X-Men: Psylocke

Psylocke (2009) #1-4

by Christopher Yost (Writer), Harvey Tolibao (Illustrator)

Written by CHRISTOPHER YOST
Penciled by HARVEY TOLIBAO
Cover by DAVID FINCH
Psylocke has returned to the X-Men! Following the defeat of Madelyne Pryor and her Sisterhood, Psylocke travels to Japan to re-inter her former body in its proper resting place. But when a swarm of Hand ninjas attack Psylocke and do the unspeakable under orders from Matsu'o-the assassin originally responsible for transplanting Psylocke's mind into the body of an Asian ninja-Psylocke determines that Matsu'o is one loose end that can no longer be left unresolved. It's a tale of carnage and revenge, brought to you by superstars Chris Yost (X-FORCE) and Harvey Tolibao (AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE)!

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, X Men, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book

168 pages, Paperback

First published June 9, 2010

Reviews

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The signature Psylocke stories of the 90's usually involve Spiral and Mojo, who originally gave her electronic eyes; and/or Matsu'o Tsurayaba, her handler and lover when she was the Hand's telepathic ninja pawn. So, it is not surprising that for Psylocke's solo miniseries, Chris Yost and Harvey Tolibao picked Matsu'o as her main antagonist since they have a lot of baggage together.

I am of two minds about Psylocke's characterization by Yost here. I really like how Yost gave her Britishism and she's a rather formidable fighter here. It's what I would consider being true to the character and her origins. I'm rather confused how she's very bloodthirsty though. In Uncanny X-Force a few years after the release of this story, she's trying to tread a path of non-killing. I guess that was how she was written during this time.

It is a good enough story and I like it. Although I must admit a certain bias because the artist is a countryman of mine, Tolibao draws a fetching Psylocke.

This collection also includes a bonus; it has the first three appearances of Psylocke's new Asian body which were Uncanny X-Men issues from the Chris Claremont and Jim Lee era. It is a nice bonus and a dealmaker for me in buying this book from the used bookstore. The reader has an option a new story or a classic one.

[Jerecho · Rating 3 out of 5]

The graphics is good but the expressions are blurry. (Or maybe I'm just expecting too much for a graphic novel... Maybe I am).

The story is nice, Wolverine is hilarious. Nice to read Wolverine in the series...
Oh! It's Psylocke story... Yeah great!!!

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good! So after seeing X-Men Apocalypse which I actually liked; I wanted to learn more about Psylocke, and I saw this series in a advert in one of my War Machine comics! So the story is a simple, 'kill the guy who did me wrong in the past story'; with some twists and turns! We get to see some origin story, but just bits and pieces, enough to peek your interest! Artwork is beautiful, and fits Psylocke's character quite well! Theirs also some twists and turns here and there, which made it feel a bit more original and not the simple story I mentioned earlier. We also get to see Wolverine as the comic occasionally shifts focus to him; but surprisingly their more comedic relief then anything else, up until the end! Overall I'd say this a good read, and perfect if you wanna get to know Psylocke more!

[Jorge Schumacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 estrelas

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a badass revenge story for Psylocke and of course because it is in Japan Wolverine. I thought it was fairly well written and so far what I’ve been reading that Yost has written has been pretty good. On top of that the art was good and it was straightforward and action packed. I also liked the twist with the villain when Psylocke finally finds him.

The 3.57 average rating this currently has seems a little low to me and I find myself completely disagreeing with most of the reasonings for the low rated reviews. This seems to be a little bit of a trend for me with Marvel comics where the rating is either way too high or oddly low. I guess people just have vastly different tastes than me.

[Emmett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Psylocke was always one of my favorite characters in the X-men so when I saw this on the Kindle store, I snapped it up. I loved seeing Psylocke in the spotlight; the revenge story was fun and the art was great. I would have liked it to be a bit longer, but the 4 issues will have to suffice. The older comics included which told a bit of Psylocke backstory were okay, but they definitely felt dated and I did not enjoy them nearly as much as the new solo run.

[A Broken Zebra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork and an awesome look into one of my most favourite X-Men. Gives great insight to her past and her demons; also makes her relationship with Wolverine more interesting and complicated.

If you're a Psylocke fan, this is a must read.

