Tini Howard and Marcus To continue to cast a spell in Excalibur #4. Captain Britain becomes authorized, the Akkaba Coven makes their move, and Rictor is worshiped as a god as this opening arc spirals towards its’ conclusion.
Charlie: Hey Nola. I’M NOT DEAD. A little ritual magic, strength of will, and the power of friendship has about fully restored me back to life. Got some cobwebs to shake out and some feeling needs to return to some of my limbs, but I think I’m gonna be okay and all patched up just in time to talk about Excalibur #4.
Nola: That’s good to hear! I was afraid I was going to have to raid some kind of underground druid stronghold or something. I’m also glad you’re up for a chat, because BOY DO WE HAVE A LOT OF STUFF TO TALK ABOUT.
CD: Goodness we sure do. We’ve got British comings and goings, an evil cult, extremely bad depression coping mechanisms, mutant hating picketers with a pension for throwing bottles AND DRUIDS. Which one of these topics do you want to tackle first? I think I’ve got the use of my fingers back so I’m ready to go.
Identity Politics
NP: Well, let’s start at the beginning! Despite the incredibly aggressive posturings of Pete Wisdom at the end of last issue, Captain Britain has gone to meet the Queen. That leaves the rest of the team in waiting, which they endure with…differing levels of patience. Rictor and Jubes have a chat that spans from a basic nationality lesson for non-UK readers (it does leave out Scottish nationality, but then again, given how UK politics are looking at the moment…) to a discussion about that same subject I keep harping on: chosen names and identity. I really liked what Howard did here; using this conversation to both convey information to readers who may not have understood this before and to make a simple, but firm point once again that we should call people by the names they wish to be called.
CD: Yes! I love that this point continues to be hammered again and again. It should be very apparent by now that the name change isn’t a joke. It’s something real. Ric has a history with this as well. Ric feels comfortable, but Julio is only for family and people he trusts. It’s a very nice touch. Something else I’m noticing from Ric here is that he may not be hanging out in a dirt filled pine box anymore, but he’s absolutely coping with his depression in a way that’s extremely destructive even still. He’s seemingly clinging onto the words that •┤Ȧ├• left him with at the end of issue #3, claiming that he just needed someone to listen and understand what he was going through. Jubilee calls him out and so did I. YOU IDIOT. YOU HAVE PLENTY OF PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE MORE THAN WILLING TO LISTEN TO YOU. I’ve been trying to understand why these pages made me SO ANGRY and then I realized it’s because Ric is doing something that I’ve done before. He’s suctioning himself to the first person to offer him something new when he’s feeling so awful. Anything to escape the depressive cage he’s in. •┤Ȧ├• is so obviously manipulating everyone he comes into contact and Ric just can’t see it. I really want to have words with this boy, but Tini is taking me for one hell of a ride exploring Ric’s psyche like this.
NP: Speaking of destructive emotional habits, outside of the palace, Gambit is…blowing up bottles and anti-mutant protest signs. He’s still pretty upset by Rogue’s state, so it’s a little understandable that he’d be tetchy, but even he’s gotta know that attacking a bigot crowd in front of cameras on your own, when they’re specifically accusing you of being dangerous, is not the…well, smartest move. Because it’s Jubilee and Rictor joining him though, instead of one of the X-Men’s cooler heads…well, all of them think this is a fine idea. It takes Captain Britain and Pete Wisdom walking out to put a stop to it. She’s a tired mom to this new incarnation of Excalibur, and I kind of love it.
CD: I love how strong of a role for Betsy this is. I feel like we haven’t really seen her be herself in ages and this is really scratching that itch. She’s pushing forward the best way she knows how, calm and collected for the most part even though her self doubt and anxieties about Brian are most likely eating her up inside. I don’t think I know enough about Wisdom to make a judgment about him, but he seems okay for right now. At least he’s willing to help Betsy out. I’ll admit this interplay of politics between Clan Akkaba and the Crown is more interesting than I would have given it credit for on an initial pitch. Tini is weaving a layered story and I’m loving this delicious trifle like comic. I’m imagining this one is chocolate and raspberry.
NP: Wisdom is…well, he’s a #$%#.
Speaking of characters who fit that archetype, how about the brief Jamie Braddock appearance here? He manages to be incredibly incendiary in a mere handful of panels, but I do note that he seems to have his head screwed on a little tighter than the last few appearances he’s made prior to DoX. He’s not, say, implying that none of these people are real and trying to unmake reality. We’re reminded via infographic that he’s using the mutant name Monarch, but he doesn’t seem to be too strict about its usage; at least not yet. Everyone is still calling him Jamie.
This is also interesting to me because I know how Tini has been loving her duality of meaning on this book, and in addition to being a type of head of state, a monarch is also a type of butterfly, aka the shape of the telepathic manifestation that appears when Betsy [Ed. note: traditionally, but not since getting hey body back] uses her powers. It’s not something I’ve seen picked up on within the story itself, but it definitely seems like something to be aware of, at the least.
