Dawn of X's Deepest Mysteries Will Unfold in 'Excalibur'

Newsarama: The larger ramifications of the new mutant status quo - with most mutants gathered as one on the new sovereign nation of Krakoa - on the rest of the Marvel Universe are just scratching the surface as the linewide “Dawn of X” relaunch rolls on. But this week’s Excalibur #1 brings at least one effect of the new mutant reality to bear – that of Krakoa on magic, and the relationship of magic, mutants, and mortals.

With writer Tini Howard, who was hand picked by X-Men writer and “Dawn of X” architect Jonathan Hickman to be part of the relaunch, on board, Excalibur finds unlikely allies and terrifying new foes alike, and sets the stage for what Howard calls the “deepest mysteries” of “Dawn of X”.

Newsarama spoke with Howard alongside the release of Excalibur #1, out now, to get the low down on how mutants and magic will collide in this unlikely tale.

Newsarama: Tini, “Dawn of X” mastermind Jonathan Hickman said you were a writer he sought out for this relaunch when Excalibur was announced. How did Excalibur come together?

Tini Howard: Jonathan approached me with a really open mind and a lot of confidence in my abilities (which was neat), and I was encouraged to build whatever part of mutant society I wanted to. And for me, that was the building of things that can't really happen when people are on the run - families, art, music, culture. And magic - that was a big part of it to me. Magic as distinct from religion as well, magic as more something like art, a way of accomplishing an as-yet-impossible goal than a set of religious beliefs.

I realized pretty quickly that I wasn't brought on to be safe and normal, that I was brought on to get weird. So I got weird. They liked my weird.

Nrama: On that note, what’s this book all about? What niche does Excalibur fill in the “Dawn of X” line up?

Howard: Excalibur is where we say “What Else, What Next?”. This is a story about finding your own identity when the fantastic becomes the new normal - when paradise is home, but you're still an intrepid explorer and hero at heart who craves the unknown.

Nrama: You’ve got an eclectic team here, all headed up by Betsy Braddock, the new Captain Britain. How does she come to that mantle? What’s her status quo going into this?

Howard: Betsy comes to that mantle in the events of Excalibur #1 - I needed people to see the moment she takes the mantle and why, as it defines her entire approach to the role. We see all that in the book, we're on a ride-along with her feelings toward being the Captain now.

Nrama: For the rest of the line-up, you’ve got Gambit, Rictor, Rogue, Jubilee, and Apocalypse. How do these mutants all fit together?

Howard: There are obvious questions already at play surrounding the cast - what of Jubilee's human baby? Will Rogue and Gambit make more mutants? And Rictor - we'll get to him. You'll see him when you see him. His is a journey I've wanted to see him on since I was just a reader and fan - it's a great feeling to bring him through it.

It's a great feeling to bring these characters together and have them share a meaningful journey, while giving them each a role and a path. Sometimes in my head it's like D&D, and I'm DMing for them.

Nrama: And for that matter, how does Apocalypse find being a team player? There have been some hints he may not be taking to it well.

Howard: ...Anyone who has ever played D&D knows there's one in every party.

In a lot of ways, Apocalypse is the ultimate team player, you just need to be good enough for him to allow you on his team. And most people aren't. Hopefully this team is, right?

Nrama: In terms of teams, you’ve got Marcus To and Erick Arciniega on art for Excalibur. What do they bring to a book like this?

Howard: Everything. Marcus has shaped the most beautiful Otherworld, and Erick's colors have been such a defining part of this, too. Marcus is a great artist to walk the line between beautiful, fantastic, fairy-tale characters and events, and pure superhero action. It feels great when you're really on a wavelength and everything is singing together, when we're seeing the same story as we're crafting it. We've gotten there and it feels really right.

Nrama: What’s your favorite thing Marcus has drawn for Excalibur so far?

Howard: I can't possibly choose, and I'm positive it's something you can't know about yet. [Laughs]

His Betsy design is purely iconic, though. We've already seen such a response to it - it's already cemented itself before the book's even out. Marcus nailed it.

Nrama: What’s it like laying the groundwork for a new era of a classic X-team? How deep into Excalibur lore will this series go?

