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Fallen Angels (2019) #1-6
Fallen Angels, Vol. 1
Psylocke finds herself in the new world of Mutantkind, unsure of her place in it. But when a face from her past returns only to be killed, she seeks help from others who feel similarly to get vengeance.
COLLECTING: FALLEN ANGELS (2019) 1-6
COLLECTING: FALLEN ANGELS (2019) 1-6
176 pages, Paperback
First published May 26, 2020
About the author
Bryan Edward Hill
347 books73 followersBryan Hill is a screenwriter, photographer, tv writer, and director. He is known for his work on the DC show TITANS and for his work in comics, most notably his outings on DETECTIVE COMICS, POSTAL, AMERICAN CARNAGE, KILLMONGER and ANGEL.
His writing is infused with esoteric principles, which can also be found in his photography and music.
He lives and works in Los Angeles.
His writing is infused with esoteric principles, which can also be found in his photography and music.
He lives and works in Los Angeles.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
May 15, 2020
I typically like Bryan Hill's writing but this was a dumpster fire. Kwannon is now calling herself Psylocke and is running around in the 90's Jim Lee Psylocke look, making her very complicated backstory even more confusing. (Marvel could have devoted an entire issue to just those infographics pages explaining her history. By the way, the actual infographics pages in this book add nothing to the story and can be completely skipped.) Kwannon/Psylocke has a dream about some bad dude named Apoth and sets out to find this wraith looking creature that's making drugs/tech to control children.
Fallen Angels is impossible to follow. Psylocke just mumbles a bunch of philosophical warrior bullshit for 20 pages each issue and then beats Apoth in three pages at the end.
Szymon Kudranski's art is terrible. He uses blacks to obscure the lack of detail in his art and tries to pass it off as shadows. It looks like your TV if you turn the contrast completely down until you can barely see the picture. So we have a muddled story with murky art. See any problems with that?
Fallen Angels is impossible to follow. Psylocke just mumbles a bunch of philosophical warrior bullshit for 20 pages each issue and then beats Apoth in three pages at the end.
Szymon Kudranski's art is terrible. He uses blacks to obscure the lack of detail in his art and tries to pass it off as shadows. It looks like your TV if you turn the contrast completely down until you can barely see the picture. So we have a muddled story with murky art. See any problems with that?
February 1, 2020
This never did much for me.
It basically is a confusing mess, as confusing as Psylock's past and every other character in here doesn't make much sense. Laura's character development seems backwards and not well established compared to what she's been in the last few years. Also the art is muddy and hard to tell what is happening. The last two issues are rushed as can be and don't make much sense. Overall, the only thing I actually liked was the cover art and the idea. The rest...not so much. A 1.5 out of 5.
It basically is a confusing mess, as confusing as Psylock's past and every other character in here doesn't make much sense. Laura's character development seems backwards and not well established compared to what she's been in the last few years. Also the art is muddy and hard to tell what is happening. The last two issues are rushed as can be and don't make much sense. Overall, the only thing I actually liked was the cover art and the idea. The rest...not so much. A 1.5 out of 5.
September 23, 2020
On paper this is dynamite, a 100% Kwannon Psylocke, X-23 and Cable take on the dark force called Apoch, who has dark intentions and is also behind a new deadly drug scene involving children. It's good to finally get to see more of Kwannon and this book has a sense of mission, but failed to grab my attention as much as I thought it would. Dawn of X is looking pretty tame... great ideas but all average to poor execution so far! 5 out of 12.
March 25, 2022
A missed opportunity, a title that tries to explore a lot of themes at the same time, ending up losing focus because of it, it drags through the six issues without ever getting exciting, I feel that it could've worked better as a Psylocke solo series, none of the other characters feels like they belong here, and that's ultimately where this book fails, not once it felt like a team book, and the conclusion of the arc was cheap as hell.
February 10, 2021
La verdad este volumen prometía mucho y lástima que fue terminado de una forma algo abrupta. Luego de una visión premonitoria Psylocke decide juntar un grupo para ir a la caza de un nuevo enemigo de nombre Apoth quien está creando una droga llamada Overclock para lo cual usa a gente inocente. El grupo está conformado por Cable y Laura que me parece junto con Psylocke tienen características en común y habilidades muy afines.
