Cover by: Alan DavisWriter: Matt Fraction
Pencils: Alan Davis
Inks: Mark Farmer
Colored by: Nathan Fairbairn
Lettered by: VC - Joe Caramagna
The Story: The fallout of UTOPIA begins here. What else could Norman Osborn possibly do to the X-Men? Plus, Matt Fraction's first Marvel story featuring the X-Men!
In Stores: September 23, 2009
“For so long, my life has been out of control. Chaos and serendipity, wrapped in insanity. I have suffered, I have lost. Not just my life, but my very soul, my self. But no more. Now I know who I am.” – Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Braddock, daughter of Otherworld, mutant, telepath, telekinetic, defender of the realm and, above all, X-Man.
35 comments:
Cool, she seems to take precedence over the cuckoos here for telepathic ability which is a good sign. 3 words in 5 pagaes though? Step in the right direction. . .
Oh please. Fraction himself said this was more of a Namor story. You guys expect Psylocke to be the star of every issue. It doesn't work like that. I'm happy she was part of the reunion with the big guns: Cyke, Emma and Namor. ^^
BEAUTIFUL! Oh Davis, how i love thee!!!
Anonymous - just a friendly word; There's really no need to be so negative towards other peoples expectancies for the character, people can expect whatever they want for this character.
Now about the issue itself - it does seem to semi-confirm my suspicion that Betsy will become some kind of team/overall leader.
It's great to see her as the queen bee Telepath after so long! She definately needs a new outfit though.
Telepathic. Telekinetic. love ♥... Ninja not so much. Why is Dazzler on the cover LOL? The art isn't that great but I know he's a legend.
Wow, the story actually looks good! Very good!
Maybe the atlanteans could live in Utopia with the mutants, but I'm not sure if they can survive a long time out of water; Namor can, but he's half-human, so...
And I'm glad Betsy is getting some panel time! People may compare her panel time to Dazzler's, but the difference is that in most issues after her return, Betsy is actually doing something, instead of just posing as background filler (no offense to Dazzler though, she's a great character that more than deserves some relevant role as well).
BTW, Davis can definitely draw a beautiful Betsy!
Fantastic work from Davis! Davis' Betsy is among the best seen thus far. Let's see how Cyclops deals with the Black Queen threat.
God, Alan Davis' art is SO beuatufil it makes me want to cry that he's not the one alternating with the Dodsons on the art duties of Uncanny.
And even though it took me a while to digest Emma-trapped-in-diamond-form, that does open the floor for Psylock to get a more active role in the stories, which is great!
Hmm, I am already seeing traces of what seems to be Betsy taking on Emma's role. In image pane five, Betsy says "I sense... nothing." Reminds me of the good old days when Betsy was the sole X-Men telepath.
centurion
Glad Betsy and Emma are on the team together!
I don't understand your guys' taste. Maybe it's an old school thing. Land draws better than this guy in my opinion. At least everyone looks attractive when he does.
The problem is that Land doesn't draw and knows nothing about anatomy(especially,if you compare him to a veteran such as Davis).
And,as for me,Giles,I've pretty much given up on hoping that Betsy will get some character development in Uncanny X-Men,but,yes,each opinion is welcome.
Pessimism aside,I'm so glad to see Betsy make use of her restored telepathy again!No sign of the butterfly effect yet,however...
Land's Betsy had some stellar moments in the Sisterhood arc, but I honestly prefer Paquette or Davis' Betsy. "Attractive" is a subjective term. I tend to think Land and Davis are talented artists, but of course, everyone has a preference for what they deem attractive. I do think that Land's women are among the most "beautiful." Land's Red Queen was stunning. I did admire Land's picture of Betsy at the end of the sisterhood arc where she defeated her evil doppleganger. THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL. The picture I am referring to is partially seen on this blog, directly under the title "Metamorphosis"
best,
centurion
With all due respect,centurion,I could hardly call Land's women "attractive",considering that most of them are traced from pornographic material.
"I did admire Land's picture of Betsy at the end of the sisterhood arc where she defeated her evil doppleganger."
That was Psylocke?Bloody hell,I mistook her for Kate Beckinsale! :P
@Selene - Yes, at times, that is true. However, I was arguing that the term "attractive" is a subjective one. Some like Land's art, others don't, for that same reason. I liked Land's Red Queen and that picture of Betsy that I referred to in the other post, the one at the end of the sisterhood arc.
It's funny that you mention Kate Beckinsale, because I think she would make a nice British Psylocke :) What do you think?
best,
centurion
Come on Selene, are you saying that pornographic actresses can't be attractive? :P
I think Land's art is sometimes great, and sometimes terrible. He can draw (or trace) beautiful people, but I think his problem is that his art is static, no sense of movement at all. And sometimes it doesn't look natural, like when Pixie got beaten up yet her face wasn't of someone feeling pain, but of someone having an orgasm...