Howard: It's been a minute since we've had a regular Excalibur book, so I want to make this what feels best to me as a comic fan - a reward for knowing the deeper mythology with a welcome into the unknown. I'm deep mining everything from Captain Britain to the Matter of Britain. We'll see it for sure.

Nrama: Bottom line, what’s in store for new readers and classic Excalibur fans?

Howard: The deepest mysteries of the X-Men's new story begin here. Trust me. Whole new things are spinning out of this book and we're going to start reading the cards a whole new way after this.

How 'Excalibur' #1 Anoints a New Captain Britain and Her Team

Marvel.com: Just over three decades ago, Chris Claremont and Alan Davis drew the sword with Excalibur (1988), a unique X-Men spinoff that also revitalized Captain Britain and his place within the Marvel Universe.

Now, as part of the Dawn of X, writer Tini Howard and artist Marcus To have launched a new Excalibur #1. And while the new team doesn’t share any members with the original group, its lore is deeply tied to the legacy of Captain Britain.

The new Excalibur team features four of the seven members from the X-Men Blue squad circa Chris Claremont and Jim Lee’s X-Men (1991) run. Even the costumes for Rogue, Gambit, and Jubilee reflect their ‘90s incarnations. But one Betsy Braddock isn’t quite the same woman she used to be...

She’s not Psylocke anymore, and following a brief interaction with Kwannon—the current Psylocke—on Krakoa, she begins a quest that calls into question her identity. Betsy’s journey sends her back to her family, which allows readers to check in with her brother, Brian, his wife, Meggan, and their daughter, Maddie. Unfortunately for Betsy, her other brother, Jamie Braddock, is also back from the dead; Jamie’s reality warping powers and his insanity have caused his family no end of grief. While Jamie doesn’t seem to be inherently sinister this time, Betsy is rightly wary of his intentions.

However, the biggest development for Betsy occurs on Otherworld, when Brian desperately slips her the medallion that makes him Captain Britain. This isn’t Betsy’s first time as Britain's defender, but this may be the time that it sticks. Brian has been bewitched by Morgan le Fay and transformed into her loyal knight. Morgan views Krakoa’s encroachment on Otherworld as an act of war by the mutants.

Back on Krakoa itself, we get to see Rogue and Gambit together for the first time since their ongoing series ended. Surprisingly, it picks up with a continuation of a thread from Mr. and Mrs. X #12 (in which they discussed the real possibility that they could have children). We wonder if Nightcrawler could have guessed that his “Make More Mutants” decree would influence his adoptive sister. Rogue’s line about not bringing a power inhibitor to Krakoa also makes us wonder about whether she still has her abilities under control; Mr. and Mrs. X #10 finally gave Rogue the chance to reclaim what she had lost in Uncanny Avengers (2015).

The mutant formerly known as Apocalypse also plays a large role in Excalibur #1. En Sabah Nur has taken a Krakoan name (good luck pronouncing it), but his ultimate motivations are his own. It’s also unknown if he played a role in setting up the tensions between Krakoa and Otherworld. En Sabah Nur enlisted Rogue’s help in opening the gate to Otherworld, and he didn’t seem surprised at all when she was ensnared by its magic and put to sleep like a fairy tale princess. Somehow, we suspect that it will take more than a kiss from Gambit to wake up Rogue from her slumber.

Gambit and Apocalypse do have a history together. In X-Men #184 (2004), Apocalypse transformed Gambit into the Horseman of Death. During Mike Carrey’s X-Men Legacy (2008) run, Gambit’s Death incarnation occasionally asserted itself over Gambit’s true self. Perhaps it’s worth noting that we never saw Gambit fully break free of Death. That corruption may still be a part of him. It certainly could go a long way towards explaining his animosity towards Apocalypse.

With the exception of Rictor, this unlikely team has come together to face Morgan le Fay, awaken Rogue, and save Krakoa from Otherworld. Now it’s time for the new Excalibur to see if they can truly function together in the Dawn of X.

Excalibur #1 Art

Excalibur #1 Spoilers

Spoilers: In Otherworld, in the absence of King Arthur, his sister Morgan Le Fay has taken over as the regent Queen. Otherworld is at the brink of war with the forces of a mysterious White Witch, but Morgan is more concerned with the appearance of Krakoan flowers polluting her scrying pool and tainting the waters of Avalon.

