PSYLOCKE | CAPTAIN BRITAIN // like a butterfly: Excalibur #19 Art

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Excalibur #19 Art

21 comments:

FSaker said...: To's art looks amazing as usual. But it's Kwannon that really surprises me: one thing that always made me dislike her was the way she always acted bitter and unfair towards Betsy; in these pages shown in this blog, at least, she's acting exactly the opposite way: kind, supportive, making it clear that the body swap was NOT Betsy's fault... and the way she tells about the return of the Captain Britain Corps being an indication that Betsy won is phrased in a way that seems to indicate that Kwannon truly means what she said.

It's been a long time that these two women should have had this kind of conversation, but it's great that it finally happened and that they seem to be finally on good terms with each other (yeah, they were teammates in the 1990s, but their dialogues were always full of jabs and shades at each other). For that alone, I congratulate Tini Howard.

That said, it's sad to see how the loss at Saturnyne's tournament messed up with Betsy's self-esteem. I hope this means we'll get to see a rematch where she beats Isca up. And hopefully after that Betsy will proceed to beat SATURNYNE up, because she has had it coming for a long time...; March 24, 2021 at 5:40 PM
Tazirai said...: I need a new writer for a few issues. This could have been solved so long ago. I want the art/ink team to stay. But Something is just off with Tinis writing.; March 24, 2021 at 8:18 PM
Psi-Girl said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; March 25, 2021 at 12:10 AM
Tobias Chatti said...: Betsy and the telepathy psionics she was born with are powerful. Her spirit is a force of nature. Betsy was holding back her power and she let it free it's a scary thing to watch. I like Tini Howard took the idea of a gentle butterfly that can start a twister to describe Betsy.

She puked Malice out with her will!; March 25, 2021 at 7:55 AM
Tobias Chatti said...: Tini Howard writes confusing but I liked the justice she did Betsy and her butterfly. Few writers show how strong Betsy's telepathy is and her ability to materialize her thoughts into reality.; March 25, 2021 at 7:59 AM
lucasg_i said...: Finally ! I don't love Tini's writing, but she has moments when she delivers and this issue was one of them. We finally got a moment for Kwannon and Betsy to have the heart to heart they've needed since the 90s, Betsy's insecurities are being adressed in a way that makes sense for the character, this issue was a great culmination of the characrter arc that started with Betsy taking the mantle unwillingly, now she knows who she is and fully realizes her potential.

The art, as always, is gorgeous. Also, can Kwannon keep that outfit ? It does more for her than the thongkini.; March 25, 2021 at 1:02 PM
Jeferson said...: Well, lets be practice: they writte this edition to simply take off Betsy of her psychically formed body... to put in another one, since the former body was constructed molecule by molecule with psychic energy from Saphyre Stixx.; March 25, 2021 at 5:12 PM
Psi-Girl said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; March 26, 2021 at 12:14 AM
Eoleo Glebatruss said...: It's boring the times Betsy lost and found her body. Comics find a trope and squeeze it to Kingdom Come. By the end the motif loses worth and originality.

I preferred Betsy in the body from poltergeist energy she made. It was carrying the soul imprints of hundreds of victims to Sapphire Styx a theme very close to Betsy's life.

The reason Betsy's body shattered like glass in the Isca duel was because Betsy was made from soul energy and Isca's sword disrupted the cohesion of the energy and she fell apart. I don't expect Tini Howard to go into details about it or bother to explain. Same with Betsy not acting as Betsy anymore.

Betsy hasn't given up her Psylocke name she has given up her personality too.; March 26, 2021 at 4:04 PM
FSaker said...: @Eoleo Glebatruss, wow, good point! I must admit it never occurred to me that Betsy's body shattering like glass could be due to that body being made from soul energy.

It's sad that Howard often forgets to mention this kind of stuff in the stories (assuming that's what she actually planned as the explanation for that to happen). I know there are times when writers basically fed the readers with lots of explanations for every insignificant detail (Claremont did it a lot, and it often made his stories too verbose), but going the extreme opposite way and leaving readers completely blind to important plot points isn't the solution, either. A balance is needed.; March 27, 2021 at 8:19 PM
Psi-Girl said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; March 28, 2021 at 3:00 AM
X-Man said...: I agree @psi girl.

Although I think the reveling part is what confused a lot of fans (and I get your not saying it, but giving an example of what people are saying).

#1. A point many seem to not get with that is that Betsy thought that was her body altered by science and magic at first. So in her mind it still was her body during the supposed "reveling". She only finds out its not her body when Kwannon shows up in Betsy's original body.

