Thursday, May 30, 2019

Leah Williams Unpacks ‘Age of X-Man: X-Tremists’

Adventures in Poor Taste! reached out to writer Leah Williams to learn more about all the thought and care that’s gone into making Age of X-Man: X-Tremists special to so many X-Fans.

AiPT!: X-Tremists is one of those series that sneaks up on you and stays with you long after you’ve put it down for many reasons. One is unrequited love and all the feelings that come with it. Everything Fred goes through after revealing his love for Betsy is so relatable. Did you draw on your own past experiences to help readers experience something that is universal while also feeling so deeply personal?

Williams: More so than anything else I’ve written in comics, and it’s very uncomfortable to me. I obfuscate everything, of course, I am not self-inserting because that’d be one of the shittiest things I could do with this opportunity. However, my bottom-line is just wanting to provide something authentic. I like an airtight narrative (and obviously that gets more complicated in a collaborative medium like comics; not all of the moving components, many of which aren’t your responsibility to interpret, will land together perfectly), so drawing from some emotional experiences I know are authentic just as a means to provide gravitas is something I made an exception for in Freddy’s case. He deserved the credibility at the expense of my discomfort.

The way readers reacted to the moment of him confessing his feelings was sort of harrowing and humbling at the same time. For me, what he describes is a part of the queer experience–like, knowing you are attracted to your same-sex friend while closeted and fearful of consequences should you speak up. You love them. But you also love just getting to be around them. So you choose the pain of longing instead of the pain of loss or rejection, and after awhile you convince yourself that you’re maybe even happy like this. It was for the best. Then you dig yourself a pain rut and remain inside it indefinitely.

When X-Tremists #2 came out I learned the extent to which that’s a shared experience, though, and the way I learned this was because maybe dozens (I want to say?) of people reaching out to me and admitting they’re each feeling that same pain. And they just live like this. I’m still staggered breathless by that day.

I was similarly unprepared for how Betsy’s confession in X-Tremists #3 would land. Someone tweeted “Thank you.” and only that to me, and after glancing at their profile and seeing them speak to their own audience with the specifics of what they were going through and why Betsy’s confession mattered to them, I knew what that “Thank you.” meant and it made me want to cry just looking at it. You know exactly what it means in that context. And then for the second time, I just had this day of learning the extent of just how many people who read it are all hurting with the same specific pain.

I don’t know where to put this knowledge. It’s definitely breaking my heart, and overall, the X-Tremists experience has changed me on some fundamental level. I didn’t know what the f--k I was doing with Fred’s confession, to be honest–I just wanted something real and raw, and ringing with sweetness. I mostly feel like I stumbled into significance with Fred’s confession. I knew it rang true for me; I never realized the extent to which it would for everyone else. And learning it leveled me.


AiPT!: In the regular Marvel Universe, Psylocke is often portrayed as one of the X-Men characters who is most confident in her own skin–even when the skin hasn’t been that of her original body. Where did the idea come from to explore Betsy’s body issues?

Williams: Betsy Braddock was only ever body-confident when inhabiting Kwannon. She’s never once been satisfied with the body she was born with. She expresses this a few times prior to her journey through the Siege Perilous but earliest, I think (?) is when she just indicates dissatisfaction with her body’s physical limitations compared to her brothers’. Then there are some circumstantial details that could or could not be used in a discussion of Betsy’s body image issues, depending on how you feel about it–she starts dying her hair purple. She starts modeling. These things aren’t indicative of anything in particular on their own. But later, Betsy allows Mojo to give her cybernetic eye implants and that’s when we really start to explore Betsy Braddock’s profoundly unsettling obsession with body modification. And after this, we get a truly harrowing glimpse into Betsy’s body dysmorphia: in the Uncanny X-Men Annual #11 by Chris Claremont and Alan Davis, each of the X-Men is presented with their heart’s one true desire via the Siege Perilous. The trick is not to fall for this trap, obviously, and they have to resist overwhelming temptation despite it being the one thing they’ve always desperately longed for. All of them succeed.

Except Betsy. And her dream, her most desperate desire, is to be physically perfect–an armored woman. Sleek and made of steel. Impenetrable and strong. She says she chooses this path to protect those that she cares for, but once this is undone by the end of the issue: cut to like a year later, in a different book, of a different run, but with same pre-Kwannon Betsy: she’s still chasing the “perfection” of this ideal body and has started wearing custom armor just to mimic it.

It’s the usage of the word “perfect,” plus her blatant disregard for her original body that alarms me the most. She’s only joyful and confident once she’s inside Kwannon. That’s when she’s finally as dangerous, lethal, vicious, strong and sexual as the way she’s always dreamed of being. Closer to perfection. She outruns all of her insecurities inside Kwannon, and sure enough, whenever she’s presented with the option of reverting to her old self throughout the years, Betsy still consistently chooses to remain inside Kwannon. Betsy’s body issues have been in the canon for a very long time. I find them terrifying and sad.

