"Sword Of The Braddocks" Sales

According to the estimates of the sales by Diamond U.S. to comic specialty stores during March 2009, Psylocke's one-shot sold a quantity of 20,068 copies. It was an increase from New Exiles #18, which had sold 17,925 copies back in February. Nightcrawler's one-shot, also released in March, sold 24,316 copies.

Scott Clarks shows "Sword of the Braddocks" Art

Artist Scott Clark has uploaded the first three pages of "Sword of the Braddocks" without any lettering over his DeviantArt page. His art is amazing!

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.

X-Men: Sword of the Braddocks Art

X-Men: Sword of the Braddocks Spoilers

Spoilers: Everytime Slaymaster kills an alternate version of Psylocke, Betsy gets slammed by a resonance wave of energy in the Crystal Palace. She thinks it's time to bring this to an end. Betsy asks Sage to run a hologram simulation of Slaymaster so she can train, however this simulation ends up defeating her. Psylocke runs away, but Sage catches up with her and share some words. While both are at it, the Crystal Palace shows them a vision of Slaymaster killing Brian, Betsy's twin brother. Psylocke decides to go back to the 616 timeline to stop him. After spending the whole day in London, Slaymaster finally shows up. They fight, but Slaymaster easily beats Psylocke. That's when Captain Britain arrives to help her, but Betsy says this is her fight and asks her brother to lert her finish this by herself. Psylocke beats the crap out of Slaymaster, so he tries to run away, but Betsy breaks his teleporter. She says this is a challenge to the death and finally kills him once and for all. Brian and Betsy talk for a bit and hug each other. In the end, she returns to the Crystal Palace and reunites with Sabretooth, kissing him.

X-Men: Sword of the Braddocks #1 Preview

Cover by: Alex Garner

Writer: Chris Claremont
Pencils: Scott Clark
Colored by: David Beaty
Lettered by: Tom Orzechowski

The Story:
Before she can come home to the X-Men, Betsy Braddock has one final mission — settle the score once and for all with the man who’s been hunting her across the multiverse. If she hopes to survive, Psylocke’s going to have to use every weapon at her disposal -- and possibly cross a line no X-Man ever has before…

In Stores: March 25, 2009

Sword of the Braddocks: Changes

Pages: According to Previews, X-Men: Sword of the Braddocks, solicited as 40 pages, will now include 26 pages of all-new story along with an 11-page reprint from X-Men: Unlimited #47.

Release date: "Sword of the Braddocks" was supposed to be released on March 4th, but it has now been pushed back to March 25th.

Pencils/Colors: Wil Quintana will no longer do the colors for this issue, Dave Beaty will. Scott Clark is still doing the pencils though. According to their official board: "Dave and Scott are officially doing colors and inks, but officially Scott's penciling and Dave and Scott are doing the colors (unofficially I think they both are doing inks, too). It's more of a digitally painted story, kind of like what we did with Stargods." If anyone is interested, Scott Clark's DeviantArt page has some "Stargods" artwork.

"Sword of The Braddocks" Cover Process

Artist Alex Garner has showed some of the process for the "Sword of The Braddocks" one-shot cover over Deviantart. Here are his comments about it and the final cover without any tags:

"Just thought I'd show some of the process for this cover. I begin with the traditionally done pencil sketch submitted to Marvel for approval, then I work on the values and lighting in grayscale, and finally I add color and texture. In this particular case, with just a single character close-up, it wasn't very painstaking. I adjust and tweak the structure as I paint. If you have the luxury of time, you can assess flaws much more objectively by setting the work aside and not looking at it for a few days."

Chris Claremont on "Sword of The Braddocks" One-Shot

Chris Claremont talks about "Sword of The Braddocks" one-shot on sale in March 2009 over ComixFan. In his own words:

"I wouldn't be surprised to see a certain younger twin / sibling on-scene for the story. I also would keep my eyes peeled for some surprises along the way -- not simply in this story but also in the final issue of Exiles."

It seems that a Braddock family reunion is on its way!

March 2009 Solicits: Psylocke's Return!

X-Men: Sword of the Braddocks

Written by: Chris Claremont
Penciled by: Scott Clark
Cover by: Alex Garner
Before she can come home to the X-Men, Betsy Braddock has one final mission — settle the score once and for all with the man who’s been hunting her across the multiverse. If she hopes to survive, Psylocke’s going to have to use every weapon at her disposal -- and possibly cross a line no X-Man ever has before…

Note: It's here! Finally after all those months full of rumours and speculations Psylocke's return to the X-Men and Marvel Universe begins with this one-shot on sale in March! And the best thing about it is that it's 40 pages! According to the solicit, this is probably the last chapter of the Slaymaster saga and probably the last Claremont-written Psylocke story for a while. As for the coming months, let's keep and eye out for Uncanny X-Men. ;)