Back in England at Braddock Academy, Betsy Braddock bids farewell to her family and decides to move to Krakoa. She is welcomed by her friends and insists they call her Betsy, not Psylocke. Meanwhile, Trinary calls the attention of Apocalypse to a Krakoan gate opening from Otherworld to Krakoa, but which cannot be breached.

In North Yorkshire, Morgan contacts a Coven of mortals led by a High Priestess called Marianna Stern and orders them to find and destroy the source of the Krakoan flowers, while prohibiting any mortal from channelling magic of Avalon.

Back in Krakoa, Betsy avoids Kwannon while keeping company to Jubilee. Egg, formerly known as Goldballs, takes Betsy to the Hatchery and informs that a newly-reborn Jamie Braddock is causing trouble. Betsy has no time for Jamie’s theatrics and orders him to behave. Jamie assures he has no plans to leave Krakoa, but he doesn’t care about any humans anymore, including Brian.

Apocalypse approaches Betsy and asks her to bring Captain Britain to Krakoa, as he thinks he’d be able to go through the gate. Betsy returns to Braddock Academy, but Brian has already been called to Otherworld. Betsy thinks it’s a trap and decides to join him. In Otherworld, Brian and Betsy appear before a Krakoan gate in Morgan’s castle. The sorceress has summoned Brian to hunt the mutant who has been polluting her waters with Krakoan flowers. Morgan orders her cover to attack Betsy, for she is a mutant.

Meanwhile in Krakoa, Rogue and Gambit walk the beach at night, amusing about the third mutant law about making more mutants. Trinary warns Rogue that Apocalypse has summoned her. Apocalypse says that Betsy and Brian are trapped in the other side of the gate, in Otherworld, and asks Rogue to break the magical ward off the gate with her powers. Gambit brings in Jubilee since she was the last to speak to Betsy.

In Camelot, Morgan Le Fay turns Brian into her new dark champion and forces him to attack Betsy. Brian tries to fight Morgan’s influence and gives Betsy the amulet of right, the source of Captain Britain’s powers. At the same time, Apocalypse is able to contact Betsy and orders her to disrupt the gate at the same time Rogue touches the portal from the other side. Whatever came through the gate took Rogue as its host, putting her in stasis, covered in Krakoan flowers.

Brian convince Betsy to put the amulet on and she is immediately teleported back to Krakoa. Gambit is upset with Apocalypse and vows to kill him, when Betsy suddenly appear before them as the new Captain Britain.

Epilogue: Marianna Stern has sacrificed her entire Coven and joins another cult, that of Coven Akkaba.

Data Page: A new form of mutant magic has risen, and Apocalypse is aware of it. The symbol of old magic is the circle: “The magic circle has been abolished as a weakness requiring the hands of many magi and points on a line.” The symbol of new mutant magic is X: “The X, as superior, only requires 4.”

ALL HAIL CAPTAIN BRITAIN!

X-Men Monday #33 – Reflecting on House of X and Powers of X

Adventures in Poor Taste!: This week, we’re reflecting on the series from an editorial perspective with X-Men Senior Editor Jordan D. White and Assistant Editor Annalise Bissa.

AIPT: What character are you most excited about in this brave new world?

Jordan: So many! But if I HAD to pick just one… then I would apologize profusely to the new Captain Britain and go with Captain Kate Pryde. She’s always been a favorite of mine, but Marauders in particular is an awesome series and Gerry Duggan is completely nailing her character and giving her a great and unique place in the new X-Landscape.

Annalise: Well then I’LL say Betsy Braddock Captain Britain!

Tini Howard Teases New Roles for Apocalypse, Captain Britain in Dawn of X

EW.com: A new dawn is breaking for Marvel’s mutants. Now that the 12-week event comic series House of X/Powers of X (by writer Jonathan Hickman and artists Pepe Larraz and R.B. Silva) has concluded, we’re starting to see what that new dawn looks like. X-Men and Marauders, the first of six initial titles from the Dawn of X line, hit stands earlier this month and showed how classic X-Men characters are adapting to new roles. Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Wolverine are hanging out on the moon (and possibly carrying on a polyamorous relationship, if certain infographics are to be believed) while Kitty Pryde is putting together a pirate crew to rescue mutants across the world and bring them to the new mutant nation-state of Krakoa.

