Psylocke - Publication History

Publication History

Created by writer Chris Claremont, Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock first appeared in Captain Britain #8 (Dec. 1976), published by the Marvel Comics imprint Marvel UK. The original spelling of the character's name was "Elizabeth," though relettering of the UK versions for US reprints would occasionally misspell it as "Elisabeth." This led to spelling inconsistencies throughout future publications. The inconsistency was resolved by Claremont 32 years later in 2008 in the series New Exiles, which reasserted the particular spelling of her name as "Elizabeth." In the Captain Britain series, Chris Claremont introduced her as a supporting character, the sister of Brian Braddock, the eponymous Captain Britain, and established her career as a charter pilot. He also established that she had psychic abilities, the full extent of which were unknown, though no explanation is given for these powers. In Marvel UK's Super Spider-Man and Captain Britain #243 (Oct. 1977), Betsy Braddock is presented as a professional model.

In Marvel UK's Daredevils #3 (March 1983), Alan Moore establishes that the character has begun to work for the fictional governmental organization S.T.R.I.K.E., who are making use of her psychic abilities. Her lover Tom Lennox is also a S.T.R.I.K.E operative, who is later murdered. The story also presents the character as having dyed her hair purple (originally blonde); this hair color has subsequently become the dominant presentation of the character. The next major change for the character came in the 1986 relaunched Captain Britain series, where Betsy Braddock stood in for her brother as Captain Britain, and was rendered blind by the supervillain Slaymaster.

In New Mutants Annual #2 (1986), Claremont integrated Braddock into the X-Men franchise. The story sees her abducted to the Mojoverse, where she is subjected to brainwashing, fitted with bionic eyes, and referred to as "the Psylocke" for the first time. After being rescued by the New Mutants, she takes up residence at their mutant-training academy, run by Magneto at the time in absence of Professor Charles Xavier. After aiding the team unofficially, Braddock proved herself by single-handedly facing the murderous supervillain Sabretooth, and also by using her telepathy to glean vital information from his mind during the events of the "Mutant Massacre." Afterward, Braddock is formally invited to join the X-Men and officially adopts the codename "Psylocke."

Initially written as a pure telepath with few fighting skills, Psylocke later adopts body armor. This changes in Uncanny X-Men #250–251 (1989), where the X-Men flee from the cybernetic terrorists, the Reavers, through the Siege Perilous, an extradimensional teleportation device. In the next story arc, Braddock has fallen prey to the Japanese terrorists of the Hand, who brainwash and physically alter her. Braddock now believes herself to be "Lady Mandarin", the Hand's supreme assassin. This physical manipulation involves the modification of Braddock's physical features, modifying them from the previously established depiction of European to Japanese. After she is rescued by the X-Men's Wolverine and overcomes her brainwashing, the character retains the combat skills granted through the Hand's modification techniques as well as the ability to manifest her total focused telepathy in the form of a "psychic knife."

With the launch of X-Men, vol. 2, the team splits, with Psylocke joining the team led by Cyclops. In Jim Lee–written issues, the character becomes flirtatious with Cyclops, eventually attempting to seduce him. At this point, Kwannon, a new character with the physical appearance of Braddock prior to the Hand's manipulation, claims to be the original Psylocke, accusing the Japanese-featured Braddock of being an impostor. After Jim Lee and six other creators left Marvel Comics to found Image Comics, new scriptwriter Fabian Nicieza established that Kwannon is the impostor and that Braddock's flirtations with Cyclops were part of a genetic and mental splicing in which the Kwannon impostor was first created.

In 1994, writer Scott Lobdell set up a relationship between Braddock and her teammate Archangel. The character is severely injured by a crazed Sabretooth in the Lobdell-written Uncanny X-Men #328. Her life is saved by the use of a mystic artifact known as the Crimson Dawn, the aftereffects of which granted Psylocke the ability to teleport in and out of shadows. Lobdell also temporarily took her out of the X-Men roster this issue. Braddock returns to the team in X-Men, vol. 2 #77–78, where she uses her Crimson Dawn–enhanced telepathy to trap the Shadow King in the astral plane. Any use of her telepathy would result in his release, so she forgoes the use of her telepathic ability. Some time later she would develop telekinesis for the first time instead. Psylocke's relationship with Archangel ends in the Claremont written X-Men, vol. 2 #109, where the character embarks upon a relationship with new Indian X-Men recruit Neal Shaara. In the Claremont-written X-Treme X-Men #2 (2001), the character dies, her comic book death lasting until 2005's Uncanny X-Men #455; Claremont also wrote this issue, later stating he had always intended to revive her. Briefly, the character was depicted in Exiles, a spin-off comic-book series in the X-Men franchise, set in an alternate universe. With the cancellation of New Exiles, Psylocke starred in her first solo book, the X-Men: Sword of The Braddocks one-shot. Afterwards, the character was brought back to the main Marvel universe in early 2009 within the pages of Uncanny X-Men. Psylocke was featured in a self-titled four issue miniseries beginning in November 2009, written by Christopher Yost and with art by Harvey Tolibao. Matsu'o Tsurayaba and Wolverine are central characters in the story.