CD: I believe Tini mentioned once that she coined his new code name. I think there may be some foreshadowing there, but right now he’s just being a capital C creep. In the same scene we also get an appearance by Meggan and Maggie who have come to Krakoa while they wait for Brian to return. I’m unsure they know the full scope of the issue with him, but I’m glad that they have someplace safe to go as they are avoiding harassment from more anti mutant protesters. Yikes.
Political Correctness
NP: Yeah, this at least feels very traditionally X-Men related; anti-mutant hysteria at an absolute peak. It makes sense too—there’s always that thing about bigots where they just can’t stand to see the people they hate succeed. Remember when comics were about things like bigotry and intolerance and fighting fascists instead of being political? [Ed. note: several seconds of staring at the camera here]
Speaking of being political, and since we’ve already introduced a man named Monarch into the book, let’s talk about that whole deal. What’s the Otherworld situation?
CD: Well isn’t that a good question. So bad news…the uh..barrier between Otherworld and the earth our heroes reside in has practically fallen apart. Marcus certainly gets into his groove drawing all manner of monsters here as they spill out of bubbling portals and onto this plane of existence. I really loved the scene of Betsy barely holding in her anger at her meeting with Clan Akkaba, you could cut the tension with a knife before they started to gloat about their seemingly master plan.
NP: God, that Akkaba scene. Is there a more frustrating thing than the pretense of civility in the face of someone who openly hates you? Especially for someone like Betsy, who is not exactly known for reining in her more impulsive traits at the best of times. I suppose now that she’s a leader, and a little older, she has to—the others are counting on her, looking up to her!
It’s a pretty tangled mess we’re looking at here, though. Morgan Le Fay is mad about the intrusion of Krakoa into her personal domain. However, she’s also using Clan Akkaba as a proxy to attack mutants on Earth proper. This isn’t happening in Krakoa, so it’s not an incursion in kind, but it is targeting citizens of Krakoa specifically. •┤Ȧ├• has his own designs, probably on Otherworld, given the way he’s leaning into mystical things, and as of this issue, Captain Britain is the official representative of the UK in all dealings with Otherworld. So, we have three nations at loggerheads, we have one millennia-old, supposedly reformed mutant tyrant pursuing his own agenda, and we have a dangerous, occasionally unhinged reality-warper who in the midst of this has decided that he’s going to start going by Monarch. Am I missing anything?
CD: We absolutely cannot forget about THE DRUIDS.
The Druids
CD: The druids we saw aiding Betsy in the second issue are back again and this time living deep underground where •┤Ȧ├• has sent Ric and Gambit on a fetch quest for some crystals. I really loved these scenes and not just because they were Rictor centric. I don’t think we have seen Ric and Gambit interact much before, let alone be partners on a mission. I loved their back and forth and to get back to the plot for a moment LOVED seeing the druids recognize something special in Ric. It was the perfect balance of creepy and ethereal and a huge nod to the fact that Ric doesn’t just cause earthquakes he is actually one with the earth. (Avalanche can suck it) I suspect, this is why his powers are on the fritz. Unfortunately, Ric being distracted by the god like welcome the druids are giving him, puts Gambit in some pretty dire straits.
NP: It’s interesting you mention Avalanche, actually—he’s maybe the one member of Mystique-era Brotherhood that I haven’t seen checked in on in a while. I’m with you on this scene with the druids, though; it’s the right kind of weird and unsettling. They don’t waste any time attempting to take Rictor into their folds, cloaking him in their…cloaks, painting his face, the whole deal. Between that and •┤Ȧ├• having designs on him, I suspect some big things are coming for Ric, and that we’re going to see the limits of his ability to cope tested.
But yes, on the subject of coping, Gambit is having a…well, a rocky time. He plummets into darkness, we get the revelation that mythical beasts are once again on the rise, and then…Rogue. I suspect that her return to consciousness and Gambit’s mortal peril are related. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see!
CD: I bet there is a cool person out there who knows Ric pretty well that would be willing to get him out of this mess. Hmmm. Oh where oh where is my 7 foot alien?
X-Traneous Thoughts
- I’m pretty sure the monsters appearing isn’t actually Shogo’s fault, but I sure love the way Akkaba is making out like it is.
- That heraldry-style dragon on the scroll of paper they have reminds me a lot of the lion on Brian’s original Captain Britain costume.
- Where the ☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ is Shatterstar???
- I really loved Jubilee whispering to Shogo about him being a dragon.
- Super interesting to me that Rogue’s current state is somehow a part of •┤Ȧ├•’s plans…
- Just a thought but…uh…maybe it was actually a BAD thing when the super villain said he was proud of all the mutants.
- Krakoa reads: Awaken
- Make sure to check out this week’s coverage of Fallen Angels #4, New Mutants #3 and #4, Marauders #4, and X-Force #4
Charlie Davis is the world’s premier Shatterstarologist, writer and co-host of The Young Ones.
Nola Pfau is Editor-in-Chief of WWAC and generally a bad influence.
Charlie Davis is the world’s premier Shatterstarologist, writer and co-host of The Match Club.
Nola Pfau is Editor-in-Chief of WWAC and generally a bad influence.
