Thursday, April 2, 2009

X-Men: Sword of the Braddocks Review

Comic Books Resources has given a pretty positive review about X-Men: Sword of the Braddocks. Let's hope it has sold a good amount of copies too. This review was written by James Hunt.

When Marvel solicited this issue, it was a 40-page one-shot that, it seemed, would fold Psylocke back into the X-Men following her turn on Claremont’s version of the Exiles. Shortly afterwards, the solicitation was altered to announce that the main feature was actually a shorter length, and would be supplemented by a reprint of an old X-Men back-up strip. Whether this represents changes made after solicitation or an error in the original listings in unclear, but one thing’s for certain: this comic, much like the recent Nightcrawler one-shot, doesn’t entirely resemble the one that was originally solicited. One suspects that fans and retailers won’t put up with that for long.

Beyond that, however, the story is actually quite good. Psylocke is one of Chris Claremont's “pet” characters, so he still has a fairly good grip on how she should be written. The issue is designed to tie up a thread from Exiles, where a version of the Slaymaster –- a villain from Psylocke’s early days -– was hopping realities, killing every alternate Betsy Braddock he met, hoping to get “our” one. Because it’s Psylocke, and because it’s Claremont, she eventually defeats him in a one-on-one physical fight.

The art is done in a painted, elegant style that looks amazing, but is slightly marred by a tendency towards emphasizing Psylocke’s more, er, womanly charms, but when you buy a Claremont comic, you have to be prepared to read the words as well –- and despite criticism of his recent style, it’s all quite good, tying up Psylocke’s unfinished plot arc, and providing a rare opportunity for the character to take center stage.

The issue really treats fans of Psylocke, bringing in multiple elements from past continuity, as well as featuring an appearance by her brother, Captain Britain, in one of his welcome glimpses outside of his own title. The relationship between Brian and Betsy is well-developed and if it’s this interesting under Claremont, one can only wonder what Cornell would do with it. Consider this the start of a petition to get Psylocke into “Captain Britain”!

The backup strip is less easy to enthuse about, however. It’s written by Adam Warren, and set from an odd point in the past where Psylocke was dead, so it’s weird to see it paired up, no explanation, with a lead story where she very much isn’t. I consider myself a fairly hardcore X-Men fan, but even I find it a little hard to understand the continuity matters surrounding this short story. There’s some nice ninja-action from artist Rick Mays, but otherwise, it definitely feels like padding. The idea of backup strips is a good one, but the execution –- of this one, at least –- has a negative effect on the comic overall.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

NO! Psylocke needs to stay the hell away from Captain Britain. She's an X-man. I really wished they would have resovled this Exiles plot line for her though. She should have went back to 616 IMO.

Anonymous said...

It's so funny, everybody was hoping that she would kindda die in this issue so she would be resurrected back into her old one. Now everyone is afraid that Revanche will pop up instead into Betsy's ol' british body!

FSaker said...

Nah, I don't think Revanche will come back. She's not that popular to be featured in a main X-title, and the preview also says it's the return of one of the greatest X-Ladies... Revanche was barely an X-Lady, let alone one of the greatest.

It's cool to know that CBR liked this one-shot, although from what I read, many Psylocke fans seem to disagree with the review. But the art is gorgeous, we can't deny that.

Rogue said...

Revanche may not have been one of the greatest X-Women, but there was a lot of potential to Kwannon's character, if she was played right...

FSaker said...

Rogue, I agree with you. I didn't mean that I don't like Revanche, I actually thought she was quite cool in the 90s. But she wouldn't fit with the main X-Men team, IMO; Revanche would fit better in one of the less important titles, like the New Mutants or Cable.

As much as I like her, and as much as I love Betsy, one Psylocke is enough for the Uncanny X-Men. And between both of them, I'd rather keep the original Psylocke (even if she's not in her original body).

Francis said...

i perfectly agree with FSaker...i would definitely prefer having Betsy around rather than Kwannon,however if they decide to let her resurrect in addition that's okay

Giles said...

I think we all agree with FSaker, we all love Revanche, but we love Psylocke even more!

It would be good if both were around, having them interact as sisters (they almost were, considering that Spiral mixed their DNA). Betsy has to be the better fighter though, concidering what a big deal New Exile (i.e. CC)has made about her current fighting skills

Rogue said...

Precisely because I agree with FSaker, I think that, if Revanche does return she should totally join the new X-Force. I mean, she was an assassin, so killing isn't that hard for her...I think she would be a perfect fit... What do you think?

Andrew said...

for anyone to know: someone was asking the writer on the forums about psylocke coming back. he basically said that she'd be returning with the same costume (butt floss as the commenter put it), and would be asian but there's hope he'll restore her telepathy. i wish we could start a letter writing campaign to marvel asking them to just return her to the books the right way without all the power complications. just back to the original or at least back to the way she was before the crimson dawn. i read it on the rachelx boards i think that's what it's called.

Anonymous said...

I agree that it would be great to somehow give her a clean slate. But if she just gets her telepathy back and becomes british again, she runs the risk of becoming the weakest x-telepath like she was when Jean and prof-x were around.

After the body swap she still was not the strongest telepath, but she was much more clever on how she used her powers and used it with her new fighting skills in ways that the other two would never consider. But now Emma has become the telepath, who although is not the strongest, uses her powers in clever ways. And although I think in the past Emma and Betsy may have been considered the same power levels, I bet Emma whould now be considered a more powerful telepath than Betsy was.

I guess that is my way of saying that I would hate to see Betsy return to her British, weaker body, weaker telepath, armor needing version of herself if she is just going to get her ass kicked by Emma, diamnond form, im so much smarter than you Frost.

At least Claremont gaver her immunity from telepathy, which levals the playing field if Betsy encounters any other telepath.

Giles said...

But then again...can we be sure that the preview pic of the coffin in #508 contained the body of Kwannons/Betsy? Didn't Matsuo Tsurayaba buried Kwannon in his own personal garden and not in a cemetery?

Perhaps the pic was a(nother) red herring and that body belonged to someone like Mariko?

Rogue said...

Although I agree that it would mess with Logan I think he already moved on...

Revanche makes a little more sense to me, maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I would really love to see Revanche back.