Tini Howard shares what readers may expect from Betsy as she enters the next phase of her journey as Captain Britain. Unfortunately, nothing new or interesting was said.
AIPT: It’s been a minute since the conclusion of Knights of X — in which a lot happened. Where would you say Betsy’s head is at going into Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #1?
Tini: For Betsy, her head is with her body, in the U.K. If you’ve been reading along, you know that’s a bit of a difference from where we’ve been in Excalibur and Knights of X. Captain Britain’s been dodging Britain ever since anti-mutant sentiment in the U.K. government caused them to back out of the Krakoan agreement.
But how long can you run from the source of your power? How long can you turn away from people who might need you and believe in you? And certainly, I don’t think you can turn away like that in your first solo title as the Captain herself. She’s coming back with something to prove to a country that isn’t sure about her getting the job.
AIPT: A two-part question about writing Betsy. First, Excalibur #1 was released October 30, 2019. That means you’ve had the privilege of writing the same character for roughly 4 years — a rarity in modern comics. What is it about writing Ms. Braddock that doesn’t get old for you?
Tini: It really is something. I think everyone wants to have a run on a character like that, especially one they love and have gotten to make a mark on the way I have with Betsy. Beyond grateful for that.
I think what doesn’t get old for me is that we’ve seen so little of her like this. Her in her own body, inside her own mind, in charge of her own life. I think we’ve gotten to give her a cause and a drive and a job, and it just all feels like fresh territory all of the time for Betsy.
AIPT: Second, you clearly had a sense of who Betsy Braddock was going into Excalibur. Having written her across three series, has your appreciation for the character changed in any ways?
Tini: Oh yeah, absolutely. For example, Betsy (and I, as the person who had to write it) had some cautious nerves about the relationship with Kwannon, about which she had no small amount of guilt. So when I went to write that story, for example, it was after X of Swords and after her first few arcs as Captain Britain — and it was a real low moment for her, after being shattered by Saturnyne and the Corps returning without her.
It felt really good to wait to tell that story, to define Betsy as a whole real woman outside of her guilt so that the story wasn’t just something to ‘get out of the way’ and ‘move on’ about. It had to mean something to Betsy and Kwannon, and Betsy had to have a chance to stumble at it. It had to feel complicated and messy so that it could be real.
Also, it was great to have writers like Bryan Hill and Zeb Wells writing Kwannon as well, so that when I wrote a story about them coming together, it felt like fully realized women having a conversation, and not just… narrative fix-it-ing.
That’s part of your question about time, too, I guess — that’s a gift of having got to write her for so long. I mean, we’ve just given her a public girlfriend for the first time too, that’s a whole new level of appreciation for writing her that’s new to me.
AIPT: And Betsy’s relationship with Rachel Summers is set to play a key role in Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain. Going back several years, what was it about Betsy and Rachel that made you think they’d be even better together?
Tini: Segue! So, there are definitely a lot of great examples in the text of them being there for each other and looking hot together, like any of the Great Ships, but most of it came about just naturally during the Krakoan era. I’d considered using Rachel in Excalibur from the beginning but she was first a big player in Jon Hickman’s X-Men book and then Leah Williams’ X-Factor.
I have to credit Leah with part of this, because as two queer women writing these characters, so much of the relationship came about from story planning, from being queer women and writing these characters who — for a lot of reasons (Rachel’s stories with Kitty, Betsy’s affair with Cluster) were adopted by fans as being into women.
I’m sure there are Discord conversations far enough back where Leah and I found the core of that relationship together, where I feel like we brought it up at the same time that they would be great together, and there was definitely a time where we were writing toward it together, what with Amazing Baby and all, and I want to give her credit there.
Anyway, to your original question — I don’t want to say too much because there is some good relationship juice in the story, but I’ve been really into the ethics of privacy when you and your girlfriend are both very powerful psychics, haha.
AIPT: Very juicy. The other major character in Betsy’s life is her brother Brian. What role will the former Captain Britain play in the current Captain Britain’s life moving forward?
Tini: Brian has two roles currently — he’s still Captain Avalon, but the role is a little different right now. The Kingdom of Avalon is ruled by a wounded King Arthur who is healing more than just his body — he’s healing his relationship with his son, Mordred. So Captain Avalon is sort of making sure that he doesn’t get a 911 (sorry, 999) call from the Kingdom.
And he’s also enjoying life with his family, running the house at Braddock Manor, being with his wife and daughter. We’ll see him in the lab again, we’ll see some of old school scientist Brian — I love that nerd.
