Psi War, X-men (volume 2) #: 77 – 78

so i have been reading them books. how about doing the actual review on them? here’s where i start. it’s an old comicbook that i have staring the best(est) x-lady i know, psylocke.

words: Joe Kelly
pencils: German Garcia

elizabeth “betsy” braddock (Psylocke) at her best.

i liked the way the author started the book:

“once upon a time there was a goddess, who in truth was not a real goddess, but a mutant who was believed to be a goddess when she showed she could control the weather. she had a family, all gifted with powers as well, and they were known as the x-men. but one day all the x-men died and she was buried alive in their corpses. the end.“

now, how could you argue with that?

previous issues show storm receiving a mail from ainet (adoptive mother from her tribe in kenya) , storm went off for a visit. sensing danger, asked the aid of psylocke, canonball, wolverine and the 3 new x-men (maggot, cecilia reyes and marrow). with the x-men on low budget, their travel depended on betsy’s newfound powers. thanks to the crimson dawn. they were enveloped by shadows like stepping on a quicksand.

the team got separated with each other as they arrive the place. psylocke and wolverine battled sand warriors but when all’s done, psylocke is left alone. canonball woke up to be in a cave with his dad trying to kill him just because of leaving the guthrie family. storm and the rest found the villagers under some kind of a trance state and saw ainet with a strange creature who introduced itself as the spider god, ananasi, wanting to marry the weather goddess.

this gets complicated as the enemy struck the rest of the xmen with their wants. marrow without her uncontrollable bone growth and maggot free of his slugs (his digestive system actually). ananasi showed himself with his dog, a chained wolverine.

psylocke comes a knocking slicing her way through ananasi. it ws then revealed that ananasi isn’t a god after all. he is a telepath of the high order using ainet to control the sands.

then comes the battle as ananasi strikes back. playing tricks with betsy as storm finally realized how the game is played. ananasi was never after ororo for marriage nor was he after the tribe all along. definitely not to control the x-men. just one thing he wants. and it’s betsy’s power. telepathy.

too late for that as psylocke formed her psychic blade. striking ananasi. have betsy heard what storm have been shouting all along, she wouldn’t have made the biggest mistake of her life.

ananasi’s image faded and exposed the truth. they’ve been fighting at the astral plane with mind connected with another mind, and so on. it was psylocke’s blade that created a chain reaction and propelled in circle, with the speed of thought, and hitting her. a radical psionic event.

to his triumph, ananasi ripped his disguise. he’s none other than the shadow king.

the result of the pyschic blast didn’t just end with betsy. it actually crippled the telepaths on earth. also the other super beings such as dr. strange and spiderman.

and to think, betsy might not have survived the ordeal. thank goodness to her crimson powers, she reverted to being a shadow and slowly rescued storm out of the hole the enemy put storm into. having the feel of the shadow’s powers, it looked like their presence isn’t felt. undetected. this is an advantage, storm is holding on to.

with psylocke back to business, she fought the trickster again as storm (together with ainet) freed the other x-men from the shadow king’s manipulation. marrow’s wild nature led to them being sensed so psylocke sent them back to the real world. now, all alone against the enemy even the great professor xavier had problem dealing with.

true to his name, the shadow king is hard to defeat. psychic battle wouldn’t work on him not unless she improvises and drives the battle to the next level, discovering what weakness the enemy has.

as the shadow king attempts to affect every mind on earth, betsy discovered his nexus, the soul of every person on the psionic plane. this had an effect too on her as she feels what he feels. absolute power.

but of course, we all know what an x-man is all about, being the hero.

betsy got her chance and sends her shadows to consume the shadow king. the enemy screamed in pain but warned her that what she’s about to do will cost her her power. the totality of her focused psychic power created a prison wall to contain the trickster.

as she returned to the real world, storm hugged her.

thanks luv’! (if i’ll get this from betsy, someone shoot me now!)

this left me with question actually. this story meant betsy didn’t have her powers back BUT what about her shadow powers(?).

and have i said that the art rocks? okay, i’ll say, it rocks!