The Braddock Family Appreciation 2023

[Uncanny X-Man]

I'm loving how you connected all the dots there, Jbenito!

I don't know if I'm really confident we'll see things develop that way given the recent comments by JDW and the fact that Red might have been plotted out when BB:CB was still ongoing... I would love to see the Captain Britain brought into it in the finale, at the very least.

[JB]

Leave it to JBenito to connect all the threads…..well done my friend, your ability to keep an eye on the big picture definitely pans out, you do us all a great service, your overview of the overarching plot always makes upcoming comics more enjoyable, thank you really.

I’m very much expecting the Captain Britain Corps to be somehow be involved in the resolution of the Genesis war, Saturnine’s modifications to the Annihilation mask were less benevolent than previously believed and the extradimensional demonic hordes of Amenth have access to the realms of Otherwold, they no doubt represent a threat to multiversal oder and peace.
If the CBC will ride once more against these force of Evil (see X of sword) I want Betsy to be the one leading the charge this time as rightful Leader of the Corps and mutant ally of Arakko!

Thank you so much, Dae! With every mention of a new Betsy-related element in Red - Apocalypse's return, mutant magic, Otherworld, External gate, and now Coven Akkaba - it's just really fun to create a picture of what's possible.

As soon as I saw the Amenthi demon horde I flashed back to the freshly formed Corps jumping into the battle in XoS. It's one of my very favorite scenes of all time and the only thing missing was Betsy herself. I think I'd need oxygen if they were to ride again with Betsy firmly out front leading the way.

I'm loving how you connected all the dots there, Jbenito!

I don't know if I'm really confident we'll see things develop that way given the recent comments by JDW and the fact that Red might have been plotted out when BB:CB was still ongoing... I would love to see the Captain Britain brought into it in the finale, at the very least.

Thank you friend! One of the things I love about the Krakoan era is how certain elements are used and referenced by multiple writers as they come back around. Should Betsy not be included in the story I'm glad things built in her books are being utilized. I was thinking too that she could show up later on in the story as I think the Genesis War might go on for quite a few months. I could see Genesis having the advantage at first but as Storm pushes back and mutant magic is explored, enter Captain Britain.

Speaking of, we should be getting the preview for #5 later today. I'm stoked!

[marhawkman]

Thank you friend! One of the things I love about the Krakoan era is how certain elements are used and referenced by multiple writers as they come back around. Should Betsy not be included in the story I'm glad things built in her books are being utilized. I was thinking too that she could show up later on in the story as I think the Genesis War might go on for quite a few months. I could see Genesis having the advantage at first but as Storm pushes back and mutant magic is explored, enter Captain Britain.

hmm if I had one true great criticism of the era... it's that having such a unified setting means that the actual cast of Krakoa is like 10x what anyone can write and thus the central players get forced to the front too much.

[JB]

hmm if I had one true great criticism of the era... it's that having such a unified setting means that the actual cast of Krakoa is like 10x what anyone can write and thus the central players get forced to the front too much.

I agree, it feels a bit bloated character wise these days though I'm glad a lot of characters that aren't normally in the spotlight have had a chance to shine. I'm very curious to see what Krakoa will be like after the gala.

Regarding the preview that just dropped, I truly can't get enough of seeing everyone together like this.



One of the biggest draws of this book for me has been the family aspect, something that I know some fans feel is lacking in the x-books overall. To know that this family is currently living and working together has been a heartwarming treat. Plus seeing many of the STRIKE members together is special.

I've mentioned this before but I think it's really smart of Howard to reintroduce the spy aspect of Betsy and her history.



I would be so into a STRIKE book that highlighted psychic spy operations like this. And hey, let the record show that despite Micromax publicly going against Betsy they're saving his arse.

[Daedra]

I agree, it feels a bit bloated character wise these days though I'm glad a lot of characters that aren't normally in the spotlight have had a chance to shine. I'm very curious to see what Krakoa will be like after the gala.

Regarding the preview that just dropped, I truly can't get enough of seeing everyone together like this.



One of the biggest draws of this book for me has been the family aspect, something that I know some fans feel is lacking in the x-books overall. To know that this family is currently living and working together has been a heartwarming treat. Plus seeing many of the STRIKE members together is special.

I've mentioned this before but I think it's really smart of Howard to reintroduce the spy aspect of Betsy and her history.



I would be so into a STRIKE book that highlighted psychic spy operations like this. And hey, let the record show that despite Micromax publicly going against Betsy they're saving his arse.

I’d love for Betsy to be establish as the true master of intel gathering (pre-cognitive flashes) and covert operations (tp illusions & invisibility), if Jean Grey is going to be the x-men resident powerhouse/A-bomb and Emma is going to be the skilled teacher/Academic/headmistress, I can see an opening for our favorite purple psychic to actually carve out a unique role for herself as well!