La trama y los dibujos en general bastante oscuros, creo que se pudo haber hecho mucho más. Luego de esta serie su continuación vendría a ser "Hellions". Me hubiera gustado que siga ésta en vez.
La trama y los dibujos en general bastante oscuros, creo que se pudo haber hecho mucho más. Luego de esta serie su continuación vendría a ser "Hellions". Me hubiera gustado que siga ésta en vez.
September 21, 2023
I really enjoyed this book. Ok, I am a bit biased as Psylocke and X-23 are two of my favourite X-MEN/WOMEN. As soon as I saw this book, I just had a feeling it was going to be good after being let down by Excalibur. Just made me look forward to this book so much more. On top of that, I thought after the body split between Kwannon and Betsy, Psylocke's story needed to be told. I am really glad that Kwannon took the mantle of Psylocke. I think I prefer her in that position, and it suits her better.
The artwork is awesome. I would have liked a couple more fights, but as I said, the story needed to be told as Kwannon has, essentially had to take a back seat all these years. The other thing I really liked about the story is that Krakoa feels like a hippy compound to me. It was great to see this echoed by the more warrior minded X characters.
All in all, a great volume, I really hope the story continues, and this team and characters keep their own book or are given a bigger part of the main story. This should not be the end.
The artwork is awesome. I would have liked a couple more fights, but as I said, the story needed to be told as Kwannon has, essentially had to take a back seat all these years. The other thing I really liked about the story is that Krakoa feels like a hippy compound to me. It was great to see this echoed by the more warrior minded X characters.
All in all, a great volume, I really hope the story continues, and this team and characters keep their own book or are given a bigger part of the main story. This should not be the end.
February 16, 2020
This book interested me quite a bit when it was announced. I'm very interested in seeing Psylocke/Kwannon rediscover her identity after being separated from Betsy Braddock's consciousness, and the inclusion of X-23 and young Cable in this rogue team book sounded rife with potential. Unfortunately, the execution was sorely lacking, and this ended up being the weakest of all the Dawn of X titles.
Psylocke receives a mysterious vision in which she learns of a digital designer drug called Overclock, apparently created by an unknown entity calling itself Apoth. She soon learns that someone important to her past was killed by this Apoth, and sets out to get revenge against this evasive new enemy. Along the way she recruits young Cable and X-23 to accompany her on her quest for vengeance. And for some reason, in the final two issues, Husk and Bling join the team, but I don't really know why because they don't contribute anything at all to the story. Perhaps the artist just wanted to draw them and asked for their inclusion.
The book started off with great promise, and it sets up lots of interesting themes to be explored, like free will vs. determinism, whether you can truly escape your past, whether redemption is possible for an assassin, and so forth--and then proceeds to explore none of them in any kind of satisfactory way. Every so often the dialog teases the exploration of a meaningful emotional moment, but more often than not these moments are abandoned in favor of the story plodding forward in a far less interesting direction. It's so frustrating because the building blocks of some great story material are here, but they just haven't been assembled in a way that makes good use of them.
All too often things are muddled and completely unclear (a problem which is compounded by the overwhelmingly dark art). For example, at one point Cable encounters this really cool-looking techno-apparition who he assumes is Apoth, but the creature corrects him and identifies itself as Apoth's proxy. Then in the climax, when Psylocke faces off against Apoth, she battles the being that had insisted it was Apoth's proxy. Was the creature lying when it talked to Cable? Did she really only fight the proxy? We are left to wonder because the story doesn't address this at all. And the conclusion to that battle is so rushed and unsatisfying it feels like the series was cut short by several issues and author Bryan Hill had to wrap things up in a way he did not plan.
At another point in the climactic battle, the rest of Psylocke's team are facing off against a bunch of innocent children who are under the control of Apoth. X-23 sheaths her claws and tells everyone not to hurt these children because they aren't in control of their actions. Later, Cable shoots one of the kids in the head and his only explanation is "he was dead already", and nobody bats an eye at this--even X-23, who had previously been quite insistent that they not kill any innocents.