AIPT: In Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain preview art, we see Betsy and Micromax on television, giving Betsy a chance to flex her PR muscles. Beyond superheroing, what other sides of Captain Britain might we see explored in this series?
Tini: Definitely her as a PR person, her as a girlfriend, a negotiator, a delegator of responsibilities, an auntie and sister, and a friend. She’s got some great scenes I love with some of my favorite Marvel heroes — folks you won’t see a lot of on Krakoa, I’ll say that much.
AIPT: We know that on the superhero side, we can look forward to a Captain Carter team-up in Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #2. Any other future Captain Britain adventures you can tease?
Tini: See above! There are some great cameos in this book, and it all builds to a really satisfying position for Captain Britain in the Marvel Universe at the end of this book.
AIPT: The modern Captain Britain has been illustrated by some very talented artists in the Krakoan era. How has it been collaborating with Vasco Georgiev on this series?
Tini: He’s great — I’d seen his work before and I was a big fan. I wanted someone with a classic superhero-y feel, and there’s something really bright, a real Alan Davis feel to his work. And we’re back again with Erick Arciniega, who’s been our colorist since the beginning, which is SUCH a cool way to visually link the stories, and I’ve been grateful to have him from the jump.
“For so long, my life has been out of control. Chaos and serendipity, wrapped in insanity. I have suffered, I have lost. Not just my life, but my very soul, my self. But no more. Now I know who I am.” – Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Braddock, daughter of Otherworld, mutant, telepath, telekinetic, defender of the realm and, above all, X-Man.
33 comments:
This new Betsy isn't the old confident we love, who made full use of her mutant powers. In Acts of Vengeance Betsy expressed resentment for not being chosen for the Captain Britain duty, however she grew beyond jealousy and came to her own mutant capabilities which she evolved into lethal level. This feels like fan service for a certain group of people that aren't invested in the continuity.
Agreed. I didn't realize she's been writing Betsy for 4 years. It's just fallen flat mostly for me. I feel like the writing is disjointed and always feels unfinished. The characterization also just isn't Betsy imho as you mentioned. The Betsy we saw in Captain Carter was definitely more spot on to me. Brian needed CB because it gives him superhuman abilities (which Betsy already has). Betsy doesn't need CB to be a hero, she's been one for years. I don't know, but I'm ready for the passing of the torch writer wise, unless this somehow is an amazing series lol. I got Excalibur & KOX, but passing on this one respectfully.
“There are some great cameos in this book, and it all builds to a really satisfying position for Captain Britain in the Marvel Universe at the end of this book.”
Didn’t they recently tease a new Avengers Unity Squad (Uncanny Avengers)? I feel the debut of the that could coincide with the end of first 5 issues of this series. Could Betsy become an Avenger before the end of the year?
I do feel like this could all potentially be her treatment for a MCU debut.
Betsy today is a cadaver being vilified by this "writer"
"For example, Betsy (and I, as the person who had to write it) had some cautious nerves about the relationship with Kwannon, about which she had no small amount of guilt"
I still don't get why she feels Betsy is the one that would be feeling guilty in that situation, when it was Kwannon's lover who swapped their bodies. Against Betsy's will. It makes no sense that Betsy felt guilty this whole time, while Bryan Hill and Zeb Wells showed that Kwannon feels no guilt at all - in fact, she feels as a victim (which she was, but so was Betsy).
That said, it does seem that Howard has some good ideas for this new book. I like that Betsy will be more involved with the United Kingdom and with the overall Marvel universe (rather than being isolated in Otherworld for another run), and her becoming a PR person makes sense. Sadly, all these good ideas may have come too little, too late...
I don't think she necessarily thinks Betsy is the one who should be feeling guilty, I think she just wanted to tell a (unfortunately bad) story in which Betsy felt guilty. Which still makes zero sense, but at least isn't as bad. That's why I assume she had Kwannon say "The terrible things between us, have been done to us" . I think the Fallen Angels writer wanted Kwannon to blame Betsy for everything though. I messaged him before and he essentially said Kwannon had irrational anger towards Betsy & in turn I'm guessing Betsy's guilt is also supposed to be irrational, but it was aggravating to read because it was the highest form of victim blaming. I liked the original story better when Kwannon first revealed she had the legacy virus and Betsy goes to hug her. Or when Kwannon takes her personality traits/memories out of Betsy after her death to give Betsy peace and simultaneously gives Betsy back her full telepathic strength back. These writers just basically ignored all that to create unnecessary drama that was already resolved smh. The funniest thing to me is it really makes zero sense because Kwannon would have to know Betsy was a victim (and on her behalf to boot), because she came on as Revanche to get revenge for all the violations Betsy suffered (thinking she was Betsy at the time lol).