[marhawkman]

I agree, it feels a bit bloated character wise these days though I'm glad a lot of characters that aren't normally in the spotlight have had a chance to shine. I'm very curious to see what Krakoa will be like after the gala.

I love how it has a lot of characters not seen much recently, but they often do very little... or get turned into an External gate...

[JB]

I’d love for Betsy to be establish as the true master of intel gathering (pre-cognitive flashes) and covert operations (tp illusions & invisibility), if Jean Grey is going to be the x-men resident powerhouse/A-bomb and Emma is going to be the skilled teacher/Academic/headmistress, I can see an opening for our favorite purple psychic to actually carve out a unique role for herself as well!

All of this, yes. Betsy's government spy training and experience perfectly lends itself to a stealth and illusionary theme for her power set. There used to be a TV show here called Alias and I think about the lead character (Sydney) when I think of Betsy's spy work. Disguises, accents, etc. It's a direction with a ton of potential and I love how she has a built-in supporting cast in the STRIKE team.

I love how it has a lot of characters not seen much recently, but they often do very little... or get turned into an External gate...

With the exception of Candra I keep forgetting who makes up the External gate lol

[CGAR]

I will agree with everyone else that even though im not a fan of THs writing I do love that she has all the things in place for future writers to explore with Betsy and the Braddocks in general.

STRIKE and OTHERWORLD; model, adventurer and spy. Just wish this is how it started out in DoX after of first arc of "finding herself" again.

[JB]

Yeah there's a lot of seeds in place with plenty of blossoming potential going forward. Btw I'm looking forward to seeing the commission you mentioned. And on that note...

I'm a little late so we'll call this Fanart Weekend!

Jeorge Asprec.



I'm unsure who this artist is so anyone knows kindly chime in.



Stuart1001 on DeviantArt.

[Uncanny X-Man]

I will agree with everyone else that even though im not a fan of THs writing I do love that she has all the things in place for future writers to explore with Betsy and the Braddocks in general.

STRIKE and OTHERWORLD; model, adventurer and spy. Just wish this is how it started out in DoX after of first arc of "finding herself" again.

Agreed 100%. I'm not sure how BB:CB is going to conclude next week but I think Howard set up a nice, large canvas for Betsy for future writers to use: whether they want to continue her journey as Captain Britain or have the people reject her in that role, explore Otherworld, have her on more UK adventures, work with the spy/STRIKE stuff, have her join a team or continue solo, continue her relationship with Rachel or ship her off to a separate journey as Askani... I think there's multiple options available for all tastes and that's not a bad accomplishment on Howard's part overall.

I do agree it took Tini an awful long time to get there and that she's showing much stronger points as a writer with a solo+supporting cast than on a team book.

[JB]

Agreed 100%. I'm not sure how BB:CB is going to conclude next week but I think Howard set up a nice, large canvas for Betsy for future writers to use: whether they want to continue her journey as Captain Britain or have the people reject her in that role, explore Otherworld, have her on more UK adventures, work with the spy/STRIKE stuff, have her join a team or continue solo, continue her relationship with Rachel or ship her off to a separate journey as Askani... I think there's multiple options available for all tastes and that's not a bad accomplishment on Howard's part overall.

I do agree it took Tini an awful long time to get there and that she's showing much stronger points as a writer with a solo+supporting cast than on a team book.

Hear, hear! I'm really looking forward to this week's issue to see how things conclude.

Meggan Monday! By Keith Kopinski.

[CGAR]

Yall send in a question for the Braddock family

https://aiptcomics.com/2023/06/21/x-...dan-d-white-2/

[Panic]

Fo today's Throwback Thursday I'm looking back to Captain Britain Weekly issues #35 and #36, which sees the mechanical quarterstaff CB has carried since his origin transformed into the golden Star Sceptre.

Captain Britain's quarterstaff had the ability to extend and contract its length, generate a force-field, and fire a beam of destructive force, all accessed by pressing one of the first three buttons at its base; what the fourth button might have done we'll never know, as by the time CB Weekly had got to #35 the creative team had no doubt realised that Captain Britain was not the smash hit with the British audience that they had hoped for, and switching CB's unique but slightly goofy pole-vaulting method of travel to the more glamourous, if more conventional, ability of flight might generate a little more excitement. This was an old ploy that Marvel had used before - Dr Strange had his old cape switched out in favour of the new flashier Cloak of Levitation which granted him the power of flight, back in the Sixties. It was obviously worth a try.



The cover for #35 has a nice dramatic image of Captain Britain quitting, declaring "I'm a hero no more!" as he casts away his quarterstaff. It is obviously inspired by classic The Amazing Spider-Man #50 "Spider-Man No More" cover. For me the really notable thing about CBW #35's cover is the way that Captain Britain throws his quarterstaff down in front of him, yet it somehow ends up landing a little back and to his right - even M.C. Escher would find that use of perspective ****ed up!