AiPT!: While there have been many surprising relationships in Age of X-Man, Blob and Psylocke seemed to take many fans by surprise. But forget the fans–what was the initial reaction to Blobsy in the X-Office from the wider Age of X-Man team?

Williams: [X-Men Senior Editor] Jordan’s polite and professional no matter what canon shenanigans (cananigans) I propose. I pitched Blob/Psylocke on the phone to him when we were just tossing ideas back and forth about the cast as I learned who was still available, and I found out Blob still was. Betsy was already locked in as someone I definitely wanted by this point, so it was considering Blob as a possibility and then realizing how this world would affect him uniquely when I started to see the pieces fall into place. Betsy’s deep-seated body dysmorphia + the chance to give Fred an environment that loves and supports him regardless of his size and the resulting changes of who he’d be in this world. To me, it was just a natural alignment.

I made this connection instantly but internally, so what I blurted out on the phone to Jordan was more like, “Oh, Blob’s available!?” and then two seconds later “Blob/Psylocke romance!” I think his instinctive reaction a polite “????” but after hearing me out, he was just like “Sure!” and then I questioned him for months about whether or not he was still sure.

14 comments:

Rahsaan said...

I like Leah’s thought process and her writing of these characters, but disagree with a few of her interpretations as they are flat out incorrect:

1. Betsy didn’t allow Mojo to do anything. She was unconscious after he kidnapped her and with Spiral implanted bionic eyes. The only thing she chose was to not pry them out and go blind again.

2. Betsy was never offered her previous body without coercion from a villain that would result in countless deaths, so she never just chose Kwannon’s body as a genuine choice. She did however choose to recreate her own body when she was sucked out of Kwannon’s by Styx.

Rahsaan said...

Also, the Siege Perilous had nothing to do with the metal Betsy. That was Horde and came before the amulet was introduced into X-Men lore.

Jaime Braz said...

I fully agree on the points you make Rahsaan. The only voluntary actions Psylocke has taken were to dye her hair purple, leave charter piloting to become a model and secret agent, find a place as a warrior among the X-Men and recreate her body using the soul energies from inside of Sapphire Styx.

With a reversed view all the nightmares Betsy fell victim to counting from Dr. Synne, Slaymaster, Mojo and Spiral to Hand, Vargas and Sapphire Styx are presented as voluntary in the interview. Misinterpretation of Betsy's trials to hone her inner warrior and make her stronger.

Jaime Braz said...

Betsy was blinded by Slaymaster involuntarily same way she was kidnapped by Spiral to be brainwashed into the Wildways reality hostess to lure children into Mojo's dimension turning them also by force into adult gladiators. Betsy was atrociously altered by Mojo to look like a miniature She-Mojo, something a sane Betsy wouldn't have let happen. As for her artificial eye implants, Betsy couldn't let go of them for the same reason any rational human being wouldn't want to live blind or dependent on telepathy to see.

The fight of Betsy against Horde was on an astral plane, therefore it revealed and granted her wish to be stronger to eliminate every obstacle in her way. Here the Crystal of Ultimate Vision belonging to the villain Horde is mistaken for the Amulet of Siege Perilous. An expected confusion because both grant the hearts' desires, but each in a different way. The Crystal of Ultimate Vision is a selfish entity and broken which seeks a champion of destruction to piece it together while the Amulet of Siege Perilous tugs the strings of probability to favor its wielder and make wishes come true with adverse outcomes.

Jaime Braz said...

The body dysmorphia and dysphoria are inserted because Betsy was always confident in her own skin and image as a British woman before the body swap by the Hand and Spiral. Betsy's simple wish was to become a capable fighter and not a Yellowface stereotype. On the contrary, the body swap should have caused Betsy a body dysmorphic disorder by living trapped in a foreign body for the rest of her life. This normalizes the body swap and makes it look benign when it's the most horrible body violation. Also it insinuates that Betsy isn't as beautiful as Kwannon when in reality the opposite is true.

Jaime Braz said...

Some comic pages showing the confidence Betsy exudes being herself

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dWjX45EGhRI/W7Ms6BHfJTI/AAAAAAAAGp0/XvglzjBQWMcKEh9yJ4GfbmAeRVPpsHLWQCHMYCw/s0/RCO016.jpg


https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8F8jKeuXrVY/W7Ms6-K6bgI/AAAAAAAAGqE/g05wrrM51BU0p1eb1eJel2TZVfRi8iEgwCHMYCw/s0/RCO017_w.jpg


and her struggle as violated, experimented on and altered inside Kwannon's body.

