PSYLOCKE | CAPTAIN BRITAIN // like a butterfly: Excalibur #25 Art

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Excalibur #25 Art

51 comments:

FSaker said...: Oh my, that last panel with the giant butterfly signature and Arthur kneeling and screaming in pain... it looks glorious!

Really, why did it have to take SO LONG for this book to show Betsy the way we wanted to see her?; November 10, 2021 at 1:29 PM
randybear said...: What i love is that Betsy always would lose against men.. Sabretooth, Slaymaster, Vargas.. nice seeing her wipe the floor with Arthur and not only did she remove her suit to do it her butterfly!! The art was so good Betsy looked beautiful and Betsy hanging with her STRIKE gang literallt made me feel fuzzy inside but sadly seems she won't be joining them :(; November 10, 2021 at 4:24 PM
Kiki M. Ishola said...: I'm shook a miracle! Marvel let Betsy use her butterfly. Asteroids come hit Earth 🥳; November 10, 2021 at 5:48 PM
Rahsaan said...: I’m elated to see her power signature return I. All it’s glory! I would love to see her eyes in its wings, along with her psycho-blast and psychic knives. I am happy for this display, but still kinda irked that it took two years of the extremely tedious story to get this. Now can we get here back to all the super urgent, significant stuff going on on Krakoa!?!?!; November 10, 2021 at 6:32 PM
lucasg_i said...: I mean... it was obvious this was going to happen, Betsy's arc throughout Excalibur was rebuilding herself back completely.
The negativity and toxicity everyone (on this site, specially) had towards the characterization and story choices made me roll my eyes back into my skull so hard, it's almost like no one knows how story telling works; November 10, 2021 at 6:32 PM
Kiki M. Ishola said...: It's a butterfly palooza! STRIKE is involved with ORCHIS and the psi team is alive and time Betsy get down to real business outside magic. Vote in.; November 10, 2021 at 6:46 PM
Kiki M. Ishola said...: I kept rolling my eyes back going blind see Betsy act outta character for two years. Writing can be done without crapping attitudes and statuses. Betsy was never the mopey apologetic fool.; November 10, 2021 at 6:52 PM
randybear said...: Agreed Kiki. Two years of horrible characterization and being told by the author we are WRONG about who Betsy is... of course we are going to feel a certain way. Butterflt back I still want Howard away from Betsy. Her plots are muddled and the start and end points of her issues are so jarring.; November 10, 2021 at 7:59 PM
X-Man said...: I agree with @Kiki.

I also knew it was heading to this because Malice used Betsy's iconic psi signature and weaponry when she possessed Betsy's body so it made sense Betsy still had it. I figured it'd show up in some big moment.

However, people complained because the story didn't make any sense and Betsy was written terribly out of character (imho) at times.

Knowing how storytelling works and having good storytelling skills are two different things.

Betsy was perfectly fine in Dissassembled with martial arts skills and her butterfly effect, it made no sense she seemed to abandon them in Excalibur.

I'm not sure that completely ignoring a storyline that was pretty recent to the one you just wrote just so you can deconstruct and then reconstruct a character is a good story, even if you can tell how it will probably end.

Also Betsy has always been a survivor. Trying to take her victimization away & make it out like she had a "hand" (pun intended lol) in the body swap and stealing Kwannon's life, when in reality Betsy was violated and actually was used to restore Kwannon's life also didn't make any sense. I felt like Betsy lost her badassery for basically no reason, I however do welcome seeing it back. Imo she's far more interesting and complex as solely a psi and not CB.

Speaking of, Her attitude towards keeping CB from Brian was also out of character to me.

I'm glad to see this finally happen, but I still think the storytelling wasn't the best.

I think Tini is capable if she let go of the D&D type theme. I'm kinda over "Otherworld" personally, I'd like to see the group interact with Krakoa for an extended time now.

I'm interested to see how this goes once this storyline ends.