[Theo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Everything about this book was bad: writing to art.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

- Thoughts: It has 2 parts
The first part is a new story, for this one I would rate 3 Stars as it's a little disconnected as mostly new marvel stories are, great art, bad character development, the characters choices are inconsistent with their own history, it almost fell like another reboot. The star rating below will rate this part only since it's the new content.
The second part is very better, deserving 5 stars. It's a small collection of old X-Men issues from 98 that changed Elisabeth Braddock into a sexy asian psy-ninja.
▶◀
These are my personal opinions, you may discord, my final rating of the book is not necessarily linked to this system and may diverge from it.
Book Storyline
- Originality: 5/5 stars
- Development: 2/5 stars
- Enjoyment: 3/5 stars
- Writing stile: 2/5 stars
- Funnyness: -/5 stars
- Epicness: 3/5 stars
- Scaryness: -/5 stars
- Smartness: 4/5 stars
- Addictiveness: 2/5 stars
- Plot twists: 4/5 stars
- Pace: 3/5 stars
- Storyline planning: 2/5 stars
- Ending: 2/5 stars
- Holes: 2/5 stars
- Self contained (Y/N): ×
- Cliffhanger (Y/N): ×
- Adult (Y/N): ×
- Mystery (Y/N): ×
- Treasure Hunting (Y/N): ×
- Violence level: Graphical stabbing, deception of limbs
- Tech level: Current age
- Religion level: no religion mention
- Main genre: Comics
- Subgenre: Superhero, X-men
- Point of view: Comics
- Best of it: the plot twist at the end
- Worst of it: Psylocke re-struggling with issues long dealt with
- Aftertaste: cereal bar
Cover/Art

- Cover Quality: 5/5 stars
- Cover Traces: 5/5 stars
- Cover Colors: 5/5 stars
- Cover Style: 4/5 stars
- Comics: 4/5 stars
- Comics Shades: 4/5 stars
- Comics art: 4/5 stars
- In a few words: Beautiful sexy cover. Unfortunately, we only got the cover from David Finch & Jason Keith.
The comics art are good too, however it's not of the same quality. Some fighting scenes seems like they should be a greater scene that got zoomed into Psylocke to show off her sexyness and thus damaging the otherwise better overall content.
World
Mutant Island and Japan
- Originality: 3/5 stars
- Variety: 3/5 stars
- Consistency: 3/5 stars
- Impact on the story: 5/5 stars
- Setting overall score: 4/5 Stars
- Tension: 3/5 Stars
- Atmosphere: 3/5 Stars
- Japanese ninjas: ✓
- Explosions: ✓
- Katanas & mutant powers: ✓
Characters
There is a lot of inconsistency in Marvel's characters thru the years, it's something that happens when you have so many different people writing the same characters, just to know the character history is a work for months of reading.
- Consistency: 2/5 stars
- Connection: 3/5 stars
- Dialogs: 3/5 Stars
- Interactions: 3/5 Stars
- Mutants (✓/×): ✓
- Ninjas (✓/ ×): ✓
- Notable best characters: Wolverine
- Notable worse characters: Yukio, her presence in the story was completely meaningless


Writer: Chris Yost
Penciler: Harvey Tolibao
Ynker: Paul Neary & Sandu Florea
Colorists: Ulises Arreola & Jay David Ramos with Brian Reber
Letterer: VC'S Jon Sabino
Cover Art: David Finch & Jason Keith
Editor Daniel Ketchum

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right of the bat, you get one of the hottest covers in comics history - a nice, healthy butt-shot of an athletic Psylocke, looking ready to kick some... butt. So the focus is definitely on butts. No ifs, ands or butts about it. That's how you spell it, right? Anyway, hot AF. Then, the interior artist comes along with a similarly intimidating shot of Psylocke, this time from the front. Oh, fan service, how I adore you! Let the TnA flow!

Psylocke goes to Japan. She wants to bury the body she left behind when Mastu'o Tsurayaba transferred her mind into the body of assassin Kwannon. Matsu'o's men of the organization named the Hand destroy it, so their leader becomes a target for Psylocke. Fahd 'Jinn' Alireza also gets a visit from the Hand. After watching his wife be killed, he too now hunts for Matsu'o, the man he holds responsible. Who will get there first? Will they team up or will they not be willing to share the kill?

Psylocke meets with Yukio and defeats her. The latter was tasked with preventing Matsu'o's death. The encounter with Fahd is far more dangerous. His explosive powers leave Matsu'o estate in ruins. Eventually he too is defeated by Psylocke right when the two of them find Matsu'o.

Psylocke is surprised to find the reasoning behind Matsu'o's recent deeds. He wants to be killed because of his ravaged body. Wolverine has been punishing Matsu'o since he poisoned Mariko Yashida. Psylocke wants the Matsu'o's torture to end, so she comes to blows with Logan. She tries to fight him, but is losing ground, especially after using her psychic dagger on him which puts his human side to sleep and lets the monster loose. She eventually gives up the fight, but thankfully so does Logan. He allows her to kill Matsu'o who is the happiest of them all for this outcome. Psylocke regrets killing him, but is content that is was done for the right reasons.

