Geoffrey Thorne and Marcus To Reinvent Betsy's Butterfly; Thorne Talks X-Force's Future

Geoffrey Thorne recently appeared on Black Comic Lords and Comics Are Dope podcasts, sharing exciting details about his work on X-Force. We’ll spotlight some of the most intriguing points he made about the series.

About Betsy Braddock's powers:

Thorne: What Betsy can do with her mutation is focus all her psychic and telekinetic energy into a single thing or a couple of things. I will not be turning her into the mutant Green Lantern; I think that’s lazy. What Betsy is doing and can do will make you happy. There’ll be plenty of Captain Britain-ish and Psylocke-ish goodness to go around. You will not miss the fact that she’s not Green Lantern. Betsy’s going to get her flowers in this book. We’re going to treat Betsy right. I’m not knocking any of the previous writers who worked on any book. Nothing I do is a response to or commentary on something that came before. I’m currently driving, and I’m going to drive the way I drive. There’s a lot in her canon—in Betsy’s backstory—that can be drawn from. She has a rich backstory. I don’t think a lot of people even know about all of the Marvel UK stuff. It’s not in play. I’m not thinking about it right now, but Betsy has enough behind her to support her own solo title. I will be drawing from her rich history to tell her story in this book, and that means her powerset. It’s not going to be everything because it can’t be; it’s a team book. It’s not a book about Betsy alone, but all the characters in X-Force have secrets. All the characters in X-Force’s powers have been weirdly limited for no reason or too big for no reason.

About Betsy's butterfly power signature:

Thorne: The butterfly is an interesting subject. Personally, I’m a purist about Betsy. I was one of those who did not like the fact that they stuck a white woman in an Asian woman’s body. Remember, I’m old. I remember the original Betsy before she was Psylocke. So her coming back to her original body felt right. The fantastic Marcus To has an interpretation of her butterfly when she uses her powers that I thought, if fans accept this, I am down for it because I like this design. I actually prefer it. I think it’s cool and unique and makes it a power signature that makes you go, “Oh, that’s my girl.” It may not be satisfying to die-hard Betsy Braddock fans, but for my purposes, I like what Marcus is doing design-wise. I’m happy that most people are interpreting that as her version of the butterfly. We will continue to work with her powers going forward. I’ve kept quiet about that because the way Marcus draws the butterfly is different from the way it is traditionally drawn, and I did not know what people were going to think when they saw it. I like the way Marcus draws it. His interpretation of how both Betsy’s and Rachel’s powers look is a chef’s kiss.

Marcus To (via Twitter): I am adding a little flowery butterfly flair to Betsy’s energy signature here and there. I did kind of want to try to match Betsy’s and Rachel’s powers a little when they synced up. Betsy’s is a little more fire, and Rachel’s is more butterfly, but that was harder to achieve, so I wasn’t sure if it came across at all. I’m going to keep trying to make that work in some way. I was still trying to incorporate the Krakoa flower petals thing, but that might be too much.

About X-Force's setting:

Thorne: We will be running all over the place, and one of the fun things about Marvel is that a great deal of Marvel's 616—the main universe of Marvel—has a history that goes back a lot longer than most current fans are probably aware. Marvel Comics existed before the Fantastic Four, and over the decades, there’s been all kinds of stuff that got swept under the rug. It might have been picked up and dropped, or it was considered cool but then forgotten, or whatever it might be—whether it’s a place, a person, an event, or something else.

About the blue giant monster in X-Force #1:

Thorne: What you're going to find reading this book is that that monster is a character from Marvel Comics. I had to look him up because I had forgotten the specifics. His character is called Taboo, and he first appeared in Strange Tales #75, which was published back in 1960. He is depicted as an alien monster. In that story, he attacks Earth, and it’s a one-shot issue.

Back in those days, Stan and Jack were creating monsters and would feature one story per issue, resolving the problem within that single story. In Taboo’s case, someone got hold of his DNA. We don’t know who it was, and it doesn’t really matter. However, some of that DNA was left behind, and the creature in our story is the result of tampering with it. If you want to look up Taboo, the story is titled “The Thing From the Murky Swamp!” That’s the level of depth we’re exploring in this book. 

We’ll be bringing in more characters like this, not necessarily just monsters, but similar obscure elements will be making an appearance. So, buckle up.

About Wakanda and X-Force #2:

Thorne: We’re heading to Wakanda, specifically to the Forest of Torment. If you look at the first few maps of Wakanda, you’ll see a location called the Forest of Torment—that’s where we’re going. We’re going to have some fun there. I’m not sure how much exploring we’ll get to do, but we will definitely be in that area. If you haven’t read The Black Panther: King in Black tie-in, you should. It contains many clues about what’s coming up. There are details in that book that will give you hints about what and who you’ll encounter in issue 2 of X-Force.

About X-Force's future:

Thorne: For X-Force, the first five issues are very specific in their focus. You’re going to see some things you haven’t seen in a while, as well as some brand new stuff. However, starting with issue 6, you’ll be introduced to a whole array of new characters. Some of them you might have met before, and others will be completely new. Trust me, you’re going to be pleased. Just be patient; I’m telling a story.

About the QR Code bonus scene:

Thorne: The mysterious person surveilling X-Force is speaking “querido” in Spanish (not Portuguese).

About the inclusion of Black characters:

Thorne: There will be Black characters, but none of them are on the team right now. However, there will be some in the future. Expect a significant number of Black characters to appear in the series. If you’re concerned that there won’t be Black characters with charisma, power, and interest, don’t worry. I’ve got you covered. Just check out issue 2 and see what we have in store.