The women of Excalibur know a lot about trauma, and are finally talking about it. They want everyone, even their enemies, to feel that catharsis. Tini Howard, Marcus To, Erik Arciniega and Ariana Maher explore in Excalibur #20.
Charlie Davis: Well. I uh…hello? I am supposed to be talking about Excalibur but all my co-writers keep vanishing through portals. I guess I can talk about it by myselfâŚ
Mikey Zee: Thankfully it is I, dashing rogue Mikey Zee, here to save my Editor-in-Distress! (Wait, where did this weird British accent come from?)
CD: Oh! Well! That wasnât the gimmick I was expecting! Considering this issue is about Malice after all. But damn Iâm glad youâre here.
MZ: Okay, so clearly I have a bit of catching up to do but⌠I think this is the part where I admit I donât actually think I was familiar with Malice before I read this issue. So maybe you could give me a quick primer?
Town Called Malice
CD: Well thatâs okay! Because no one really knew much about Malice before todayâs issue. Other than the fact that she resided in a necklace and took possession of people. If you didnât know, Malice was one of Mister Sinisterâs Marauders and resided in Lorna for a long, long time. Now if youâre wondering why we should be giving her a back story⌠oh I donât know, doesnât every character deserve one? This is one thing I love about Tini Howard and Krakoa as a place, it allows a bunch of peoples stories to exist. Sure Malice was a malevolent force, but on Krakoa she can be a mutant.
MZ: Yeah, plus⌠I know Iâm new to this whole Excalibur thing, but I love the idea of sentient objects/psionic forces being actual people with actual backstories. I know this book has had some places where itâs stumbled before, but⌠well, I canât help but contextualize this within the context of the Blades in the Dark tabletop roleplaying campaign weâre playing right now to say: the idea of a ghost-mutant unmoored from her body to only become the pure manifestation of Malice because the one thing she can hang on to is her sadness and anger is such an enticing hook to start us off on.
CD: It is! And it almost begs the question: why now? Why after all this time are we finally getting to see Malice now as a person and not just an entity? I have a couple of guesses, but a lot of them have to do with the fact that Betsy could have very easily become something like Malice. A traumatized mind lashing out at everything and everyone. Hell, thatâs almost what happened last issue with her setting Otherworld on psychic fire.
Itâs not a secret that both Betsy and Kwannon have their own ghosts to fight, and both of them have a reason to empathize with someone like Malice or Alice as it were. Iâm still a little iffy on how I feel about the name being that spot on.
MZ: I agree. Itâs almost a little too cute, a little too on-the-nose⌠and while sometimes Iâm a fan of that, and it certain is something that seems very much like something that would happen in the old Excalibur⌠thatâs kind of the thing, isnât it? This series is supposed to be one for new beginnings, and redefining who these characters are through a modern reinterpretation. And thatâs one that thinks of them as people in a holistics sense. Iâll be honest, M. Alice just isnât doing that for me.
Especially not when Malice tries an attack on Betsy and everyone is talking about how her attacks seem very teenage. If this is something thatâs trying to gesture at previous canon while building something new, then that dialogue feels like this new canon is just being hammered down my throat. I can feel in my bones this becoming something about a metaphor for Betsyâs lost youth, etc, etc, and I really hope the creative team doesnât go down that route. But I have to call my (somewhat disappointed) shot where I see it.
CD: I do think that there was some balancing issues here because they essentially had to make a brand new character! Previously we knew nothing of Malice. Hell, I didnât even know she existed outside of a necklace! So there was some heavy lifting to be done. I agree that the character beats and the dialogue surrounding her felt a bit clunky at times, but I think itâs about working with what youâve got. I will say that Toâs art this issue was stellar despite some roughness in other parts. One thing I think we can both agree on is uh⌠KRAKOAâS HORRIFIC PRISON SYSTEM!
My Body is a Cage
CD: Man, Charles Xavier is an asshole.
MZ: Some things never change, huh? I donât know about you, Charlie, but not only does his idea of not-a-prison sound pretty much like a prison, it also sounds like the worst conception of a prison imaginable? Thereâs a lot of back and forth about Krakoa, its government, and the way it conceptualizes utopianism, and Iâm sure smarter people than me can and have broken down its issues.
