Review: ‘Psylocke’ #1

The good news is that Vincenzo Carratù absolutely nailed the action sequence art in Psylocke #1!

Unfortunately, the art was the start and the end of the highlights for me. Alyssa Wong’s script wasn’t bad by any means, it just didn’t make me think this series had a reason for existing (other than lining Marvels pockets). The issue begins with Cyclops sidelining Kwannon from joining their next team mission because of her recent behavior. Had she really done anything in Jed MacKay’s X-Men that warranted this decision? This sets up what Marvel promised for this series — Kwannon using her assassin training to take on missions that are “too dirty” for the X-Men. Sounds interesting, but that’s the basically the plot of any Wolverine solo.

Beyond this setup, the character beats felt like standard storylines writers have been giving Kwannon ever since she took back the Psylocke mantle. Are her identity issues a new problem that can sustain a solo series? I love Kwannon so I’m hoping Wong introduces new wrinkles to the character.

As Marvel announced more and more solo X-titles, I began to worry they were going for quantity over quality and so far they haven’t done much to assuage my fears — especially for the female-led titles. Storm has been one of the few bright spots, but that has only had one issue to date and for some reason Marvel has taken nearly two months to release the second issue. Phoenix has had it’s ups and downs, but has been plagued with behind-the-scenes issues related to allegations that the series artist was tracing designs from past Marvel works. I know this was a negative review, but I’m rooting for Psylocke. I really am.

Rating: 6/10