Psylocke: Ninja #2 Preview

Psylocke: Ninja #2
Written by: Tim Seeley
Art by: Nico Leon, Dono Sánchez-Almara
Cover by: Derrick Chew

The Story:
ELEKTRA MUST DIE! The Hand has given Psylocke a brutal order: kill Elektra! Will Psylocke be able to resist the Hand’s control? And even if she can, how will she evade Elektra’s wrath?!

Release Date: February 25, 2026

X-Men: Outback #1 Cover by Russell Dauterman

In the late ’80s, Chris Claremont and Marc Silvestri packed up the X-Men and dropped them straight into the Australian desert. The result was the legendary Outback Era, a wild stretch of Uncanny X-Men where Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Colossus, Dazzler, Havok, Psylocke, and Longshot operated in secret while the world believed they were dead. It was intense. It was dramatic. It was sun-scorched mutant mayhem.

Fans have loved that era for decades. Now it finally gets a new chapter.

This June, writer Steve Orlando and artist Stephen Segovia return to the Outback in X-Men: Outback, a five-issue limited series featuring covers by Russell Dauterman. The creative team is diving back into the dusty headquarters where the X-Men protected humanity from the shadows and barely kept themselves from imploding along the way.

The series explores why the team chose the Outback as their base, how simmering tensions nearly shattered the group, and which familiar foe threatens to expose their greatest secret. Expect big personalities, high-stakes action, and the kind of interpersonal fireworks that made this era unforgettable.

For Orlando, the project is personal. The Outback was his entry point into the X-Men, discovered through flea markets and spinner racks. The bold costumes, raw emotion, and sense of reinvention left a mark that never faded. Now he gets to tell stories in the very era that made him a lifelong fan.

Segovia brings the grit and energy, while Dauterman sets the tone with striking covers that channel the spirit of late ’80s mutant chaos. Readers can look forward to classic faces, new dangers, unexpected connections, and a few romantic complications that feel right at home in this period.

If you ever wanted more stories from the days when the X-Men were presumed dead but more alive than ever, your ticket back to the desert arrives this June.

X-MEN: OUTBACK #1 (OF 5)

Written by STEVE ORLANDO

Art by STEPHEN SEGOVIA

Cover by RUSSELL DAUTERMAN

On Sale 6/24

Marvel Returns the X-Men and Psylocke to Australia With 'X-Men Outback' in June

BleedingCool: Announced at ComicsPRO by Marvel's David Gabriel is the news that the next Marvel retro series will be X-Men: Outback, returning to the time after the Fall Of The Mutants when the X-Men hid in the Australian outback and discovered the teleporting Aboriginal mutant, Gateway. And Steve Orlando and Stephen Segovia will be returning the mutants down under.

David Gabriel says, "Steve gave me some notes this morning to tell you what's happening in this book. You are going to see the first time that Sabertooth appeared in the Australian outback. You're gonna discover a secret branch of the Rasputin family bloodline. You're gonna meet the new character, the God Of The Rivers. And he's going to be introducing the all-new Australian version of the Morlocks, and he's also bringing the first appearance of a new character, Cliffhanger."

The X-Men Outback period ran from 1988 to 1990 in Uncanny X-Men during Chris Claremont's long run as writer. The X-Men had appeared to sacrifice themselves and die while battling the demonic entity known as the Adversary in Dallas. The world believed the team was gone forever. In reality, the goddess Roma resurrected them and magically transported the survivors to a remote, abandoned mining town in the Australian Outback. This gave the team a fresh start: they were presumed dead, allowing them to operate in secrecy without the constant scrutiny or attacks that came with their old Westchester mansion base. The X-Men took over the high-tech headquarters of the Reavers, a gang of vicious, cybernetically enhanced mercenaries and thieves who were originally tied to the Hellfire Club. The town, called Cooterman's Creek, looked like a dusty ghost town on the surface but hid advanced computer systems and defenses. Roma's magic made the base invisible to machines, spells, and detection, giving the team true anonymity. The team included Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Psyclocke, Colossus, Havok, Dazzler, Longshot, and saw Gateway and Jubillee join the team. It lasted only about 20-plus issues, but it introduced lasting concepts like Genosha and showcased a more mature, world-weary X-Men.

Psylocke: Ninja #5 Solicitation

Psylocke: Ninja #5 (Of 5)

Tim Seeley (W) • Nico Leon (A)

Cover by: Derrick Chew

Versus Elektra Variant Cover by: Inhyuk Lee

Variant Cover by: Gerald Parel

• Psylocke and Elektra must put aside their differences to save Jubilee from the Snakeroot Clan!

• But can these two murderous assassins overcome their bloodlust and fulfill their heroic destinies?

• And will Psylocke’s past with the Hand come back to bite her…or to help her?

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Psylocke: Ninja #3 Variant Cover by Taurin Clarke

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Take Action: Let Marvel Know You Want More Betsy Braddock

With the strong momentum from the success of Psylocke: Ninja #1, now is the perfect time for fans to make their voices heard! 

We’ve added a simple button below that lets you send a pre-written email directly to the X-Office and Marvel editors with just one click.

We strongly encourage you to personalize your message by adding your favorite image of Betsy Braddock in the email as well — visuals can help grab attention and show just how passionate and engaged her fanbase is.