However, the way I see it is thus. In the post-scarcity Krakoa, thereâs no need for labor to be commodified by the state, so rather than the state extracting labor from their continued existence, in the Krakoan prison-lite (if you will) they literally take away your ability to live. Turns out the other side of the coin of âany mutant can have a body hereâ is âbut we donât have to give them a life to go along with it.â
So weâve moved on from swallowing your body so you go into the literal depths of Krakoa, to letting people think and feel with their bodies frozen in place. Which, it bears mentioning, is something some disabled people live with every day. No matter what way you slice it, positioning it as a punishment is fucked up, and Charles Xavier is a JERK! (I finally got to say the line. ?)
CD: Before anyone gets too riled up, itâs important to remember that this is all baked into the recipe of a new mutant society. You can have a nation without all the flaws that come with that. Weâre constantly being shown the limitations and the very human issues that even mutants have to deal with. They are inescapable. So how do we deal with them?
This is the first time weâve ever been told what being thrown in the pit really is like. And itâs. Very bad vibes. Much like New Mutants, which is a book thatâs very openly talking about the issues of resurrection where clones like Gabby are concerned, here we have some dissection of this idea of a prison. I donât think we get enough time to focus on it, but I do think if anyone is going to advocate for things to change, it would be someone like Emma. Not to mention Psylocke is currently on a team whoâs monstrous qualities are being exploited by Mister Sinister and by the state for the good of Krakoa. Boy we have⌠a lot going on.
MZ: We sure do. Because as it turns out⌠I feel like Betsy got into this Captain Britain gig thinking it was going to be swords and sorcery, clear goals and clearer targets to hit with her psychic sword. And while Iâm not as familiar with the past lineage of this book as some, I think whatâs become clear throughout the course of this book is… Thatâs less and less the case, if it even ever was.
Betsy and Kwannon think they can help Malice, that sheâs just like them and that she wants to be helped, if only they can say the right words. But itâs not too long before Betsy finds out that maybe she canât be this stalwart protector, and even lost kids have their own agency. How do you save someone who doesnât want to be saved?
Also, as a quick aside, how great is the sequence from To of Betsy fighting her doppleganger? Iâm sure you know I love a good doppelganger, Charlie.
CD: I do. I really do. And maybe Malice doesnât want to be saved, but Betsy knows itâs only right to give her a second chance. Speaking of doppelgängers. Wanna talk about how Betsy and Kwannon seem to be getting along?
New Born
MZ: They do. I know they had a bit of a talk last issue, but⌠Kwannon seems very quick to jump in here. She does have a good reason, though.
CD: There is no possible way that Betsy and Kwannonâs issues can be resolved just by acknowledging trauma, but at the same time, whatâs the use in wallowing in it? Both of them are culpable to an extent, at least for the simmering tension, but I wonder if Betsy is going to be able to let go as much as she knows sheâs going to have to. Burning her dresses seemed a little extreme, but at the same time, who am I to say.
MZ: I am glad that that was a decision that both Betsy and Kwannon came to. Itâs clear that Betsy doesnât quite know how to connect to Kwannon all the way, just like Kwannon doesnât quite know how to be her own person. Sheâs starting to admit that she has desires and tastes that extend outside of and completely separate from Betsy, but in my opinion, they both have a long way to go before those things will be fully realized. And like you hinted at, even though that might feel unfulfilling for us as readers⌠itâs at least an honest place to be at after having spent literal decades of continuity sandwiched and flattened into being the same person.
Even Betsy, as strong as she wants to appear, isnât entirely comfortable in her body, as evidenced by her conversation with Malice. But, lacking any other body to go back to, sheâs good enough with this one as any other.
CD: At least their future looks a little brighter than it did before.
X-Traneous Thoughts
- I wonder what the boys were up to off screen? Getting into trouble I hope.
- Saturnyne seems like someone you donât want to keep waiting⌠and with the constant threat of what dying in Otherworld means, I canât help but think weâll find out before long.
- Pete Wisdom sliding into Betsyâs DMs.
- Krakoan reads: BREAKING UP
Charlie Davis is the worldâs premier Shatterstarologist, writer and co-host of The Match Club.
