Terry Dodson has given an interview to Things From Another World. He agrees with us that Psylocke needs a new costume. Let's hope he can convince editors to go along with it.TFAW.com: If you could radically change the look of any of the characters, who would it be, what would you do, and why?
Terry Dodson: I would like to do something different with Emma–draw her with a white version of her black Dark X-Men costume. I think Dazzler could use some more tweaks. Gambit is probably ready for an update and Psylocke, as well! I’m perpetually tweaking the costumes on the characters–usually very minor things, but always trying to improve or understand them better.
TFAW.com: Can you give us a hint of what’s to come with Uncanny X-Men? Are there any pages/issues you’re particularly excited about?
Terry Dodson: I will be working on the middle of the Nation X arc, issues #518 and #519–where we find out more about that Void Sliver that Emma receives at the end of the Utopia arc, plus more Magneto.
“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.
26 comments:
He just said she needed an update not necessarily a new costume. Personally I love her costume and dont see why people complain all the time.
@Anonymous: I never had a problem with Psylocke's iconic uniform either. I think the development of Betsy's personality and character should take precedence over a new uniform. A team uniform would be nice with an X logo, as Fsaker mentioned in the past. Dodson's version of Betsy's Alcatraz jumpsuit was beautiful. It could be a prototype for a team uniform. I think Betsy's hand uniform is probably her most scintillating outfit out of the entire series of costumes she has had in her life, and maybe that is why its appeal has lasted so long. It was the type of costume that was breathtaking at the time, maybe because it was original for the character. It just fit well for the character Psylocke was becoming.
As an anonymous writer said on a previous blog this year, Betsy isn't the only character to suffer from a redundant costume design: look at Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler. Even if one argues that the Hand uniform over-sexualizes Betsy, and that is a reason to change it, that argument isn't exclusive to Betsy alone: it includes other female Marvel characters that tend to wear revealing clothing, too.
best,
centurion
oh shut up anonymous. i hate how psylocke fans get so uptight when people mention their wishes for a few changes. you act like it's so wrong for people to want a little change. no other character has been in the same uniform for 20 years without almost no change at all. they could at least change the color scheme or texture of the way it looks. i welcome change so much because it's a visual art and it's definitely time to switch things up. it's nice if YOU personally love it but don't get mad if many fans would really be interested in change. obviously some people just want to see their favorite character do better.
no other character has been in the same uniform for 20 years without almost no change at all.
Gambit has.
you shut up Taylor Swift, even if she gets put in another outfit she's just going to go straight back to her hand one because the whole point of a superhero is an iconic recognizable costume. Remember the Reloaded or Exiles ones? Yeah they were such a HUGE success >___<
Calm down guys, we all want her to have a nice outfit, right?
I kinda agree with both sides: although I think the ninja buttfloss oversexualizes Psylocke too much, I understand now that it is her iconic look, after all. If people like her this way, okay, she can keep wearing a bathing suit. At least it's not like she's the only one with that kind of suit, when we think of She-Hulk or Carol Danvers.
However, keeping her in a blue bathing suit doesn't mean the Marvel artists couldn't upgrade it a little. I think it would be nice if she got a new bathing suit resembling her AoA suit (but without the red symbol and without the bandana and mask, since she's not a Mortal Kombat ninja), with an "X" symbol in her left boob. Come on, the least the Marvel artists could do is to add a "X" in her uniform; the way her outfit is nowadays, one can think she's not really a x-woman, but rather a random heroine living with the X-Men, like Carol Danvers (or was it Spider-Woman?) once did...
@Fsaker - Thank you! There is no need to be polemical here at all. We can all voice our opinions without leading to an insult match; this blog shouldn't be a sparring point for a contentious debate on Psylocke's outfit that leads to swearing at each other. We are all friends here. All points stated here concering this issue are valid and relevant.
I guess I would place myself between both extremes on the continuum. I do not abhor the Hand costume, - I love it - but would be open to seeing either a variant of the Hand costume or something entirely new for Betsy. I have a great affinity for the hand costume because that's the version of Betsy I fell in love with. You know, I was thinking about the New Exiles costume argument mentioned by Anonymous 3:56PM.
I don't know if I would call the New Exiles uniform a failure, but I would say that it didn't seem to have that large scale, captivating effect that the Hand uniform had when it was first unveiled.
If the New Exiles outfit truly wasn't popular and was a failure, then can we attribute its failure to the low readership of New Exiles or some combination of other factors? Maybe the "buttfloss" costume has left an indelible mark in the minds of Psylocke fans? I'm not sure why.
Of course, there are those Psylocke fans who argue passioantely for or against Betsy wearing the "buttfloss" uniform. Unfortunately, everyone isn't going to be content with Psylocke's Hand outfit. However, it seems as though many are.
It seems to me that when characters are seriously being considered for revival or reinvention, they are given new costumes, as Betsy did when she made the leap from British Telepath to Asian Ninja two decades ago. Currently, Betsy is being revived and reinvented, so who knows what the future holds for her and a new costume design. Let's wait for the Psylocke miniseries then discuss this issue again.