Tini mentioned Elizabeth being a powerhouse psychic in this interview. She and Rachel. I wonder if that means we will start seeing her do interesting things with their powers. One thing that really bugs me is that she never harnesses characters powers well in service to the story. How did you have a character like Meggan (with so much diversified power potential) doing nothing much else aside from flying around with membraneous fairy wings?? Let alone, characters like Elizabeth and Rachel doing nothing at all interesting with their abilities.
I'm still vexed by that lazy retcon that Betsy could undo the Death persona with her focused totality that didn't seem to work prior when Warren was Death and written as such under several far more capable writers.
I have currently stopped reading all x-books aside from Immortal and Red. Duggan's writing is also pretty bad. And it's a shame as he has a whole team full of really interesting characters.
@Rahsaan Although it was never fully explained, Psylocke mentioned a couple of arcs afterwards that she "overcame the Death Seed", which leads me to believe that she and AoA Jean nipped it off before it could fully take root. Sure, it's hard to buy, but I'm more willing to accept that over the scene in KoX where Sunfire rids Gambit of the Death persona with a cleansing fire (which didn't even happen in the issue Floptini referenced).
No disagreements on the comment about Meggan, but hey, even Mad Jim Jaspers is reduced to a common journeyman under this chick's mighty pen.
One interesting thing in this interview is Howard saying that she's a queer woman (and Leah Williams too). Maybe everyone else here already knew that, but I honestly didn't.
I remember someone had mentioned in another comment section that Howard seemed to be projecting too much of herself and her issues into Betsy. She did mention sometime ago that Excalibur had Betsy dealing with her "white woman problems" and that it kinda reflected her own feelings, but I didn't know about her sexual orientation to know whether the decision of turning Betsy and Rachel into a couple could also be a part of this projection.
Curiously, this actually makes me enjoy the couple idea a little more (then again, I never had any problem with Betsy dating Rachel, only with the way that this development seemed to come out of nowhere). I still dislike when I feel a writer is projecting too much of themself into a character (like Matt Fraction's take on Cyclops during his UXM run), but at least it feels more genuine than if she had little to no knowledge about queer women and had made this decision only to give the character a false sense of diversity.
Is she? She's married to a guy. Leah cuts it as queer Tini doing it for hire. We know the trend of gender fluid and queer people taking the job for the inclusion reason. If she fakes queerness to stay in comic books she is pathetic.
FSaker, she might really be queer (not sure if she identifies as bi, pan, or something else), but it often seems performative in interviews when she brings it up. I say that as a queer-identified person myself. Her white woman guilt as applied to the two Psylocke characters (ex and current Psylockes) also seems super performative. I actually agree with some of the points, the person in this video makes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuT7leibw2U
Tini writes B!tchy the white posh wimp. People smelled her case and jump ship. The self insert is wild it's like Tini minions talk in bubbles.
@Poetry, it's extremely lazy writing and I wonder how it keeps getting by Editorial unless they are as equally apathetic.
@Kiki, you and I reading one another's minds. Re: queerness
Nah Betsy now is damaged goods. She's a mess no one wants to touch. Ten years ago was different Betsy was a the top of her game.
Ditto
People are race deaf. Two women body swapped from a third party. Smh the White woman is a monster and has to die but the Asian assassin woman is the hurt angel. It's why I'm with Betsy for the racist ish writers made her go through and the times she is done extra dirty like losing her identity and possessions all the time.
This is one of the biggest damages done to Betsy this era. Every twittard who never bothered to read the bodyswap arc has now decided that Betsy is a vile colonizer white woman who just woke up one day and decided to steal the body of a poor innocent Asian lady. Bryan Hill pushed this narrative to make readers embrace his version of Psylocke 2.0, but Tini Howard's the one who kept playing it along instead of standing up for Betsy as her primary writer. Betsy was the one who had her body stolen by Matuso because his pervert ass wanted to resurrected the braindead Retkwonnon because that dumb ass girl was dumb enough to fall off a cliff and get herself braindead.
