Excalibur #22
Writer: Tini Howard
Art by: Marcus To
Cover by: Mahmud Asrar
The Story:
The Towers and the Storm!
With Captain Britain and Excalibur reunited, Otherworld is their domain. An escort mission reveals deep political unrest among Saturnyne’s court. And a brutal sacrifice bears fruit.
In Stores: July 14, 2021
“For so long, my life has been out of control. Chaos and serendipity, wrapped in insanity. I have suffered, I have lost. Not just my life, but my very soul, my self. But no more. Now I know who I am.” – Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Braddock, daughter of Otherworld, mutant, telepath, telekinetic, defender of the realm and, above all, X-Man.
28 comments:
Anyone know who the Carmen Sandiego looking lady is? Like is she a previously established obscure character?
I was wondering the same thing. According to a fandom wiki, she appeared and/or was mentioned in the Stasis and Destruction issues of the X of Swords event (probably the ones describing how the Otherworld is organized after Franklin Richards recreated the multiverse at the end of Secret Wars).
She looks cool, I'll give her that. I'll find her even cooler if she shoots Beast (but she probably won't).
Oh, not related to that, but the same fandom wiki said that ForgetMeNot (one of my favorite X-characters EVER) actually had a brief appearance in one of the X-Factor issues (not the most recent one, but the issue before the Hellfire Gala event).
Now that Spurrier is writing a X-book (plus that Onslaught miniseries), I hope he'll use ForgetMeNot in some of his stories. In fact, my dream would be for him to get Excalibur, give Betsy a makeover (maybe even keeping her wearing an armor as Captain Britain, but an armor that looks more modern and form-fitting) and bringing ForgetMeNot to the team.
Maybe that could even be the perfect excuse for the psychic butterflies to return, as she could manifest one of them permanently to keep her "mind's eyes" on him all the time, in order not to forget him.
(...yeah, I know, that's not going to happen)
That's a cool idea. I liked ForgetMeNot as well
I think this is the first time Betsy has interacted with Beast since back on Utopia when she assisted XClub
Mrs. Tini Howard heard my pleas for more vassal states kingdoms. The characters and creatures are very unusual and interesting to remain as data pages.
The sneak peek shows Remy use his powers in a defensive manner. I wouldn't take it if Remy got blinded for the second time. Rogue had to go for Remy to shine. Remy's power is acceleration and deceleration of particles as if he stops time. Maybe how he stopped the bullet.
So... the last edition finished with Morgan heading to the lighthouse.... and now the team is in outworld like nothing happened... fantastic...
Remember when Apocalypse sent Rictor to retrieve that crystal containing the essence of those dead mutant twins? Well Rictor used it to save Gambit from falling to his death, but could Gambit have absorbed some extra abilities?
He started out as a mysterious character (replacement for Longshot), so maybe they are making him interesting again? Exploring possible new powers? Tini has pretty much watered down every character in this series, so I am not going to get my hopes up.
@THE FLYING NEGRO Longshot is unique and trendsetter of the 90s extreme men with pouches razor blades and probability and reality manipulation powers. Longshot birthed Cable, Domino and Shatterstar the one eyed glows and the X-Force idea of mutant fighters the time and dimension hoppers.
Longshot's uniqueness is his tabula rasa existence able to be rewritten as the writers please. He can be the father of Gaveedra with Dazzler, the offspring of his son Gaveedra, the vertebrate experiment of Arize and the son of an unknown mutant slave of Mojo, even the lover or son of Spiral. Longshot is anything and nothing according to Ann Nocenti who created him as a the homunculus rebel. A mutant Spartacus for Mojo's reality Rome. His connection to Betsy is the Mojoverse and Mojo that both Betsy and Longshot served.
Instead Remy is a vagabond an original Fantomex and a Summers brother fake out. Scott Lobdell repurposed Remy with a deeper history to the X-Men be the unwitting Marauder in Mr. Sinister's Morlock genocide.
Betsy is connected to Remy for she probed Sabretooth's mind and connected to Mr. Sinister's mind and peeked at his Marauders team and whole schemes. At Remy's trial in Antarctica Betsy had memory flashbacks of Remy as a shadow figure in Mr. Sinister's actions to confirm his past and identity not of a lost Summers brother but of a Cajun orphan. Remy hasn't met with his biological parents if still alive after his kidnapping as a newborn from the clinic. There are stories to be told with him.
