The Brian Braddock Thread

[Varient]

also where'd you score the pic of cap and psylocke..?

never seen that pic before...its pretty damn good!

heh.
"teen" Psylocke,....

 

[Varient]

i'm one of the Americans, (yeah i said it) who DID NOT like the casual way that they killed off Megan.

I really wish Marvel would keep at least ONE regularly happy superhero couple.

 

[Union Jack]

i totally agree,tho meggen isnt actually dead as such..more trapped in a limbo state,hopefully she'll make her way back and her and cap can be togther again.

i can't think of hardly any superheroic couple still together and happy...even reed and sue are fallling out now..that aint right..

 

[lokiofmidgaard]

the female captain britain is called kelsey leigh and is going under the name lionheart now..she was seen in new excalibur a few issues ago....trying to kill the captain!!

seems she's hooked up with some other superhero/villain (we don't know yet)...called albion...now again this must be a new albion because the last albion was killed by the bane in knights of pendragon....he had he head chopped off and guts ripped out...the bane were not very nice types..

It is a different Albion, but the Knights of Pendragon one is alive and well, and last seen as a member of the Dark Guard.

 

[LouFerignoDemon]

Lionhart is extreme amounts of awesome. Captain Britan's cool too, though, I guess.

 

[chris moore]

Given all the confusion about Brian's powers; both in their origin and magnitude, I think it'd be an excellent opportunity for the New Excalibur series to take advantage of Brian's leadership role (Kurt pretty much leading the team by the end of the 1st run) and his being shut off from Otherworld (which, coupled with the dissappreance of Megan and him having no memory of why she's gone doesnt seem to bother him...) to finally set in stone (as it were) the nature of his powers.

I mean, come on... A human(?) from either an alternate Earth or actually originating from the Nexus of Realities comes to Earth 616 to mate with an Earth 616 woman to sire a child to be the champion of his Earth and eventual ruler of Otherworld. Fine so far (ish). So, they skip the first kid - the one with the reality warping powers; they skip the twin sister - the one with the telepathy; and instead choose to mould the other twin who apparently has no mutant powers, by encouraging him to be bookish, a loner save for his siblings, and adverse of being a hero or even fighting... Good one!

Then they make his powers based on a necklace and give him a bit of superstrength and a big stick to whack people with or shoot them with fire (good weapon for the guy who doesnt like fighting, much less killing with a big flame from his staff). Then, after dying cos he wasnt up to it, Merlyn revives him and turns the staff and amulet into a suit, albeit slightly amped up and able to hold a charge of mystical energy. The suit goes through several more power upgrades, eventually becoming an amplifier for the powers, which are now within Brian, but limited to his distance from the focus of the Nexus up at the lighthouse.

Given the current arc of the fall of Camelot, dont you think Captain Britain should be having a bit more of an impact on things? He has held Excalibur and is the rightful heir to it, he was created by Merlyn (who is supposed to be the same Merlin who is featured at the moment). Shouldnt we eventually get it clarified WHY his dad told him he was the rightful heir? Shouldnt it be clarified EXACTLY what are his natural powers/suit derived/stuck in him by Merlyn/amplified by the suit etc? Is he a mutant/otherworld native/alternate Earth/Earth 616 baseline human? Shouldnt they have really addressed all that and more (such as why he cant get back to Otherworld) before hitting up a big story with weapons, magics and characters tied directly into his origin and not having him say or do bugger all?

 

[Brian Braddock]

Excellent points made there Mr. Moore; I agree completely.

Marvel should take the opportunity to give C.B. a definitive backstory -and they need to do it right. No half-assed overhaul thats gonna be completely changed when a new writer comes on-board. They need to ask Alan Davis back (the only person who seems to give a damn about the core of the character) - if only they could get Alan Moore back (I know it's not gonna happen but I can dream, can't I ?!)


Furthermore,

How long are they gonna continue with the piss-poor costume that they've given Brian at the moment? It hardly stands up to his previous ones. I know that there are folks hear that like it but compare it to this:-

(My all time favourite)

as well as his 1st (I guess 'classic') and 3rd:-

IMO the current one doesnt hold a candle to them.

 

[chris moore]

I like the new. I dont think I'll ever understand the majority's obsession with the two you've mention I'm afraid. I mean, the 3rd has nothing intrinsically British about it except for it being red white and blue. And the second one (and third) have those damn silly thigh high boots! What? Is he also a fetish mistress or something? There has not once been a sensible helmet designed for the character - every one of 'em has half the Union Jack emblazoned somewhere on it like a tattoo or something. The latest one (and to a lesser degree the 'black' suit on page one) has the Union jack on the bodysuit the right way round for one thing. Previously it has been predominantly a diagonal red X across his chest with a white one behind it. The White background X is Scottish, and the Red one is the Irish component that wasnt even added until 1801! The Captain Britain "favourite" uniforms have always missed off the bloody St George Cross!

