Britain Prevails! Marvel UK lives here...

[Digifiend]

Which features an Excalibur reunion. But shouldn't they have brought Psylocke with them? She's Brian's sister!

Panini UK are gradually relaunching their Collectors Edition line. Surprisingly, they kept Wolverine and Deadpool, which starts a new volume after completing Til Death Us Do Part storyline. I expected it to become Wolverine and the X-Men because Essential X-Men, when it relaunches after IVX in a few months, will only be able to run Blue and Gold and nothing else, since it's monthly and the American comics are double shippers, and there's a Deadpool Unleashed title now. Avengers Universe also just relaunched, having completed Civil War II.

[Tazirai]

Which features an Excalibur reunion. But shouldn't they have brought Psylocke with them? She's Brian's sister!

Panini UK are gradually relaunching their Collectors Edition line. Surprisingly, they kept Wolverine and Deadpool, which starts a new volume after completing Til Death Us Do Part storyline. I expected it to become Wolverine and the X-Men because Essential X-Men, when it relaunches after IVX in a few months, will only be able to run Blue and Gold and nothing else, since it's monthly and the American comics are double shippers, and there's a Deadpool Unleashed title now. Avengers Universe also just relaunched, having completed Civil War II.

It's funny how Marvel is silently making Betsy look like how she used to in various games, and most books, but is keeping her away from The Braddock clan.
Drives me nuts.

[strathcona]

The two Hardcovers cover the early material. Things like Captain Britain Weekly, Super Spider-Man & Captain Britain (when the two titles were amalgamated) and the Black Knight and Captain Britain stories from the UK Hulk Comic.

The Captain Britain Omnibus was published a couple of years earlier. It basically covers from the start of that Dave Thorpe and Alan Davis relaunch right up to the final strips before Excalibur. And a few bonus strips which kinda tie-in. Stuff with some of the Warpies.

It's a cumbersome book. And I believe out of print. So getting your hands on it could prove pricey.

I have the two hardcovers, but can't afford the Omnibus. Are there any stories left out between the end of the hardcovers and the beginning of the Omnibus?

[Panic]

No, not as I understand it; CB goes straight from the Black Knight strip to the Thorpe/Davis Captain Britain strip which starts the Captain Britain Omnibus.

[Digifiend]

Panini's getting through material pretty fast. They only just finished Civil War II last month (which is what prompted Avengers Universe's relaunch), and IVX is in the current Essential X-Men (which also starts a new volume after that ends). Secret Empire starts in March, it's advertised in some of the current issues listing exactly which issues will feature the event (including some at the end of the current volume and start of the next volume of Marvel Legends - I assume reaching CA#25 will prompt the relaunch there). I'm guessing some of this wave won't even reach #12 before another relaunch prompted by Legacy or a realisation that the X-Men need additional space.

[Tazirai]

I'm kinda pissed right now.


So in Astonishing. Psylocke is literally in London, no Brian.

In X-men Gold Annual. Kitty, Kurt, and Rachel go to meet HER Neice. But Psylocke doesn't get to meet her Neice? She's in the same freakin' country!!

How the Hell is Psylocke not in this? She's the freakin Aunt for cryin out loud. His twin Sister. Meggans Sister in Law. Kurt bestie, Rachels Mentor, and almost molested Kitty's friend Doug.. Where is she?


Okay. Psylocke is not Elizabeth Braddock. That chick doesn't exist anymore it seems. She's a Braddock in name only and no relation, this Ninja locke is truly a new character.
Makes no damn sense.

[The Sword is Drawn]

I'm kinda pissed right now.


So in Astonishing. Psylocke is literally in London, no Brian.

In X-men Gold Annual. Kitty, Kurt, and Rachel go to meet HER Neice. But Psylocke doesn't get to meet her Neice? She's in the same freakin' country!!

How the Hell is Psylocke not in this? She's the freakin Aunt for cryin out loud. His twin Sister. Meggans Sister in Law. Kurt bestie, Rachels Mentor, and almost molested Kitty's friend Doug.. Where is she?


Okay. Psylocke is not Elizabeth Braddock. That chick doesn't exist anymore it seems. She's a Braddock in name only and no relation, this Ninja locke is truly a new character.
Makes no damn sense.

Agreed. Wasted opportunity.

I get that this was an 30 years of Excalibur token original lineup reunion event (and Betsy wasn't part of that) but a missed opportunity nonetheless.

I've not been reading any X-Books this past year. Has there been some kind of character change I wasn't aware of for Psylocke?

Anyway, how many of you read the Annual? I did, but I'm wary of posting spoilers here.

[DDM]

I’m glad Brian got his eye back. The undercut works with the beard.

Is Maggie smarter than Moongirl. 3 months old and she successfully reconfigured a crosstime teleporter. Beast still can’t get that and he’s an adult!

Also I like that all 3 Braddocks seem infatuated with Kurt.

[The Sword is Drawn]

Hipster Brian was an unusual, but mostly still welcome addition.

I do have to wonder about the eye, though. In his other post-secret wars appearances wasn't it still patched?

I loved Maggie Braddock. Follow in the ranks of the Richards' kid in the being super-smart at an early age. Though I think she has to win something for being talkative and able to debate philosophy with Nightcrawler at under 1 yr old! Loved thaT.

