Saturday, November 28, 2009

Psylocke #2 & Uncanny X-Men #518 Previews

Cover by: David Finch
Writer: Christopher Yost
Pencils: Harvey Tolibao
Inks: Paul Neary
Colored by: Brian Reber
Lettered by: VC's Joe Sabino

The Story: Ninjas. Thugs. Armed bodyguards. Psylocke will cut through them all to exact her revenge upon Matsu’o—the man responsible for making her the ninja warrior that she is. Without provocation, he’s done the unthinkable. And Psylocke will ensure that he does not go unpunished.

In Stores: December 3, 2009


Cover by: Terry Dodson
Writer: Matt Fraction
Pencils: Terry Dodson
Inks: Rachel Dodson
Colored by: Justin Ponsor
Lettered by: VC's Joe Caramagna

The Story: Cyclops takes a voyage into the head of Emma Frost in hopes of containing the horrifying piece of the villainous Void that has been stuck there since Utopia. Can they possibly defeat the awfulness that has haunted the most powerful being in the Marvel U? Tensions are rising on Utopia as the X-Men deal with the new members of their team and the fact that the island is… well… sinking. And Wolverine and a classic pal take one of the craziest journies you’ve ever seen.

In Stores: December 3, 2009



37 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hahaha I love Betsy's " From the mind of someone like her" and Emma not even acknowledging Betsy's prescence. I was really hoping for another "Silence Psychic Rescue in Progress" with Xavier and Betsy, not sure its going to happen like that though.

Since when is Emma Omega? Scotts not projecting Jean on Emma much is he lol.

Anonymous said...

next week will be good! <3

HomesickAbortion said...

It's not Scott calling Emma and Omega Telepath; it's the Professor.

Anonymous said...

No no i meant the way Scott worded Emma losing control sounded exactly like he was talking about Jean.

I never knew Emma was considered Omega class, I didnt even think Xavier was Omega class.

Anonymous said...

Emma has done some amazing telepathic things in the past 5 years so it wouldn't surprise me if she has gone Omega - I think she would surpass non-Phoenix Jean with regards to telepathic ability.

Nice to see Betts involved - I am loving all her exposure

La Betsy said...

December is the month we got toons of Betsy everywhere...
Her own mini, Uncanny, Legacy...
Emma was powerful, i agree, but Craption has made her Omega by his own since Uncanny has became Cyclops and Emma's shows.
I need those two to get holidays, im sick of them...
I hate them and i hate Craption, lol
Im kidding ;)
Btw still loving Yost & Tolibao goodness, cant wait to get #2 next week.

centurion said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
centurion said...

@La Betsy: Hey there. Yup :)Dodson's Betsy is looking better and better, and she is also more Asian looking under Dodson's pencil which is a major plus. This is good art on Dodson's part. I think he has a sincere desire to draw Betsy well and make her character shine. I heard a rumor that Betsy will make an appearance on the Marvel Super Heroes squad show. If this is true, that's good, but I would prefer her as a recurring character in Wolverine and the X-Men.

Is Betsy probing Emma's mind along with the Professor?

Anonymous said...

Hopefully something will go wrong and Betsy will have to go in and save all 3 of them ^___^

Its stupid, cant Emma just be a brilliant and skilled telepath does she have to be some uber powerful Omega goddess. Surely Omega means pure power potential and not just something anybody can become if they do cool things.

centurion said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
centurion said...

@Anonymous 10:38PM - Yes. Betsy could be the "Rescue Psychic." She is certainly one of the most capable and experienced psychic mutants in the Marvel universe. I have a gut feeling that something romantic may develop between Betsy and Cyclops.

Mr. Hellfire said...

@ first Anonymous I think your reading that wrong, Betsy was saying as in Emma's a special case, not insulting her especially since Scott would've said something.
@ most recent Anonymous
Indeed, I always liked the idea that she wasn't uber-powered up. It makes it so fights with her are still interesting because things get boring when someone can just take care of a problem in two seconds, no matter how great.

Anonymous said...

It doesnt make sense that she is Omega all of a sudden. She wasnt able to contain the Phoenix. I dont know why I get the feeling that Fraction does not really like Betsy and is being forced to use her, so he is making her the "third" line of psychic defense.