Jmo!; November 10, 2021 at 8:18 PM
Kiki M. Ishola said...: Thanks guys for a sec thought lost my mind. This Excalibur has everyone lobotomized in it. Betsy has rejected Captain Britain long ago with her blood as price. Revanche quickly get her Revanche back on and leave Psylocke to Betsy. If Marvel listens show care to Revanche she can be her person outside of thongs, fishnets and bottomless pants.; November 10, 2021 at 8:41 PM
FSaker said...: "Speaking of, Her attitude towards keeping CB from Brian was also out of character to me"

I don't remember the spoilers very well, but wasn't it suggested that their whole argument about the CB mantle was staged to fool Saturnyne? Or did Betsy and Brian really have a problem with each other in that regard?

If so, it is out of character, indeed. And what's worse, it's out of character WITHIN THIS EXCALIBUR RUN, as I remember that she tried to return the Amulet of Right to Brian and HE refused it.

Anyway, I agree with everyone; judging from the spoilers, it seems to me that this book has improved a lot in this current arc - but it doesn't mean that spending over TWENTY ISSUES dragging Betsy's characterization through the mud was worth it. Howard should be complimented for the good work she's doing now, but she should also be criticized for the bad work she did before.

If she continues writing Betsy for the foreseeable future, let's hope she'll continue to deliver the quality she's delivering NOW, and NOT the quality she was delivering until the Hellfire Gala story.; November 10, 2021 at 9:15 PM
X-Man said...: I believe part of it was staged (and of course it was never clear on what was and what wasn't lol), but I also believe Brian genuinely wanted CB back and Betsy knew it.

The way she got the gig from him wasn't cool imho lol. It wasn't like he actually made a conscious decision to give it permanently to her.

I feel like it could have been done better & also I felt like the Sword of Might was a better fit for Betts anyway lol.

I'm not feeling her as this "Superman" type character. I love the panel that has her looking lethal in black with a sword.

That's my Betsy lol. At first I actually thought that was Kwannon to be honest.

I also loved Betsy teaming up with alternate Kwannon using Martial arts and her psi abilities.

I enjoy her so much more not being Captain Britain & I think Tini actually writes her better when she's not CB as well, because it forces Betsy to rely on her Psi abilities & not the CB powerset.

In any case, I'm hoping good things are in store for Betts :); November 10, 2021 at 10:16 PM
Rahsaan said...: Thoughts on this article and its reader comments?

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/marvel-can-i-claim-a-no-prize-for-the-death-of-tom-lennox/; November 11, 2021 at 1:22 AM
FSaker said...: Yeah, the article is right. Tom wasn't killed by Slaymaster, and if I remember correctly, he was shot, not stabbed. Sure, this could be used later on as a plot point to establish that the resurrection protocols in Krakoa aren't flawless when it comes to restoring memories, but so far, it just looks like an error from the creative team.

---

"& also I felt like the Sword of Might was a better fit for Betts anyway lol"

It was. And now that you mentioned it, I just realized: is there any reason why Brian became "Captain Avalon" instead of Captain Britain? As far as I know, the choice between the Amulet of Right and the Sword of Might just worked to determine the characteristics of whoever was taking the mantle, but both artifacts would turn people into Captain Britain - Brian originally chose the amulet, while Kelsey Leigh chose the sword, yet both of them became Captain Britain.

Okay, thanks to Saturnyne's magic backfiring, now every Captain Britain is a counterpart of Betsy - but Brian taking the sword happened BEFORE she cast that spell, so both Braddock twins should have the CB mantle by that point...; November 11, 2021 at 7:35 AM
Rahsaan said...: Yeah. Would really love to see her, Jamie, and Brian involved in the ORCHIS/Nimrod storyline since STRIKE is an arm of ORCHIS.; November 11, 2021 at 10:19 AM
Rahsaan said...: I think there are a myriad of ways that Tini could have deconstructed the character and given her adversity that would have been far more compelling, authentic, and aligned with the character’s previous evolution instead of the story devices she actually chose that did nothing to progress the character and actually at times seemed like deliberate trolling of the character’s fans.; November 11, 2021 at 10:22 AM
X-Man said...: Exactly @Rahsaan. Ita.

