#tbt: X-Men #21 – As the X-Men question her loyalty, Psylocke tries to remind her teammates that when it comes to trust she should have earned it by now. Enraged, the British Betsy attacks Psylocke, saying that Psylocke is lying about who she is. Xavier stops them and is then taken aside by Wolverine. Wolverine explains to Xavier that his senses tell him that both women are Betsy Braddock, and both are not. They both agree that the only way to answer their questions is to go to Lord Nyoirin's house for the answers. In Tokyo, the X-Men use Nyoirin's absence to their advantage and sneak into his house, only to discover a picture of Psylocke, labelled Kwannon, in Lord Nyoirin's study. As the X-Men digest the revelation of the painting they are surprised by the Silver Samurai, who slices the Beast's back with his sword. Written by Fabian Nicieza and Art by Brandon Peterson. 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.
9 comments:
Was the story convoluted? Yes. Did things not make sense? Yes.
But Revanche is a great character, with a great visual, and a very clear arc.
As much as I'd love for them to bring her back I'm sure it would ruin what I love about her.
I read these issues about every six months.
I say Psylocke is my favourite character, but somehow a character that only appearead in 12 issues twenty years ago is my real favourite.
Benjamin, really? It's curious how people can have completely different opinions. I think she was completely superfluous. While I'm a huge supporter of Psylocke being made white again as I find her current incarnation problematic on several fronts in terms of sexism and racism, I really found it less annoying when it was just her body slightly altered versus the creation of a throwaway "ethnic" character who served no purpose other than proving that Nicieza and Lobdell were complete hacks with zero knowledge and respect for the characters and lore they had the privilege of inheriting.
Nicieza was arguably the best writer from the nineties,his negligence with Claremont's Acts of Vengeance tie-in is no reason to call him a hack.As superfluous and problematic as Revanche may have been,I thought it was interesting how courageous she stood up to the Legacy Virus and,having part of Psylocke's persona,it showed in part how Betsy would have coped with that predicament,had she been in her place.Moreover,Psylocke enjoyed some decent bonding moments with the likes of Beast,Jean,Warren,Jubilee,Xavier and so many others under Nicieza's pen.
I actually like Revanche as a character as well. She had a very tragic and bittersweet story arc. I wouldn't mind seeing her again.
The way I see how thinks shold be:
1. Psylocke/Betsy back in her original body, Telepathy, Telekinesis, psychic weaponry and ninja skills
2. Revanche/Kwannon back in her Asian body, ninja skills, with only her original mutant power which was empathy. Black hair and an uniform that doesn't resemble Psylocke in any way, shape or form aka not blue/purple/pink/magenta, etc. That is, everything to make her different from Betsy. I think she could really be a great addition to the team without being Psylocke 2.0
I want Psylocke "home" again. I want Revanche alive again, AND as her own woman.
We're past the days of appropriation, and using cultures, without using the people of those cultures in their own stories.
Psylocke still has a body on Otherworld that she can use, Revanche is waiting to live again. We could have gotten that under Cullen Bunns now defunct Otherworld arc.
BUT Marvel is in the mode of everything has to be an event, so true character development is put aside for event after event after event.
Kwannon really had this great an impact on you all? She basically had no characterization save for being angry the entire time she was with the X-Men save for her very last appearance where she had Matsu'o kill her. When she made peace with herself and with Elizabeth and her own fate, then she showed some development, but certainly not enough to make me be remotely interested in her as a long-term character or want her around. She is a contrived plot device and should stay gone. Elizabeth should get her body back and the Kwannon body should die with its owner. As far as diversity, I'd rather focus on the Asian characters who are actually part of the X-Men family with real connections and who we actually love, like Jubilee, Karma, Sunfire and others. Kwannon should be with Matsu'o in the afterlife. I think that is what she would want.
I'm okay with that also. I just want an actual resolution, either way, not this constant body teasing and beating around the bush about it.
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