Ahead of Their 50th Anniversary, This Comic is Remembering an Often-Forgotten Era for One of Marvel’s Most Interesting Characters

As comic book characters Brian Braddock and Betsy Braddock approach their fiftieth anniversary — the comic’s publication dating back to 1976— it has never been a better time to be a Captain Britain fan. The Captain Britain 50th Anniversary Special #1 is bringing back fan-favorite writers Chris Claremont, Alan Davis, and Dan Abnett, promising both new adventures for Brian, Betsy, and their ensemble, along with new peeks into their past.  Betsy Braddock, who is the current Captain Britain, may have started off as Brian’s twin sister but over the decades cultivated her own fan base and complexity as a character. For much of her publication, Betsy was better known by her codename Psylocke. Originally given to her by X-Men villain Mojo, Betsy reclaimed the codename much like she would reclaim the controversial body swap that turned her into an Asian ninja. 

While this ninja form is the version of Betsy that’s adapted into other media such as the recent second season of X-Men ‘97 and the 2016 X-Men: Apocalypse film, that isn’t how she appears in most recent comic appearances. Aside from a 2025 miniseries titled Psylocke: Ninja — Rise of the Fall, Betsy’s stories have kept her appearance in line with how she initially appeared, only adding the purple hair that originated in 1983’s Alan Moore’s Daredevils #3.  Ninja Psylocke may be the popular conception of Betsy, especially for flashback stories, but Steve Orlando’s X-Men: Outback brings back a version of Betsy before the body swap happened. In X-Men: Outback, Betsy Braddock is new to the X-Men and still finding her footing as they acclimate to their new hideout. 

Before the Ninja

Despite taking an earlier version of Betsy that audiences might not find as interesting, Steve Orlando’s still able to draw on what’s appealing about her. Amongst a team of hotheads, especially with new team members Longshot and Dazzler, Betsy knows how to keep her cool. In a move that gestures towards how she joined the team, while leaving it implicit rather than explicit, “Old Feud, No Blood” has the team fighting Sabertooth. 

Like much of the team, Betsy has come across Sabertooth before, notably fighting him during the events of “Mutant Massacre”. It was her bravery in drawing Sabertooth away from the injured members of the X-Men — not to mention her success in gaining information from Sabertooth’s mind about the Marauders and Mr Sinister — that convinced Wolverine to offer her a spot on the team. In X-Men: Outback, Betsy realizes Sabertooth and his dogs are feeding on fear and is able to change her approach. 

Once Sabertooth is subdued, she reminds the team that he’s one of the Marauders and that, for the Australian Outback to be a fresh start, his mind must be wiped. It is with a calm voice that Psylocke lets the team know that if Sabertooth does return, he’ll “pay a much higher price than his memory”. It is this steely voice that gives even Wolverine pause, later calling her a liability to Storm.  

Armored Up

Initially stemming from the “Fall of the Mutants” storyline, Betsy’s concerns about being a liability to the team led her to acquire an invulnerable body armor from Wolverine. It is this armor that Betsy dons following Wolverine’s judgment of her as a liability. Colossus may argue that only Betsy could ever see herself like that, but Betsy’s quick to point out that he’s talking about her telepathy, not her fighting ability. It’s an interesting distinction Betsy makes and is unlike other telepaths such as Jean Grey, who see themselves as one with their abilities rather than the ability as a singular part. 

Yet even with her armor, it isn’t to say that Betsy can’t be vulnerable. She, like the rest of the team, isn’t immune to Godshredder’s attack in “Reaver’s Revenge” and it is only because she’s able to psychically and emotionally connect with Colossus that they’re able to defeat the Lich Duke in “The Dread Duke’s Curse”. Because of this emotional connection, Colossus agrees to start painting portraits again as long as she’s his subject. It feels important that Betsy is still armored up in these conversations, and it calls back to the original Outback era where Betsy was shown posing for Colossus’s paintings. 

What Orlando Leaves Out

The other plot for Betsy from the Outback era of the X-Men was helping Rogue free the Carol Danvers personality from her brain. Orlando’s X-Men: Outback has made sparing mentions of Rogue’s struggle regarding still having that part of Carol in her brain but it’s yet to go beyond a quick blink and you’ll miss it line. There hasn’t been much interaction between Betsy and Rogue, so it’s uncertain whether Orlando is saving that plotline for later or if that will remain off-panel in favor of different plots for the comic. 

X-Men: Outback is a limited five issue series, with the fourth issue out this week, meaning that X-Men’s return to the Australian outback is drawing to a close. 

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