A little while ago I received an email from a chap named Dave Jones, who pointed me in the direction of another DeviantART page. This time a page belonging to a Colin Smith who posts there as Colgreyis: colgreyis.deviantart.com.
Dave had seen the Chris Weston take on Captain Britain and Psylocke I highlighted back in September, and wondered if I'd seen this...
Yes! Steampunk Captain Britain!
I really like that look, actually. Definite nods to the original 70s Captain Britain costume, with the hair, mask and variation of the Star Sceptre. But with part of the rustic feel which the costume for Crusader X had, in the pages of Excalibur.
And, of course, the obligatory steampunk goggles.
Colin has also done a similar steampunk version of the woman who Brian Braddock chose to succeed him several years ago (And whom we pretty much forget, these days...) Kelsey 'Lionheart' Leigh!
I was always a bit of a fan of Kelsey, as several of you probably already know. I think she got a bit of a rough deal. The story Chuck Austen wrote, introducing her in the pages of Avengers, was a really respectful nod to the origins of Brian as Captain Britain. But with the newly Omniversal Guardian status Brian now playing the mentor role of Merlyn and Meggan playing the role of Roma. It showed real promise, and a way in which to introduce a whole new generation of readers to the Captain Britain mythos.
Sadly, however, the plot was kind of swept away a few months later during the big 'Disassembled' reboot of the whole Avengers line. Kelsey was kind of left in limbo after that until Chris Claremont picked her up during his New Excalibur, and even that didn't really give her a positive showcasing in the end.
I think the steampunk styling really suits her. It's not a million miles away from her actual costume, but I like the the way that the lines just give her a little more shape. And God knows I wish somebody would clear up the confusion last caused her in New Excalibur. There were certain things which occurred in that final issue which should have had very dire consequences to her family. But putting that aside ;D it's great to see that somebody else seems to hold enough affection towards the character.
But the one image that caught my eye the most was that Colin had done a tribute to the cover from Captain Britain & Mi13 #13, with Brian flying around Big Ben:
Isn't that great? It's like Captain Britain meets The Rocketeer. I love it!
Remember, not all Captains CAN fly unaided, of course. In his original guise Brian couldn't. He wasn't even able to float until his staff was exchanged for the sceptre.
The idea of a Captain Britain soaring around the skyline by jetpack, in some alternate Neo-Victorian Steampunk London is one which greatly entertains me. I'm sure there IS somewhere out there, ;D
For more examples of Colin Smith's work please checkout: colgreyis.deviantart.com.
On a related Captain Britain note Geek Syndicate is running a number of auctions at the moment, to raise money the family of podcaster Eric Martin (Comic Playground and DC Noise) who sadly died unexpectedly last month. For one of these auctions Paul Cornell has very generously given them his initial Marvel pitch for Captain Britain & MI13. As I type this, bidding for this item stands around the £70 mark. But If you are interested in owning a piece of never before seen Marvel history, or any of the other great auction pieces on offer, please consider a bid.
All proceeds will be greatly appreciated. You get a early Christmas present. And you help somebody else in the process. What a lovely idea.
Oooh, I like that! That's niiice.
ReplyDeleteI like it, too!
ReplyDeleteAnd I have to admit I'm a fan of Kelsey, too! But people are quite mean to her; yeah, try being raped, scarred, divorced by a cowardly husband, beaten to death by a philosophical Thunderball, resurrected with cool powers but unable to reveal that to her children or they will die.... well, it's kind of a miracle she ended up killing just the Shadow King-possessed Dark Professor X!