First Appearance of Psylocke: Captain Britain #8 Value

Psylocke first appeared as Betsy Braddock in Captain Britain #8, cover-dated December 1976, created by Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe (Wikipedia). The book was a weekly from Marvel UK, Marvel's British imprint, and Betsy was a supporting character for her twin brother Brian, Captain Britain. Captain Britain #10, the same month, is her first cover appearance.

She did not use the name Psylocke until ten years later. In New Mutants Annual #2 (1986), Claremont brought her into the X-Men line: rescued by the New Mutants, she is invited to join the X-Men and takes the codename Psylocke (Wikipedia).

Betsy Braddock. The confusion comes from a body swap:

• 1976: Betsy debuts in Captain Britain #8.
• 1986: she becomes Psylocke in New Mutants Annual #2.
• 1989: in a story tied to Acts of Vengeance, the amnesiac Betsy is kidnapped by the Hand, brainwashed and physically changed to look East Asian; Uncanny X-Men #256 (December 1989) shows that body (Wikipedia).
• 1993 to 1994: writers explain the change as a body swap with Kwannon, a Japanese assassin for the Hand; Kwannon first appears in her own body in X-Men (vol. 2) #31, April 1994, by Fabian Nicieza and Andy Kubert (Wikipedia).
• 2019: after 29 years both women return to their own bodies. Betsy takes her brother's title of Captain Britain and leads a new Excalibur, and Kwannon becomes the second Psylocke starting in Fallen Angels #1 (November 2019).

Yes. Wikipedia says the Psylocke code name first belonged to Elizabeth Braddock, a British woman, who was physically transformed into an Asian woman in the 1989 storyline. Critics described the result as a fetishized Asian stereotype in the style of the classic Dragon Lady. Chris Claremont has said the change was meant as a disguise and became semi-permanent because fans responded to it (Wikipedia). Today the Asian Psylocke is Kwannon, a separate Japanese character.

PriceCharting values for Captain Britain #8 (1976), retrieved September 25, 2026:

• Ungraded: $161.20
• CGC 2.0: $92.00
• CGC 4.0: $143.31
• CGC 6.0: $247.78
• CGC 8.0: $276.74
• CGC 9.2: $456.14
• CGC 9.6: $577.79
• CGC 9.8: $2,222.81

The price rises gradually from 6.0 ($247.78) to 9.6 ($577.79), then almost quadruples at 9.8, so a copy that might reach 9.8 is the one worth grading. Don't confuse it with Captain Britain #8 from 1985, a different series that PriceCharting lists at about $18. New Mutants Annual #2 (1986), her first issue as Psylocke, is inexpensive: $28.23 ungraded and $32.00 in CGC 6.0, with the Newsstand copy at $25.50 ungraded and $50.72 in 6.0 (PriceCharting, same date).

Olivia Munn played Psylocke in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) (Wikipedia). Asked whether Psylocke is LGBTQ: neither Wikipedia's Psylocke article nor its Kwannon article makes any statement about either character's sexuality, and we found no source that describes them as LGBTQ.

• Indicia: the small print on the first page or inside cover gives the title, issue number, date and publisher; reprints and facsimiles say so there.
• Cover price and barcode: a price or barcode that did not exist in the cover year means a later edition.
• Paper: decades-old newsprint tans at the edges; bright white pages on an old date are a warning sign.
• Restoration: color touch, trimmed edges and replaced covers are common on expensive keys; a grading service such as CGC can detect them.

Shoot the front cover flat and straight on in even light, then the indicia and the back cover. Captain Britain #8 is a British weekly, so include the full cover with the date and price area in one frame; that separates it from the 1985 series with the same number. ComicLens reads the title, issue number and cover art from the photo, and there are free scans every day.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed on this page. Prices are the figures shown by the named source on the date given; they change with the market, and a grade that trades about once a year can move a lot on a single sale.