What does Omega Muntant mean anyway?

Alexander said...

Glad Dodson's back on the art for Uncanny. Not a fan of Land at all. Can't wait for issue 2 for the mini.

Alexander said...

Omega mutant means that they can pretty much use their powers without exhaustion on a full scale global scale. Examples are Rachel Grey, Ice Man, Elixir, Franklin Richards ,Scarlet Witch and Vulcan. There were only a handful of Omegas before M-day and even less after so I don't know if they've redefined what it means to be Omega now that they're so few mutants left or is it just Faction making Emma shine as per usual.

Emma has never been categorized as Omega in anything official before. She is good at the psychic surgery thing that Xavier was talking about as well as having a myriad of tricks and refined skill with the telepathic power level she does has.

centurion said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
centurion said...

@Mr. Hellfire - Hey. Always like reading your commentary. Just because we apply the appellation of "Super" to our beloved heroes doesn't make them infallible or invincible in a fight. I would agree that seeing Emma as an Omega in a battle would be simply not worth any time. In general, what makes comic book fights intriguing (in my humble opinion) is the ability of heroes to balance their strengths/weaknesses, experience, skills, and talent against those of their foes. One can't always be expected to win... Although mutants are super powered, they aren't gods. Even Gods in the Marvel universe can be defeated.

Anonymous said...

Betsy not knowing how to perform psychic surgery? I guess as a telepath, writers are unfairly making her an idiot. So far the last telepathic trick Betsy did was hitting Juggernaut with a psycho blast something other telepaths are incapable of.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, but Betsy's telepathy is limited right now. Her main power is still TK, and her TP is nothing more than a good bonus.

Anonymous said...

True Betsy right now is a limited telepath but ever since she became a ninja, she has always been reliant on her psychic knife and not on other telepathic tricks- a common mistake writers usually portray her. That's why she sort of played second fiddle to other telepaths.

Anonymous said...

Fraction is only calling Emma "Omega-level" because he has no idea how to class a Telepath's power level. Telepaths are classed in "Orders". So he should be calling her a "High Order Telepath".

Anonymous said...

Sky

Thanks for the clarification on Omega, very helpful.

I guess Xavier and Mangeto are Omega?

Not to keep beating up on Fraction, but I think this is where he really shows his weakenss as a writer. I don't know who created "Omega" but it was probably to classify mutants like Jean who are off the charts. I think if you keep adding to the list than it diminishes it imapact as a concept. Making Emma "Omega" was kind of like when Claremont gave Betsy all kind of major powers like "smashing mountains TK" flying, invasability and the ability not to be manipulated physically. It's to much, its like their protecting their favorites.

I think what makes both Betsy and Emma interesting was that neither one of them was the most powerful, but they were clever in the way they use their limited powers.

Mr. Hellfire said...

@ Anonymous'
I've heard resistance towards calling Xavier and Magneto the omega class. Omega isn't a title of final evolution, it's a group of very powerful mutants and it's generally limited to a very few who can do a LOT of damage with their powers. Jean, Elixir, Legion seems to me fit in. But the goal should not be to get all the mutants to "evolve" towards that since omega mutant storylines are usually subject to them being overpowered and then they're often overlooked later because they're over-juiced, no one knows how to use them in a fair fight.

Most recent Anonymous, agreed, better as limited.
And honestly, Fraction can't write and that's his problems. He's some frat/fan boy mix of horrible and unoriginal.

Alexander said...

@ Mr.Hellfire

Yeah Magneto was strong especially when he had Cortez to increase his powers. But now with his age & the fact that his powers we're artificially restored recently he may not be too powerful. Xavier has been said to be Omega before but it's been stated that Jean dwarfs him so wouldn't that make him something else? Or it could be since at her strongest Jean's considered a god.

I like Betsy with her tricks and using her tk to enhance her fighting skills. I don't want her to be some super power house, it's the limits & strengths that she's had in both bodies make her unique. I like Jean also but writers have to be so careful when they use her it gets annoying.

Xypha said...

Hi Everyone!

Here's some fun info about Omega-level mutants.