Right but I do think there was enough backlash by fans who knew the original story (and I asked Bryan if the original canon still stood and he said it did) that thankfully they kinda dropped the whole Kwannon was trapped stupidity & probably why Tini did have Kwannon say the bad things between them were done to them. The writers were definitely trying to treat longtime fans like morons lol. Like the fact Betsy herself was dead for years (so how would Kwannon be stuck with her?), or that technically the body Betsy was in before she recreated her original one, was still her own body too. It was just in Kwannon's likeness, but not technically Kwannon's body. Jamie recreated a brand new body for Betsy from scratch (one that was resistant to magic and telepathic attacks) when he resurrected Betsy back from the dead. Too much homework for them I guess lol.
Anyway, I definitely hope this new book is only 5 issues and someone else gets ahold of Betsy. I still don't get why she thinks the circumstances of Betsy getting this position are good anyway (Tini), she basically had Brian give it to Betsy under duress and Betsy never gave it back to him. That's not being chosen. Smh lol.
"I still don't get why she thinks the circumstances of Betsy getting this position are good anyway (Tini), she basically had Brian give it to Betsy under duress and Betsy never gave it back to him. That's not being chosen."
Good point. And the funny thing is, I can think of a perfectly easy excuse to justify Betsy remaining as Captain Britain: either during her first encounter with Saturnyne in Excalibur or in the first part of XoS (when she and Brian returned to Otherworld), Betsy could have offered to return the Amulet of Right either to Saturnyne or to Brian, and then Saturnyne would angrily reply that while she wanted that to happen, it was impossible because the simple fact that Betsy transformed into Captain Britain when Brian gave the amulet to her meant that the Amulet of Right had CHOSEN her over him (and explaining that if it didn't, Brian putting the amulet on Betsy would have no effect whatsoever). And that, when Brian later got the Sword of Might, that separated him completely from any connection he could have with the Amulet of Right.
@X-Man, this was such a stupid idea. I can't even comprehend how Tini Howard thought that would look good? When Brian asked for *HIS* amulet back, which he earned fair and square, Betsy essentially threw a tantrum like a spoiled brat and decided she would not give it back. I bet TH thought this would be such a girl power moment, but it came off as an embarassing performative white feminism moment.
Well that is what is frustrating about her writing. It seemed at the end that she and Brian decided to trick Saturnyne and kinda planned to keep their current roles. I just don't know at the point earlier where she denied him, if they had planned it by then. Her writing is vague at times smh :(
@NateX @X-Man the biggest transgression Tini committed to the Captain Britain lore was have the Amulet of Right destroyed.
Effective immediately the new writer or Tini herself must restore the Amulet of Right what makes for a real Captain Britain.
Saturnyne trinkets and Roma artifacts can't substitute for the Amulet.
Tini should have let the readers know the Braddock twins share the same imprint so the Amulet can choose either of them to create a defender for the Otherworld.
My suspicion is that the Amulet of Right didn't chose Betsy for her mutant abilities and picked Brian a normal human to keep the power balance in check. Merlyn ensured the balance was secured. The actual Merlyn not this new hitleric version.
Betsy with her mutant powers plus Captain Britain powers is overwhelmingly powerful. And a lot like Rogue at this point losing her diversity from the Betsy who used psycho blasts, illusion casting, telepathy, mind probing, astral projection, psionic weaponry, clairvoyance and her butterfly comm-link.
She should be overwhelmingly powerful, but she's not portrayed as such imo. She seemed much more authoritive & powerful in Dissasembled then I've have ever seen her as CB. I don't know if that's bad or good considering overpowered characters can be boring, but watching her get defeated (cause women struggle in Tini's words I believe) as you explained doesn't really make sense having the Captain Britain abilities on top of her psychic abilities.
@X-Man without objection Disassembled Betsy was the peak Betsy. Only for a moment we had the luxury to see Betsy perform skillful feats in her body after a lifetime trapped in another. Also it was satisfactory and cathartic to see Betsy whole again.
In dawn of X, editors decided to deny Betsy the Psylocke identity to keep the sexy ninja. Even with the Captain Britain added to her arsenal Betsy is depressing and useless thanks to Howard's incompetence. Howard may fill herself in about powers and origins and study for hours. By no means has she the ability to maintain continuity and characterization and clearly she has little care for such trivial things.
The most important key points for Howard is for Betsy to become a queer lesbian, a PR against the Crown and British sovereignty and overall a mutant ambassador for love and peace who fights bigotry and patriarchy (even if this pits her against her twin half Brian).