In other words, there’s a lot going on with mutants right now. The part of Dawn of X you’re most looking forward to probably depends on your favorite element of HoX/PoX. Any readers who were particularly impressed by Apocalypse’s heel-face turn will probably be excited about Excalibur, which launches later this month from writer Tini Howard and artist Marcus To. Though Apocalypse was formerly one of the X-Men’s greatest villains — he famously took over the world in the ‘90s storyline “Age of Apocalypse” — the mutant known as “En Sabah Nur” has now joined with the X-Men on Krakoa to defend mutants rather than conquer them.

He’s a big part of the new Excalibur team, alongside Captain Britain, Jubilee, Rictor, and the recently married Rogue and Gambit. Howard describes the new Apocalypse as “a big mean man who I like a lot.”

“He’s always been concerned with the ascension of mutants and it’s not that he feels as though his work is done now. It’s quite the contrary; it’s that his work must change,” Howard tells EW. “He was a general when he had to be a general, and now that the fight has changed, his tactics have changed. We’re gonna see an Apocalypse who’s a scholar and is someone who is able to work for the greatness of mutantkind as a thinker, as an artist, as a priest. We’ll see him in these roles we’ve never seen him in before.”

Howard continues, “I’m very, very proud of what we’re doing and where we’re going with Apocalypse. I’m working very closely with Jonathan on what we think and feel about him and what his journey is. It’s really interesting to give a character like that a journey. Whether it’s a hero’s journey or whether he’s Walter White will be something we’ll see as it goes on. But he’s fighting for his home too.”

Apocalypse’s change of heart carries through his design. Out with the classic bulky blue armor with various tubes sticking out of it; in with a new, comfortable-looking outfit that gives Apocalypse the air of a sage mystic.

He’s not the only one going through a big redesign. The mantle of Captain Britain, previously held by Brian Braddock, has now passed to Brian’s sister Betsy. For years, Betsy’s consciousness was fused with the body of the assassin Kwannon; together, they were Psylocke. But they were recently-separated. Kwannon now exclusively holds the mantle of Psylocke (readers will see what she’s up to in Fallen Angels, another Dawn of X book launching next month from writer Bryan Edward Hill and artist Szymon Kudranski).

In the pages of Excalibur, Betsy is now coming into her own as Captain Britain. She’s even got an amazing new costume to show for it.

“She’s been divorced from a body that was not her own. It was important to me to acknowledge that Betsy has a lot of complicated feelings about that. Her and Kwannon will, at some point, have to have that talk,” Howard says. “But Betsy needs to stand on feet that are actually her own. When we see her at the beginning of Excalibur #1, she is kind of adrift. She’s crashing at her brother’s place. She doesn’t really know what she’s doing. She doesn’t know if Krakoa is her home too. In issue #1 we see her go from being a baby deer to a great white stag.”

Howard continues, “Developing the Captain Britain design was a lot of me sending Marcus everything from like Waterhouse paintings to anime girls with swords, like Revolutionary Girl Utena and Sophitia from Soul Calibur. We really wanted her to have this quality where it looks like she just rode in on a white horse to save the day. She’s the knight of not just Britain but Krakoa as well.”

Excalibur #1 hits stores on Oct. 30.

Excalibur #1 Preview

Excalibur #1

Writer: Tini Howard

Artist: Marcus To

Color Artist: Erick Arciniega

Cover by: Mahmud A. Asrar

The Story:

The Otherworld is rocked by war! It is a new era for mutantkind as a new Captain Britain holds the amulet, fighting for the Kingdom of Avalon with her Excalibur at her side – Rogue, Gambit, Rictor, Jubilee…and Apocalypse.