Let’s take advantage of this moment and show Marvel that there is real, active demand to see Betsy Braddock back in the main X-books where she belongs. 💜

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Psylocke: Ninja #1 Becomes Marvel’s Top-Selling Comic of the Week

Bleeding Cool: Psylocke: Ninja #1 was the best-selling Marvel comic of the week, ranking just behind DC’s Absolute Batman Annual 2025 on the Bleeding Cool Weekly Bestseller List. Alongside Rogue and X-Men, Psylocke: Ninja #1 helped place three X-books among the week’s top ten.

The Bleeding Cool Bestseller List is based on actual in-store sales data from over a hundred comic shops, primarily in North America and the UK, collected via ComicHub. The chart reflects what readers actually purchased from Wednesday through Saturday, rather than publisher orders.

Strong demand has also led to second printings, scheduled for March 4, including:

• A second printing cover by Artgerm
• A 1:25 variant cover by Dike Ruan

The quick move to second printings confirms Psylocke: Ninja #1 as one of Marvel’s standout launches of the season.

2nd Printing Variants:

Psylocke: Ninja #4 Solicitation

Psylocke: Ninja #4 (Of 5)

Tim Seeley (W) • Nico Leon (A)

Cover by: Derrick Chew

Versus Elektra Variant Cover by: Inhyuk Lee

Psylocke Variant Cover by: C.F. Villa

Psylocke Virgin Variant Cover by: C.F. Villa

• Danger comes for Psylocke from every angle!

• How will Psylocke survive when both Elektra and the Snakeroot Clan attack?

• And how can she protect Jubilee, when she lands in the crosshairs of Psylocke’s enemies?

Psylocke: Ninja #1 Art

Psylocke: Ninja #1 Spoilers

Spoilers: Fearing the inevitable slaughter of the X-Men at the hands of the cyborg Reavers, Psylocke uses her telepathic powers to push her teammates into the Siege Perilous, a mystical artifact that offers the possibility of a new life. Choosing rebirth over death, she follows them through the portal herself, hoping to escape an existence shaped by the expectations of others. She emerges on the shores of Okinawa, Japan, where she is discovered by local fishermen. Mentally disoriented, Psylocke’s thoughts begin to project directly into their minds: she speaks first in English, then in Japanese, and finally in Uchinaaguchi—the nearly forgotten native language of the islands. Realizing she is a mutant, the fishermen decide to turn her over to the criminal organization that controls the island: the Hand.

Meanwhile, on an island in the South China Sea, within a Hand fortress, Matsu’o Tsurayaba—a high-ranking member of the organization—recounts his most recent assignment from the Jonin. His target had been the crime lord Nyoirin Henecha, who employed Kwannon, Matsu’o’s lover, as his personal assassin. Neither Matsu’o nor Kwannon was willing to yield, and the mission culminated in a brutal confrontation. Matsu’o is now haunted by Kwannon’s death, having watched her fall from a cliff during their battle. Seeing an opportunity to “save” the woman he loved, Matsu’o proposes a dark plan to the Jonin. Initially rejected, the Jonin later reconsiders and ultimately agrees. The Hand intends to transplant Psylocke’s powerful telepathic mind into Kwannon’s physically perfect but brain-dead body, creating a loyal “masterpiece”: a psychic ninja engineered to serve the Hand’s interests and capable of standing against American superheroes. The Jonin warns Matsu’o that remnants of Kwannon’s original self may surface within Psylocke’s discarded body during the process—and that if Matsu’o fails, the resulting being will be used as collateral.

Some time later, in the snowy mountains of northern Japan, the transformed Psylocke trains relentlessly, demonstrating her new lethality by charging a bear and hurling it away with a single devastating kick. Declaring that she has scouted the region and is ready, she prepares for her final test of loyalty. Matsu’o leads her to a temple perched atop a sheer cliff, where she is ordered to eliminate the Hand’s greatest enemies: the Chaste, a mystical martial arts order that once allied with the Hand before turning against them. Matsu’o warns her that the Chaste possess something stolen from the Hand—something Psylocke must not recover, but utterly destroy.

As the loyal Psylocke begins her ascent up the cliff, she ruthlessly suppresses intrusive thoughts tied to her former British identity, dismissing memories of her past life as meaningless debris. Yet fragments still surface: the image of throwing a snowball at a blond British boy, or the sensation of a cooing newborn clinging to her chest. Despite these lingering psychic echoes, she accepts her new role and forbids herself from probing deeper into her true history. Watching from afar, Matsu’o observes his creation with pride, convinced he has forged the ultimate loyal assassin.

Within the Chaste’s fortress, members Stone and Palm reflect on how close the world once came to falling to the Hand. Palm, whose training focuses on healing arts, speaks of tending to a particular “patient.” Psylocke infiltrates the stronghold with cold efficiency, scaling frozen cliffs and swiftly defeating Stone. She is then confronted by other members of the Chaste—Flame, Wing, Shaft, Claw, and Star. Palm retreats to her patient, whom she must protect while continuing the healing process. Psylocke’s true target is finally revealed: Elektra Natchios, lying unconscious and defenseless within a healing pool.