Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain Appreciation 2023

[JB]

Yeah Nicieza really went out of his way to make it as confusing as possible LOL

And then he also retconned Wolverine's first meeting with Lady Mandarin to be with Kwannon in Betsy's body instead, when it clearly wasn't the case in Claremont/Lee's glorious triptych:

Like why was he tinkering with that story so much? Lol

Yeah that Kwannon stuff was always a mess lmao.

I kinda wouldn't mind that Knights of X moniker coming back for Betsy's team. I feel like if the X-men can be the Krakoan heroes just out saving the day then her "knights" can be the UK version of that. Or do ya'll feel like they'll just eventually bring the Excalibur name back for her? Didn't Coven Akkaba take it for themselves or something? I gotta go back and re-read.

I like the Knights of X and the name looked nice on the poster promoting the Knights/New Mutants baseball game in X-Terminators. You're right about Excalibur, in Brousseau's speech to parliament he said something like mutants used the name but today we reclaim it from them. It made me wonder if an evil Excalibur team was going to be formed by Coven. It's interesting that he tried to purchase Lady Deathstrike over in R&G.

I always wanted Betsy to be more closely connected with Krakoa but with Fall of X on the horizon I'm no longer in a rush to see her return lol. So I'm down with her team becoming the official British superhero team using either of the names. If they become official I think they'll eventually use Excalibur.

[Psyknight]

I love Maihack's cartoonish style. He does children's books and the like.

And who is "we"? "They" are not trying to get one over on you, it's simply not for you at this point. Maybe the next iteration of Betsy will work for you because we know nothing is forever and as many changes as she's had over the years she'll have just as many to come.

“We” is specifically fans who are unhappy with how Betsy is being handled. I know there are Betsy fans who are happy with how she’s being handled, I’m not talking about them.

[JB]

“We” is specifically fans who are unhappy with how Betsy is being handled. I know there are Betsy fans who are happy with how she’s being handled, I’m not talking about them.

I appreciate the reply, thank you.

[CGAR]

Here’s hoping Betsy makes it on the Year 3 team.

[JB]

I was just looking at the new cover for Avengers #2 and seeing both Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel on the team made me daydream of Betsy also pulling double duty.

[Uncanny X-Man]

Here’s hoping Betsy makes it on the Year 3 team.

That would be so cool. It would be fun for Duggan to have control of both Betsy on X-Men and Kwannon over on Uncanny Avengers. Let's see what happens - I hate to be a Debbie Downer but I doubt we'll be getting more than 6 issues out of BB: CB so Marvel has surely been making plans on what to do next with our Captain.

[Psyknight]

Like I said, Disassembled Psylocke / Betsy can please all fans and Marvel should know it better than us. Why they need to take it back and give us Krakoa Betsy instead?

If they found it is a mistake, why don't they change the direction by hiring new writer by now? Most books have changed their writers one year ago but why Tini can continue writing the same character?

They let Betsy owning her lead and solo book for years but her popularity and sales have been kept dropping and is keep getting relaunched. Actually, it is a worse fate than being a side character in other book. What is the purpose of this?

Do you have an answer?

This. It’s the unrelenting insistence on sticking to what they know doesn’t work. IMO, she can stay Captain Britain, just get a different writer’s take on it. I never had an issue with her being CB, it was the execution of it that bothered me. They freaking know that TH’s writing has turned off a lot of fans, why not try a different writer?

This is why I’m not reassured by all these “But she has a Solo” arguments. What good is a solo if the main character is rendered unappealing to most of her longtime fans, does very little to attract new fans, and isolates her from taking active roles in the other books. The occasional cameos or references to her in other books are nice. They give me glimmers of hope, but until that hope is realized by her getting written by someone else, I remain suspicious. If the solo has nothing good going for it other than the fact that it’s a solo, then it’s worthless in my eyes.

I think youre forgetting that TH didnt even want Betsy. She wanted a book that focused on Apocalypse and was GIVEN Betsy. So no I dont think they hired her because of that at all.

Yep, they gave Betsy to TH. They can give her to someone else. Why don’t they?

Maybe they don’t want the character to fail, but at best it doesn’t look like they care to see her succeed. Maybe they do want her to succeed, but they’re just really dumb and lazy about it? Hopefully the flop of BB is the anvil they needed to fall on their heads, to convince them that they should try someone different.

[JB]

It doesn't seem like she'll be featured in the one-shot stories so hopefully she'll get one or more of the upcoming Pride variants:

Present and Future Stars of Marvel Comics Take Charge in 'Marvel's Voices: Pride' #1
https://www.marvel.com/articles/comi...nkId=206231485

"In addition, PRIDE VARIANT COVERS will return, featuring both Marvel heroes and characters from a galaxy far, far away! Fans can check out some of this year’s STAR WARS PRIDE VARIANT COVERS right now at StarWars.com and stay tuned later today for the reveal of this year’s MARVEL PRIDE VARIANT COVERS.

June will also see the launch of a new LOKI limited series, one of many Marvel Comics titles publishing throughout the year that spotlight LGBTQIA+ heroes. Fans can also continue to celebrate Pride in the Marvel Universe this June in current titles like BETSY BRADDOCK: CAPTAIN BRITAIN, NEW MUTANTS: LETHAL LEGION..."