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Omega-level_mutants

"...Omega-level include immortality, extreme manipulation of matter and energy, high psionic ability and the potential to exist beyond the boundaries of the known physical universe."

There is about a dozen of them listed on this link. Xavier is on the list but Emma is not.

Anonymous said...

If you look at Psylocke fighting in her pages shes got tk streams coming off all her strikes, that is such an awesome attention to detail. Its how I have wanted to Psylocke to utilize her Tk from day one, precise and deadly, none of this mountain smashing thuggery!

FSaker said...

About Psylocke #2: it looks great! Matsu'o sucks, though, in two issues he already destroyed Betsy's original body and killed the Arab guy's acquaintance. The only problem is that Tolibao doesn't draw Betsy's current body differently from her former one; however, that wouldn't be a problem if Yost reminded us in this series that Betsy and Kwannon didn't just switch bodies, but Spiral actually mixed their genetic codes to make they look similar to each other. That's something everyone (writers, editors and even readers) seem to forget.

About Uncanny X-Men #518: looks interesting, but it sucks how Fraction tries to force us to believe that Emma Frost is an Omega-level telepath (besides him forcing us to believe that Emma Frost was always a good person working towards mutantdom's interests). And it's too bad that Betsy won't actually do much in this psychic surgery, she'll only have an active role if Scott and Emma release the Void (and let's face it, Fraction won't show Scott and Emma messing it up). But at least she gets to have some teacher-student time with Professor X, something she misses since forever (their personal interactions were rare, from what I remember), so yay! If Scott continues to treat Xavier like trash, I hope Betsy psychic-knifes Cyclops in the head and stands up for Charles; the poor old man needs someone to defend him there...

Anonymous said...

amen brother, Betsy and Beast should stand by Xavier.

Anonymous said...

that cover is fucking ridiculous. i know it's psylocke and all, but REALLY? is it necessary to have her complete ass in the air and exposed as well as give her a pencil thin waist and huge double d's. i hate art that makes her look like a fetish.

FSaker said...

^
I agree. Finch's covers for the other issues of the mini are all great, but the #2 issue's cover couldn't objectify her more...

Let's hope this issue also sells out and gets a second printing with a new, more decent cover.

centurion said...
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centurion said...

FSaker - A very informative post! I had forgotten that Spiral altered Kwannon and Betsy's original bodies to make them appear similar. I was re-reading X-Tinction agenda trade today and the events you describe had to occur prior to the events in X-Tinction. Betsy had some great dialogue and strong roles back then. Even though she was often a secondary character, she kicked butt and was no pushover. Jim Lee certainly did her justice, and Claremont's writing of Betsy at that time was stronger that most of Fraction's is today nearly 20 years later.

centurion said...

*FSaker - Hi. Assuming you are not already aware, a good place to buy back issue comics is milehighcomics.com. I got many of the old 80s and 90s Uncanny issues when Betsy was a new member of the team. When I have the money, another thing I do is try to purchase some of these back issues as research material for some of the commentary that often refers to issues of the past.

Best,
centurion

alejo said...

Emma Omega ? LOL I guess someone is playing favorites here !

Anonymous said...

Yeh I think he is playing favorites. I have little proof to back this up, but it's almost as if they are forced to use Psylocke and are trying to put her in a third string status so as not to be a threat to Emma in any of the books, since it turns out Betsy is in almost everything these days.

I think when you read those old books from the 90's you can see that for a while, that Betsy was the original "Ice Telepath" and kind of a model for what made Emma so popular later on. There was even that rivilry between Jean and Betsy regarding Scott in the brief moment where Betsy was kind of seducing Scott for kicks. I think the Jean/Emma/Scott triangle was a natural extention of that idea.

centurion said...

@Anonymous 8:33AM - Yes, that's a good point. I like your thinking. Many of us on this blog have made similar remarks about Emma now being what Betsy could have been.

Anonymous said...

I think Sage is more true to what British Betsy was than Emma. Emma can be nasty sarcastic and superficial and i love it thats shes not 100% a good guy, Betsy was cold and ruthless but she wasnt a bitch or selfish. I like Betsy being ruthless and badass but I do enjoy her playful attitude Claremont wrote so well when she got resureccted.