In Stores: October 30, 2019

X-Solicits for January 2020

	Excalibur #5 & #6 Tini Howard (W) • Marcus To (A) Covers by: Mahmud Asrar Issue #5 – Marvels X Variant Cover by: Will Sliney Issue #5 – Dark Phoenix Saga 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by: Philip Tan Issue #6 – Marvels X Variant Cover by: Mike Mckone Issue #6 – Dark Phoenix Saga 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by: Adi Granov The Secret of Rogue’s Coffin! Locked in her mysterious coffin, Rogue dreams. Meanwhile, Apocalypse performs a ritual, and the throne of power changes hands. The reign of mutantkind reaches the Otherworld at last.
	X-Men #5 & #6 Jonathan Hickman (W) • R. B. Silva & Matteo Buffagni (A) Covers by: Leinil Francis Yu Issue #5 – Marvels X Variant Cover by: Marcos Martin Issue #5 – Dark Phoenix Saga 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by: Kris Anka Issue #6 – Marvels X Variant Cover by: TBA Issue #6 – Dark Phoenix Saga 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by: Mark Brooks The X-Men, the most powerful heroes on the planet, deal with an old nemesis’ surprising return… Mystique goes to extraordinary lengths to get what she wants… The X-Men, the most powerful heroes on the planet, deal with an old nemesis’ surprising return…
	Marauders #5 & #6 Gerry Duggan (W) • Matteo Lolli (A) Covers by: Russell Dauterman Issue #5 – Dark Phoenix Saga 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by: Tony Daniel Issue #6 – Dark Phoenix Saga 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by: Frank Cho The Battle of Madripoor! The Marauders are caught between the forces of Madripoor and the Black King’s machinations! Thankfully, they have TWO Omega Level mutants onboard…
	New Mutants #5 & #6 Jonathan Hickman & Ed Brisson (W) • Flaviano & Rod Reis (A) Covers by: Rod Reis Issue #5 – Dark Phoenix Saga 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by: Juan José Ryp Issue #6 – Dark Phoenix Saga 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by: Tomm Coker The Explosive Return of Cannonball! The team has reached the Shi’ar Galaxy only to find the empire in turmoil! Deathbird returns and she won’t let Bobby and Sam get in the way of what she wants! A simple visit to check in on old friends in the human world has gone wrong—dangerously wrong. With innocent lives on the line, Armor and the other young mutants have their hands tied... but escaping without collateral damage looks increasingly impossible.
	X-Force #5 & #6 Benjamin Percy (W) • Joshua Cassara (A) Covers by: Dustin Weaver Issue #5 – Marvels X Variant Cover by: TBA Issue #5 – Dark Phoenix Saga 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by: Russell Dauterman Issue #6 – Dark Phoenix Saga 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by: Marcos Martin Deadly Choices Carry Dark Consequences! First, Domino and Forge have to pick up the pieces as the team faces a major setback! Then, Beast takes matters into his own hands when a piece of new technology threatens the safety of the nation.
	Fallen Angels #5 & #6 Bryan Hill (W) • Szymon Kudranski (A) Covers by: Ashley Witter Issue #5 – Dark Phoenix Saga 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by: Scott Williams Issue #6 – Dark Phoenix Saga 40th Anniversary Variant Cover by: Alan Davis Hark! More Angels Fall! Husk and Bling! Join Psylocke and company on their mission to stave off Apoth and his children! Then - Cable turns on X-23?!?

Excalibur #2 Variant Cover by Otto Schmidt

Inside the 'Dawn of X' Brain Trust with Tini Howard

Newsarama: A new age for mutantkind is here with "Dawn of X". With the stage set by House of X and Powers of X, this week's X-Men #1 ushered in the new era - and it continues as the line expands with New Mutants, X-Force, Excalibur, Wolverine, X-Corp, and more. As this new era begins, Tini Howard sat down with Newsarama to talk about Excalibur and how she was personally inducted into Hickman's proverbial Silent Council.

Newsarama: You three were among the first readers of Jonathan Hickman's new vision for the X-Men and some of you worked on some pre-House of X Powers of X X-Men stories. Can you describe your own personal journeys taking all of this in and going from pre-Hickman into this new era?