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a7JtCHdnLtw/W7Ms72UP9QI/AAAAAAAAGqU/gyCXxxGbSE8dRUmcROuJsu8XlsvpiHbSACHMYCw/s0/RCO018_w.jpg

Benjamin Hutton said...

I 1000% agree. Betsy always yearned to be more of a physical woman of action, but she never expressed any sort of dissatisfaction with her physical appearance, or lack of confidence. Certainly no body dysmorphia or eating disorder symptomology - textual or subtextual.

Quite the opposite actually. Betsy has always been a woman of confidence. This is the same woman that was bound and determined to prove herself capable to the X-Men, despite them all being generally dismissive of her to the point of rudeness - Her faith in herself and her capabilities never wavered.

And she did it all in a pink bathrobe. :P

It's this same confidence that made her believe she was just as capable as Brian to wield the Captain Britain powers. And you could also argue it was this abundance of confidence that led her to put on Linda's costume, taking on those powers, and then led to her being blinded by Slaymaster.

Indeed, if anything, you could argue that Betsy's overconfidence has sometimes been her undoing - And I know confidence in one's abilities, and body confidence can be very different things, but my point is that Betsy has never displayed a lack of confidence in any arena. It's just not part of her personality.

I would say that Betsy's physical appearance has often been irrelevant to her. And while she may have been more overtly sexual and dressed more revealingly in Kwannon's body, this was attributed on panel to the influence of Kwannon's personality via the mind merge - which makes perfect sense to me. The one point I do agree with is that acting out these urges in a different body would probably be liberating. Almost as if it doesn't really count, because it isn't really you.

I'd also say that pretty much every other X-Woman has been shown on panel being more concerned with their appearance than Betsy. The only time I can even think of her mentioning her looks/going shopping/fussing over clothes was when she cut off all her hair right before the Legion Quest crossover (a haircut I loved by the way!). And when discussing it with Jean she was overly blase about it. Someone obsessed with their body and appearance is unlikely to cut off "10 inches of hair" on a whim, and then be unconcerned after the fact.

Unfortunately - however well intentioned - this seems to be a case of a writer foisting their own issues and agenda onto a character where they don't belong.

If this is the story she wanted to write, then the perfect character for it was right there - Polaris.

Sadly she has now saddled Betsy with a raft of issues that don't connect to her history or previous behaviour, but will no doubt be picked up on by future writers as if they are canon.

I wish Age of X-Man would go away and no-one would ever mention it again.

Apologies for writing an essay!

I need to go admire the new Psylocke costume in Marvel Future Fight again to make me feel better! That's a confident, powerful, beautiful Psylocke.

Rahsaan said...

@Benjamin, 💯💜‼️‼️

You succinctly wrote everything that any of us who truly know this character are feeling. This is some hack writing, which is sad, because I love what Leah is doing, but it is not right for this character. You are correct that a character, like Lorna with a history of illness would have been better to have body issues.

Rahsaan said...

Leah’s interpretation is like what Benioff and Weiss did to Daenerys in this last season.

Jaime Braz said...

@Benjamin Hutton it isn't an essay it is the truth and I'm very thankful for what you have written which Elizabeth Braddock really represents.

Psylocke is NOT a self-loathing, smarmy and small person but a confident and resolute fighter who doesn't trip over perfectionism. Betsy isn't the petty character to hold grudges especially against herself for she is free like a butterfly, elegant yet deadly and she knows it.

Back when she was fragile without fighting skills she didn't flinch from terrifying enemies and pain, instead she hurled herself in harm's way to help and protect those she loved. It was also in her original Caucasian body that time and again cooked meals for the whole X-Men team suggesting she didn't suffer from any form of eating disorder. Again the assumption that all super-models must suffer from anorexia or bulimia is a misconception and generalization on behalf of the writer who being a woman I thought she knew better than that.

Leah Williams planting this wordy exposition in Betsy's mouth describing Kwannon as a goddess is wrong. For the fact that Betsy met her amidst violent mental conditioning and experimentation making her perception of Kwannon so warped that Betsy couldn't tell apart herself from the Japanese assassin.

This Age of X-Man Psylocke version is pure self-projection a sign of bad and lazy writing. It is acceptable to channel some personal experience as a writer to create a story and unacceptable to cram yourself and personal issues to the plot and characters so as to move the readers and elicit validation. Up to second issue of the X-Tremists I was approving of Williams' tone and direction but after the blunder and character assassination of Psylocke in issue three I checked out.

Polaris would be the perfect candidate for body dysmorphia being born with green hair and dying them constantly not to stand out in the normal crowd. A lost opportunity indeed.