Yeah I don't get it lol. They both were ninjas as Revanche and Psylocke in each other's bodies, they could have been this time as well only in their original bodies. Betsy could have been a telepathic/precog & Kwannon an Empathic/Telekinetic. Betsy also seemed great in Age of X (I think that was the time she wielded 2 blades), or even the Captain Carter version. So many more interesting options then what we ended up with. For me its not just how out of character Howard writes Betsy, its also how obsessed she is with D&D style writing and magic. I like magic, but for characters like Scarlet Witch or Dr Strange. This new story might take her away from all that, but its too late for me. I (we), gave her multiple chances to get the character right and our hopes never come to fruition. I still remember the scene where Betsy showed a glimpse of her real personality when she took Arthur down, and the Cerebrocast guy exclaimed for everyone to see it's the same Betsy underneath & that essentially she is just being "professional" in her CB role. My problem is while that might make sense in some regard, the reality is whatever the reason, Betsy seems out of character the majority of the time to a lot of her fanbase and a lot of us aren't interested in reading that no matter the reason for it. I'm glad some like her current writing, but frustrated along with all who do not.
I truly hope Betsy gets much better writing this year. We shall see :)
@Jaime, spot-on.
All Captain Britain does:
Flight due to suit
Communicate telepathically
Manifest sword and shield (and often doesn't do anything specifically telepathic or telekinetic in nature with them)
Disassembled Psylocke/AOXM Psylocke did:
Telepathic Communication
Psychic knife
Telekinetic sword and teleketic shield manifestation (Were there other weapons she manifested?)
Telepathic sword manifestation
Illusions
Downloaded and re-uploaded minds
Psi-bolts (did she manifest these?)
Psycho-blast (did she manifest this? I know she mentioned doing it to Magneto if necessary in Madripoor Mystery #4)
Turn off someone's pain receptors or their other senses in Madripoor Mystery #4 (Am I misrecalling this?)
Telekinetic levitation?
"Betsy could have been a telepathic/precog & Kwannon an Empathic/Telekinetic"
@X-Man, that's an interesting point you bring and that I often think about.
Here's a silly question for anyone here: if Betsy were to lose the CB mantle (and regain the Psylocke codename or, I don't know, rename herself as Revanche or something) and her powers were split with Kwannon, would you guys prefer Betsy to keep the telepathy (including the psychic butterfly) and Kwannon to get the telekinesis (including the psi-knife, even though it wasn't a TK power), or vice-versa?
I definitely preferred her with no TK. It made it more interesting using her psychic powers with her physical combat skills imo. Plus they never really explained how she got TK. It started out swapping powers with Jean, but then they both got their original powers back and somehow Betsy still retained TK. So I honestly wouldn't miss it if Kwannon got it and they had some distinction between them.
@X-Man, yes, I agree. I'd prefer Betsy to have only TP (with the psychic butterfly) and let Kwannon have only TK and the psi-knife (since the psi-knife is pretty much a signature of "Ninja Psylocke").
I’d rather Betsy retain the psychic knife as it is something Kwannon never was able to create before gaining telepathy from Betsy and it was the focused totality of Betsy’s telepathy. It seemed completely organic to see Betsy wielding it in the Sisterhood, Disassembled, Age of X-Man, and even Malice wielding it in Betsy’s body in Excalibur. It’s rightfully hers; not Kwannon‘s.
@Rahsaan, I agree, but I suspect Marvel would still give the psychic knife to Kwannon because many people associate it to "Ninja Psylocke" (while the psychic butterfly is more present in stories with "Non-ninja Psylocke").
I'd prefer Betsy to keep both the butterfly and the psychic knife, of course (she could lose the TK for all I care) - but, if we had to choose only one (just like a Captain Britain had to choose between the Amulet of Right or the Sword of Might), I'd choose the butterfly and let Kwannon have the psychic knife.
...Speaking of Captain Britain choices, it just occurred to me: Brian became Captain Avalon (instead of Britain) after Merlyn and Roma made him choose again and this time he chose the Sword of Might, right? But, from all we've seen in past CB stories, he should have become Captain Britain (...well, ANOTHER Captain Britain, since Betsy was already one at that point) REGARDLESS OF HIS CHOICE - in fact, Kelsey Leigh became Captain Britain by choosing the Sword of Might, NOT the Amulet of Right.
Can we consider this a plot hole (another one), or does anyone know if there is a logical explanation as to why this time his choice transformed him into something else?
@FSaker, definitely a plot hole. You know Tini don’t give a flying fudge about continuity or even making a retcon make sense.
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