She who was shattered shall now be made whole. Psylocke battles for the soul of Captain Britain in Excalibur #19 by Tini Howard, Marcus To, Erick Arciniega and Ariana Maher.
Charlie Davis: Well, Dan. As the great band STAIND once said…itâs been awhile. I feel like everyoneâs gotten so wrapped up in whatâs down the road with the Hellfire Gala that perhaps they may have forgotten the task at hand. Before we can throw a party, weâve gotta put Captain Britain back together again. Luckily, weâve got the right people for the job. I donât know about you, but I loved this issue.
Dan McMahon: I didnât think Iâd be listening to STAIND on a Monday night but here we are. Yeah the lead of our book sort of got shattered⌠so we kinda have to find her before we can go to the Hellfire Gala. My outfit is extremely tasteful. You know Penance? Itâs that whole outfit but just the mask and like a lot of leather straps. I need to have as much mobility as possible. But⌠anywayâŚ
The Corps Returns
CD: OKAY SO. I will admit that I was a little confused coming into this issue. Thankfully, some of the stuff at the end cleared it up for me, but I was really hoping that with Betsy missing that we would get a chance to see what the rest of the Corps looked like in her absence. Some of her counterparts have managed to track her down and have her essence in a lantern. Itâs very fun seeing all the Betsyâs and honestly I am really happy that Saturnyne is still being a giant asshole because she didnât get her way in the tournament. She had this grand plan to get the Corps back, but since itâs not exactly what she wanted now she wanted it sheâs sliding off her own responsibilities. Itâs very grounded in real emotions for a character that sees herself as so superior. What did you think of the look of all the Captain Britainâs in the citadel?
DM: Iâm glad you knew how much Iâd want to talk about this. Itâs cool that one of them is a Dr. Strange type but NONE OF THAT MATTERS COMPARED TO THE DUCK [Ed. note: Swan] AND DINOSAUR. Those two get the least amount of screen time when in reality they deserve a book. The duck [Ed. note: Swan] is the sassy partner though for sure. Itâs very interesting that all of them are parts of her. I hope we do get to explore that dynamic more as the series goes on. I agree that Saturnyne being bitter is a very good character element. Itâs clear how mad she is that things didnât go her way with Brian and the whole X of Swords tournament. Iâm also really impressed with how much has still carried over from that event when normally a lot is lost after those end. Did you have any favorites?
CD: Iâm pretty sure Volicaraptor Betsy gets my vote for favorite Betsy in the scene of the lot of them. The goose [Ed. note: Swan] is a close second. There is so much to explore with all these new versions, but I am glad that we actually used a lot of this issue to focus on things that have been some real stand out character moments in the series. Youâre right, XOS has had some lasting consequences and in a world where events come and go like weekly garbage day, thatâs something to applaud.
Betsy was literally shattered, I donât think itâs much of a stretch to say that it was both metaphorically as well as physically. Sheâs always been complicated because of her past, but itâs like we keep adding more layers on. I donât think that’s a bad thing for the record. Tini and Marcus take a real swing here with the Corps and I love how Toâs cartooning really stands out with some of the whackier members of this crew. That said, Betsy hasnât really been whole this entire time and I am glad that Tini is taking the time to show us that even with all these Betsyâs around, ours, perhaps feels more alone than ever.
DM: Sheâs taken on this huge mantle, but I donât feel like sheâs grown closer to anyone because of it. Brian has been absent half the time being possessed or whatever. Itâs like everyone on the team has something but her something doesnât make her feel complete. Heck, even Ric has something with his magic books. She saved the day, but now what does she get in return, just a big olâ bag of problems.
CD: Speaking OF A MAGIC BOY.
Magic Rituals
CD: Okay I am sorry about this BUT we have got to talk about Rictor. This Rictor. The one that wants to access all this magic knowledge, but is still the same man who just cannot control his anger. Ric has really never been a team player and while Iâve enjoyed seeing him forge some bonds with the team…this issue kinda hammers home that heâs just as angry and distant as he ever was. That kinda hole you burn in yourself, that self destructive lilt just doesnât vanish because youâve taken up magic or moved to a mutant island.
Ric has always been a mean boy and Iâve been waiting for him to stop metaphorically wandering around in the dark and just get to it. The entire scene of him having constructed this ritual to rehome Betsyâs essence into her new body doesnât work, and even if itâs not anything heâs done wrong, he almost crumples in on himself at the realization. Heâs a little bitter at the spell itself and then the team and I am a big fan of him yelling at them all to get the f in their places. It might have been my favorite line from the whole issue.
DM: Charlie, never be sorry. To be clear, Rictor is my only horse in this race. I really liked how he fell apart when the spell didnât work. I always see him as this character looking for something to fill a void or make him feel worth something. Heâs trying to find something heâs good at. When he just thought it was magic, it sort of fell apart. Itâs that feeling of falling short and losing your cool that really stuck out to me. My experience with Rictor is from [Ed. note: two-time] GLAAD award winner Peter Alan Davidâs X-Factor run on so Iâve always known him as someone who is never really at peace. I empathize with him a lot for that reason I think.