Tini Howard: When Hickman reached out to me, I had just started having a lot of Marvel work come out and I remember Ed and some people I talked to about it were like, “sometimes when that happens you'll start getting people who will like email you their story ideas and stuff.” So I got an email from an address that I didn't recognize. It was like titled like “X-Men Ideas” or something like that. It was a wall of text. I was like, “who is this lunatic?” I read it and I was like, “Oh, I've been reading this lunatic's work for years. Oh my God.” It was very exciting.

I read the take and I was like, “yeah, I'm all in.” Instantly, I knew where my story would fit in and what I wanted to do. It didn't spring from my head fully formed. But Jonathan asked me to bring in a pitch and I didn't really. I brought in an essay where I was like, “I don't really know what I want to do, but here's what this makes me feel. And here's where I think this can go and here's who I want to do it.” Apocalypse was the person that was really centered on originally.

And the other really cool thing was that when I came in like that, Jonathan responded to that. He wasn't like, “nice essay, but where's the punching?” It was like, “here's my essay about this culture you've built.” And he was like, “yeah, cool. Okay.” And we built it from my favorite place to build stories, which is a philosophical question of “what do we do with them now.” Not just “what would be cool to see them do,” but “what do they need? What do they archetypally do for people and how do we manipulate that as storytellers?” Those big storytelling questions are all stuff I've really gotten to do here in this iteration of the X-Men.

Nrama: Plus, Hickman seems like a guy that loves an essay.

Howard: Yeah. He doesn't mind essays.

Nrama: So to build on that, Tini, Betsy's taking over the Captain Britain mantle with Excalibur and it's finally happening in main continuity. What's the throughline you found for it to be a legitimate progression for the Betsy Braddock we first met in those old Captain Britain UK stories?

Howard: I think the Braddocks are an awesome family. I have really built a lot of the story around the Braddocks as a unit. So it's not just the Betsy show, we're not ignoring who Brian is and who Brian has been and some other members of the Braddock family. In a real way, the Braddocks are like the Starks of this story. They're a family unit and we'll see them and follow them. And that's part of the story. It is not the story of shoving Brian Braddock in a drawer, getting Betsy the amulet, and putting them on stage. It is the story of a family, some of whom are mutant and some of whom are not, during a time of mutant ascension. And I think people will be really pleased. This is a story that elevates and celebrates the entire Braddock family. The Captain Britain mythos, themes and the long history of Excalibur as a book of magic and light and love.

Nrama: Do you have plans to do UK cons and signings in relation specifically to Excalibur?

Howard: So the joke that I've made is that for the books I’ve done, Death's Head and Excalibur now, that I've never even been to the UK. So if anyone is like, “Hey, why is she writing this stuff? She's not even English.” My response is: invite me to your beautiful country and say that to my face! I absolutely think that I should probably travel to some of these places I'm writing about and see them in the flesh. What a great idea that you've had.

Nrama: Well now it's out in the world, so we'll see what happens.

Howard: Manifest it.

Cullen Bunn Reveals Original 'Uncanny X-Men' Pitch, Cosmic Book with Captain Britain

Cullen Bunn: In 2015, I was asked to take over Uncanny X-Men. We all know that yielded the Magneto-led team. My first pitch, however, was a cosmic team with Rachel Summers in charge and a new Captain Britain. My pal Bri Hurtt even worked up a few concepts. Their ship was powered by the Siege Perilous. And they would have encountered alien mutants across the universe. And—of course—Magneto would’ve played a role. Why didn’t it happen? It almost did. Then one editor really pushed a case against anything cosmic. Or maybe it would’ve just been too awesome. Everyone liked it... save one person who convinced the rest, I guess.

Tini Howard and Marcus To Talk 'Excalibur' - ‘There’s a lot to say about Betsy’

AiPT!: X-Men Week continues with a peek at the magic that awaits readers of Excalibur!

AiPT!: Tini, when preparing for Excalibur, did you revisit any of the classic Excalibur comics for inspiration, or is this series very much its own thing?

Tini Howard: Both? That’s a silly answer, but I think you have to do both, as a writer. You can’t build on something in a satisfying fashion without an awareness of what’s come before. I think House of X and Powers of X taught us that, if we didn’t already know, right? The combination of a completely fresh take with the presence and prominence of mutant characters and history from all over. I’m absolutely endeavoring to do the same in Excalibur.

