Betsy Braddock: Psylocke Appreciation 2018

[Havok83]

I love the team she's on. It's a good mix of Outback, Blue, and New Mutants.
My Excite is real.

is it? Im not getting that vibe from any of those at all. The one that screamed out to me was Gold and only bc this team is spun out of the one in the Typhoid Fever one which is largely made up of the old Gold team

[Dylan Davison]

Yu makes the costume look good and the colors are better here

I liked it better on the other art. Didn't it have some kinda flowy thing under her waist? Or am I mistaken? This one doesn't have that.

However, if this is the main team, I'm interested. Kurt and Psy on a team, count me in.

[Havok83]

I liked it better on the other art. Didn't it have some kinda flowy thing under her waist? Or am I mistaken? This one doesn't have that.

However, if this is the main team, I'm interested. Kurt and Psy on a team, count me in.

No. The sash was on her old costume, not this new one

[Dylan Davison]

No. The sash was on her old costume, not this new one

No, I don't mean the sash, it was like a thing that hung down between her thighs, like a knight or mage kinda. Let me find the image, one sec.

Edit: you know what, got a second look at that Dodson cover. The purple thighs with the pink looked like what was I talking about, but it was just the angle that made it look like that. Nevermind, they're the same haha.

Edit: Actually they are a bit different on the shoulders, this new cover makes it look like one solid piece, when on Dodsons over, they look like they sit cover the spandex or whatever. So I still like the design of the other one more lol

[MetalPsyc]

I like Dodson's version the best:

.

But honestly.. not quite feeling the color combination of the costume. I don't think they'd eliminate her ninja/martial art skill, but I don't mind if the teke is gone - replaced by her original precog abilities. That'd differenciate her more than Jean.

And Oh,.. I really like the new team she's in. But I think Cannonball should be replaced by Archangel. Laura seems a bit out of place for me. Replaced her with the Wolverine (OG), and we'll have solid team of the:
- O5 (Jean, Iceman, Beast, Archangel minus Cyclops),
- All New (Storm, Nightcrawler, Wolverine) and
- 90s-late 80s X-men (Psylocke, Jubilee, Bishop).

[CGAR]

I also think something is off about how Leinul Yu drew that Psylocke costume and although I don't usually gravitate towards Dodson art. I think his effort looks better. I just like Yu's darker purple hair.


Something interesting that I got from that CC article that I hope the new writers incorporate into Betsy's arc moving forward. And Im paraphrasing here. But she was given the body she always wanted to be a warrior. And a lot of fans love that and the association to a butterfly coming out of a cocoon. But she was kind of just given it by outside forces and it wasn't earned or something she strived for at the time. She was doing her thing training and wearing the armor. But she did not choose to be in the body or to change. And where the CC comment comes in I like that he basically wanted her to have a realization that what she had was enough and she could be a warrior in her own body and form.

And I know Asian body fans will disagree. But now that I think of it that way I kind of appreciate it more. And Im hoping that the 3 writers can do something good for her and execute this story correctly.


Also regarding that Uncanny cover. I do like that she is there with a few characters:

Betsy and Jean haven't been on panel together in a very long time.

I do miss the Kurt and Betsy friendship. Burtsy <3

Also Sam and Betsy. They had a mild flirtation during the O*N*E arc where she was exercising and training in front of them that I really liked so I want to seee Sam and Betsy rebuild that friendship.

Bishop and Psylocke always had an interesting dynamic.

X-23 and Psylocke I always wanted them to be a little closer to eachother.

She also hasn't had interaction with Jubilee in a long time.

And Ororo and Betsy are OG homies forever.

Bobby and Betsy is something Im not familiar with but would be good to see them interact as well.

Also y'all need to start tweeting or @mention Jordan D. White for a Psylocke mini

[TurboTaj]

How do you know she's going to be bland when you haven't read her yet?
Why do people think her going back to her former body will suddenly make her bland and boring?

I have to ask, are these people really Psylocke fans?

Let me clarify: I am referring to her appearance and her ability to "stand out." I see her new appearance and in my opinion she blends in and looks boring. Of course, this is subjective and can vary by person. The particular phrase I used was also said somewhat sarcastically as well so I am well aware that I was exaggerating things.

I also admit that I am a casual fan of comics. I periodically come and go but do my best to try to keep up with the "goings on" in the comics. Regardless, I don't think questioning the validity of someone's fandom of a character because they disagree with you is productive. If someone says they are a fan of the character, that should be accepted. Their "level" or type of fandom may be different from you but that doesn't (or shouldn't) delegitimize their connection to the character.