I agree however, that the mask is pretty crap. This new uniform with a dark blue helmet (rather than cowl) of some descript would work better.

 

[UK_Stu]

My favourite costume is the same as Superbenitez's, the 2nd one with the Union Jack mask and symbolised costume. The St George's cross is represented on this one on the front of the mask. I like the patriotism of the costume, I mean the guy is called 'Captain Britain', if he'd had some kind of arthurian/camelot style name the Union Jack obviously wouldn't be appropriate

 

[UK_Stu]

Given all the confusion about Brian's powers; both in their origin and magnitude, I think it'd be an excellent opportunity for the New Excalibur series to take advantage of Brian's leadership role (Kurt pretty much leading the team by the end of the 1st run) and his being shut off from Otherworld (which, coupled with the dissappreance of Megan and him having no memory of why she's gone doesnt seem to bother him...) to finally set in stone (as it were) the nature of his powers.

I mean, come on... A human(?) from either an alternate Earth or actually originating from the Nexus of Realities comes to Earth 616 to mate with an Earth 616 woman to sire a child to be the champion of his Earth and eventual ruler of Otherworld. Fine so far (ish). So, they skip the first kid - the one with the reality warping powers; they skip the twin sister - the one with the telepathy; and instead choose to mould the other twin who apparently has no mutant powers, by encouraging him to be bookish, a loner save for his siblings, and adverse of being a hero or even fighting... Good one!

Then they make his powers based on a necklace and give him a bit of superstrength and a big stick to whack people with or shoot them with fire (good weapon for the guy who doesnt like fighting, much less killing with a big flame from his staff). Then, after dying cos he wasnt up to it, Merlyn revives him and turns the staff and amulet into a suit, albeit slightly amped up and able to hold a charge of mystical energy. The suit goes through several more power upgrades, eventually becoming an amplifier for the powers, which are now within Brian, but limited to his distance from the focus of the Nexus up at the lighthouse.

Given the current arc of the fall of Camelot, dont you think Captain Britain should be having a bit more of an impact on things? He has held Excalibur and is the rightful heir to it, he was created by Merlyn (who is supposed to be the same Merlin who is featured at the moment). Shouldnt we eventually get it clarified WHY his dad told him he was the rightful heir? Shouldnt it be clarified EXACTLY what are his natural powers/suit derived/stuck in him by Merlyn/amplified by the suit etc? Is he a mutant/otherworld native/alternate Earth/Earth 616 baseline human? Shouldnt they have really addressed all that and more (such as why he cant get back to Otherworld) before hitting up a big story with weapons, magics and characters tied directly into his origin and not having him say or do bugger all?

It would be nice to nail down a definitive power set for Brian and a qualified origin too.

It was pretty clear why Brian was selected to be Captain Britain - he was the only one with the required psyche and character to do it. Jamie wasn't suitable, as Dr Crocodile illustrated, powers or not and Betsy failed and was beaten to a pulp by slaymaster even with her powers, when she took over the Capt. Britain mantle.

 

[Brian Braddock]

My main problem is that, to me at least, the new costume looks like a 'mish-mash' of costumes - and don't even get me started about the belt and buckle (!).

If I was to go for a redesign, I'd go for something similiar to the 2nd costume.

 

[Brian Braddock]

Just scanned in the introduction to the 1st Captain Britain T.B by Chris Claremont in 1988 for those who havent seen it. Makes interesting reading:-

 

[Brian Braddock]

Just found this old article from www.comixfan.com.

Link:-

http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/archive/index.php/t-10779.html


X-Fan has learned that Marvel Comics are exploring the possibility of a new mini-series featuring former Marvel UK and Excalibur mainstay Captain Britain.

Last featured in the Excalibur: Sword of Power mini-series by writer Ben Raab and artist Pablo Raimondi in late 2000, in which Captain Britain was crowned King of the dimension known as Otherworld, the character has since had a single brief cameo in the pages of X-Treme X-Men #3 whilst an alternate future version is currently appearing in Paradise X.

"I am developing Captain Britain, but it is in the VERY early stages of development," senior editor Axel Alonso told X-Fan. "There's a chance it could not work out."

Alonso went on to tell X-Fan that he has spoken with veteran writer Alan Moore regarding the project. Moore holds the copyright to stories originally published in the second Captain Britain series from Marvel's UK line which were recently collected in trade paperback.

"Before I made a move, I spoke with Alan," Alonso said. "He's always been quite decent to me so I wanted to return the courtesy. If he wasn't comfortable with further exploration of the character, I'd have just backed off. I told him some of the broad strokes of the approach, and he said he had no problem. So I'm seeing where this takes me."


Guess it didn't work out after all.

 

[chris moore]

I think this thread is getting a bit eaten up by all the civil war related threads.

