Betsy Braddock has returned to that last house, but is that all that came with her? Tini Howard, Marcus To, Erick Arciniega, and Ariana Maher deliver Excalibur #18.
Charlie Davis: Dan! Dan! It’s another new issue of Excalibur and even though it feels like we’ve just had one of these bad boys, it seems like Tini and Marcus are on a damn roll. Give me a second…I’m gonna grab some hot chocolate to fend off this polar vortex and then we can talk about it.
Dan McMahon: My dog Dinah is obsessed with the snow and trying to push me into it. This weeks issue was really good, like really good. A lot of the things we talked about in previous articles popped up and my king is back. Let’s get into this!
Guess who’s back? Back again, Betsy’s back. Tell a friend (Except don’t tell anyone)
CD: So this bringing people back from another dimension thing really is more complicated than they make it out to be. Someone should have probably read the manual. It was so terribly foolish of me to think that it was really just that easy to bring Betsy back after she had been shattered in Otherworld, but some people never learn. At least the text called me out on it.
Something felt wildly desperate in the last handful of pages of the last issue, Betsy wracked with guilt over living Kwannon’s life in her body, trying to air that out at the worst possible time. The threat of a violent tussle between the two of them right as Betsy was going through the portal. I think some things either got scrambled, or at the very least twisted up on the way back out. I can’t say for sure, but both Rogue and I have some very good reasons to be concerned. Betsy is acting…well she’s acting like she’s got something to hide.
DM: I completely believed it at first too. I would be an emotional wreck if I died, went to an alternate reality, and then came back. I would probably be quiet and distant too! When Emma Frost barges in, I started to think about how I don’t love the Krakoa idea of the whole. The idea that they should just have access to her and know where she is felt weird. Like totally understand the concern for a friend coming back from the dead but Emma was more concerned about solving the problems of the whole.
I think with the idea of the whole, sometimes you lose the self. You lose that sort of privacy you get when you are separated. I am not saying I don’t love this era at all because it’s the best X-Men has ever been. But if I was a mutant, I’d probably have more of a Pete Wisdom mindset on it all. As for Excalibur, I really like them being at the Lighthouse so they can choose when they’re involved and not.
CD: No my dude I totally get it. It not only feels like someone sticking fingers where they don’t belong, it feels like someone barging into your house after a traumatic event and asking you to get back to work. I really do feel like Excalibur has been the team that consistently feels like a family of misfits stuck together and really trying to make the best of it. They are just kinda chilling while everyone starts soliciting them for information. Aside from her brother, the team, especially Rouge, seem dedicated to figuring this one out. Brian knows something is off and let’s not forget the pithy note we say from Saturnyne about Earth not having a Captain Britain anymore. You got any thoughts about what’s going on here? I’ve got a theory, but I wanna hear yours first.
DM: I legitimately have no idea! I don’t even understand how Brian’s kid is so smart, I love them. [Ed. note: X-Men Gold Annual #1, read it. Leah WIlliams scripted it] I sort of like being blissfully unaware because I’m just like “OH SNAP WHAT’S HAPPENING!?”. With that being said, is it the other Earth’s Psylocke?
CD: Could be! But I’m thinking if this is somehow Betsy processing her trauma around the split. I’m also wondering if someone hasn’t hijacked Betsy’s body. Much to think about…
Speaking of. Oh MAN DO WE HAVE SOME RIC CONTENT THIS WEEK.
Do You Believe In Magic?
DM: So the team goes to Krakoa after Betsy vanished in the night. The first place Ric brings Rogue is to A’s freaky deaky magic workshop where he was up to normal sketchy stuff. I love that Ric is still holding onto this mutant magic idea because… he’s right. The 5 are literally playing god. What could other mutants do in a sort of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 combined power move? There seems to be a lot of stuff that we don’t even know about the potential of mutants because they’ve always been seen through a human POV and not what they could be, ya know? What’re you feeling about Ric finding some meaning here?
CD: I think it’s really good for him. I think all he really needed was a catalyst and loath as I am to admit it, A was that thing. Ric has always been more or less defined by the people around him. It’s been his family, the gun cartel he grew up around. It’s been his tenuous relationship with Cable. It’s been his relationship with Shatterstar. While I don’t see him this way, he’s constantly been Player 2 when it comes to character beats, moments and motivations. Ric was his most interesting when he was largely at his darkest. The loss of his powers defined him for a long time and he’s always been one bad day away from slipping back into that place. I’m really glad this book has given him something to really pour himself into, find some meaning in especially considering how powerful he is. It’s kind of like the old saying, you’ve gotta believe in yourself before anyone can believe in you. Mutant Magic is untapped potential. Ric is kinda the poster boy for that.
DM: I’m honestly so excited to see what this story holds for Ric. I don’t even like magic as a story element but it being introduced here feels… different? I’m not sure how to explain it but I love it. But the MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THIS ISSUE IS THAT THE KING IS BACK! LET’S GO TO AVALON!
The Clone Saga
CD Alright, alright! I guess this issue is a two for one deal. I get Ric and you get more Jamie content. Man I should have guessed that Jamie would be your favorite, his sassiness gives me a little bit of Green Goblin vibes, not to mention his penchant for going unhinged at a moments notice (we haven’t really seen him do that much. Yet). I really do enjoy that this issue we got a lot of characters having one on one chats that we usually don’t get to see tighter. We got Rouge and Ric and now Gambit and Jamie. I have to say, I love when a scoundrel talks to a scoundrel. I also loved when he said he didn’t make a new Betsy but he had someone else do it. Perfect.
DM: I loved that Gambit pulled back that sheet and Morgan le Fay was just in a full leather outfit strapped to a table. Just Jamie stuff, I guess? But he sort of sees the point of not releasing a dangerous villain who hates his kind go which is a neat character beat. Jamie is straight up like “if I help you, you’ll owe me”. Does he have any big stories prior to this?
CD: Oh boy does he. Well, let me take that back. Jamie has kind of been used as a tool. A lot of his previous stories, especially the ones in the original Excalibur focus on his tenuous mental state and ramp it up to 11 to make the book downright trippy. Some of it looking back feels a little exploitative, but because he’s a reality warper I think playing with the idea of someone unhinged having that type of power really does ramp up the scary factor. He’s been much better after being resurrected though and maybe he doesn’t have something sinister up his sleeve as he does have something Sinister in general. I think this Jamie is much more grounded, and I like the idea of him trying to have all these responsibilities and still wanting to be a member of his family. He did help Betsy in X of Swords so…there is a lot going on. The funny bit of comedic timing of a clone you’re keeping in a box not being in said box was also a really great moment. To has been really great in these last two issues. Everything just flows when he draws it. Him and Tini have really good synergy.
DM: Honestly the art is so good with this story, it all clicks so much for me. I guess I should read the original Excalibur, shouldn’t I? [Ed. note: don’t forget Captain Britain]
CD: I think it’s just whacky and heartwarming enough that you would get a kick out of it! Give it a go and maybe we can have more Jamie thoughts down the line. As it stands. Le Fey would deffo usurp him as king the moment she gets out of that little predicament. So. Everyone with a medical kink can enjoy her being strapped down for a bit longer.
X-Traneous Thoughts
- Do you think Jamie and Sinister could be boyfriends?
- Mark: Yes or No
- Krakoan Reads: PSTYLOCKE which is nonsense but probably means Marvel checked up their S & ST keys again
Charlie Davis is the world’s premier Shatterstarologist, writer and co-host of The Match Club.
