Uncanny X-force #25 preview

[sherkahn]

ComicBookResources has the preview of X-Force #25 as the toll of their dark and dirty deeds begins to fall out.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*






Now that looks like a more plausibly Asian Psylocke than previous artists have drawn her.

Will Betsy stay? Or will the new threats remind her why X-Force was created in the first place.

Comments

[salinea]

wait, didn't she recover her original non Asian body last arc?

[darkknightjrk]

No, she was just wearing her British costume--last issue we found out what she got from that guy in Otherworld was her ability to feel remorse taken away.

[sherkahn]

"what she got from that guy in Otherworld was her ability to feel remorse taken away."

I think more than she gave up more than that. I think that guy is going to use her as a channel source for sandess throughout the world(s) in order to strengthen his "forest" in Otherworld.

[salinea]

aww. I was hoping we were done with the weird white-woman-in-an-asian-body thing :/

[darkknightjrk]

I dunno, I kinda always liked that idea. Yes, it's weird, but that's exactly why--all these characters go through strange, semi-horrific things all the time, and what's weirder then being put into a different body? Plus, the ninja skills and her psi-blades do make her stand out from other telepaths like Jean or Emma.

[salinea]

I prefer weirdness that doesn't have a creepy, racist undertone.

[darkknightjrk]

To be fair, I don't think I've ever seen the story where the body switch did happen. I'm not even sure if I've read anything with her original body.

[salinea]

Me either. But the whole concept of a white British woman occupying the Asian body of someone she's fought against strikes me as creepy racist in a weird way. Like, in itself?

[doomisay]

To be fair, I don't think Betsy fought Revanche until after they'd switched bodies in the first place.

[salinea]

... perhaps not. But I meant more from an out of story point of view.

[long_silence]

And then there's the whole cultural appropriation thing.

[kusonaga]

Wouldn't it be worse the other way around. Whitewashing an Asian woman?

[icon_uk]

I don't think either way round works well. The former smacks of a cheap gimmick to fake cultural diversity in your cast, the latter is an active rejection of cultural diversity.

[icon_uk]

It happened off panel, and originally appeared to be a sort of genetic engineering performed by Spiral for... some Asian crimelord. (I want to say Japanese, but since she used the name Lady Mandarin for a time, and the Mandarin is Chinese, I'm not sure) I think the Hand were involved too.

There was no suggestion of a body switch, it appeared that her body and some of her thoughts had been rewritten. It wasn't until years later that the Psylocke/Revanche thing was revealed/retconned.

[darkknightjrk]

So the original idea was that her body wasn't switched but altered to look like what she is today?

What issues did this happen anyway? I still have the Marvel DCU thing going and I think I'd like to see it for myself.

[icon_uk]

Pretty much yes

It happened after she went through the Seige Perilous in X-Men 251, and then Uncanny X-Men #255–258 (according to wiki, I don't recall myself)

[starwolf_oakley]

Yes, the X-Men's section of the ACTS OF VENGEANCE crossover. It is also the first time Jubilee appeared in her Robin-esque yellow raincoat.

[bruinsfan]

As I recall, readers were led to believe that the new body was a result that whole fresh start the Siege Perilous was supposed to give everyone who went through it. The brainwashing into Lady Mandarin courtesy of the Hand's psychics was supposed to be a separate thing that happened to her once she showed up afterwards.

[flo_nelja]

Except that, everyone else was reincarnated with a new life and new memories, but their original body.

[icon_uk]

True, though there was nothing to say that the Siege couldn't do that if it was the best way to give the subject a new start at their dreams.

[bruinsfan]

As I recall it split Rogue and her stolen memories from Carol Danvers into two separate people who had to fight to the death for their shared life force as they alternately withered and rotted. So there was plenty of evidence at the time that it could result in some freaky situations.

I'm still not clear on exactly why Spiral and the Hand did the mind-switch thing with Betsy and Kwannon, but I've long since learned my lesson about looking up X-Men storylines for sense-making.

[icon_uk]

IIRC it was because the Kwannon's former lover wanted her restored to health, and paid Spiral's Body Shoppe to do it... or something.

[auggie18]

You should check out some of the stuff with her in her original body. I was a fan. Hell, I was a fan of her original "pretty pink princess" costume, if only for the unique-factor. (It was super flowy and cool looking.) I liked when she started wearing armor because she realized telepathy would not protect her from physical attacks. It was when she went all psychic ninja and traded in her cool graphic design psi-butterfly for a psi-katana that I lost interest in the character.

[icon_uk]

Pretty much total agreement. I like to think she upgraded her lovely original outfit for the less lovely, but more protective, armour, after Doug was shot dead and she realised it might be a smart move.

[bruinsfan]

Was there ever any reason given for her not just going back to her Captain Btitain uniform?

[icon_uk]

In story? Not that I recall. It could sort of be fanwanked if one accepts the annoying retcon that Claremont introduced that said that Brian's suit only worked reliably when it was in the UK, and that distance from the shore of Britain meant reduced his powers in a major way.

[darkknightjrk]

Damn--Betsy be kissing everyone since she sold away her ability to feel remorse. :O

[r0b666]

Am I alone in wanting her to wear some variation of the Captain Britain Suit? There's just something about it I dig. Maybe because it's not the same purple leotard she's been wearing since the 80s.

Or I have a thing for the Union Jack. I dunno.

[lascoden]

Well, in X-Force she no longer seems to be wearing the swimsuit thing.

[icon_uk]

I'm just pleased to see her in civvies. Can't remember the last time that happened.

[bruinsfan]

Ditto. I recall panels of her sitting on a balcony sipping tea in the ninja swimsuit. I think she only took it off when she was captured and stripped naked by enemies or for the occasional cheesecake-y shower scene.

[lascoden]

You think a ninja wouldn't walk around dressed as a ninja. But hey, I'm no ninja, so maybe there's something I'm missing.

[arilou_skiff]

Of course they dress like ninja, how else are you supposed to know they're ninja?

Hence bright orange.

[icon_uk]

Not remotely alone... especially since it allows her to fly, create forcefields, and enhance her strength.

[mrstatham]

Sensible characterisation and actual fallout from events characters have been a part of? Can.. Can someone give Remender the keys to a bigger franchise please?