[Crazed8J8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book comes in two parts, the first is the solo Psylocke run (4 issues). The artwork was great in this, and I enjoyed that Wolverine was along for the ride, however, the revelations of the 4th issue really pulled the series together and made this whole run amazing! I appreciated the insights into Psylocke that this run provided.
The second half is the 3-issues from Uncanny in which Psylocke first appears in her Asian body. It's interesting to see how the two halves on these books make up the collective whole, much like Psylocke herself! Again, great artwork by the legendary Jim Lee, and I even gained a little respect for Jubilee along the way. I never realized how integrated Psylocke and Wolverine's history was (which makes me appreciate their X-Force all the more).

[Lain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A self-fulfiling revenge story that really taps into that Claremont era X-Men styled expression and ridiculous intensity. I think it's particularly great because it uses Psylocke's character in fantastic effect both visually and in action; the mini-series itself seems so literate and understanding of her character by interpolating both what Claremont and Nicieza had attempted and ultimately turned into a long running, multi-layered misunderstanding. It both provides closure and reasonable elaboration to that integral "body-swap" while featuring a worth-while revenge story that fits right into the X-Men ethos and makes complete sense for Betsy/Kwannon themselves. Does complete justice and love to Psylocke as a character, and that alone is fantastic.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was mostly pretty cool. The art looked good. The story was engaging enough with a few twists and turns. It added some depth to a character I didn't know much about. Most of the background info you might need is provided unless you're just a completely lost individual who doesn't know what an X-man or Wolverine is. I'm not saying this is going to change your life or even be that memorable a few weeks later. I'm just saying that I enjoyed it. You should, too.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Psylocke has gone through the wringer of bad character choices; body switches, robot eyes, connections to Mojo and Spiral, dead once or twice. This volume tries to rebuild her a bit, or, at least. give her a solid "character" that can be used in other stories. Though, like Gambit, Bishop and (just maybe) Rogue, Psylocke's best days are behind her.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm still continuing my great x-read of 2017/2018 and I am WAY behind on reviews due to a move and limited down time. I will be updating everything I have read in the meantime with tiny (or nonexistent) reviews so I can catch up again...


--Just did not love this one. Felt like it was a completely unnecessary story and Psylocke didn't much seem like herself to me.

[Nick McDermott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing: 2.5/5
Art: 3.5/5

Art is very gratuitous but still very explosive in action and enjoyable. Character assassination on Wolverine drags down the writing for me. Overall plot is a big contrived but fine.

[Alberto Guerrero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christopher Yost never disappoints!

I want to say thank you. Psylocke is arguably, my favorite character, and Christopher captures her intensity and her complexity brilliantly.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, world building, epic and full of epic events! :D

[J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much bombast and not enough characterization. And the storyline isn't helped by the fact that it's not clear what's going on--Psylocke is chasing "her body" around, but with all the body-hopping, exactly which body is it? And last time I ran across Psylocke, she didn't have the psychic knife anymore, and had become a telekinetic or something. (I actually don't remember that well--I've never seen Psylocke handled well as a character, ever.) The reader gets brief bits of flashback, but they only confuse what I sort of remember. No recap at all would be better than what we get here.

But the REAL problem with this series is that the interesting part comes WAY too late in the book, and when it comes, it's too disturbing. Implicating present-day Wolverine in something so torturous is...problematic. Isn't Wolverine supposed to be redeeming himself in some sense? Trying to atone for the evils he committed while brainwashed? Post-House of M Wolverine, with his memories intact, is different than '90s Wolverine. And the Wolverine in this book certainly isn't the Wolverine in the X-Men books, or in New Avengers, or in Wolverine Origins. This is too dark for the current incarnation of the character--he can by physically brutal, even murderous, but this doesn't seem believable.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main story is actually a stealth Wolverine tale with a Psylocke misdirect. It's the standard Revenge In Japan For Something That Happened During The Claremont Years Story. It's not very exciting, and it's paced poorly, which is a surprise as Yost is usually a great writer.

I really hoped that when Wolverine got all of his memories back, the writers could stop focusing on rehashing the same Japanese revenge stories.

The back material shows the issues where the Psylocke/Kwannon switch happened, which would have made more sense if it had been collected either with a larger run from that era, or with the 90s resolution of the Psylocke/Kwannon storyline. It felt like they put it in this volume to fill out a threadbare collection.

If you're a diehard Betsy Braddock fan, or if you're really thirsty for Wolverine in Japan being morally questionable, then this mnight be a five star book for you.