His art in the Phoenix Endsong mini was great, though.
That said, I still think Davis's art is miles ahead of Land's! Alan Davis is a wonderful artist, and he definitely knows how to draw a beautiful Psylocke...
@Anonymous: I can only speak for myself (but apparently many people shar emy feelings) - It's not an "old school" thing as much as a "not-linking-drawings-that-are-badly-traced-from-porn-mags" thing.
The way I see it, it's not that everyone looks attractive in Land's pictures, it's that everyone looks the same in a "generic plastic dolls" kind of way. Because he traces his pictures from other sources not produced specifically for the scripts he works from, the pages look like frankesteins of various stages of porn-face.
Also, it's not a virtue to make everyone look "attractive" - I want the artists on the comics I read to be able to show variety, different body types, different faces, different body languages.
Also, because Land doesn't produce his own photographic reference, but traces from whatever's available (at least that's what it looks like from the final results of his work), he creates a pretty absurd (albeit amusing) occurence - His Sue Richards (for example) won't look the same in two consecuitive panels of the Fantastic FOur comic, but she will look EXACTLY like Black Canary, an altogether different character, published by another company!
@FSaker - You're totally right regarding the lack of movement on his drawings. Not only that, but many times the movements won't match what the story asks for. And don't get me started on "orgasm-face", I can only imagine what that panel with Illyana and Pixie would look like as drawn by Land...
@Centurion i really ever think that beckinsale could be the great British Betsy, i hope they use her to do this!
@Kike Galvan - Hey. What about Rhona Mitra?
best,
centurion
@Fsaker - Fine points!
@James Figueiredo- Nicely
written! I agree.
@Selene - In your defense, there was one drawing of Lady Deathstrike attacking Wolverine in UXM #509 that could be construed as being pornographic, but that is a matter of interpretation. It could have been Land attempting to portray Deathstrike in a feral rage, but it just is so awkward to me with her tounge protruding like the way it is in that particular scene...
And as Fsaker mentioned, I agree that some of Land's expression of female faces is often bizarre. The aforementioned scene is a prime example of that.
some of you are too judgmental about the porn thing. it shouldn't change your opinion of the finished product. that's a rumor anyway. there's never been an absolute verified picture said to be directly from porn even though a couple are obviously sexual in the face. if the girls are pretty, the girls are pretty. i don't care about the origins of the inspiration. for the record i am not a Land fan because everyone looks the same, but in my opinion it looks a lot better than most comic art because most comic art looks cheap and dated.
I love how Betsy's in the meeting with the big guns I think she might actually have a big role in Nation X, either that or every artist that draws x-men loves betts : P
(ps i love that small banter between pixie and magik!)
Selene, long time! ;)
Yes, the butterfly effect is a must-have. I wonder which artist will have the guts to introduce it first. :p
Hopefully we'll see the butterfly in the mini, perhaps when she re-discovers her Telepathy?
Wow love Magik's hair! Nice to see an alteration in her hair instead of the bangs cut
Nice to see Betts in the forefront too
I love Alan Davis
yep centurion's right, Land can be some kind of bizarre especially while depicting women, however i don't dislike his drawings, maybe cause he always gives me some sort of a positiveness when he makes them smile XD can't wait for MUA2 in Italy too, feels really lucky having a wii now :)
@Kike Galvan - Hi. Someone mentioned that Olivia Munn (G4 Hostess) would make an excellent Psylocke. What do you think? I think they might be right.
Here is the link to that discussion:
http://forums.g4tv.com/showthread.php?t=35258&page=2
best,
centurion
Alan is old school and I used to very much dislike its old fashioned look. But while at Kuberts School he pencilled Betsy's resurrection so I did some page studies and I must say Davis is amazing for laying out a page and his Betsy is quite frankly bloody sexy! His Storm, X23 and Night Crawler are all pretty much how I imagine them to look too.
Bad news however i met him a few years ago and he hated her being turned into an Elektra clone, I defended her as much as I could. We ended with me saying something along the lines of I can understand how you feel as you knew the character long before her asian transformation but its asian betsy all the way for me. I remember accidently insulting the dragon outfit too, lol i left such a great impression >__<
Some people love Lands work i find it dry and sterile and his over sexualizing Pixie was wrong in my opinion, we cant have every X-man have a pornstar body for gods sake. I liked Scottie youngs versions of the kids where they actually looked like kids.
Is anyone else getting an love square vibe going on with Betsy, Cyke, Emma and Namor? It would be cool for her to be in a big story but I think Betsy is worth a million Cyclops'
I have a horrible feeling Beast has left the X-men :( not good at all.
Betsy and Emma on same team is made of win ^_______^
I would like Betsy and Emma on the same team. It leaves the possibility for a love triangle between Betsy, Cyclops, and Emma.
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