Whatever the crystalized bones of the mutant twins did to Remy's biology it is a step toward his future self as the Witness. When Charles Xavier was discovered to be the traitor of the X-Men who destroyed them by becoming the Onslaught and use Franklin Richards to create the dystopian future 1911 there Gambit was the only X-Man survivor named the Witness. As the Witness he could slow his ageing by constantly absorbing kinetic energy from his temple maids and the Starkawa grid to forever immobilize his molecules to immortality and create the Momentary Princess. Xavier is shown in the previews of Way of X to host the Onslaught persona therefore more light can be shed on Remy as the Witness and his birth origins.
Longshot and Remy are similar as charmers with unknown pasts and ties to Betsy. Longshot is different to Remy because Longshot is a jolly goofball a flower child while Remy is sly and dark almost a thief devil.
"Longshot and Remy are similar as charmers with unknown pasts and ties to Betsy. Longshot is different to Remy because Longshot is a jolly goofball a flower child while Remy is sly and dark almost a thief devil."
Good point!
I miss the times when Gambit was a charmer, with an optimistic personality and relying not only on his powers and physical skills, but also on his wits and the capacity of charm his way out of problems. Sometimes I wonder whether the current Excalibur caused more harm to Betsy or to him (Rictor at least is getting some development, and while we could have Jubilee leaving Shogo under the care of a babysitter and let herself loose in the adventures, at least she is portrayed in a sympathetic way).
Gambit used to work because he was morally ambiguous and always had a separate agenda. When a character like Gambit is over exposed they lose the mystique. Gambit and Rogue marrying is boring but I guess we can just say Gambit has changed and settled... yay lol
People hate Fantomex but at least he keeps things interesting we never know whats going on with him. Gambit lost that attribute IMO
@FSaker Tini Howard writes Remy prudish like a cat had its nails clipped. Remy might be married to Anna Marie however he has no inhibitions to use his sex appeal to get what he wants and pick immoral shortcuts. Only highlight was his interaction with Candra in ten of swords and then neutered Remy again.
Longshot can't control his pheromone powers that bring all women and men to his yard.
Betsy and Remy are the most damaged characters in Excalibur. Betsy has lost her Psylocke coolness even that before her transformation and powers with her butterfly iconography and Remy has lost his Cajunness.
Jubilation has retained her hotheadedness and cheeky attitude. Rictor is fully transformed from his past appearances his powers are stronger and his self is gone. The clever idea is to use Shogo as a dragon so he stops being a burden for Jubilation.
Yeah, he isn't as mysterious as he used to be, but that's not what I miss about Gambit (Fantomex is already filling that gap, as well as the "occasional team player but who usually acts alone" gap). It's the way how he used to be constantly on a good mood, making fun of his teammates or teasing them (in a playful way, not as a jerk).
He was fun to read, balancing the more serious (and often violent or moody) X-Men like Wolverine or Rogue, or even Betsy herself (she was often deadly serious in the early 1990s). Remy nowadays is constantly moody, complaining about things or bickering with his teammates... I know characters evolve and change, but I don't see why this would be seen as "evolution". He doesn't even have any reason to be moody all the time: he's happily married, his "Death" persona apparently is gone (I don't remember if it was ever destroyed, but even if it wasn't, it seems that all X-writers and editors forgot about it, Howard included), he's having adventures with two of his best friends (he and Jubes teased each other A LOT back in the Blue Team days)...
Personally, I've always seen Fantomex as a lone wolf (even in his UXF days) while Gambit has been a team player for a long time. Sadly, it doesn't feel like he enjoys his current team.
Then again, Jubilee seems to be the only person in Excalibur who is shown as someone who likes her teammates.
@FSaker the brooding Remy is present throughout the run. At the beginning of Excalibur he had reasons to act so for Apocalypse involved in Krakoa and the Otherworld and for Rogue transformed in a sleeping beauty and into a lighthouse. When all returned to normal it seemed Howard only knew this new Remy and couldn't recreate the classic Remy who was a tease and showed tough love to his teammates and used his powers in unexpectedly limber moves.
