along and pretty much says that Brian has just been pretending to be a great hero recently, but he's the same loser he's always been. Or words to that effect. I think he had Beast say them.

However, I felt he was pretty much down on all the male heroes except Agent Venom, who was his pet character (he was writing Venom's own comic at the time). I'm sure he was looking to give Agent Venom a boost by having him be the cool stand-out hero surrounded by other male heroes who were less sympathetic and competent, and respected and admired by the female heroes. I actually felt it could have been worse as things Remender said in his original interview made me suspect he was setting up Brian to have an affair with Valkyrie, which would leave Meggan free to pair off with Nightcrawler (she kissed him in X-Force I think). That didn't happen though. I do wonder if Remender changed his mind when CB fans started to complain on Twitter. I even wondered if he'd been reading the Britain Prevails thread and seen my comments on the idea of splitting Brian and Megan up. I guess I'll never know. Whatever, I'm glad we didn't have a 'cheating Brian' storyline.

Clairmont really did the most damage, though. CB has never recovered from his writing.

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

It is a shame what Claremont and Remender did. The former did such a fantastic job on Uncanny X-Men, he was probably given carte blanche with Excalibur, plus Marvel US were probably not too bothered how a British hero would be depicted. From what I also understood, Remender is one of those who couldn't care less with continuity (Bendis being a main culprit in this area). Remender's Marvel event AXIS was absolutely awful BUT I really enjoyed his Captain America run and was very happy to hear that an Omnibus of that run will be getting published which I went ahead and pre-ordered. It's a shame Remender couldn't present Brian in the right light. I do hope that he came to his senses because of the complaints of CB fans. Oh man, that would have been terrible if he had gone off with Valkyrie.

A lot of Marvel Omnibuses have been getting reprinted in the last year or so. I hope the Captain Britain Omnibus gets a reprint as I know a lot of collected editions readers/collectors are yearning for it. Once read, it may open the eyes of a few, if not many,.

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

Could you see Henry Cavill as Captain Britain? Reddit user arkintyagi could!

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

Does anybody know what happened to the other female Captain Britain, the one from the Avengers? I think they changed her name to Lionheart (a good name, IMHO), but I lost track of her after her appearence in Claremont's New Excalibur.

Peace

I believe that was her last appearance. I don't believe she appeared in anything else after New Excalibur. Correct me if I'm wrong anyone?

[Raffi Ol D'Arcy]

Excalibur (2019) #5 Marvels X Variant by Will Sliney:

[Panic]

That is a nice cover variant. At least we're getting some good Captain Britain art out of what is, for us, a raw deal.

Edit: I don't think I mentioned this, but I did look as some of The Sword Is Drawn's old posts and noticed he put a link in his signature leading to a Twitter page. My concerns about him being unwell seem thankfully unfounded, he simply moved his blog to Twitter.