Thanks again Benjamin for your contribution and dedication. With fans like you Psylocke doesn't need to worry.

Benjamin Hutton said...

Polaris was absolutely the perfect character for this story. It baffles me that they didn't use her for it.

Uncertainty, a lack of confidence, and worry over her place in the world has always been part of Lorna's character. As mentioned, she dyed her hair from a young age to hide her mutancy - and who knows what messages regarding body image that left poor young Lorna with. I imagine her parents, with the best of intentions, counselling Lorna to cover up her true self and fit in no matter the cost - a recipe for disaster in a young girl.

Then add in the various identity and control issues she suffered. From a robot Magneto convincing her she was Magneto's daughter, to Erik the Red outright controlling her, to Malice possessing and abusing her (and Malice/Lorna being physically and emotionally abused by Mr. Sinister as well!).

Joining and leaving various teams has often been motivated not by her own desires, but because she's wanted to please others. Often Havok, sometimes Magneto. And witness also her desperate desire to prove she was Magneto's child - despite his general indifference to her - as well as to get Pietro and Wanda to accept her as a sibling. Even though she already had a family that had raised her, she was desperate for the acceptance of people who demonstrated they didn't really care much about her.

Romantically Lorna has always struggled. Her relationship with Bobby was mostly a non-starter, and even though she left him for Havok I believe it has been stated on panel that she did so because she knew Iceman didn't truly love her (with retroactive reference to his sexuality). Alex abandoned her to go back to the X-Men (and basically forgot she existed until she turned back up as Malice), tried to kill her as Malice, and generally has been a pretty oblivious and shit boyfriend - His feelings for her have wavered on and off, he's abandoned her several more times and he even left her at the altar!

Lorna lived in a world often beyond her control, and expressed a desire to take back that personal autonomy. Many who suffer eating disorders relate that their extreme control over their food intake and weight was a direct response to feeling like their lives were outside their control - a way to take back some of that power. Something I’m sure is only magnified when your body has been controlled against your wishes or outright possessed.

On panel Lorna confesses directly to a psychiatrist about suffering from body dysmorphia, eating and exercise disorder issues. She even fashioned an extremely revealing costume to make a point about men being attracted to her - and specifically to get her psychiatrist to admit a sexual attraction to her - a clear indication that Lorna's sense of personal and sexual self-worth were so caught up in the opinion of others that she had to make a man she wasn't even interested in want her (and a health care provider that was treating her at that - she couldn't even handle a perceived rejection from someone whose professional and ethical boundaries specifically necessitated it).

And of course there are the periods where she has suffered bouts of literal madness (for lack of a gentler term).

So this narrative that has been thrust onto Psylocke? Tailor made for Lorna.

I love Polaris as a character, and part of the reason for this is because her story is one of a person overcoming adversity, abuse, and emotional and psychological problems to triumph - becoming a stronger, more empowered individual. At times she has faltered, or fallen backwards, but don't we all - and every time she has picked herself up and carried herself forward again.

Benjamin Hutton said...

Psylocke's story (and I know I’ve already said this above) is about a woman who already knows who she is and her place in the world. She isn't riddled with insecurity or self-doubt. No, her struggle is about getting the world to see her the way she already knows she is. And yes, she has also suffered and been knocked down - and she's dealt with each of these trials with strength, determination and an incredible self-belief that reflects who she is as a character.

And now I think I've written an essay! So much so that I exceeded the per post word count! Haha.

It always baffles me when professional writers fundamentally don't get who a character is. And it baffles me even more that the X-Men editorial offices are allowing the current terrible writing of every book and character in their stable. Almost everyone is being written out of character (though not to this heinous a degree).

The only book I've read lately, where a writer actually gets who these characters are and knows how to write an entertaining story is the Uncanny X-Men War of The Realms tie-in.

If you're not reading it you should be! And not just because Wolfsbane is still alive in it!

Jaime Braz said...

@Benjamin Hutton yes now you can call it an official dissertation about the psychologies of Psylocke and Polaris! If only we could send it immediately to the X-Office of Marvel comics for editors and writers to read and pin it on the wall as a constant reminder. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

Matthew Rosenberg as a writer can be a hit or miss but he does a good job in mini comic books. His depiction of Mirage and Karma were neat considering that Karma is also a complicated personality who sways from natural leadership and selflessness to selfishness and despair.

Kiki M. Ishola said...

Did you all miss Marvel putting Lorna Dane in a straightjacket in the Prisoner X book? Way to treat a vulnerable soul. To get it right, Betsy dyed her hair out of overconfidence and Lorna because of insecurity and fear. So Marvel to make a statement with a psychotherapy story should've bodyswapped Betsy with Lorna and back again each to experience the opposite mentality and Betsy heal Lorna's mental disorders.