Fallen Angels [01] : Spoilers

[Lapsus]

We’ve already seen him fighting young Stryfe during BrissonForce.

There goes my theory LOL

Anyway i actually like the issue, i have to admit that i never cared too much about the Psylocke issue because i never understood why Marvel never had is cake and eat it, basically having "two psylockes" which they eventually did.

Kwannon not being dead during Betsy bodyswap makes sense for me and is a good way to resurrect a character without an actually resurrection. He deny the original death.

My only problem with this book is teen cable but that is just my personal dislike.

[Handsome men don't lose fights]

Older Cable left a corpse behind. Why didn't he get his own pod? Seems like a curious omission, considering his daughter is one of the five.

[Godlike13]

I think it would conflict with the duplication policy.

[Gylfie]

I liked it. I like the tone, the set up. I like how Hill writes 'Kwannon' and the backstory he is giving her. I like the idea behind the antagonist.

I do not care for Kid Cable, I never did.
But I am feeling unease about Laura here. Yes, 'Kwannon' is the main focus, but Laura's initial motivation to join Kwannon is a little bit meager.
I do not understand why she feels to be ' in Logans shadow'. I hope her characterisation will improve.

[Tunasammiches]

O

I don’t really see the appeal of this book. Someone want to enlighten me as to what they liked about it?

1.) it retcon’s in a theme with butterflies that was Betsy’s before she ever took Kwannon’s body—literally before she was even a character. And while it certainly isn’t awfully done, it also doesn’t in any way explain..

2.) calling a girl who took up the codename “Wolverine” for a time and has killed more people and been through more trauma than Kwannon herself a “glistening and soft caterpillar” is a joke. A bad one. Same with Cable. You just can’t tell two people who’ve fought their entire lives stuff like that.. I’m pretty sure if some rando assassin told either one that they’d just give a funny look and then ignore her.. possibly with a violent outburst attached.

3.) Why did she take Betsy’s name? She was never psylocke. She literally never has been psylocke—betsy was psylocke in both bodies and by her own admission here she was never capable of anything when betsy had her body, ergo her mind and soul should have no association with the name whatsoever. Why does she have Betsy’s powers now? Uhh, uhh, because, I guess? This was and is an awful attempt at character swapping being handled as poorly as the initial body swap to begin with.. but two wrongs don’t make a right.

If you want Kwannon to be her own person, then make her into her own person.. That means kwannon should not magically have Betsy’s powers, or her name. She should be shown to have her own powers, her own name (which she already had..) and her own aesthetic. And no, just giving her a butterfly aesthetic doesn’t help anything.

Am I the only one who sees this as a shitty attempt to hold onto the “Asian assassin butterfly hot girl” character while trying to separate it from Betsy? Like I think most were in agreement that the whole bodyswap thing was poorly done, but none of this is a way to fix it.

Which is to speak nothing of the art.. which is probably the worst of the dawn of X books by quite a bit.

The writing was pretty lackluster too but the writer’s already admitted to the worst of it, so oh well.

Completely agree with your gripes. I thought I was going crazy because no one on these boards seem to remember or have a problem with Kwannon claiming Psylocke’s name and butterflies. It’s like the writer forgot this detail and so did the rest of CBR. The X23 motivation felt soooo flat to me to the point where I actually have a problem with it. Kwannon doesn’t know any of these characters, so her recruitment motivation made absolutely no sense. The art was definitely lackluster and the bad guy seems uninteresting. I don’t have to try to understand why the majority of commenters here like the book, that’s everyone’s prerogative, but I definitely am not part of the majority opinion.

[Rakurai]

I liked it. I like the tone, the set up. I like how Hill writes 'Kwannon' and the backstory he is giving her. I like the idea behind the antagonist.

I do not care for Kid Cable, I never did.
But I am feeling unease about Laura here. Yes, 'Kwannon' is the main focus, but Laura's initial motivation to join Kwannon is a little bit meager.
I do not understand why she feels to be ' in Logans shadow'. I hope her characterisation will improve.

I dunno if you read earlier posts on the thread, but Hill on his twitter adressed the "Logan shadow" issue and admited it was dumb thing to write, he didn't like it either but it was too late to edit it.
https://twitter.com/bryanedwardhill/...72967382269952

[Tunasammiches]

I enjoyed this issue a lot. I am definitely in on finding out more about who "Kwannon"was before the body merge thing happened all those years ago. I totally get the resentment that she had and why she kept the name Psylocke for herself from that one panel where she talked with Magneto and said that Braddock kept her body all those years, so she was keeping the name. I like the addition of Laura on this quest to find the Apoth guy. I also get a feeling that X-23's motivation is also to keep an eye on Psylocke too. Not too sure about Nate "Wi-Fi" Summers though. I liked the interactions she had with Mags and Sinster too...the manipulation games are strong. Some of the lines yes were a little off...but it wasn't as far off that i didn't enjoy it. And the art was fine in my opinion, set the tone of the book....its supposed to be a little dark and dramatic. Each new X book seems to have their own "tone" and this one sets up theirs nicely. 8/10

But Kwannon’s codename was never Psylocke. It was Revanche once but it was never never ever Psylocke. There is no reason for her to claim that name. The name, the butterflies, those were never her. They were always Betsy. This makes no sense to me.