And the art in this book. Oh, how I loathe the art in this book. Szymon Kudranski's art is so dark, so muddy, so difficult to interpret that it's often impossible to make out what is going on in the action scenes. At one point the team is fighting a giant robot and it smacks Cable. In the next panel he appears to be doing some sort of yoga pose over a psychedelic background with a "CRUNCH" sound effect. He's gone from the fight from that point on, and we only learn later in the book that the robot's smack sent him flying miles away. And in the climactic end battle, all of the heroes are wearing identical black costumes while the children they are fighting are rendered as black silhouettes surrounded by orange fog. In one panel X-23 is leaning back so low that she appears to be doing the limbo under an invisible stick, but there are no apparent enemies in evidence that she would be dodging. There is one panel in the last issue that I have studied at length and I cannot identify anything in the panel as a recognizable person or object.
When you have a muddled, confusing story, the last thing you want to do is pair it up with dark, muddy, difficult-to-interpret art. That kind of pairing amounts to a death sentence on a fresh and untested comic book. I am interested in continuing Psylocke's journey to forge her identity in the upcoming Hellions book, but I have absolutely no interest in continuing this one.
I give this a very generous two stars because it at least tried to introduce some interesting themes.
Psylocke receives a mysterious vision in which she learns of a digital designer drug called Overclock, apparently created by an unknown entity calling itself Apoth. She soon learns that someone important to her past was killed by this Apoth, and sets out to get revenge against this evasive new enemy. Along the way she recruits young Cable and X-23 to accompany her on her quest for vengeance. And for some reason, in the final two issues, Husk and Bling join the team, but I don't really know why because they don't contribute anything at all to the story. Perhaps the artist just wanted to draw them and asked for their inclusion.
The book started off with great promise, and it sets up lots of interesting themes to be explored, like free will vs. determinism, whether you can truly escape your past, whether redemption is possible for an assassin, and so forth--and then proceeds to explore none of them in any kind of satisfactory way. Every so often the dialog teases the exploration of a meaningful emotional moment, but more often than not these moments are abandoned in favor of the story plodding forward in a far less interesting direction. It's so frustrating because the building blocks of some great story material are here, but they just haven't been assembled in a way that makes good use of them.
All too often things are muddled and completely unclear (a problem which is compounded by the overwhelmingly dark art). For example, at one point Cable encounters this really cool-looking techno-apparition who he assumes is Apoth, but the creature corrects him and identifies itself as Apoth's proxy. Then in the climax, when Psylocke faces off against Apoth, she battles the being that had insisted it was Apoth's proxy. Was the creature lying when it talked to Cable? Did she really only fight the proxy? We are left to wonder because the story doesn't address this at all. And the conclusion to that battle is so rushed and unsatisfying it feels like the series was cut short by several issues and author Bryan Hill had to wrap things up in a way he did not plan.
At another point in the climactic battle, the rest of Psylocke's team are facing off against a bunch of innocent children who are under the control of Apoth. X-23 sheaths her claws and tells everyone not to hurt these children because they aren't in control of their actions. Later, Cable shoots one of the kids in the head and his only explanation is "he was dead already", and nobody bats an eye at this--even X-23, who had previously been quite insistent that they not kill any innocents.
And the art in this book. Oh, how I loathe the art in this book. Szymon Kudranski's art is so dark, so muddy, so difficult to interpret that it's often impossible to make out what is going on in the action scenes. At one point the team is fighting a giant robot and it smacks Cable. In the next panel he appears to be doing some sort of yoga pose over a psychedelic background with a "CRUNCH" sound effect. He's gone from the fight from that point on, and we only learn later in the book that the robot's smack sent him flying miles away. And in the climactic end battle, all of the heroes are wearing identical black costumes while the children they are fighting are rendered as black silhouettes surrounded by orange fog. In one panel X-23 is leaning back so low that she appears to be doing the limbo under an invisible stick, but there are no apparent enemies in evidence that she would be dodging. There is one panel in the last issue that I have studied at length and I cannot identify anything in the panel as a recognizable person or object.