The name though? You won't find many 'Maggies' in the UK post-Thatcher. It's somewhat a poisoned name. I do find the logic that a working class woman from a traveler family would even contemplate giving their daughter the same name as the most hated British prime minister of the past century to be deeply unlikely. Thatcher has left a pretty indelible stain on that name.

And while I know that this is a book whose very purpose is an exercise in nostalgia, but do we really HAVE to go back to Meggan as being the insecure girl with poor learning levels? Paul Cornell tried so hard to correct that in the CB&MI13 annual. Going back to that in any way is a regressive step, to me.

Meggan should not be wimpy and insipid. Marvel US have never got a proper handle on the character. It irks me.

[Panic]

Claremont did pretty horrible things to both Brian and Meggan, though to be fair I think Alan Davis' characterisation of her could vary from issue to issue back in Captain Britain. And I never liked the idea that she struggled with reading - you really think her parents wouldn't have taught her that, especially if she was to kept in a caravan 24/7?

[DDM]

I take Meg’s insecurity as more frustration/fear over missing out/having a different sort of child. Parenthood can be scary and emotions particularly high with newborns. I’ve seen incredibly strong people just meltdown into jello over their kids before, and not always with reason.

On the other hand I did really enjoy Brian taking it all in stride and being a good dad. The scenes with him, Maggie and Kurt were all great. I particularly liked them fitting the babybjorn while the ladies were doing all the fighting.

[The Sword is Drawn]

I take Meg’s insecurity as more frustration/fear over missing out/having a different sort of child. Parenthood can be scary and emotions particularly high with newborns. I’ve seen incredibly strong people just meltdown into jello over their kids before, and not always with reason.

Oh god, yes. You can never predict how people will react to becoming parents. On the other side of the scale we always thought that my brother was going to be utterly useless as a dad. He'd never got his shit together in terms of work or personal goals. He had a huge history of making really bad decisions. But when my nephew arrived it was like somebody just flicked a switch on him, and he rose to the challenge completely.

I think what I objected to here was once again raising that specter of Meggan's former illiteracy. Something which some writers have chosen to build into a much bigger thing than ever should have been the case.

I would argue that the development she received in that CB&MI13 annual was (in a single issue) the biggest and most significant she had ever received at Marvel US. For one it didn't portray her as weak. And for two it didn't portray her as an idiot. For the most part on Excalibur that is ALL that we saw of her. As Glorianna we saw that Meggan is shrewd, is incredibly clever. A character more in the mold of which she was intended than the way Claremont chose to to rewrite her.

We don't see Meggan in-panel very often. When we do it is almost always purely as 'woman who stands next to Brian'. She's damned lucky to even get given a line, these days. So to show her so reacting so histrionically like this (practically throwing her self at the floor) was not a positive thing in my book. A real disservice.

On the other hand I did really enjoy Brian taking it all in stride and being a good dad. The scenes with him, Maggie and Kurt were all great. I particularly liked them fitting the babybjorn while the ladies were doing all the fighting.

Yeah, I did really like those scenes. Because it was exactly the kind of random silliness we used to see on Excalibur. A fight breaks out and the team just... improvise. Naturally. Strap the baby on, let's get on with this!

And I badly miss Kurt and Brian interaction too. It pisses me off that two characters who became such trusted friends (despite early disagreements) have become so estranged purely by editorial decision.

[Digifiend]

Hipster Brian was an unusual, but mostly still welcome addition.

I do have to wonder about the eye, though. In his other post-secret wars appearances wasn't it still patched?

I loved Maggie Braddock. Follow in the ranks of the Richards' kid in the being super-smart at an early age. Though I think she has to win something for being talkative and able to debate philosophy with Nightcrawler at under 1 yr old! Loved thaT.

The name though? You won't find many 'Maggies' in the UK post-Thatcher. It's somewhat a poisoned name. I do find the logic that a working class woman from a traveler family would even contemplate giving their daughter the same name as the most hated British prime minister of the past century to be deeply unlikely. Thatcher has left a pretty indelible stain on that name.

And while I know that this is a book whose very purpose is an exercise in nostalgia, but do we really HAVE to go back to Meggan as being the insecure girl with poor learning levels? Paul Cornell tried so hard to correct that in the CB&MI13 annual. Going back to that in any way is a regressive step, to me.

Meggan should not be wimpy and insipid. Marvel US have never got a proper handle on the character. It irks me.

Maybe one of the writers is a Simpsons fan and they named her after the baby from that? But yeah, nobody calls their kid Margaret (which is what Maggie is short for) these days. It was already out of fashion before Thatcher.

[The Sword is Drawn]

Maybe one of the writers is a Simpsons fan and they named her after the baby from that? But yeah, nobody calls their kid Margaret (which is what Maggie is short for) these days. It was already out of fashion before Thatcher.

Very much so. And while it is currently in vogue to bring old names back (My cousin has called his son 'Arthur' and I can think of at least one kid named 'Esmeralda' locally) 'Maggie' is pretty much barred unless you happen to be a rich, privileged, right wing douche.

Meggan certainly isn't and while the Braddocks certainly had money while Brian was growing up he certainly isn't a right-wing douche.

[Dermie]

I do have to wonder about the eye, though. In his other post-secret wars appearances wasn't it still patched?

Yep...but that doesn't have to mean the eye was gone. It could just mean his eye was injured, and he was wearing the patch until it healed.

The Avengers' butler Jarvis wore an eyepatch for a number of years (real time; only a few months in-story) after his injuries in the "Siege Of Avengers Mansion" arc in the 80s.