Seriously,she was under his control for 8 years and her only development was the shifts in her power set during that time.Absolutely nothing in terms of compelling character development and good storytelling.I was also annoyed by how her voice suddenly became more "pedestrianised" after her resurrection and her bizarre friendships with Nightcrawler and Rachel,whom she barely had any contact with previously(nothing wrong with that last one,it's just that it reeked of lazy writing).
The 90's have had their problems,but at least they blessed us with her relationship with Warren,her rivalry with the Shadow King and Sabretooth and her ties to the Hellfire Club.Who even remembers anything between 2000 and 2008 beyond the power switch and her resurrection?
Thank you for the clarification, and I totally agree. While I DID enjoy the issues just prior to HoM, I stopped reading when Meggan decided to become a multiversal bandaid. It read like the awkward exit the Star Trek Voyager writers came up for Kes.
So here's my dirty little secret. When I discovered the story arc where Betsy was cosmetically altered to look somewhat Asian. I thought it was an odd tale, but the writing was great, even with her "Always being an Action Nut-retcon" by Claremont. I thought the Lady M suit was amazing, even the Thong was cool during their time in Madripoor, Like I said I'm not against women being barely clothed, My art is adult, and many are barely clothed. Saturn Girls Costume in the 70's made Betsy's look tame in Comparison. BUT the distinction as you said is how the women were used.
Whereas Storm, Emma and Jean were used exceedingly well, Jubilee had great Issues, Dani Moonstar got an Upgrade, and so did Karma for a time.
You also had your Psylocke's and Susan Storms who were there to pose and be angry and look good. Psylocke literally turned into the sexy Dragon Lady and got lost in tons of Storylines an dimportant cross-overs. Susan got her personality and outfit changed within a year and a half. Psylocke got stuck with her "ICONIC" look for decades. NO Hero or Heroine gets stuck with the EXACT look that long, except miss Pose-a-tron.
I literally quit reading or caring about Psylocke because she became a different person. That wasn't Betsy Braddock, that was some woman who had shit happen to her, instead of having her own agency.
Then I gave her a shot when she came back to life, then quit again once that arc was over, because she then became miss I SMASH MOUNTAINS. Then proceeded to get beat up constantly. UGH!
Remender got his hands on her and I loved it. Then I started to accept, hey she may still be icky with the Asian body thing, but I grew to accept it. Then under his Pen, Spurrier, Wilson, Bunn, etc. I learned to love her again, because she became a character and actor under her own agency. Sure she still did dumb shit every now and then, but all characters do that, every single one. But she became Betsy Braddock again.
I didn't mind her getting Ko'ed for helping the team or just taking the L to make sure her team won. Then Humphries got his hands on her, and turned her into dumb cursing 90's video game girl. Then that was over lol.
Psylocke has been VERY consistent and grown Progressively lately and I agree with you 100%.
I hated Psylocke that entire Decade mostly. And it upset me that the person who gave her such a powerful voice in a frail body, was the one who mistreated her the worst.
He did her well for a decent amount of time, then forgot who she was. Davis didn't. Davis still loves the character. I think Claremont is coming to love her again also.
I think that Betsy just got stuck at times behind Jean and Storm in terms of characterization and such...
Literally it goes. Outback Psylocke, then Psi wars, then Dark Angel Saga. Everything else in between was pretty much garbage. The mishandling and boring already been told stories of her return in 2005 were atrocious. Claremont had her powers all over the place, one second she could barely move a cauldron then the next she could smash mountains but not pick up a dime and then a few issues later could manipulate molecules to make herself appear invisible. The only development he did was he trained her with Ogun out of time and improved her fighter status. Also why the hell was he always trying to make her the New Jean. Power swap with Jean, power signature blend of each others, Jamie tying her fate with Rachel, making her a weapon for the anti Phoenix. Claremont was sloppy and pretty much told the same stories he always told and changed the paint color.
Agreed. Even though many have forgotten. She didn't start as a mutant nor an X-man. Her powers origins were vague after Dr. Synne Brainwashed her and Jamie. That's what kickstarted their abilities so late in life. Jamie in his thirties and Betsy in her mid 20's.
She could have just as easily been the Sersi or Moondragon of the Avengers. She should be International and travel around some.
Yeah, I keep telling folks. Psylocke's "Popularity" is there, but limited.
You take a Black woman with White hair in Street clothes with a cloud behind her. "STORM!"
It's almost immediate.
Her more rabid fans are US. On Message boards, gamers, etc. General Public, not so much. She has the potential to get the Scarlet Witch or Wasp treatment. She's gotta move past 90's Bad Girl Tropes.
One more pro and con for Clarmeont during then. He did get rid of the wretched crimson dawn. How ever he had her hookup with AoA Sabretooth. So......
It was the style at the time, but red and purple just do not go together.
Thought I'd show you guys my chibi Psylocke:
Psylocke.jpg