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  1. #1
    pygophile and podophile Dr. Cheesesteak's Avatar
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    Default Betsy/Kwannon Psylocke body swap reading list?

    So, Fallen Angels is pretty much my first exposure to Kwannon as Kwannon/Revanche (that I'm aware of, at least). I was a dedicated X-Men reader in the 90s and remember the body swap background being a thing back then, but sorta...I dunno, irrelevant? Or maybe I just never cared to pay attention to it. Then in the 00s to today, I've sorta been jumping in and out of X-titles, doing some research here and there to keep up to date. For me, the Psylocke saga always seemed convoluted, so I never truly had the motivation to dig real deep into it.

    But now w/ Kwannon being the full time Psylocke and me enjoying Fallen Angels, I'm curious if there's a good list of Psylocke Body Swap stories or TPBs out there? Ones that focus on Psylocke's body swap background/saga or just even ones that just have some valuable insight to it. Google hasn't been a real help and the Marvel wiki would be waaaaay too much cross-researching for me (sorry!).

    Thanks in advance!
    Comics were definitely happier, breezier and more confident in their own strengths before Hollywood and the Internet turned the business of writing superhero stories into the production of low budget storyboards or, worse, into conformist, fruitless attempts to impress or entertain a small group of people who appear to hate comics and their creators. -- Grant Morrison, 2008

    Sometimes things are special because they don't last. -- Zhi, Tales from the Loop

  2. #2
    Astonishing Member Psy-lock's Avatar
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    Betsy's transformation into an Asian woman happened in Uncanny X-Men #256 but that issue isn't relevant to Kwannon since she didn't exist at the time and was retconned in a couple of years later. The actual bodyswap story began in X-Men #20-23 and concluded in #31-32.

  3. #3
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    And bodyswap isn't really the right word as they didn't just switch bodies, the two bodies were melded together to such a degree that both bodies smelled the same to Wolverine and the X-men's tp's didn't pick up that Revanche was even on the grounds until she attacked Betsy...

  4. #4
    Extraordinary Member CRaymond's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Psy-lock View Post
    Betsy's transformation into an Asian woman happened in Uncanny X-Men #256 but that issue isn't relevant to Kwannon since she didn't exist at the time and was retconned in a couple of years later. The actual bodyswap story began in X-Men #20-23 and concluded in #31-32.
    But I think you'd be remiss to omit the several times Betsy's body was the plot hook.

    The Crimson Dawn story of the mid-late 90s was an attempt to double down on Asian tropes with magic ninjas. Betsy's psychic powers were suppressed by the Shadow King during the Psi-War. Then Claremont exchanged her powers with Phoenix in Revolution, killed her nearly immediately in X-Treme, brought her back via Jamie in Reload... There was a Sisterhood storyline that put her in her old, dead body. The Exiles and X-Forces in which she starred and had top billing. Then ultimately the mystery at Madripoor which succeeded where previous attempts had failed.

  5. #5
    Astonishing Member Psy-lock's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CRaymond View Post
    But I think you'd be remiss to omit the several times Betsy's body was the plot hook.

    The Crimson Dawn story of the mid-late 90s was an attempt to double down on Asian tropes with magic ninjas. Betsy's psychic powers were suppressed by the Shadow King during the Psi-War. Then Claremont exchanged her powers with Phoenix in Revolution, killed her nearly immediately in X-Treme, brought her back via Jamie in Reload... There was a Sisterhood storyline that put her in her old, dead body. The Exiles and X-Forces in which she starred and had top billing. Then ultimately the mystery at Madripoor which succeeded where previous attempts had failed.
    Also Psylocke mini by Christopher Yost.