The issue has Captain Britain's unconscious body at S.T.R.I.K.E. headquarters, his spirit called to Merlin's realm where the magician tells him the history of the amulet and sword test, in which Merlin is looking for someone who will choose jewellery over a weapon in a time of personal danger. Yeah. I can’t help feel that as a test of morality to find a hero, this is terribly flawed. But what do I know? It only took roughly over one and a half thousand years for Merlin to find his guy, so I guess it worked out fine.



Brian acts out the cover and throws down his staff as he declares himself done with the whole Captain Britain stuff. Merlin, however, talks Brian out of quitting in just two panels. Things happen fast when you only have seven pages to play with! The whole quitting thing is clearly just a device to get to Merlin transforming the quarterstaff into the Star Sceptre at the end of the issue - after all, why would Brian throw down his staff to symbolise his quitting rather than the amulet, the thing that made him Captain Britain?



The sceptre itself is a little odd-looking. That weird hook thing has no obvious use, and makes me think of a clip on a pen top. In fact I'm not sure the artist didn't just base the design on a pen he had sitting on his desk, it looks suspiciously like a fancy pen to me. It may well have been based on one of the U.K.'s ceremonial maces, though less brutal-looking, but the hook-clip is simply without precedent on anything similar.

[Panic]

I’ll add a photo of a ceremonial mace to the left of the cover just for comparison:



The next issue, #36, is entitled "God-War". Pablo Marcos's cover is actually very nice, and he's made the sceptre look pretty good, arguably better than Ron Wilson's version inside. Merlin presents Brian with the sceptre, then creates an illusion of Courtney falling to her death to get Brian to instinctively use the sceptre's flight ability to save her (this is very similar to Captain Marvel #17, where the newly revamped Mar-Vell suddenly finds himself confronted with Yon Rogg, who throws a fake Carol Danvers out of a spaceship and leads Mar-Vell to discover he has the power of flight as he thinks about saving her. Marvel really isn't afraid of reusing ideas). He's also attacked by a robed figure, who is, like Yon Rogg in the Captain Marvel issue, really just a convenient obstacle for our hero to test his new abilities against. Flight is actually the only new function the sceptre has that the staff didn't, and it doesn't demonstrate the vibro-blast, which I expect the writer had forgotten about.



Merlin also warns Brian that the sceptre only has fifteen minutes of flight-time in it, after which he'll plummet to his death! You'd think Merlin might have mentioned this to him before he tricked him into flying to rescue faux-Courtney, but I guess you don't want to draw attention to the shortcomings of a gift you've just made a big deal about.

Merlin goes on to big-up the danger the Star Sceptre would pose in the hands of villains, saying that "one lone warrior couldst fly low beneath thy radar and strike without warning!", and we're treated to a picture of a masked villain using the Star Sceptre to fly up to Big Ben and destroy it with a shot from a pistol. I don't know about you, but I think the real threat in this hypothetical situation is the pistol that can one-shot a national landmark, not a gaudy flying stick that will drop you like a brick after fifteen minutes. If I was Brian I'd be asking if I could swap the sceptre for that gun, because that kind of firepower would make mincemeat out of most of CB's foes so far. Brian, however, does not do that, he simply continues to stare at the hook on the sceptre, no doubt trying to build up the confidence to ask Merlin why there is a can-opener attatchment on his new weapon.



Nevertheless, the villain (we learn his name is Nykonn, which sounds suspiciously like the name of a camera manufacturer) seems determined to have the sceptre at all costs. Perhaps he had a tin of soup he needed to open? Whatever, he attacks Merlin and CB with rocks, and Merlin gets Brian to generate a forcefield with the sceptre just by thinking about it. Nykonn creates a small army for Brian to fight, during which Brian discovers that "when I use the sceptre like a staff, it becomes a staff!". He also throws the sceptre at the bad guy - I guess he was hoping that it would magically return to his hand - but it misses; however Merlin destroys Nykonn at the cost of his powers, leaving Brian stranded in Merlin's dimension at the end of the story.

I think it's worth mentioning that the sceptre we see here (and in the stories that follow this one up to and including the Marvel Team-Up issue with Spider-Man) does not really resemble the one Brian has in his adventure with the Black Knight from the pages of the Marvel UK Hulk Comic. Presumably, much like the staff became the Star Sceptre, the Sceptre became the golden staff weapon Brian has with him in that cave in Cornwall. I'll talk about Brian in the Black Knight comic strip on a later Throwback Thursday.

[JB]

Panic, this was such a pleasure to read! I chuckled several times and found "looking for someone who will choose jewellery over a weapon in a time of personal danger" especially funny. I love the dramatics of it all, Brian hoisting his new sceptre in the air like a scene in the Legend of Zelda, Roma clutching her face when she lays her eyes on the new massive pen. This is fantastic and I look forward to reading more of these entries as your knowledge is vast and entertaining. Thank you!