A story of how Kwannon and Betsy were both manipulated/violated for the pleasure of men (even Spiral with Mojo in a way) and addressing that victimization and teaming up, would have been a much more complex and believable, & enjoyable story for me.

Part of me thinks the only reason we are really seeing the return of the butterfly is because TPTB underestimated how popular Betsy is and how vocal her fan base can be.

I do think it was always the plan to return her "warriorness" by the end after coming to terms with the Kwannon stuff though.; November 11, 2021 at 10:57 AM
Tobias Chatti said...: Very good the butterfly is with Betsy shows her telepathy properly. A nice start to go back to her roots.; November 11, 2021 at 11:44 AM
Tobias Chatti said...: FSaker Captain Britain is Brian the best stories came with him and Psylocke stories came with Betsy. The Betsy squadron and how she became Captain Britain don't click they are forced. Betsy is OP in Psylocke mode.; November 11, 2021 at 11:49 AM
Rahsaan said...: @X-Man, an interesting story might have been the re-emerged Kwannon taking a gate to Mojoworld to get revenge on Spiral by torturing and trying to kill her and Betsy following to help Kwannon to give her insight to Kwannon on how she learned to understand and forgive Spiral’s insanity. I would even have loved to see Betsy in a psychic conversation where she imparts the lasting memory of her euthanasia of Matsu’o and how she sent him off with Kwannon’s image and the dream that they were together forever in the afterlife. I guess with the retcon that Kwannon was inside her and observing everything, Kwannon must have this memory too. However, it’s like Kwannon no longer even recalls the epic love she and Matsu’o shared as she has never mentioned him since being back.

Another cool idea would be Betsy helping Kwannon get used to her telepathy. The last time we saw Kwannon as Revanche, she didn’t have much control of her newfound telepathy. Especially as it flared with the legacy virus. It seems that no one of telepathic or telekinetic abilities on Krakoa has trained her in these powers, so it might have been cool to see she and Betsy develop a rapport via training together. It seems like Kwannon has become fully adept at her powers solely on her own, which I guess is possible.; November 11, 2021 at 2:23 PM
Simon said...: Anyway off topic. Did anyone else initially think Betsy was side eyeing Aurora and Daken??? To is a great artist but sometimes his “still” moments have a generic feel about them; November 11, 2021 at 6:26 PM
FSaker said...: @Tobias Chatti, I agree. Unfortunately, Betsy won't be getting the Psylocke identity back anytime soon (not when many readers still identify Psylocke as "the psychic ninja" and Kwannon is walking around as... well... the current psychic ninja), so her only choices for now are to either continue being Captain Britain or to adopt a new codename (or take Kwannon's Revanche codename). The only short-term way I see for her to recover her codename would be if Kwannon died permanently - and let's face it, killing an Asian woman to restore the identity of a caucasian woman would be quite harmful to Betsy's image with the general audience...

(Marvel could also give Kwannon a different codename or bring the Revanche codename back for her. Will they do it? No, they won't)