When you have a muddled, confusing story, the last thing you want to do is pair it up with dark, muddy, difficult-to-interpret art. That kind of pairing amounts to a death sentence on a fresh and untested comic book. I am interested in continuing Psylocke's journey to forge her identity in the upcoming Hellions book, but I have absolutely no interest in continuing this one.
I give this a very generous two stars because it at least tried to introduce some interesting themes.
October 21, 2020
One of the worst X-Men comics in years, and there were some mighty mediocre X-Men comics for a while, but this drops below even that low standard.
The main problem is that Hill writes like a college student who took his first philosophy class, and then got really stoned. This book is just full of philosophical crap that makes no sense and isn't interesting either. It occludes the characters and the plot.
As for the plot? Who cares. Machine god must be killed. Blahblahblah. I've seen it before in X-Comics, except it was in a sensible storyline; this is not.
A waste of my time; thank goodness this comic was cancelled after just one arc (and it's easy to see why, but less so why this was allowed to be published at all).
The main problem is that Hill writes like a college student who took his first philosophy class, and then got really stoned. This book is just full of philosophical crap that makes no sense and isn't interesting either. It occludes the characters and the plot.
As for the plot? Who cares. Machine god must be killed. Blahblahblah. I've seen it before in X-Comics, except it was in a sensible storyline; this is not.
A waste of my time; thank goodness this comic was cancelled after just one arc (and it's easy to see why, but less so why this was allowed to be published at all).
January 11, 2021
Terrible.
Wanna save yourself some time? Nothing happens. Nothing changes. Nothing to do with HoX/PoX that you would care about.
Terrible plot. Seems like a rushed up script for no reason, terrible artwork with bad shading and dark messy shit all over the place, not making sense, not understanding who's who, Laura looking nothing like Laura and pretty much bad, bad, black all over covering everything with the ugliest way possible. Psylocke going on a quest of self discovery to kill a God and pretty much boring all the way from start to finish.
Definitely going on my Top 10 worst comics of 2021.
Wanna save yourself some time? Nothing happens. Nothing changes. Nothing to do with HoX/PoX that you would care about.
Terrible plot. Seems like a rushed up script for no reason, terrible artwork with bad shading and dark messy shit all over the place, not making sense, not understanding who's who, Laura looking nothing like Laura and pretty much bad, bad, black all over covering everything with the ugliest way possible. Psylocke going on a quest of self discovery to kill a God and pretty much boring all the way from start to finish.
Definitely going on my Top 10 worst comics of 2021.
November 22, 2020
Kwannon/Psylocke go on a hunt alongside X-23 and Cable to take down a mysterious enemy who goes by the name of Apoch. That's just about all you'll be able to grasp from this incomprehensible mess. You'll be clawing your eyes out trying to figure out the narrative here. The artwork was also chaotic with an attempt to be artistic. I have no idea what Bryan Hill was trying to sell here...
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
Yours truly,
Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/
May 15, 2021
Eewwwww
February 12, 2020
Read as single issues.
Ugh. I love Laura Kinney, and Psylocke and Cable can be good as well. All 3 were wasted. The villain was not compelling, our heroes were grimdark for grimdark's sake, and nobody really learned or grew. And to further take me out of the story, in one scene there is a car crash... in Japan... and the car is an American model (steering wheel on the left).
Hard pass, cannot recommend.
Ugh. I love Laura Kinney, and Psylocke and Cable can be good as well. All 3 were wasted. The villain was not compelling, our heroes were grimdark for grimdark's sake, and nobody really learned or grew. And to further take me out of the story, in one scene there is a car crash... in Japan... and the car is an American model (steering wheel on the left).
Hard pass, cannot recommend.
April 27, 2021
Going into this, knowing that it didn't last past its initial 6 six issue story arc and was pretty much universally reviled made it impossible not to expect to dislike it. But I've always been intrigued by Psylocke so I decided to give it a try anyway. 2.5 stars plus a sympathy half.
The artwork certainly didn't do Fallen Angels any favors. I think it's a huge reason why this wasn't received well. It's just bad. And what's with all the mouth close ups? Fetishly creepy.