I get where you coming from but accepting Psylocke as is settling imo and you don't realize on until you get good representation how much it sucked to have the bad or decent ones. People with complicated backgrounds exist why settle for Psylocke when comics can create an Asian woman with a white father and Asian mom who grew up in Jamaica speaks with an accent from there.My first reaction was that they should keep psylocke as Asian with a retcon but then I realize what if they flesh out Jubilee or Karma,What if they created new character who better represents the Asian experience. Psylocke even with recton will always be Asian character that was really a white woman and trust me they can do better. For me reading Mile Morales or watching Black Panther was breath fresh air you mean characters I like can be flesh out and not stereotypes the drug dealer,Athlete or angry black man stuff.

Like it or not diversity does play apart in team make up and Psylocke did get slotted in as diversity on teams. Since that is the case when making X-men teams now and the obvious topic of hey we have Cyclops, Jean Grey,Wolverine, Kitty on a team hey we have Psylocke,Karma,Jubilee,Storm,Celia Reyes around to use . I like that Psylocke will not be used as racial diversity anymore and if they are trying to add some diversity to a roster a character because yes that does happen then character who can better tell the Asian experience can be used.

This is the inherent problem I have with this discussion though. With all due respect, you don't get to decide what I feel is representative of my experience. That being said, I don't get to decide for others if they do not feel fairly represented by the character. This is why I have concerns that this discussion seems to be taking place with a lot of people who aren't asian deciding for us what type of representation we should have. Now of course I may be wrong... after all this forum is just a series of usernames and avatars so I may perhaps be unfairly making this assumption. But regardless, Psylocke was representative for me. Her circumstances were comic book levels of convoluted but in its own weird way it made sense to me.

However, I do agree that there are a wealth of other asian characters that could benefit from further development and attention. It would also be a worthwhile endeavor because if someone doesn't connect with Psylocke then they have other asian representatives as well. Having one character who you may feel is not representative of your situation is not a problem if there are other characters who are. But the fact that other asian characters are not getting fair attention is not sufficient reasoning to me for Psylocke to be de-asian'd. I also don't buy into the notion that there is only so many "slots" for certain types of characters. We have enough space for everyone if we make the effort. So if someone doesn't connect with Psylocke? Great there's someone else available instead. But instead of developing those other asian characters to broaden the types of representation available we're basically saying "nope this one as is no longer available to you" and I find that problematic.

Even with the original plan of it happening being derailed I still feel it was going to happen one day. It just makes sense for Betsy, no matter how much people prefer one over the other, too many writers like to play with the will she won't she of going back. And these days more and more writers wanted to put her back because of the story potential they could've told. Do I agree that doing it on the side in this mini dedicated to Wolvie was the wrong place for it? Absolutely. I started reading comics after the change had happened as well and even back then I always thought "she's going back one day. There's a writer who can't wait to tell the story of how she goes back and what newfound purpose she has with her OG face back." Comics and marketing aren't suddenly ending so there is plenty of time to push the new versions of her in all mediums and in 30 years this new look will be the "iconic" one. It's like when Carol got her new Captain Marvel uniform. I feel like by the time an MCU X-men film comes out it won't even matter anymore.

This is that time. As for Kwannon, my thoughts and feelings for her haven't and probably won't ever change. She's a footnote and we'll probably never have to speak of her again now that she's got her original face back.

I can see your position. I can understand her going back to her original body if done in a nuanced way (much like how some people find it problematic for a white woman to live in an asian body, I find it problematic to essentially abandon "the asian side" and only embrace the "white side"... again I come at this with a specific mixed race perspective.) To be fair, this remains to be seen if the handling of this change will be done well. However, upon initial reveal it seems like this decision was made in response to the backlash (given the way in which it was done) rather than a specific desire to tell a compelling story. But again, I'd be happy to be proven wrong and I will try to keep an open mind. However, I disagree with that this version will become the "iconic" one. It may very well turn out to be that way, however what is embraced as an iconic look has less to do about what version is pushed and more about which version is embraced the most by the fans. My money is on her asian appearance remaining her most iconic look (but again I could end up being wrong!)

[Tazirai]

is it? Im not getting that vibe from any of those at all. The one that screamed out to me was Gold and only bc this team is spun out of the one in the Typhoid Fever one which is largely made up of the old Gold team

You're right it is mostly Gold.

[Tazirai]

If you guys have the Twitters, ask the writers to give Psylocke some type of one shot or Mini so we can really get into her head. Minus all the ninja stabby stabby. Just how she feels, and felt over the years in comic time of being not truly herself, while also being herself.