  6. #6
    Ultimate Member Phoenixx9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Psy-lock View Post
    Betsy's transformation into an Asian woman happened in Uncanny X-Men #256 but that issue isn't relevant to Kwannon since she didn't exist at the time and was retconned in a couple of years later. The actual bodyswap story began in X-Men #20-23 and concluded in #31-32.
    Quote Originally Posted by Psy-lock View Post
    Also Psylocke mini by Christopher Yost.
    Is this the collected issues of above or additional Betsy/Kwannon issues?

    I would like to read all of the issues concerning the swap of these 2 lethal ladies. Thanks.

  7. #7
    Spectacular Member TraneTrax's Avatar
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    Uncannyxmen.net has a pretty comprehensive rundown of those issues:
    https://uncannyxmen.net/characters/revanche/checklist

  8. #8
    Astonishing Member Psy-lock's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Phoenixx9 View Post
    Is this the collected issues of above or additional Betsy/Kwannon issues?

    I would like to read all of the issues concerning the swap of these 2 lethal ladies. Thanks.
    The mini is an additional story.

  9. #9
    pygophile and podophile Dr. Cheesesteak's Avatar
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    Thanks again, everyone, for the info and references!
    Comics were definitely happier, breezier and more confident in their own strengths before Hollywood and the Internet turned the business of writing superhero stories into the production of low budget storyboards or, worse, into conformist, fruitless attempts to impress or entertain a small group of people who appear to hate comics and their creators. -- Grant Morrison, 2008

    Sometimes things are special because they don't last. -- Zhi, Tales from the Loop

  10. #10
    Invincible Member Havok83's Avatar
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    The body swap was a hot mess of a story. Nicieza half assed it and didnt even commit. I think it could have been better had he stuck to it instead of letting it fizzle the way it did. Ultimately it was a waste of time and added nothing to Betsy

  11. #11
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    I kind of understood the story and was never really as against it as many others, Nicieza isn't perfect but he's still the writer that made me love the different X-groups, and don't think that it was a waste...

  12. #12
    Better than YOU! Alan2099's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Havok83 View Post
    The body swap was a hot mess of a story. Nicieza half assed it and didnt even commit. I think it could have been better had he stuck to it instead of letting it fizzle the way it did. Ultimately it was a waste of time and added nothing to Betsy
    Revanche seemed to come out of nowhere and leave just as quickly without having any real impact.

    The idea of having an actual ninja back in Psylocke's old body had potential but it fell flat because they both had almost the same personality and where drawn basically the same other than Revanche's hair being more of a light pink and frizzy. Even the idea that Revanche wore Psylocke's old costume didn't quite work because she wore a tigher skimpier cut version costume that only somewhat resembled Psylocke's old armor.


    Which one of them was supposed to be Asian?
    ...umm... both of them?

    Okay, now which one is British?
    ...neither?

  13. #13
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    Asian on the right, British on left, that is supposed to show that it was not a simple bodyswap but that both bodies were melded together until outside of the hair they were supposed to be almost the exact same, when Revanche showed up none of the X-men's telepaths or Logan noticed Revanche until she attacked...

  14. #14
    Invincible Member Havok83's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alan2099 View Post
    Revanche seemed to come out of nowhere and leave just as quickly without having any real impact.

    The idea of having an actual ninja back in Psylocke's old body had potential but it fell flat because they both had almost the same personality and where drawn basically the same other than Revanche's hair being more of a light pink and frizzy. Even the idea that Revanche wore Psylocke's old costume didn't quite work because she wore a tigher skimpier cut version costume that only somewhat resembled Psylocke's old armor.


    Which one of them was supposed to be Asian?
    ...umm... both of them?

    Okay, now which one is British?
    ...neither?
    Dumb indeed. IA that it did have potential and it didnt help that right after Kwannon was introduced, the X-line had back to back crossovers with Fatal Attraction and Blood Ties.Kwannon could have been moved over to Uncanny, with Betsy in X-men, to allow both to develop as individuals but as you say, they were too similar and quite frankly redundant. Psylocke and her numerous body swaps over the years became comical and really shouldnt have become something that partially defined her

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