Comic Review - Psylocke 1-4

Title/Storyline

Psylocke 1-4

Publish Date/Year

2010

Creative Team

Chris Yost & Harvey Tolibao

Publisher

Marvel

Story

Psylocke makes a comeback to the X-Teams (who are now based on the island located off the coast of California called Utopia) and then flies off to Japan to bury her Elizabeth (Betsy) Braddock body. with Wolverine on tow.

But her body was desecrated & burnt by what appears to be a group of Hand Ninjas who seemed a little out of place to her. She uses her powers & discovers that the person behind the attack was none other than the man who gave her Kwannon’s body – Matsu’o Tsurayaba (the same guy who also poisoned Wolverine’s wife – Mariko Yashida). She then swore to kill Matsu’o. Yes, she’s one of the thirstier X–Men members.

However, at the same time, another one (Yes, Psylocke was once his assassin when both she and Kwannon occupied the same body – yes, it’s THAT convoluted!) of Matsu’o’s former assassins – Jinn (a supernaturally powered flaming Middle Eastern guy), is also gunning to kill Matsu’o because he had just murdered his wife.

The showdown happens at Matsu’o’s country retreat when Psylocke is stopped by Yukio, an X-Men ally. Psylocke manages to defeat Yukio so that she could finish what she had come to do but then Jinn shows up claiming to kill Matsu’o. And then Wolverine shows up to stop them from killing Matsu’o, because he wants Matsu’o to suffer for a long time to come for having killed Mariko!

Art

Harvey Tolibao’s art reminds me of a cross between Tom Raney & Ethan Van Sciver, with a pinch of Leinil Francis Yu thrown in for good measure. He’s a little inconsistent right now (as his art looks absolutely beautiful in some panels but off kilter in some) but I can see his potential in becoming a big star like Van Sciver. Overall, it’s a pretty good looking series.

Additional Comments

I have to admit that I had been away from the X- books for quite a while (>2 years actually) and am a little hazy in terms of what’s happening in those books right now. I can’t really recall when Psylocke took a hiatus from the X-Teams, but she’s back – just in time to bury her body (see above for the details).

This is quite a simple story (but the history is something else) and easy to read but would have some long term consequences for the relationship between Wolverine and Betsy.

We also see how much of a bad-@$$ Psylocke can be. I’m quite surprised not many had actually capitalised on more often on the fact that she is a powerful telepath (ok, not in the same class as Xavier or Jean Grey) who inhabits the body of a ninja assassin – that’s a recipe for some kick-@$$ characterisation right there!