P.S. Fsaker - you are right about Psylocke not being the only Marvel female character with a revealing outfit. Look at Selene a.k.a. Black Queen on pane two of the previous blog :)
best regards to all,
centurion
@Fsaker - Hi. Another mark of consistency with female X-Men costumes over the years is that the majority of the major X-Women namely Storm, Psylocke, Jean, Emma, Rogue, etc. have had certain color motiffs attached to their costume variants. Green, Yellow and White for Rogue; Black and Gold for Storm; White for Emma; Purple and Blue for Betsy, etc. I guess the artists can work with these "established" molds and create new costumes as is deemed necessary. I am excited to see what Terry Dodson's concepts for new Psylocke outfits.
A lot of people liked her House of M costume and this new wetsuit. I think a variation of either would be pretty cool and still capture the essence of Psylocke.
@Sublimeclown - That's true, too. I did like the House of M costume.
Yeah, and the House of M costume was pretty similar to the Hand outfit, so I don't know why they didn't just keep that. Maybe without the dragon on the leg though.
I'm gutted she didn't go back to using her extreme costume, its the one I used to have her kick all my mates arses with on the PS2 beat em up game. I was looking through the issue of extreme that she died in the other day actually and she looks hot when shes battering Rogue in the danger room.
As long as she gets more lines, some witty banter with Emma and more relevance than iceman then im gonna be a happy man this winter.
ooh this is a touchy subject...um.... I agree with what everyone has to say. I'm more towards the "give her a new costume side" though, but i completely understand why they haven't yet. So i'll just wait patiently until they do. The one thing i will argue about is more lines though. THAT needs to happen asap!
@Centurion: big words make my head hurt! HAHAHAHA :P and ditto to EVERYTHING you said in here!
@Mikey - Thanks!
P.S. I am more concerned about Betsy's characterization more than her outfit.
Best,
centurion
I guess we will see how her character develops during the mini series, if it storms it on sales they have no reason not to give her more face time on the time. I'm all for developing the Emma realtionship in a positive manner, having her open up to Bets in a way she hasnt bothered with any other X-women. Has Betsy lost the ability to fly btw? Has her tk weakened as her her tp got stronger??
More questions for the mini i guess . . . .
@Silverbrock - Hi. Great questions! I want a positive Emma and Betsy relationship, too, but a slight bit of rivalry would be fun, just similar to the relationship between Ken and Ryu. I would like to see Bets and Emma in a possible Marvel vs. Capcom 3 as the female Marvel equivalent to Ken and Ryu in that sense stated above. Just a thought.
At any rate, regarding Betsy's ability to fly, I think that was a skill primarily used in New Exiles. As far as I know, there is no evidence that she has lost this ability permanently. I find that some of Betsy's telekinetic abilities such as flying tend to go dormant until a writer decides to utilize them in future storylines. This is the case with many characters.
best,
centurion
@ Centurion, you know i always like reading Betsy best when she is interacting with other main characters and events rather that just popping up in the odd square. Her and Rachel bonded well in the past and loved her negative reaction to the prospect of further Phoenix based scenarios. Storm has always been cool as Betsy is one of her wave of x-men as i see it, while I feel Xavier has always been real disrepectful to Betsys presence, never aknowledging her presence or absences (or deaths!). The only positive interactions i remember were in 'the end' series and 'ultimate' so this needs to be adressed by the writers soon aswell i feel. Get Bets on team Emma early, who else loves to bitch as much as the White Queen?
PS. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her to be on the UK release of MUA2 for the wii, its out on the 25th here.
@Silverbrock - Hey. Yes. I hope UK Wii owners get the version of the MUA2 with Betsy on it. Hopefully, it won't be region exclusive. I sincerely doubt that is the case. I will probably get the US Wii version after trading in one or two older games at Gamestop.
There was some good interaction between Betsy and Rogue during the late 80s and early 90s in Uncanny right before Rogue left the team then resurfaced on the new X-Men title at the time. But as someone pointed out on an earlier thread this year, it probably wasn't Rogue that Betsy conversed with, but the Ms. Marvel alter ego inside Rogue's body. I am not sure myself which is true. Maybe both are... I guess the friendship between Rogue and Psylocke was implied, but at other times, it seemed quite close. Rachel Summers certainly bonded well with Bets. I remember Betsy, Cannonball and Nightcrawler came to Rachel's rescue when the Shiar Death Commandos murdered her family. When Claremont briefly returned to Uncanny, Betsy bonded well with X-23, because of their mutual affinity for combat. I think the similarities between Betsy and Laura end there. They would make great allies on an X-Team, but close friends is entirely different IMHO. X-23 was was bio-engineered to be a bloodthirsty assassin with an apathy towards human life; on the other hand, Betsy is not, DEFINITELY NOT, but will defend herself with lethal force if her life is threatened. X-23 would probably use lethal force first, where Betsy would only consider it in dire circumstances.
best,
centurion
I just want more Betts lol
Yup :)
You know what i just noticed? Psylocke is doing the typical asian peace sign pose in that thumbnail.
I wonder who is doing the voiceovers for Betsy in MUA Wii?
I feel Betsy could be a really good anti X-force character for Angel and X-23. Someone needs to be more concerned with them becoming such blood thirsty monsters. Not to say i think she should be a preachy mum type but kill cold and calculatingly when necessary. I think a dislike for Domino would also be a nice mix, arguments over X23 etc. They didn't seem to like each other during that wetsuit fiasco.
Anonymous 11:34 PM - A very good point. I definitely advocated for X-23 and Betsy being in X-Force. I see Betsy acting as a foil for X-23's wanton rage.
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