I feel like there was a ton of potential here but just poorly executed. I think it would have worked much better if it focused on just Psylocke and Laura.. They really could have delved deeper into why they would connect and developed that relationship. No need for Cable, Husk or Bling to be there. I thought the depictions of Psylocke's traumatic past and building conflict with Apoth were well done but the resolution to their confrontation was terrible.
The full pages of exposition were excessive, distracting and completely unnecessary. They didn't add to the story.
It's confusing why Psylocke would choose to keep that name over Kwannon considering how much animosity she has towards Betsy and wants to distance herself from their connected past. I need to find the story where they are separated. I'm also feeling the urge to jump into the current Excalibur books where they are back together so to speak.
This is a complaint towards Hickman and not this book. Laura says she deserves a life without Logan's shadow. Makes total sense and drives home the frustration with the X-Men Children of the Vault storyline where she is not only dressing like him but also using his codename.
If anything, Fallen Angels was a decent building block towards Hellions. Kwannon's interactions with Sinister were a positive aspect of the writing. But don't get me started on how Mr. Sinister is being handled now.
The artwork certainly didn't do Fallen Angels any favors. I think it's a huge reason why this wasn't received well. It's just bad. And what's with all the mouth close ups? Fetishly creepy.
I feel like there was a ton of potential here but just poorly executed. I think it would have worked much better if it focused on just Psylocke and Laura.. They really could have delved deeper into why they would connect and developed that relationship. No need for Cable, Husk or Bling to be there. I thought the depictions of Psylocke's traumatic past and building conflict with Apoth were well done but the resolution to their confrontation was terrible.
The full pages of exposition were excessive, distracting and completely unnecessary. They didn't add to the story.
It's confusing why Psylocke would choose to keep that name over Kwannon considering how much animosity she has towards Betsy and wants to distance herself from their connected past. I need to find the story where they are separated. I'm also feeling the urge to jump into the current Excalibur books where they are back together so to speak.
This is a complaint towards Hickman and not this book. Laura says she deserves a life without Logan's shadow. Makes total sense and drives home the frustration with the X-Men Children of the Vault storyline where she is not only dressing like him but also using his codename.
If anything, Fallen Angels was a decent building block towards Hellions. Kwannon's interactions with Sinister were a positive aspect of the writing. But don't get me started on how Mr. Sinister is being handled now.
May 31, 2020
Těšil jsem se na Psylock, dostal jsem Psylock - bohužel to je vše co jsem dostal. Tenhle komiks je fakt hnusně nakreslený a obzvlášť obličeje. Tenhle komiks je to první půlky fajn a pak to jde do hoven. Kdyby se tam dění dělo jen kolem Psylock a X23 tak by to bylo fajn, ty ostatní postavy jsou tam k ničemu. Co se samotného příběhu týká tak nic extra, prostě tuctovka kterou za dva dny zapomenete. Dávám horší 3/5.
September 20, 2020
Cryptic and slow-moving but interesting redemption story - a bit of a departure from the Krakoa business in total, but a welcome spotlight on characters who've been given a bit of a miss by the other titles; still heavy on the Magneto and the Sinister, but now with Kwannon (non-Betsy Psylocke), Laura/X-23, Cable, and a couple of others.
November 4, 2021
Its supposed to be a team book, but its really just about Kwannon (Psylocke) working through some of her issues. I would have liked to have seen more team dynamics. All the other characters were merely props. The storyline probably would have worked better later on in the series. The art, however, was incredible and I am grateful for that. Good effort but poor timing.
February 28, 2023
2.5 stars. Absolutely incredible art in this book. I was really looking forward to this one given the cast of characters involved with this team, but I felt like the story was continually grasping at something, but never quite held anything. There were some interesting themes and ideas from this book, but overall, I just wish the story would have been put together just a bit more.
Read
August 22, 2022I only read this for Laura and what they even did to her character?
She's Wolverine not X-23 anymore.
She's Wolverine not X-23 anymore.
August 21, 2020
Yikes, most of the reviews for this book are brutal. I dug it, though?
Fallen Angels is kind of a pseudo-X-Force, as Kwannon recruits some other X-Men to delve into her past and help her establish an identity of her own, while dealing with a sentient techno-drug. That's rad, if you ask me.
