#tbt: Uncanny X-Men #251 – As the Reavers approach the X-Men's position to attack, Psylocke opens the Siege Perilous and telepathically cajoles the X-Men to enter. Arriving too late, Pierce is furious at the loss of his prey. Written by Chris Claremont and art by Marc Silvestri. Read full summary here.
“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.
17 comments:
A sad moment, but beautifully written and illustrated. The Outback X-Men should have lasted longer than they did, but at least they provided great stories in their short time together.
But... why is Havok wearing only a loincloth? I know the Outback desert is hot and all, but come on, even Colossus is wearing some shorts. And Alex being nearly naked is particularly weird when he's next to Psylocke wearing a full body suit, armor and a cloak (who would imagine that a couple months later, she would be the one showing a lot of skin?)...
It's been a long time since Claremont delivered a memorable story, but no one can deny the man was bold back then. The Outback X-Men were quite different than everything before, and after they disbanded the stories became even bolder, with each issue showing a different group of X-Men (Rogue in Savage Land, Wolverine with Psylocke and Jubilee in Madripoor, Storm with Gambit in Cairo, some other X-Men in Muir Island...) until they slowly met each other and regrouped as the X-Men.
FSaker,
He is wearing loincloth because they'd just arrived back from he Savage Land where they were prisoners of the evil, madwoman, Zaladane, who made him wear that as some sort of sexual object. When they arrived back, Psylocke had a precognitive flash of the Revears annihilating them and that's what led to this. I really miss that aspect lf her power. Would trade that any day for the stupid psychic weapons arsenal she uses now. And it was cool that it was random and she had no control over it. The last time it was shown was during the Omega Red/Fenris/Mastu'o storyline in Adjectiveless' first volume.
I still posit that the best version of Betsy would be one where she is in her original body, with fully-powered telepathy (including psycho-blasts and random precognition), retained martial arts skills, her Anka-designed uniform, limited telekinesis and just her psychic knife/focused totality. No other crap like psychic katana/machine gun/mace/security code. If a writer in the upcoming new Marvel universe could deliver such a return to basics, I'd praise him or her as comic book messiah. Haha.
By the way, Alex was always sexually objectified. Do you recall what Inferno did to his uniform??
Yeah, the Goblin Prince uniform war weird. It was so feminine. But maybe that was the point(?)
As far as the outback era goes, I liked it but I also felt that it had run it's course after Inferno.
It just wasn't the same with Maddy gone.
And finally I wish we would get a writer who actually knows what ninja's were really like (read a book!). A ninja with TK would crush your internal organs before you knew what was going on...
I think a Psylocke and Havok reunion - I think with their experiences - I think he's suited for her more than Lorna or Wasp!
Comic Book Geek,
I totally agree! Ever since the X-Men (including Mags) caught him spying on them and he remarked on both her beauty and violent streak (if I recall correctly) when she suggested they kill him... There was always an uneasy, almost sexual tension between them. Do you recall when she entered his Outback room while he was undressed in bed, and he flipped out? And she assures him she knew he was under the covers and not fully exposed due to her mind-reading which pissed him off even more?
I would love for their tension to be re-explored. The last time they interacted was the very beginning of X-Tinction Agenda when he was amnesiac.
Rahsaan -
Outback X-Men are still my favorite X-Men. I love Havok (hate what Remender did to him) and love Psylocke (love what reminder did for her) - and I really think they belong together - are you curious about what's going to happen to psylocke post battle world? i'm curious about all the x-men - but of course mores about our betsy!
ComicBookGeek,
Scroll up to read my reply to FSaker on what I hope happens to Elizabeth in the new world order at Marvel.
This was the scene that first made me love Psylocke. 💕
Also, I am very old.
This has been my favorite post and set of comments I have read on here in a long time. Just kind of makes me sigh.
As far as Marvel romantic pairings go:
I love Havok and Polaris.
I love Angel and Psylocke.
But, man, I sure would love to see Havok and Psylocke together at least once!
How has this not happened? Truthfully, I hadn't thought about it myself, but now I really want to see it.
I think Claremont has lost his touch some, but it was nice reading this lil' bit again.
Much words. Much feels.
Vigmed and company,
Y'all'll dig these:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4MBNjJr67Gs/VHYS-zY5KEI/AAAAAAAAXLc/iPhtUU7lRs0/s1600/Uncanny%2BX-Men%2B%23249%2B-%2BPsylocke%2Bleader.png
http://www.littlestuffedbull.com/images/2013/psylocke/uxm219/uxm219d.jpg
http://www.littlestuffedbull.com/images/2013/psylocke/uxm219/uxm219e.jpg
http://s286.photobucket.com/user/Bedlam_2008/media-full/psylocke%20only/112.jpg.html
Digressing a bit...
Every X-Man Ever! As a long-time reader, I love this. The music is epic! and to be honest, this summarizes things way better than those abysmal animated shows and live-action films!! And LMAO at them totally omitting the Kwannom body and Hand bathimg suit. I guess someone at IGN also loves British Betsy:
http://thestashed.com/2015/01/20/every-x-man-ever-video-chronicles-every-mutant-in-marvel-comics-history/
They missed Deadpool, Bishop and probably bunch of others. They also implied that Betsy had some of her powers like the psychic knife from the get go. Hacks.
J77,
I think they included Bishop. They dis miss Madelyne Prior, a pivotal member of the Outback Team!
To be fair, Deadpool and Madelyne weren't official X-Men. Maddy acted more as the X-Men's Oracle (personally, I would consider her as a X-Woman, but I can see why whoever did this video didn't), and while Deadpool even got a X-uniform, the other X-Men never considered him as a real X-Man - and he left the team the very same day he "joined" them (...or maybe a little later, as I remember him and Loa fighting Cortez in the Necrosha event).
Anyway, there are some wrong facts in it (for example, Fantomex is listed as an X-Man during the Morrison era, but back then he was just an independent ally - he only joined the team in the Fraction era); nevertheless, it's a great video! And I'm happy to see that ForgetMeNot was not forgotten (sorry for the pun, but I HAD to say it)!
best thread on this blog ever! i enjoyed reading all of your comments - i too would love to see betsy back in her british body - and wold love an amalgamation of her powers - but a little less crazy now.
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