[Dmitry Yakovenko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Этот том, не то что бы разочаровал, но и восторга он не вызвал. По сюжету, Псайлок будет мстить своему обидчику, медленно но верно, настигая его, однако в конце все окажется не так просто, как казалось сначала. Это довольно странная, необычная и в какой-то степени, серьезная, история, за которой довольно интересно следить и которая еще и удивляет своим финалом, который трудно было предугадать. Огорчает малое количество интересных персонажей и отсутствие интересных диалогов и самим финалом, который неожиданный, да, но довольно глупый. Вот, что действительно стоит похвалить, к чему нет никаких претензий и ради чего можно прочитать этот том – умопомрачительной красоты рисунок.
В общем, просто неплохой сюжет, на который можно потратить часть вечера и получить удовольствие от прочтения, но большего от него ждать не стоит.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really wanted to like this book- with gorgeous art by Tolibao, an awesome and underutilized femme fatale lead, and a ready to kill Wolverine it seemed like it had all the right elements for a great yarn. But Christopher Yost really brought some his amateur writing to it. Despite the stunning visuals, ninjas, and all the great stuff I'd expect from a Psylocke story, Psylocke is a bland T&A doll as she goes on a hunt into her past to kill someone from her past Mat'suo. It's a horrid mess of a story that then throws in Wolverine for no real regard and I would have easily dropped it to 1-star if not for the artwork. If Marvel would stop abusing it's Japanese stereotypes and actually write a real story for once, Psylocke could easily have been more but alas- another wasted character in the Marvel-verse.

[Jimmy Briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to Psylocke, I will always like it.(As long as the art is good) Here she is out for a bit of revenge. Someone she thought she was cool with has destroyed her old body, the last thing she has left of the old life,(I assume it was Elizabeth's body but they made it seem like it was Kwannon, maybe it was) Well she knows who it is and she wants him dead. When she finds him, it turns out to be the guy who killed Wolverine's love in Japan, and Wolvie has been taking little parts of him every year on the anniversary of her death. He wants this guy to live and Psyloke doesn't. The two friends fight it out and then Psylocke reminds Wolverine of who his woman loved and he stops protecting the almost dead man, then Psylocke kills this dude. I loved it because two of my favorites fight it out in here and the art is way cool. More Psylocke please.

[MadMaxx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Psylocke gets another mini. The story was kind of basic. She wants to say by to her dead body, (how odd is that? Is this an X-Men comic or Ghost Hunters?) Then she has this ex-boyfriend or what ever that destroys her dead body, mind you that Psylocke is still alive, what the hell? your probably thinking. If you know anything about her, she was originally an English woman, but her mind was transferred into an Asian woman's body. I know confusing isn't it. Anyway, wolverine comes in and stops her from trying to kill her Ex, but why? Turns out this Ex also killed Wolverine's love back in the day. Talk about drama. The art was great which made this comic a must in my "comic book". Also Wolverine and Psylocke are two of my favorite X-Men, so there's that too.

[Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having missed out on much of the X-Men during the Lee period of the 90s, I always wondered about the specifics of Psylocke "turning Japanese." That story is told as a back-up story here, following the collected 4-issue arc of her eponymous limited series which does two things: re-establishes her as the badass the rest of us knew she was (before all this secret ninja body-switching stuff) way back in Uncanny 212 or 213 (the Sabretooth one) AND, it has the best Wolverine revenge thing EVER. So, there's that, too.

Honestly, I grabbed this on my way to a break at the library and couldn't finish it in 20 minutes so had to bring it home.

[Alex Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

So as a graphic novel it probably could have been better - it was a simplistic plot with not all that much going on. However, it focussed on Psylocke who is just so. damn. cool. I couldn't help but enjoy it. It also had some of the most colourful and vivid art I've seen, the whole thing looked fantastic. The characters were done well and it had a nice twist, so any shortcomings were easily ignored. It was also very accessible, after a cursory reading on Wikipedia about Psylocke beforehand.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice story giving good focus on the characters of both Psylocke and Wolverine. Its biggest problem was that a one or two issue story got dragged out over four issues. For once the inclusion of older material seemed particularly relevant here.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

So as a woman I am slightly offended that the cover of this graphic novel had to be a picture of Psylocke's rear end, but it was still a great story line. I am a huge Psylocke fan from reading parts of her storyline in X-men, so it was nice to read her story all in one place.

[Amélie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice story, but artwork is amazing, the fight with Mutsuo is very nice. The colors contrast is well done.

[Pturingan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical revenge story with a dark twist towards the end. There's also a bonus three-issue story from 1990 added on to fill up the volume.