Kwannon isn't a character I have much history with; I know she and Psylocke have a complicated past, but I got the gist of what she was getting at here. The flashbacks to her childhood are some of the best parts of the book, and her unapologetic journey through these six issues was great; she's here, she's doing her thing, and you can either help her, or get the hell out of her way. It's a shame that the book kind of ends open-ended; this is billed as Volume 1, but I expect we won't be getting any follow-up on this storyline any time soon unless another X-writer gets hold of it.
Szymon Kudranski's moody artwork is a great fit for the title; the villain is especially creepy since a lot of what you DON'T see is as bad as what you do. He's not someone I'd expect on a 'regular' X-Men book any time soon, but on a darker niche book like this, it works really well.
Fallen Angels is the first casualty of the Dawn Of X era, but I don't think it goes down in flames. It ends on its own terms, and while the story isn't quite closed down, Kwannon's new journey is worth seeing through as far as it manages to get.
Fallen Angels is kind of a pseudo-X-Force, as Kwannon recruits some other X-Men to delve into her past and help her establish an identity of her own, while dealing with a sentient techno-drug. That's rad, if you ask me.
Kwannon isn't a character I have much history with; I know she and Psylocke have a complicated past, but I got the gist of what she was getting at here. The flashbacks to her childhood are some of the best parts of the book, and her unapologetic journey through these six issues was great; she's here, she's doing her thing, and you can either help her, or get the hell out of her way. It's a shame that the book kind of ends open-ended; this is billed as Volume 1, but I expect we won't be getting any follow-up on this storyline any time soon unless another X-writer gets hold of it.
Szymon Kudranski's moody artwork is a great fit for the title; the villain is especially creepy since a lot of what you DON'T see is as bad as what you do. He's not someone I'd expect on a 'regular' X-Men book any time soon, but on a darker niche book like this, it works really well.
Fallen Angels is the first casualty of the Dawn Of X era, but I don't think it goes down in flames. It ends on its own terms, and while the story isn't quite closed down, Kwannon's new journey is worth seeing through as far as it manages to get.
February 1, 2020
Fallen Angels is basically Psylocke’s side quest, only they do not know how to draw her face the same way throughout the run. There are a lot of black panels with white outlined characters, and decorative borders to mask the complete lack of backgrounds. They actually could’ve used Overdrive and Apoth to craft an interesting arc, but it kind of just focuses on this weird inner conflict and ends with a total thud.
May 1, 2021
First time I have read from Bryan Hill was the Killmonger series (1-6) that I have both in print and eBook comic version and absolutely loved it. The graphics, the storyline, humor, etc.
So I decided to read his other work and hope for more of the same. Yet, Fallen Angels is not what I anticipated; the younger, newer mutants of X-men. Sadly I heard of Cable but not the other characters like Dawn who is the updated teen wolverine then psyche-dream-drama filled character aka Kwannon. Where did this name come from? Laura, what really happened to her, confusing, disoriented, disjointed storyline between the 6 chapters. I am on chapter 6 and will see how this ends.
The first chapter had promise for me, however, midway, it lost me once it keep bringing up about a daughter whom was killed, or not killed, drugged or technology operated kids, lost at the end for sure. 1-2 stars and wanted to like this so much...and unsure if I will continue the series or if it is available at library where I saw it on the shelf for adult readers. It's also a bit dark for my liking.
I borrowed a copy and giving my honest opinion on it.
So I decided to read his other work and hope for more of the same. Yet, Fallen Angels is not what I anticipated; the younger, newer mutants of X-men. Sadly I heard of Cable but not the other characters like Dawn who is the updated teen wolverine then psyche-dream-drama filled character aka Kwannon. Where did this name come from? Laura, what really happened to her, confusing, disoriented, disjointed storyline between the 6 chapters. I am on chapter 6 and will see how this ends.
The first chapter had promise for me, however, midway, it lost me once it keep bringing up about a daughter whom was killed, or not killed, drugged or technology operated kids, lost at the end for sure. 1-2 stars and wanted to like this so much...and unsure if I will continue the series or if it is available at library where I saw it on the shelf for adult readers. It's also a bit dark for my liking.
I borrowed a copy and giving my honest opinion on it.