#2. Betsy reveled in the martial arts skills that she developed while in that body, not the body itself. We know this because Betsy was taunted over and over and over either about not having her original body or with the aspect of getting it back. We saw this in the Kwannon/Revanche story, Jamie offering the body with strings, The Sisterhood story, Cassandra Nova offering the body with strings, Shadow King taunting her about it, Proteus etc etc. If Betsy was "thrilled" to be in that body, there would be nothing to taunt her with. It would make zero logical sense lol.

However, They knew she was literally trapped in someone else's body and longed for her original appearance (especially hard hitting telepaths like Cassandra Nova and Shadow King who could see her thoughts) , thus constantly using it as cruel bargaining chip to get her to do what they wanted.

#3. Kwannon is the one who actually "took" something in that exchange. How do we know this? Easy. Betsy learned martial arts from her Hand Brainwashed not from actually being in Kwannon's body, because we clearly can see that Kwannon still knows her martial arts skills as Revanche in Betsy's body.

However in contrast Kwannon really was actually given half of Betsy's telepathy by Spiral's magic.(downgrading Betsy's telepathic strength) We know this because Kwannon/Revanche gave it back when she died and Betsy's full telepathy was restored. Kwannon on the other hand (no pun intended lol) retained all her martial arts skills in Betsy's body. If it truly were a case of the body granted the skills, then Kwannon wouldnt have known how to fight like that in Betsy's body, but she could because Kwannon was the one with that knowledge.

I did like how Kwannon was in this issue, but I do agree that Bryan Hill really tainted her for me.

She acted like she had zero part in the way Betsy was feeling. "Forgetting" that Betsy tried to talk to Kwannon before and Kwannon was very b!tchy/dismissive to her, Kwannon also decided she was "owed" the Psylocke name (something else that was Betsy's) as it was not given to her.

We've now seen Betsy apologize to an alternate and real Kwannon for something she had no fault in, yet still no acknowledgment from Kwannon that she also was in Betsy's body and that the whole swap (or Betsy's kidnapping and body violation on Kwannon's behalf as I like to call it lol) was done to bring Kwannon back from being braindead in a coma, and initiated by loves/allies of Kwannon (I understand at the end of Fallen Angels that Kwannon realizes she shouldn't blame Betsy, but she doesn't ever tell Betsy that lol smh)

It's kinda like Kwannon was over it and so Betsy should be too and no mention of the implied subtext of victim blaming Kwannon gave Betsy to "help" Betsy reach that depressing point lol. I know it's not meant to be viewed that way, but in some ways Kwannon's behavior imo is similar to an abuser in a "Gaslighting" type of way.

I will say that while I don't love Tini's writing, i think she did the best she could with what Bryan Hill gave her to work with.

I dont know if this was intentional, but it was kinda poetic in a way. This saga started out because Kwannon lost a duel (falling off a cliff I believe) and was stuck inside herself until Betsy was used to save Kwannon, & it ended with Betsy losing a duel, and also stuck & trapped, and Kwannon is used as a means to save her. In some ways that is finally coming full circle for them.; March 28, 2021 at 11:03 AM
Eduardo said...: Alright, this drama seems finally over.
Let us see her shine as Captain Britain now.
The gala shall take it in a new direction.; March 28, 2021 at 11:40 AM
randybear said...: Wow looks like next issue is scheduled for April 7th! Just a week and a half from now.

But also no Excalibur in May... so hopefully we get closure too all this next issue and Betsy has reclaimed her old self next issue. The Gala is a cool time for Betsy to fully "come out" as the new Captain Britain and her aesthetic and motif reclaimed for the Gala.; March 28, 2021 at 4:00 PM
Psi-Girl said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; March 28, 2021 at 5:34 PM
Psi-Girl said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; March 28, 2021 at 5:37 PM
randybear said...: Excalibur is like "girl snap out of it you got a gala coming up!" 🤣; March 28, 2021 at 7:31 PM
FSaker said...: Well, technically she'll only get full closure after she has a rematch against Isca and beats her up (and maybe after she also gets revenge on Saturnyne)...

But yeah, as long as she's alright in next issue, showing that she's comfortable and confident in her body and in her position as Captain Britain, that's fine enough.; March 28, 2021 at 10:46 PM
X-Man said...: Thank you :); March 29, 2021 at 1:23 AM
THE FLYING NEGRO said...: The art was fantastic in this issue, and I guess at some point, Kwannon had to have 'her moment' to shine and become a fully fleshed out character and X-Man after so many decades. Too bad it came at Betsy's expense, but hopefully this clears the way for better writing for our girl.

I like the idea of Betsy being able to exist as pure psychic energy. All in all I did like this issue quite a lot. Never been happier to see so much pink and purple!; April 1, 2021 at 5:47 PM
Kiki M. Ishola said...: I never for a second thought Betsy lesser to Jean. Watch her telepathic fire burn purple! With extra butterflies 🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋; April 7, 2021 at 1:12 PM

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