[Psyknight]

Yu makes the costume look good and the colors are better here

....I like it even less there than in the MiM and Disassembled covers. It’s not the color scheme that bothers me, but the way the colors are arranged. There is just something blah about the way the pink and lavender look splattered in the middle. I’m also not crazy about the neckline. On the bright side, her hair looks fabulous! It’s of my favorite shades of purple and the style is too die for. It reminds me so much of this classic fanart, which I unfortunately cannot find at the moment.

You know who looks best on that cover? Jubilee. Something about the way she drawn, just chilling in the back with her fireworks is just so awesome.

It of course, warms my heart ♥️ to see her in a book with Jean and X-23. It’s great to see her with Storm, Jubes, and Nightcrawler, but to be in a book with Jean and X-23 is very special since it’s been so long since that’s happened, especially with Jean. I’m mostly neutral about the other guys. Her brief interaction with Cannonball in the past was cute. It would be fun to see more of that. Beast...could be interesting. I’m not sure they’ve had on panel interaction since she killed Warren. Bishop and Bobby are the only ones I have no interest in.

[Havok83]

It just hit me that storm, Kurt and Sam are the only ones on that team that have ever seen Betsy with that face. The O5 met her in Inferno but she had her mask and armor on and the rest only ever met her after she was swapped and altered

[MetalPsyc]

I have to be honest.. that I already missed the Eurasian Psylocke. lol

But I think I'll grow to like her new appearance. I really hope they do her justice this time around and have some follow up story/repercussion on the change. This is a big deal!

[Psyknight]

Let me clarify: I am referring to her appearance and her ability to "stand out." I see her new appearance and in my opinion she blends in and looks boring. Of course, this is subjective and can vary by person. The particular phrase I used was also said somewhat sarcastically as well so I am well aware that I was exaggerating things.

I also admit that I am a casual fan of comics. I periodically come and go but do my best to try to keep up with the "goings on" in the comics. Regardless, I don't think questioning the validity of someone's fandom of a character because they disagree with you is productive. If someone says they are a fan of the character, that should be accepted. Their "level" or type of fandom may be different from you but that doesn't (or shouldn't) delegitimize their connection to the character.



This is the inherent problem I have with this discussion though. With all due respect, you don't get to decide what I feel is representative of my experience. That being said, I don't get to decide for others if they do not feel fairly represented by the character. This is why I have concerns that this discussion seems to be taking place with a lot of people who aren't asian deciding for us what type of representation we should have. Now of course I may be wrong... after all this forum is just a series of usernames and avatars so I may perhaps be unfairly making this assumption. But regardless, Psylocke was representative for me. Her circumstances were comic book levels of convoluted but in its own weird way it made sense to me.

However, I do agree that there are a wealth of other asian characters that could benefit from further development and attention. It would also be a worthwhile endeavor because if someone doesn't connect with Psylocke then they have other asian representatives as well. Having one character who you may feel is not representative of your situation is not a problem if there are other characters who are. But the fact that other asian characters are not getting fair attention is not sufficient reasoning to me for Psylocke to be de-asian'd. I also don't buy into the notion that there is only so many "slots" for certain types of characters. We have enough space for everyone if we make the effort. So if someone doesn't connect with Psylocke? Great there's someone else available instead. But instead of developing those other asian characters to broaden the types of representation available we're basically saying "nope this one as is no longer available to you" and I find that problematic.



I can see your position. I can understand her going back to her original body if done in a nuanced way (much like how some people find it problematic for a white woman to live in an asian body, I find it problematic to essentially abandon "the asian side" and only embrace the "white side"... again I come at this with a specific mixed race perspective.) To be fair, this remains to be seen if the handling of this change will be done well. However, upon initial reveal it seems like this decision was made in response to the backlash (given the way in which it was done) rather than a specific desire to tell a compelling story. But again, I'd be happy to be proven wrong and I will try to keep an open mind. However, I disagree with that this version will become the "iconic" one. It may very well turn out to be that way, however what is embraced as an iconic look has less to do about what version is pushed and more about which version is embraced the most by the fans. My money is on her asian appearance remaining her most iconic look (but again I could end up being wrong!)

Agreed. I also find this troublesome.

[oasis1313]

Is it really true that Betsy is going back to her British body?

[MetalPsyc]

I have to be honest.. that I already missed the Eurasian Psylocke. lol

But I think I'll grow to like her new appearance. I really hope they do her justice this time around and have some follow up story/repercussion on the change. This is a big deal!