July 13, 2020
3.5 Stars.
A new technological being known as Apoth is psychically attacking Psylocke. Knowing that this being had something to do with the death of her child, and is currently using children to do its bidding (manufacture of a new drug called Overclock), she seeks to leave Krakoa with a team to stop this new techno-God. Joining her are Cable (are we really never going back to adult Cable?) and X-23... and eventually Husk and Bling! as well.
The story is very psychological and has a lot to deal with Psylocke's past, which might be even more complicated than the whole history of the Summers Family. The art works with the story, and the story is fine. Not overwhelmed by it, but not crazy impressed either. Perhaps many felt this way, which is why it was cancelled.
Give it a try. You might like it.
Recommend, with slight hesitation.
A new technological being known as Apoth is psychically attacking Psylocke. Knowing that this being had something to do with the death of her child, and is currently using children to do its bidding (manufacture of a new drug called Overclock), she seeks to leave Krakoa with a team to stop this new techno-God. Joining her are Cable (are we really never going back to adult Cable?) and X-23... and eventually Husk and Bling! as well.
The story is very psychological and has a lot to deal with Psylocke's past, which might be even more complicated than the whole history of the Summers Family. The art works with the story, and the story is fine. Not overwhelmed by it, but not crazy impressed either. Perhaps many felt this way, which is why it was cancelled.
Give it a try. You might like it.
Recommend, with slight hesitation.
August 6, 2020
This wasn’t great! I was excited about it too. The character work with Laura was weird and felt like it undid everything her solo series did and wanted to turn her into another angsty Wolverine. I enjoyed Bling and Husk appearing in the last two issues. But this was very meh. I almost listened to Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men’s Kwannon episode again until I realized I didn’t care enough to really understand what was going on. I’m sure this series was confusing as hell to new readers. So there’s Kwannon/Psylocke now and Betsy/Psylocke now? And do they look the exact same or is Betsy back in her British body? Why do I have no recollection of Betsy in Dawn of X titles? Maybe she’s in one I haven’t read yet. Edit: she’s in Excalibur which I just started lol
TLDR so glad I didn’t pull this and just read it on MU because oooooooof
TLDR so glad I didn’t pull this and just read it on MU because oooooooof
January 25, 2021
Who could have imagined that a team book whose main character is Kwannon, invented in one of the 90s most notorious X-retcons, wouldn’t catch on? Kwa-who, you ask? Oh, she’s the woman whose body was used when The Hand resurrected Psylocke as a sexy Asian ninja because Jim Lee wanted to draw one. “Of course! Kwannon!” I hear you cry.
Anyway Kwannon is now leading a team of grimdarks fighting an AI who thinks she’s its Mum and is taking over childrens’ minds. Both Kwannon and the AI have similar tastes in pseudo-meaningful dialogue (so perhaps they ARE related). The AI is unstoppably powerful until Kwannon beats it by punching it in its psychic face. Only for completists, of which I was apparently one.
(Extra negative bonus points for reusing the name of one of the oddest and most charming 80s X-Spin-Offs, a gentle teen misfit comedy involving mutant lobsters and Devil Dinosaur)
Anyway Kwannon is now leading a team of grimdarks fighting an AI who thinks she’s its Mum and is taking over childrens’ minds. Both Kwannon and the AI have similar tastes in pseudo-meaningful dialogue (so perhaps they ARE related). The AI is unstoppably powerful until Kwannon beats it by punching it in its psychic face. Only for completists, of which I was apparently one.
(Extra negative bonus points for reusing the name of one of the oddest and most charming 80s X-Spin-Offs, a gentle teen misfit comedy involving mutant lobsters and Devil Dinosaur)
December 11, 2020
COLLECTING: FALLEN ANGELS (2019) ISSUES #1-6
I'm sorry to report that this is the worst book from the initial wave of "Dawn of X' titles.
I don't know exactly what happened, but somehow, before this series started, Betsy Brock and Psylocke got separated (really put back the way they were originally supposed to be). Because of that, we have Psylocke leading a team in "Fallen Angels," and Betsy Brock (as the new Captain Britain) leading a team in "Excalibur."