As for Brian, it's like I said: since he has the Sword of Might (which also turn people into Captain Britain), I don't understand why he can't be Captain Britain as well. Is there any rule that each reality can only have one Captain Britain at a time? Or is the darkness within him after Morgan controlled him supposed to be Marvel's excuse for him to be "Captain Avalon" (even though Brian has seemingly recovered from Morgan's influence several arcs ago and is acting now exactly the same way he always did as Captain Britain)?; November 11, 2021 at 6:35 PM
Rahsaan said...: I definitely think his art is generic when it comes to nuance. He draws bodies and costumes well, but all his characters have mostly identical faces.; November 11, 2021 at 11:35 PM
Rahsaan said...: That generic quality adds to the generic feel of the writing and part of why Excalibur feels like a children’s book much of the time.; November 11, 2021 at 11:36 PM
randybear said...: It was actually Kwannon and whats his face from Hellions, Greycrow or whatever. Gabriel says he noticed Betsy eyeing them and she mentions its Kwannon. I guess Howard is implying Betsy still feels guilty about the swap; November 12, 2021 at 12:49 AM
Rahsaan said...: Another thing I would offer as feedback is for Howard and To to do a better job explaining and showing the mechanisms by which powers work. For instance, what exactly did Elizabeth do to Merlyn? Did she expand his mind’s awareness and overload him as Dark Phoenix did to Mastermind? Did she stun him with a psi bolt? Did she fry him with a psycho blast? I haven’t read the issue yet, but from the previews, it seems there is no explanation of how she used her telepathy to defeat him. Nor does it seem there is any artist depiction of what telepathic measure she used; merely the butterfly effect and her glowing eyes. This is not meant to be a dig against Howard and To, but as constructive feedback, nothing in this book ever feels fleshed out well. It all feels generic and undetailed. Even when we get high points like seeing a triumphant return of Betsy’s strength, confidence, and unique power signature.; November 12, 2021 at 11:44 AM
X-Man said...: @Rahsaan I haven't read it yet either, but my guess is it's probably along the lines of your first option. I think a Psi bolt or psycho blast would be swift, but if you notice in the other panels Betsy is talking to Arthur throughout. Saying when she steps away his mind wont be fit for a battle and basically giving him a monologue about how he still might redeem himself etc etc.

You are correct in that it could be more clear though.

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure I saw another screenshot from this same issue where she is telepathically contacting the team & the butterfly does have those eyes inside it.

I know you were saying you wanted to see that.; November 12, 2021 at 5:42 PM
Jaime Braz said...: @randybear tank top Betsy out of the Captain mantle was the statement the butterfly psiwitch is alive and fearsome as ever. Also she owned King Arthur the way she eradicated her fear of Slaymaster in Exiles. I liked that subtle message a lot.

Psi division reunion related I expected Betsy to choose the Otherworld affairs for better or worse, although she could have been more moved the least emotional seeing Tom alive in front of her.; November 12, 2021 at 6:58 PM
Jaime Braz said...: @Rahsaan Mojo will stay far far away from Kwannon related stories because a yellow alien evokes racist stereotypes against Asians from the yellow peril era in comics e.g. Egg Fu, Fu Manchu, Ching Lung and the Mandarin.

The process you are describing of how Kwannon gained control of Betsy's power was hastily described in Fallen Angels in the moment Kwannon shadow trained behind Betsy and came to the realization of the yin and yang harmony she shares with Betsy. Further story was the Malice incident in Excalibur comic.; November 12, 2021 at 7:13 PM
Jaime Braz said...: @Tobias Chatti the multiversal Betsies corps is interesting yet inhibiting for creative restrictions. In the past the Captain Britain corps were more diverse and culturally rich being composed of different individuals with different backgrounds.

I share the opinion of FSaker about Brian sharing the Captain Britain mantle with his twin sister Betsy. Their sibling bond is strengthened and works as a pro mutant message given Brian is human and supports his mutant sister wholeheartedly.

