With Morgan Le Fey’s alliance with the Furies made, she now prepares her next attempt to bring England under her control. But Betsy, Racheal, and the rest of the corps are doing all they can to get ahead of her plans. But will it be enough in Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #3, published by Marvel Comics, written by Tini Howard, art by Vasco Georgiev, colors by Erick Arciniega, and letters by Ariana Maher?
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With only a brief moment of action in this book’s opening pages, Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #3 spends the vast majority of its length focusing on the social themes of the book, as well as continuing to grow Betsy and Racheal’s relationship. Let’s get the less pleasant topic out of the way first.
As anyone reading the series knows, Howard has been using the anger toward Betsy as a thinly veiled allegory for the duplicity of the ultraconservative movements that have been on the rise lately. How they claim to be looking out for “the people” when really they lash out at anything that doesn’t fit their mold of “normal”. This comparison is taken a step further during an elegantly delivered tirade by Le Fey. As she rants about her ultimate goals for Britain and just how little its people mean to her, we see the final phase of the blind, ultraconservative anger revealed. We see how Le Fey manipulates the closed-minded individuals of Coven Akkaba to do her bidding, even though it will ultimately not be in their best interest. The malice of Le Fey is captured wonderfully in the art. Georgiev understands how to make the character menacing, while Arciniega continues to bring the magic of the book to life through the vivid colors that fill the pages.
Giving further flair to Le Fey’s side of the story is Maher’s excellent lettering. While the letterer’s placements throughout are perfect, the creative continues to flex extra design muscles with the Furies’ dialogues. The design makes them feel truly robotic and the extra flair when they laugh continues to be gold.
While Le Fey’s side of Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #3 is filled with enough negative energy to choke a person, the book balances this aspect out nicely whenever it returns to Betsy and Racheal. The duo continues to be a wonderful pair to follow, and this is largely due to how well Howard keeps the pair grounded in their undying adoration of each other.
Rather than have every exchange be sappy and sweet, Howard allows her protagonists to show their true selves, even when that brings out less-than-perfect interactions. The strain from trying to chase down Le Fey’s schemes has had both Betsy and Racheal working around the clock. It would be disingenuous to the characters if these trials and moments of exhaustion did not play out with interactions that flow less than ideally. What makes Betsy and Racheal such a wonderful couple to follow isn’t perfection, but rather the understanding and compassion with which they roll from their little failings. They know what each other is going through and try their best to answer each other’s shortcomings with grace when possible, and a gentle verbal snip when necessary.
Both sides of the story are then brought together through a wonderfully set up page that brings the starkness of contrast front and center. As Racheal and Betsy lovingly exit Braddock Manor, we see Le Fey is accompanied by one of the Furies to a far colder-looking destination. This sequence’s execution at the end of the book pulls both sides together wonderfully.
While Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #3 is largely set up on a narrative level, the creative team never allows the book to feel dull or slowed down thanks to the way it marvelously presents and explores its wonderful cast.
Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #3 is available now wherever comics are sold.
rating 4/5