Same as Betsy who lost her sarcasm, witty remarks and her confidence in her powers and sex appeal as well as her role of consultant for her friends. Betsy had always the willingness and time to hear others and help them out. As done with Storm, Jubilee, Wolverine, Rogue, Longshot, Havok, Jean, Warren, Bishop even Spiral.
Jubilee retains her true characteristics although I think this Jubilee is more the animated series Jubilee than the veteran X-Man we are used to read with the bonus of the adopted Shogo added.
Apocalypse's experimentations on his horsemen have long lasting effects. I doubt Remy, Betsy, Polaris, Sunfire have completely healed from the horsemen procedures. Betsy's soul like Remy's were imbued with the death seed and had nearly lost their hearts to Apocalypse and his vision. Polaris struggled with her new genetic powers for years until she succeeded to jumpstart her DNA and Sunfire has had whole limbs grafted to his body that could change his makeup and behavior. Wolverine by using his healing factor could get away but Warren despite his angelic healing has still problems controlling his angel of death personality.
I wonder M is doing im XCorp so far? No way in hell Howard would write M as incompetent and insecure.
@Randybear I only read one issue but so far M was pretty confident in it. I actually shockingly enjoyed the first issue. That's another reason I don't want Betsy as Captain Britain, it basically gives her and Monet the exact same powerset. I at least rather Betsy took the Sword of Might, and instead of invulnerability, flight etc etc, it increased her psionic prowess. Technically they could still do it with the Sword she has now since Tini refuses to actually show any real Captain Britain powers lol.
I figured as much. I guess only Betsy can be written as incompetent.. maybe that's how they're setting her apart from Kwannon the miracle worker.
@Psi-Girl, Great points!
I would also add that, while Rogue managed to escape this book, during the time she was in, she was basically the strong woman who can fly, Gambit's wife... and that's it. Not to mention the fact that she spent three or four issues in a coma - and while it could have resulted in big things for her, like establishing a direct connection between her and the Otherworld... nothing happened, after all.
Good luck on your new team, Rogue. You deserve it. And after barely doing anything noteworthy in Excalibur, you also need it.
Though to be fair, Rogue at least was likeable in Excalibur, unlike Gambit and Rictor (and sometimes even Betsy herself).
I was thinking about that too how the whole first few issues with her asleep I felt like that was building to a really interesting climax or change for Rogue but nope... first indication in Howard's run of an interesting idea that has zero climax or pay off.
Also I saw on Amazon vol 4 of Excalibur listed and its issues #22 - 26... so that means the series goes to at least #26.
The cause is first and female solidarity last it's the truth for Howard trashing Betsy for the body thief and colonialism editors put on Betsy. Howard can't do minorities bad for the policy that white people are evil. Monet must be perfect and Storm a goddess. Storm is put on Mars ruling the mutant colony like a Dr. Doom. Writers can take their madness on Betsy and dump on her because she deserves it for playing Asian and come from a noble family. Joke's on Howard she hasn't written Meggan like the Romani person she is because she sees the appearance of the white and blonde Meggan with blue eyes.
Meanwhile nobe of these woke losers on Twitter are directing any outrage at Cebulski who literally yellow faced his way through comics and profited off masquerading as a POC. But yeah priorities lol
Tobias Chatti comic stories got lost in politics is a nightmare when done sloppily.
The definition of sloppy is Kwannon who was a retcon character to the previous intellectual work of Chris Claremont and the transformation he did to Betsy.
Comics is a medium in need to keep track of previous development and never dismiss or change it to favor new talent in this case Fabian Nicieza. If you ruin the established work of your predecessor co-workers to get accolades at their expense you don't deserve to be part of the comic family. Eventually the industry itself will spit you out as phony.
The beginning of the body swap mess turned into the colonialist avalanche and cultural appropriation was all Fabian Nicieza's doing.
I don't know whether he did it on purpose or by accident but it reverberates badly to this day.
Kwannon is a tragic victim of that because she will never be her own hero with original Oriental iconography and identity rather stay the substitute of 90's Psylocke Betsy.
From time to time artists draw Kwannon Japanese with dragons and sakura symbols however it is short lived and she returns to Fauxlocke status with purplish hair and Betsy's butterfly.
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