All the more the Otherworld Kingdoms represented by their very champions as part of the Captain Britain Corps with local titles like Captain Avalon, Sevalith etc. denoting local identities and powers. It will be challenging and interesting to read about an Infury Captain of the Everforge.; November 12, 2021 at 7:29 PM
Rahsaan said...: @X-Man. Thanks. Maybe I’ll buy it this weekend when I pick up Inferno 2, Trial of Mags 3, and the indie books on my pull list. I previously dropped every C book save for the two aforementioned and X-Men due to my outgrowing the rest. If her old Alan Davis butterfly with eyes is back, I would love to see it. I only recall her displaying that one once in Kwannon’s body… During the Nightcrawler miniseries drawn by Nanuk.; November 12, 2021 at 8:13 PM
Rahsaan said...: @Jaime. Thank you. Interesting point. I didn’t even think about the anti-Asian xenophobia that Mojo’s coloring might depict, so yeah… Perhaps not involving Kwannon with him is wise. Though, she could still step to Spiral wanting to dog walk her ass.; November 12, 2021 at 8:17 PM
Jaime Braz said...: @Rahsaan Mojo and Spiral are Orient inspired. Chris Claremont fused the CCP surveillance policies with the Western TV addiction to create the Mojo nightmare and Spiral is the Shiva dance of destruction witch. It would indeed reignite the yellowface debacle of Betsy's Asianification by Mojo and Spiral in coalition with another yellow peril flag the Mandarin who is at odds with anything Japanese. Therefore is wise to let that dark moment of X history in the past to be forgotten.

What I'm worried and sad about is the Tom Lennox mistake. Tini Howard is prided on her vast knowledge of X history and forgot the beetles shooting Tom dead. The cause of Tom's death is also incorrect in his ID entry that be the Vixen not Mad Jim Jaspers.

Victoria Bentley of the Mad Jim Jaspers concentration camps is often ignored as a mentor for Betsy in addition to Jean Grey for training Betsy in honing her psi powers and telepathic skills. Under the tutelage of Victoria was Betsy able to conquer the full force of her mind blast which later bypassed the Juggernaut's magic helmet and evolved into her focused totality of psychic power expressed by tk weaponry.

I'd like to show you Rahsaan my love and gratitude for your constant efforts to remind everyone of the butterfly eyes of the Davis days in Betsy's butterfly signature. A big virtual hug for achieving the impossible in issue 25 and make the butterfly eye manifest. A first attempt was made in issue 18 which doesn't count for Betsy's body was under Malice control. Betsy finally psi contacted her teammates again via the butterfly eyes after three decades (90s, 00s,10s) all thanks to your dedication. The fact of butterfly eyes makes me wonder if Betsy as a blind telepath would be more interesting stand as mutant swashbuckler who sees through her butterfly eyes the way Daredevil has a radar sense.; November 12, 2021 at 9:06 PM
X-Man said...: Personally, I don't want her as a blind telepath. She's been victimized enough for me lol.; November 12, 2021 at 9:14 PM
Jaime Braz said...: @X-Man you are right Betsy has suffered a lot of pain and loss. Anything that will make Betsy more special aside from her purple hair and weapon abilities is open to debate even a disability like blindness to help Betsy stop something romantic with Opal Luna Saturnyne. I couldn't help myself there.; November 12, 2021 at 9:22 PM
X-Man said...: Oh don't get me started on that romantic thing with Saturnyne that some fans are rooting for. Smh lol.; November 12, 2021 at 10:50 PM
X-Man said...: The Malice stuff counted with me to be honest. Imo it showed Betsy still had the capability to use the butterfly, psi knife, and astral butterfly as Malice was using Betsy's own abilities. It kinda proved to me Betsy could manifest it, if she chose to.; November 13, 2021 at 1:25 AM
Rahsaan said...: @X-Man, I got the issue and you are correct! Betsy's psi-self/astral form is shown as the butterfly with eyes in its wings! That was such a sight for sore eyes. She only used that once while in Kwannon's body and it was so lovely to see again as it's so specific to Elizabeth! I really hope future writers and artists begin utilizing that depiction of her astral form again going forward.; November 13, 2021 at 1:22 PM
X-Man said...: Awesome @Rahsaan. We were due for some good things for Betsy. I'm glad it was really in there, I just saw an image so I wasn't really sure :); November 13, 2021 at 2:13 PM
Jaime Braz said...: @X-Man Betsy and Opal Luna are in a confrontation for the Captain Britain amulet and mantle. Opal wants Brian on which we agree. I'm irked to think Opal Luna and Betsy might start a romantic something. I picture it as Margaret Thatcher kissing Queen Elizabeth in their old age with wrinkly lips and dentures.