[Gylfie]

I dunno if you read earlier posts on the thread, but Hill on his twitter adressed the "Logan shadow" issue and admited it was dumb thing to write, he didn't like it either but it was too late to edit it.
https://twitter.com/bryanedwardhill/...72967382269952

I should have done it! That is a relief, thank you!

Edit: But is this not a hint, that he did not put much thoughts into the characters not named Kwannon? Lets see how this works out.

[loke13]

he didnt act like this in X-Force or Extermination. We had 10 months worth of stories with him where his personality was defined and Hickman's take on him is vastly different. Brisson wrote him as younger but he didnt come across this immature and juvenile. He's played up for laughs and it doesnt fir the character. The jokes fall flat and the stuff he does is cringeworthy. Biting a monster octopus? Really?

Let's be honest here Kid Cable can do no right. A lot of people just hate the character based off the fact that he's not Old Cable. There's been constant complaints about Kid Cable since his inception.

Considering he's a teenager this is the perfect opportunity for them to write cable as a more juvenile light-hearted version instead of the usual gruff grizzled jaded 50-60 year old (because let's face it that roided-up 90s version will be back eventually) that's he's always been. I like that the issue is written as a more of a family jaunt then Cyclops treating his two children that he barely interacts with as typical soldiers.

[Rakurai]

I should have done it! That is a relief, thank you!

Edit: But is this not a hint, that he did not put much thoughts into the characters not named Kwannon? Lets see how this works out.

I hope not, not very likely. I think it's only for the first issue, like Excalibur with Betsy and Marauders with Kate, that we get major focus on Kwannon and most work/thoughts about her. Mr Hill is listening and active on twitter, he told us not to worry about Laura characterization, so we'd just have to wait for more issues to come. When I get a paper issue in my hands I think I'll write something longer. The curious thing about Fallen Angels is, that it can be read in many ways and everything goes with your own interpretation.

[JasmineW]

Absolutely loved this issue but after reading this and X-Men 2, I am now with the people who dont think kid cable works. Dont like reading him at all.

[franckd]

I think it would conflict with the duplication policy.

So, I can't wait for Kid Cable to bite the dust. I feel the presence of Wi Fi is forced and not organic. Surely the character I like the less in this DoX line.
I don't hate him, and maybe he will grow on me. But so far, he's not worth OG Cable's death imo.

[Gylfie]

I hope not, not very likely. I think it's only for the first issue, like Excalibur with Betsy and Marauders with Kate, that we get major focus on Kwannon and most work/thoughts about her. Mr Hill is listening and active on twitter, he told us not to worry about Laura characterization, so we'd just have to wait for more issues to come. When I get a paper issue in my hands I think I'll write something longer. The curious thing about Fallen Angels is, that it can be read in many ways and everything goes with your own interpretation.

Agreed, it was the first issue after all.

[Dryllyrd]

I really didn’t like this issue at all. It just served as a big push to force the whole “Kwannon is Psylocke you guys, she always was! She always had butterflies flying out of her ass 24/7, always had purple eyes!” editorial mandate to keep a popular trademark character going while removing the troublesome “white woman in Asian body” problem. It’s just transparent, lazy, cut and paste storytelling and insulting to previously established stuff and the characters.

Kwannon is basically cosplaying as Betsy Braddock as Psylocke in her old body now...only now she’s in her old body. It’s dumb. It’s awkward. If anyone really gave a **** about Kwannon they’d give her a fresh look, name and power set of her own.

Why aren’t the X-Men sitting down with her and saying “Kwannon, you’ve been through a lot. You finally got your body back and are free to live your own life... but...can’t help but notice you’re dressing in Betsy’s old clothes and you’re going by her old codename... and the butterfly thing.. *cough* have you considered some counselling, maybe a vacation at a relaxing day spa?”

Kwannon might as well call herself Betsy Braddock as well.

Kwannon should get the Crimson Dawn powers, that suits being a ninja much better anyway. She could be the moth to Betsy’s butterfly, battle sisters who understand each other more than any other person ever could. Flip sides to each other, rivals but allies when it comes to the crunch.

[Killerbee911]

I remember when people said after Mystery in Madripoor

1. Kwannon would go limbo would never be used

2. Kwannon would just be a C or D list character, It is pointless to use her

Now these things can still probably happen BUT making Kwannon a lead character in team book and supporting her with a legacy set up "bikini, Psylocke name, psiblade and butterfly that casual fans will recognize is thing to show they are trying to make the character successful. Everytime someone says Kwannon should be something different I see the success rate of the big two with legacy characters and original stuff.Hint Hint Legacy characters do better. Even if fallen angels is canceled at some point Kwannon is going to be used on strength of Psylocke imagery alone.

There is no reason for Kwannon to be different from Asian Betsy aka Kwannon's body other than some weird fan reason dealing with Betsy. Supergirl and Superboy are their own unique characters despite the same general costume and powers as Superman. The genre is filled with characters who are the exact same character setup except for a different personality. And it is even easier for Kwannon because the original character is going down a different lane and that legacy spot is only hers now. It is like Batman is retired and people suggesting that Dick remains Nightwing. Basically saying stick with Nightwing like the character using Batman set up isn't going to give more visibility and fanbase.