BETSY BRADDOCK: CAPTAIN BRITAIN
tini howard: smiling politely
Here it is hot off the NYCC 2022 Women of Marvel panel - the solo comic to rule them all. From myself and stunning artist Vasco Georgiev comes BETSY BRADDOCK: CAPTAIN BRITAIN, launching in February 2023.
To those already waiting on this announcement - welcome back, Betskani hive.
To those of you who are new - welcome!
Let’s talk a little about titles.
Titling a book is an art, not a science. In comics especially, when a bookseller is looking at a long list of what to order, they often don’t even get to see a picture, much less hear your little clever spiel. So your title has to sort of instantly do one of two things -
Tell the potential reader exactly what it is, and deliver what it says on the tin.
Intrigue them enough that they won’t care. This is the riskier option, and if I’m being honest? It’s the one I prefer. I like my readers to be like me, inquisitive, and open to exploring, so I try to attract like with like.
I didn’t want to do that this time. After getting to spend 31 issues with Betsy Braddock so far, I feel more confident than ever that she’s ready to meet the rest of the Marvel Universe. And for that to happen, we need a no-bullshit title that lets everyone know what’s going on.
“How about Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain?” I suggested to my editors and pals over a particularly noodle-baking Zoom session. We’d tossed a lot of titles around, and I’m grateful to have a team of editors that will all drop and get on the phone when one of these creative challenges emerges.
I like it because it’s welcoming to new fans, fans who haven’t read a Captain Britain comic since the eighties, or fans who haven’t heard Betsy Braddock’s name since she wasn’t in her body. It’s a title that tells you what’s up, even if you haven’t read a Captain Britain comic since Betsy was Captain the first time.
We’re leaving Krakoa behind for a time, and heading Marvel Universe-ward, reuniting Betsy with her brothers Brian and Jamie and bringing along her girlfriend, Rachel Summers, the recently christened Askani. Vasco Georgiev is our artist and he’s bringing his bright, beautiful, gorgeous superhero style to Betsy’s new adventure, giving it a real neo-Alan Davis feel.
I have to show you guys a super secret panel crop, right? But I don’t want to give anything away, so…
I’ll give you something you’re expecting that you’ll hopefully love:
Volume 1 of Nico and I’s Catwoman run, Dangerous Liaisons, is out November 8th and the early reviews are in. Here to tell us his thoughts is comic reviewer Orlando, my cat.
That book looks great! Check out that Sozomaika cover. So glossy. Nice weight on the paper.
Trade has a beautiful Nico Leon DPS for the credits, can be held open easily with a tail.
Okay, we’ve moved on from the book, I guess.
You, bipedals, will probably enjoy the book a little more, as it is full of our first four issues of Selina Kyle’s return to the Gotham high streets and a life of crime, and my two issue story with Bengal and Jordie Bellaire - a fast-paced car chase team up between Catwoman and fellow siren Harley Quinn.
If you’re a trade-waiter, this is the one to ask for at your local bookstore or comic book shop!
Please go watch Interview With the Vampire on AMC.
They’re not paying me, GOD I wish they were, I’m just utterly and entirely completely obsessed. Some of you might know that I’m a lifelong Vampire Chronicles fan, I still remember the circumstances of binge-reading the first novel when I was a freshman in high school, the music playing (Moby’s Play had just come out and I bought it on the same Borders trip I’d purchased the IWtV paperback. I spun it on repeat while I read and will forever associate the two in my mind, Moby’s remixed melancholy a soundtrack to Louis’ romantic and sensual misery.)
The show has done everything at once I was afraid it wouldn’t do at all. It isn’t only open about the sexuality of Louis and Lestat, it uses the explicit revision to create new tension and heighten the story in new, bloody, and delicious ways. The cast is gorgeous and whoever is writing this thing has a masterful command of Anne’s style of famously purple prose.
The first episode is available on AMC and Shudder, and this is not a paid advertisement. If you know someone working on this thing…phew, bare your neck to them in gratitude because it. Is. GOOD.
Stay weird, talk soon!
-TH 10.10.22 18.09
SO PSYCHED FOR BETSY!!! Congrats, Tini.