I somewhat accepted Betsy move on from Psylocke but refuse to give up on Betsy's and Warren's love that has gone through hell and survived with a Notebook quality.; November 13, 2021 at 2:33 PM
Jaime Braz said...: @Rahsaan I hope so too and you are to thank for, your insistence to manifest it won back a lost classic piece of Betsy.; November 13, 2021 at 2:38 PM
Jaime Braz said...: @X-Man once again you are correct. I didn't think of it like that. Malice possessed Betsy's body fully taking control over her abilities. The butterfly eyes and psychic daggers Malice used was from tapping into the Betsy potential. If the potential didn't exist Malice wouldn't have used them.; November 13, 2021 at 2:43 PM
Rahsaan said...: @Jaime, Thank you! I appreciate you!; November 13, 2021 at 2:51 PM
X-Man said...: Exactly @Jaime. I think it was supposed to show us kinda like The Wizard of Oz like "The Power has Always been within you" type of thing lol.

Ita on Betsy & Warren btw. You could tell he still cared for her in Disassembled (thus how betrayed he felt when she once again unlocked Archangel)& the fact they even ended up together in an alternate universe showed he loved Betsy for Betsy and not a specific body (though I could have done without Kwannon as his ex wife lol).; November 13, 2021 at 5:27 PM
Brian Jason said...: I agree lucasg_i to first comment. I never talk in this blogspot because of that (part).; November 15, 2021 at 5:32 AM
lucasg_i said...: at least we have Psychic butterfly comics back in facebook ,right @Brian ?; November 15, 2021 at 4:46 PM
FSaker said...: In other news, have you guys heard about Disney's plan to reboot the 1990s X-Men animated series?

I wonder how they will deal with Psylocke. Will she still be absent from the reboot, just like in the original version? If she's present, will she be Betsy in Kwannon's body (which would be VERY problematic), will she be Psylocke in her own body (which would result in Psylocke looking very different from what she did back in the 1990s), or will Kwannon take her place in this continuity? And, in the last case, would Betsy even appear at all (whether as Revanche, as Captain Britain or with another codename)?

I'm not too optimistic about her appearance in this reboot - nevertheless, the original animated series did a great job portraying Storm and Rogue as strong, capable heroines (as for Jean... eh, not so much), so even if Betsy doesn't appear in it, at least I'll be glad if Storm and Rogue are as good as they were back then.

(and if Betsy doesn't appear, well, it could be worse... she could appear and be completely useless, just like Jean was in the original 1990s animated series); November 16, 2021 at 8:44 AM
jasmyn said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; November 17, 2021 at 6:48 AM
Jaime Braz said...: As of now Excalibur was mediocre to a disaster in terms of quality and characterizations.

Recent updates revealed Tini Howard is hired by DC Comics to write Catwoman and Marvel gave her Secret X-Men which consists of the mutants who didn't make it in the Krakoa elections.

Do these developments signify a positive future for Betsy redeemed and returned in her real character? The butterfly signature is a herald for that.; November 17, 2021 at 1:55 PM
Jaime Braz said...: @FSaker the news is wonderful.

In order for Psylocke to have a connection to Angel, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Xavier, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Jubilee, Dazzler, Colossus, Mojo, Spiral, Longshot they better use Betsy as template in any shape or form.

Because Betsy is the connective tissue of Psylocke with key figures like Mister Sinister and the Marauders from the Mutant Massacre to Inferno and the Apocalypse and Shadow King sagas.

Notworthy to say Psylocke in the animated series used a British accent and purple hair. The body transformation of Betsy happened odf screen. Let's hope it will be a jumping off point for Betsy to solidify her presence as such and Keannon to create her own identity.; November 17, 2021 at 2:12 PM
randybear said...: I love the effort they put in differentiating the butterflies. Betsys appears ornate while Kwannons is sharper/cleaner. A nice contrast; November 17, 2021 at 3:34 PM

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