Comics are weird. X-Men comics doubly so. To be fair, a certain level of weirdness is to be expected on a long enough timeline in any serialized story. This weirdness is especially prevalent when the aforementioned story is populated with a group of superheroes embracing their own powers from a natural genetic mutation whilst dealing with killer robots, time-travel, alternate dimensions, ninja assassins and your run-of-the-mill evangelical persecution.

The X-Men have been a conduit for many social and political allegories since the 1960s. Most of the time these allegorical moments were handled with finesse and understanding. Other times, no so much. While surely the intentions by most X-Men creative teams were never malicious, there have been some stories and characters that haven’t exactly aged well. One such subject is actually a fan-favorite character with a somewhat sordid and confounding history: Psylocke.

On the surface

Betsy Braddock might be one of the most fetishized super heroines in Marvel Comics, which is saying a lot considering the human form (both male and female) is almost exclusively presented in nigh-unachievable aesthetics in comics. And while a lot of hyper-sexualization has been curbed in comics as of late, superheroes are still drawn to represent peak human physicality. In short, impossibly voluptuous woman and men with abdominal muscles we never knew existed aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

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A character like Psylocke, who has been the X-Men’s leading “sexy ninja lady” for nearly 30 years, has been drawn in more than one uniquely explicit action pose to show off her “assets.” Strangely enough, however, the sexual fascination with Ms. Braddock’s form is not the most problematic facet of her character (although there is an argument to make that it is). But her aesthetic appeal is certainly part of why she grew to become one of readers' favorite X-Men. Regardless of your thoughts on the character, she has always been a badass.

The Trouble with Betsy

If a novice X-Men comics reader were to see the name Elizabeth “Betsy” Braddock attributed to Psylocke and think, “wow, that’s a pretty anglicized name for a Japanese character,” it would be hard to hold it against them beyond the fact they were being rather presumptuous. You see, hypothetical X-Men newbie, Psylocke was originally introduced as the twin sister of Captain Britain, a superhero so anglicized he begs the question, “is there such a thing as being too British?” Co-created by legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont (one of the architects behind some of the craziest stories the mutants have gone through) in 1976, Betsy Braddock would be partially relegated to playing the part of supporting character for the majority of her early exploits. That is until she was later reintroduced in Claremont’s run on Uncanny X-Men a decade later as Psylocke.

But shortly after her reintroduction, Psylocke would quickly prove to have one of the most bizarre story lines in X-Men history (even by Chris "Now Storm is a Space Whale" Claremont standards). After washing up on on a small island off the coast of China, Betsy was taken by The Hand, had her consciousness put inside the body of a brain-dead Japanese assassin named Kwannon. She was then given the moniker of Lady Mandarin (exploring the implications of that name alone is like dancing through a racially-charged minefield). At the time, this seemed like just more run of the mill X-Men craziness, but this body swap story was no flash in the pan moment.

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In fact, Psylocke's appearance would remain adhered to her newly-found ethnicity (with the exception of a few divergences) for the decades to come. Some critics and fans have seen this development as a case of cultural appropriation and have even go so far as to say it's the literal embodiment of the idea of "yellowface." And, honestly, those claims are tough to argue against. Despite this switch occurring during a rather large surge in Japanese-influence sci-fi work (William Gibson made a career out of incorporating Eastern aesthetics into sci-fi during the late '80s and early '90s), retrospective looks at Psylocke would not be terribly fond of how the character's story progressed.

Stuck in the middle

uncanny x-men disassembled header

A recently released promotional image for the hotly anticipated relaunch of Uncanny X-Men has revealed Psylocke is supposedly getting her old body back, which might be another divot in the already bumpy road for the character. Betsy regaining her old body asks some pretty tough questions, none of which have clear answers in regards to what is the right call in handling this precarious situation.

While Psylocke getting her old body back might counter the cultural appropriation aspect of things for some, it does open up a new wound with regards to representation in comics. Yes, we understand the concept of representation is a touchy subject for some readers who don't necessarily like to share their toys (as if they were ever theirs to begin with), but it's something this character addresses in a wholly unique manner. Physically, Psylocke is a Japanese woman. The mind that inhabits her body, however, is not. This cultural dissonance is not easily ignored, nor should it be.

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It would be simple to see the character's return to her old body as repentance for past sins, but if this transgression is struck from the record, it's only replaced by another. The lack of diversity in comics has been a hot-button topic for several years now, and it's driven a divide among comics fans, which, honestly, seems a bit silly in the grand scheme of things. Diversity and representation matter quite a bit in fiction. Being able to associate with a character because of their cultural or ethnic background is a valuable commodity to fans. Now to be fair, the manner in which said diversity is gained can be poorly-executed or simply misguided. But with Psylocke, a reversal could prove to be just as haphazard.

At lease she is in good hands

Is this change for Betsy Braddock a good thing? Who the hell knows? The one thing that is certain in this situation is it will cause some controversy to some degree. Thankfully, the people who are currently handling the majority of X-Men books have a lot of love for the characters they're playing with. If Psylocke does, in fact, return to her body in the upcoming Hunt for Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor #4 (which all signs point to yes on this one), the transition will be taken care of by Jim Zub, a wonderful writer who cares deeply for the characters he writes as much as fans do. Zub understands that the cultural differences of X-Men are important, and knows how to write them with understanding and respect.

Compassion is the key here. Thankfully, after seeing the roster of names working on Uncanny X-Men, which will be the next big landmark after this whole Hunt for Wolverine business wraps up, has us certain that, no matter what happens, right or wrong, it will be done without malice, but will be met with a dose of malcontent. There aren't many character change-ups in recent memory that have been a such a double-edged sword like this. This isn't so much as rocking the boat, but it might be leaning over the side a bit too far.