Pencils: Andy Kubert
Inks: Matt Ryan
Colors: Kevin Somers/ Digital Chameleon
Letters: Bill Oakley
Review: Art Bee
Prior to this issue, Psylocke, Elizabeth “Betsy” Braddock, was just a strong telepath with the unique ability to form a blade consisting of psychic energy capable of disrupting the nervous system and accessing memories. Mojo and Spiral have always had a particular interest in Miss Braddock and, at one time, they hijacked the young telepath and fitted her with robotic eyes to spy on mutants. Without going into a lot of details, Psylocke washed up on the shore of The Hand’s secret island without her memories. The Hand’s leader, Matsu’o, wanted to restore his brain-dead girlfriend, Kwannon (ninja assassin), so he made a reckless deal with Spiral. The two were taken to Spiral’s Body Shoppe for restoration. Spiral fused the pair into a shared mind, body, and powers but separate personas. Spiral then sent Psylocke to Matsu’o and Kwannon, now Revanche, to the X-Men.
Wasn’t she so nice?
Believing she is Kwannon, Psylocke is sent to kill Wolverine. During the fight, Psylocke’s psychic blade enters his head, and she learns her true identity. There is more to the story, but this is mostly what is needed to understand what is going on.
With Kwannon’s (Revanche) death, Psylocke has regained all of her powers and memories but still retains some of Kwannon’s memories and skills which are causing confusion. At the start of the issue, Angel and Psylocke are confronting Spiral about details in the whole ordeal. Does she provide answers? Of course not, Spiral does what she does best…spin an elaborate riddle and vanish, leaving Psylocke’s robotic eyes for the X-Men to ponder over.
I won’t spoil that discovery for you!
Psylocke ventures back to the island to get some answers and confront Matsu’o. She is successful and attains a special gift from the late Revanche. The issue wraps up with the start of Psylocke’s romance with Angel/Archangel, and Gambit sets off to start the next story arc in the series.
Like most X-Men comics, there is very little action, though good action, but they deliver the story with great dramatic presence and theatrics. Rather than flashbacks and retellings as with Marvel today, all pertinent background is revealed in dialogue while the story continues forward. Both of these features are reasons I love the older X-Men titles. The comic was expertly written to keep the reader interested with non cliché-infused descriptive dialogue. The craft of descriptive scripting seems very lost today. There are many comic book writers available who claim to be long time fans, but their craft lacks the evidence.
The artwork in this issue is about as superb as art was in the mid-90s. The lines are crisp and details deliberate. Looking at Marvel and DC comics of this time, you wouldn’t believe there were ever such things as deadlines, for much of their comics featured great consistent artwork. Even the cover reveals the work of the interior.
How many comic books in the last year have you seen with a great looking cover and horrible artwork inside? From my own experience, there are too many.
Reading and enjoying older comics is a great love of mine, and just choosing an old comic for this site to review is difficult. One of the biggest reasons is reading them on PAPER! Can current comic books be called being printed on paper? I don’t think so. It’s some kind of laminated alien hide…or something of that sort. Another reason is for the nostalgia. Older comics are time capsules for history and our memories. So liberate some from the back issue boxes today and delve into the past.
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