AiPT!: Marcus, were you a fan of the original Excalibur?

Marcus To: Maybe not the original one, but the era of Pete Wisdom and Kitty Pryde dating and Colossus coming in after he left for the Acolytes–that was my era. I didn’t have a lot of money when I was a kid, so I’d sparingly buy one–“Oh, Colossus is in that one, I’ll buy that one–oh, Cyclops is in that one.” So I jumped around a lot as a kid and it wasn’t until later in my years I could read them. But I always loved Excalibur because it was a fun book. You could so so much more with that book.

AiPT!: Excalibur seems to be a team composed of “big” personalities. As a writer, how much fun is it juggling Rogue, Jubilee, Apocalypse and the other leads?

Howard: Incredibly! As I’m writing this, I’ve just finished #6 and it’s amazing to me how far these characters have come. They might seem like a motley crew to some, but to me, who has been spending so much time with them, they’re unquestioningly linked now. It does sometimes feel like juggling–right now I could write a solo about each of them, but that’s team books for you.

AiPT!: Marcus, you redesigned the entire team, right?

To: Yep, I redesigned pretty much all of the Excalibur characters.

AiPT!: What’s it like redesigning so many characters with such iconic costumes?

To: A lot of panic and late sleepless nights. I mean, obviously, with every character, there’s different things you need to make sure that they have. Every character kind of had their own different design differences. Obviously Betsy had the most drastic change, as she’s Captain Britain, so you pore over a lot of references to see what other people have done and see some of the similarities with what they’ve done and try to take those similarities and then add your flavor to them. So color schemes to try and stay on top of–Rictor has more green in his costume with a little bit of red and blue, then Gambit is purple or pink–one of the two. Jubilee is pink and yellow. A lot of those things you start off with, then go as crazy as you can, and then the editor pulls you back.

AiPT!: We haven’t seen Rogue in her ’90s costume in many years. What made you go that route?

To: Well, you’ll see in #1, she will have a slightly altered costume later on. But #1 will set the stage. We just needed her in something for now.

AiPT!: Tini, magic can be a turnoff to some superhero comic readers. Why should these specific readers, who don’t care for magic and mysticism in fiction, give Excalibur a chance?

Howard: I’ve never seen magic as just an aesthetic choice, it’s really the same as great science fiction, it’s a way of talking about the unknown and the speculative. It’s a good way to talk about things in reality we don’t understand–consciousness, connection, these nebulous things that are a big deal. I actually read a lot more science fiction than fantasy, and I think it’s because of the way I use magic in stories. This is a story about magic not as a thing we use to do the dishes for us but as a natural part of a culture’s history, that mysticism develops just like other cultural touch points.

AiPT!: I know you’re friends with Leah Williams–are there any aspects of Leah’s take on Betsy in X-Tremists you plan to carry over to Excalibur?

Howard: Leah and I have talked a lot about Betsy. I think one place we both really connect with her is that she has both the literal complicated-relationship-with-her-own-body, and also the same ones that many of us have as women. She’s a model, she’s been changed by the people who had power over her, distrusted, had a lot of messy affairs. There’s something I really connect to in ‘woman feels that another body would be better, easier to live in than her own, but is wrong about that in so many ways.’ There’s the added complexity that she is a white woman who took over the body of an Asian woman, at the hands of a man who was making her into the object of his desires… there’s guilt that’s legitimately hers and guilt that isn’t, guilt she’s feeling because the men responsible for it won’t feel it like they should. There’s a lot to say about Betsy.

AiPT!: And in terms of Betsy’s powers, artists have really delivered some very cool visuals using her revamped psychic weapons. Marcus, have you been having fun illustrating the new Captain Britain’s powers?

To: It’s been super fun. I think just drawing Betsy, in general, is a lot of fun. I think she has a lot of character. I think she’s going through so many things in her life right now, like drawing a lot of what her psychic powers mean to her now, which is a different part of her. It’s been awesome.

AiPT!: Finally, Tini, what do you love the most about the new status quo for mutants? And is the freshness of it all liberating for you as a writer?

Howard: It’s totally liberating. It frees us from a lot of the constraints that can happen in writing superhero comics. I’m really lucky to be a part of it.