As I read the first six issues of every early "Dawn of X" series, "Fallen Angels" has been my least favorite book each time. The way Issue #6 ends, I'm wondering if that series got canceled. I wouldn't be surprised, because it was not a very engaging story. The cast had potential, but the story wasn't that great. Young Cable, X-23, and Psylocke all teaming up together should have led to something better.
I'm sorry to report that this is the worst book from the initial wave of "Dawn of X' titles.
I don't know exactly what happened, but somehow, before this series started, Betsy Brock and Psylocke got separated (really put back the way they were originally supposed to be). Because of that, we have Psylocke leading a team in "Fallen Angels," and Betsy Brock (as the new Captain Britain) leading a team in "Excalibur."
As I read the first six issues of every early "Dawn of X" series, "Fallen Angels" has been my least favorite book each time. The way Issue #6 ends, I'm wondering if that series got canceled. I wouldn't be surprised, because it was not a very engaging story. The cast had potential, but the story wasn't that great. Young Cable, X-23, and Psylocke all teaming up together should have led to something better.
July 30, 2023
Unfortunately, I don't think this book works, and it is clearly the weakest in the Dawn of X line-up. From its forced angsty atmosphere to its strange pacing, the book doesn't seem to know where to go with itself. It's also very unclear what is happening and who exactly Apoth is, who is apparently Kwannon's dead baby daughter who has now become an evil NFT who sees her as a god? It's just too all over the place and too disconnected from the rest of the X-line to work, which sucks, because Bryan Edward Hill definitely can write good comics and Kwannon desperately needed a good reintroduction to readers. Thankfully, we have Hellions, which does what this book was trying to do way better.
April 9, 2024
This is not a New Mutants spin off. This is not the Wong Kar Wai movie. You should probably go read/watch those instead.
Just had to plow though to the end otherwise the longer I waited to read it the more likely I wouldn't continue. Probably the weakest of the Krakoa books I've read so far and probably very skippable. Has a bit of X-23 in it and she's always fun, but I just wish Kwannon was more enjoyable. Living in Japan reading about "Japanese-y stuff" often makes me feel like the writer doesn't know much about Japan. Fortunately there's a random "skull man with spikes" that they chase so once that was found and defeated the book would finally end!
Just had to plow though to the end otherwise the longer I waited to read it the more likely I wouldn't continue. Probably the weakest of the Krakoa books I've read so far and probably very skippable. Has a bit of X-23 in it and she's always fun, but I just wish Kwannon was more enjoyable. Living in Japan reading about "Japanese-y stuff" often makes me feel like the writer doesn't know much about Japan. Fortunately there's a random "skull man with spikes" that they chase so once that was found and defeated the book would finally end!
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April 17, 2021One cool thing about reading through all the Dawn of X series of comics at the same time is that you get a range of different tones & styles - from pirate adventures in Marauders, to interdimensional medieval magic stuff in Excalibur, to outer space (& also Pilger, Nebraska) romps in New Mutants, to Fallen Angels, whose genre could be described as "literally & figuratively dark assassin garbo with so, so many close-ups of mouths for some reason."
I didn't really like it.
I didn't really like it.
March 22, 2024
I am definitely in agreement with many who read this book more recently that this title is nowhere near as egregious as the reviews suggest. There are a couple pages early on that are over-written and fairly clunky, but, at its core, this is the story of a woman who has had her life stolen from her twice trying to solve a mystery involving a supernatural being that has ties to her past. It’s not perfect, but Psylock’s journey here is powerful and adds context to her relationship with Mr. Sinister prior to Hellions Vol. 1.
January 3, 2021
This series was just another level of bad.
Emotionally, it had just one single note.
The art had its moments, but just as the dialogues, it also had one single perspective, it felt like looking over and over at the same thing. Psylocke having that same look on her face, her depressive dialogue with X-13, over and over again.
I know this series got cut short, but frankly, what else was there to tell?
Emotionally, it had just one single note.
The art had its moments, but just as the dialogues, it also had one single perspective, it felt like looking over and over at the same thing. Psylocke having that same look on her face, her depressive dialogue with X-13, over and over again.
I know this series got cut short, but frankly, what else was there to tell?
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