CD: You and I have talked a lot about that run before and how it does so many things right with the direction it was pushing Ric in even if it bottomed out at the end. He started out as a lost and rather dangerous man who was depowered and looking for a reason to exist. Ricâs kind of always been looking for a reason to stick around. Sometimes itâs someone else, sometimes it’s getting his powers back and sometimes apparently, itâs dabbling in magic. Itâs just something else to kind of heap into the hole in his life so it doesnât feel so empty. I think magic will give Ric some solace, but until he actually examines whatâs going on inside of him, I donât think it will give him any actual relief from the constant ache of depression. Itâs HUGELY relatable. By the way, the team doesn’t help much here either with Jubilee saying it was probably his fault that the ritual didn’t work. RUDE TBH.
DM: I donât care for Jubilee. Maybe Iâll catch flak for that but she doesnât really bring anything to the mix story wise other than the dragon baby sometimes. I think people doubt Ric a lot which is why he gets so frustrated with whatâs going on around him when he messes up. It was a great scene and maybe he had it under control until Psylocke broke the lantern.
Psylocke vs Psyche
CD: Yeah okay this one has been coming a LONG TIME. There is so much baggage between Betsy and Kwannon that I donât think you could even wrap it all up with a miniseries dedicated to it, much less a handful of issues, but damn if Tini Howard doesnât try. I give her all the kudos.
You know how I was talking about Ric yelling being one of my favorite lines in the issue,? Well I actually think my favorite line was Kwannonâs. She talked about how she knows Betsy better than anyone and that when she shattered, it was hard to fit back together because when you undergo trauma you are fundamentally not the same person anymore. Your pieces donât fit.
If you are familiar with the film Annihilation, that is one of that movie’s core tenants. Once youâve undergone something that changes you, you are not the same person. Itâs a theme I really enjoy people exploring in media and I think itâs worth noting that there is no simple answer to the question of Betsy being in Kwannonâs body all these years. You donât just come out of it the same person and even though sheâs been given this role as Captain Britain, how is she supposed to embrace it when she still feels like she doesn’t fit? She was an outcast at the start and sheâs still the less preferred Captain Britain now, at least as far as Saturnyne is concerned.
DM: I really love how Kwannon says âIt isnât to be solved. It simply is.â This line struck me in a way I wasnât expecting. I was hoping to see these two hash things out, but there really isnât any issue to solve. They can never truly go back to who they were before. Theyâre changed for better or worse. They know each other as well as they know themselves, it seems. Thatâs something both of them are trying to figure out, who they really are. But that knot between their yarn in the fabric of the universe is always going to be there no matter what other connections they make. Itâs a much more powerful statement than acting like something like this has some sort of clean resolution.
CD: Exactly. I think a lot about how everyone wants people to have clean resolutions. Sometimes everyone messed up. Sometimes multiple parties make mistakes. Sometimes you just cannot get away clean or say youâre sorry and have that be enough. I think the scenes at the end where Betsy is literally burning through the town because her pain is so palpable are a really strong set of pages. Left unchecked, the pain you refuse to acknowledge will most likely destroy everyone around you. Including yourself. Itâs a pretty powerful lesson. We canât take back what we did, but we can move forward and be better. I hope Betsy can take some steps forward with Kwannon.
Also…uh so how about that Malice reveal?
DM: Want to hear something even more climatic than the end of the book? I have no idea who Malice is.
CD: Thatâs even BETTER. Iâve got something I think you can relate to on this front. You know how the Green Goblin took the Goblin Juice and then became possessed by his own inherent evil?
DM: Yes and if any readers know that formula, I will pay top dollar for it.
CD: So think of Malice like that, except in necklace form. Itâs also kinda like how Kenny Omega instantly becomes evil whenever he puts his aviators on. Polaris spent a long time being possessed by Malice. I think Sinister put the Malice necklace inside of this clone body of Betsy. At least that is absolutely my read on it.
DM: I love the energy that Sinister brings to every business deal. Iâd review him with a 9.7 stars out of 10. So sheâs bad news. Weâre in for some trouble.
CD: We most certainly are now that it seems like sheâs been unmoored from her necklace prison. She could possess anyone on Krakoa, but I think she might have a few targets in mind. Either way. Excellent issue. I am giving it 6 stars out of 5.
DM: Fingers crossed this gets us on Comicbook roundup but our boss is probably gonna remove it. 0/10
[Ed. note: I give Comicbook Roundup a Rotten on the tomato meter]
X-Traneous Thoughts
- I really do think Betsy is going to be in a better place after this. Sheâs got a hell of a Hellfire Gala outfit.
- I really like Ricâs Hellfire Gala look too. He hates parties and I am absolutely there with him.
- Krakoan Reads: Possession
Charlie Davis is the worldâs premier Shatterstarologist, writer and co-host of The Match Club.