How about someone suggest what they think would be a good "the definitive" explanation of Brian's powers, their origin, what they are, what his role is etc?

 

[Union Jack]

i think cap should be elevating to sentry level strength and be given excalibur again...plus have him superfast,invunerable with his personal force shield...i basically want cap to be a major player in the MU...he isnt given enought scope really...

i also think UJ should be used more...the issue 1 of the new mini was brilliant!

 

[chris moore]

Here's what I'd like:

Cap's original abilities are finally confirmed as having been entirely due to the amulet and staff.

The reason being that his natural powers had not yet been enabled by his physiology like most mutants. Merlyn knew this would be the case of the most suited offspring of James Braddock, whom Merlyn saw as being the noblest and most biologically advanced member of the corps in history. Merlyn encouraged James to raise his son without unnecessary conflict or action that might trigger his powers too early. This is why Brian's childhood was filled with books, science and other studious or quiet hobbies. Elizabeth was determined to have the right biology, but a wild spirit more in line with her mother's, and this is ultimately what made Betsy unsuitable to assume the mantle.

To put Brian on the path, Merlyn gave him the powers the staff and amulet provided, a sampling of the natural power that lay within him.

Overtime, and with the accomplishment of his first trip across dimensions, thus passing through the frictional energy that charges his abilitities, Brian's powers began to emerge, but only a fraction of what they would become. The staff and amulet were reconfigured into a suit that would act almost like Havok's suit - to filter and regulate the dimensional energies that Brian was now starting to naturally channel; his proximity to the most "leaked" source of that energy - the lighthouse aperture, determined just how strong he could get at that time.

Now, after the events of the mini series where he took up Excalibur after his dad "explained" things, and after sufficient time as being ruler of Otherworld without Merlyn's manipulations, his natural powers are now fully coming to bear.

He is a mutant, his father being human but a resident of Otherworld most of his life and having absorbed ambient dimensional energy much like someone who lives under a pylon or near a powerstation will inevitably absorb some radiation over their lives.
Jamie wasnt suitable as his matrix was too unstable to contain the power of quantum string manipulation that is a part of the Excalibur legend (the sword having the power to remake the universe according to Roma) and therefore went nuts. Betsy wasnt of quite the right character. Brian had it all.

His power is simple really - the absorption of frictional dimensional energy and conversion of that energy to boost his physiology to superhuman levels. He IS the battery. He is the rightful wielder of Excalibur because he can channel the quantum energies that Excalibur can emit and remake the cosmos. I like his powers as they are, but he needs set levels. I also think in the theme of Excalibur, that he should be able to manifest and Excalibur like broadsword of frictional dimensional energy like Betsy makes a psionic one and use it like she does - it would link the two of them in powers a little more. Like she absorbs the same kind of energy and it increases her psychic potential to the point of telepathy (or now teke) and the strongest thing of this is her psychic knife. Brians absorbs the energy for physical augmentation and does the same with a broadsword.

Give him class 80 strength, flight of up to 330mph, invulnerability to withstand bazookas with no damage, just the wind knocked out of him and make it a combo of natural resiliency, and the "forcefield" he used to have still being a small part of him as a subconscious manifestation of frictional energy constantly flowing to him and surrounding him, strengthening his own durability. Up his reflexes and footspeed somewhat as they are both physical attributes, and give him slightly enhanced sight (archangel/hawk like) and hearing (particularly as a means of withstanding the air speed when flying so he cans ee where he's going and be able to hear and talk).

 

[Union Jack]

thats all pretty good there chris....but only differences for me is i want cap more powerful....i want him to be able to go toe to toe with the likes of the hulk,sentry and thor...i'd up his strength to level 100,speed to approacj=hing lightspeed,invunerability,and enhanced senses beyond that of daredevil and wolverine.

and at the same note i'd like the captain america series to include union jack more often..maybe to a cap and uj series ala the falcon.

 

[UK_Stu]

Nice job Chris

You've pretty much summed up what I think about CB. The battery idea is a good one. And I like the idea that his powers may manifest themselves in a similar fashion to his sister - nice.

 

[UK_Stu]

thats all pretty good there chris....but only differences for me is i want cap more powerful....i want him to be able to go toe to toe with the likes of the hulk,sentry and thor...i'd up his strength to level 100,speed to approacj=hing lightspeed,invunerability,and enhanced senses beyond that of daredevil and wolverine.

and at the same note i'd like the captain america series to include union jack more often..maybe to a cap and uj series ala the falcon.

Not sure about this, its fine to have a few uber powerful characters, but why would CB need to be this powerful ?

I mean potentially with Excalibur he can be a cosmos destroyer, but I wouldn't want to see going toe to toe with Hulk or Sentry in a hand to hand fight

 

[Union Jack]

I do...reason being is all the mega powerful heroes are all either american or alien american.....i want an uber british hero!!!