This. It’s the unrelenting insistence on sticking to what they know doesn’t work. IMO, she can stay Captain Britain, just get a different writer’s take on it. I never had an issue with her being CB, it was the execution of it that bothered me. They freaking know that TH’s writing has turned off a lot of fans, why not try a different writer?

This is why I’m not reassured by all these “But she has a Solo” arguments. What good is a solo if the main character is rendered unappealing to most of her longtime fans, does very little to attract new fans, and isolates her from taking active roles in the other books. The occasional cameos or references to her in other books are nice. They give me glimmers of hope, but until that hope is realized by her getting written by someone else, I remain suspicious.


Yep, they Betsy to TH. They can give her to someone else. Why don’t they?

Maybe they don’t want the character, but at best it doesn’t look like they care to see her succeed. Maybe they do want her to succeed, but they’re just really dumb and lazy about it? Hopefully the flop of BB is the anvil they needed to fall on their heads, to convince them that they should try someone different.

I definitely agree with the dumb and lazy. She's a high profile queer character and there was little to no perceived outreach to LGBTQ organizations for marketing and PR, yet they mention her book in the above article. Marvel has a shoddy track record when it comes to marketing especially with female led books. Al Ewing's Wasp book debuted this year to almost no noise when they could have totally capitalized on Quantumania's release.

[CGAR]

Some of you are really weird when it comes to TH. The only area that I have seen negative towards all her runs. Is this CBR section.
She meets her deadlines and she’s friends with a lot of people in the X-office. She has strong rapport with her editors.
You can say what you want about her writing but if she’s a consistent worker, why would they take her off the books?

[Psycwave]

Like why was he tinkering with that story so much? Lol



I like the Knights of X and the name looked nice on the poster promoting the Knights/New Mutants baseball game in X-Terminators. You're right about Excalibur, in Brousseau's speech to parliament he said something like mutants used the name but today we reclaim it from them. It made me wonder if an evil Excalibur team was going to be formed by Coven. It's interesting that he tried to purchase Lady Deathstrike over in R&G.

I always wanted Betsy to be more closely connected with Krakoa but with Fall of X on the horizon I'm no longer in a rush to see her return lol. So I'm down with her team becoming the official British superhero team using either of the names. If they become official I think they'll eventually use Excalibur.

FoX is about to come and ruin everybody's day! Betsy leading the British-mutant superhero team is just the PR she needs too. Get Monet to hold a photoshoot or something.

That would be so cool. It would be fun for Duggan to have control of both Betsy on X-Men and Kwannon over on Uncanny Avengers. Let's see what happens - I hate to be a Debbie Downer but I doubt we'll be getting more than 6 issues out of BB: CB so Marvel has surely been making plans on what to do next with our Captain.

I agree.
I kinda wish they would've switched Vasco and Erica's roles on the book. The interiors she did for the Power Princess issue during Heroes Reborn were so good. Would've loved to see her Betsy in motion.

[JB]

FoX is about to come and ruin everybody's day! Betsy leading the British-mutant superhero team is just the PR she needs too. Get Monet to hold a photoshoot or something.



I agree.
I kinda wish they would've switched Vasco and Erica's roles on the book. The interiors she did for the Power Princess issue during Heroes Reborn were so good. Would've loved to see her Betsy in motion.

And I love Vasco's covers. His latest one for Nightwing #105 has such a cool perspective.

[JB]

I must say though this scene felt right out of a movie. I could totally see it translated on the big screen, the captains appearing from their timelines all at once.

[Grunty]

I was just looking at the new cover for Avengers #2 and seeing both Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel on the team made me daydream of Betsy also pulling double duty.

Imagine a retcon where it's revealed Kwannon and Betsy are actualy two multiversal variants of the same person, which the 616 and a handfull of other universes just happen to produce twice thanks to the various multiversal shenanigans going on, especially in relation to Betsy's own family and it's connection to the multiverse.

Which would also neatly explain any universe in which Betsy is japanese/of asian heritage by defeault.

[JB]

Imagine a retcon where it's revealed Kwannon and Betsy are actualy two multiversal variants of the same person, which the 616 and a handfull of other universes just happen to produce twice thanks to the various multiversal shenanigans going on, especially in relation to Betsy's own family and it's connection to the multiverse.

Which would also neatly explain any universe in which Betsy is japanese/of asian heritage by defeault.

As much as that would add to the already confusing confusion, it's an interesting idea in how they could have always been linked and destined to collide. That their shared traits were not just the result of outside machinations but something that was always naturally present.

[MetalPsyc]

I really hope Betsy as Captain Britain really mean something.

But unfortunately, I don't think we'll see her as Captain Britain in the MCU since the title pretty much attached to Brian.
Comicbookwise, I don't know whether other writers, aside from TH, are interested in writing Betsy as captain Britain.

My favorite Betsy have been always been as Psylocke, skilled in martial arts, uses her tk/tp creatively and passionate on what she does.

.

Remender's UXF and Outback Psylocke were my favorite ones.

But I love Betsy and will continue to support her.