Thursday, May 14, 2020

Excalibur #10 Advanced Preview


In Stores: June 10, 2020

Category: , , ,

24 comments:

Ry said...

I wonder why Firestar is shown in the flames🤔

May 14, 2020 at 9:31 PM
mattsarchamp said...

I thinks that's Marvel Girl.

May 14, 2020 at 10:16 PM
FSaker said...

Oh, dear... is Krakoa really attacking London? If so, they should have at least warned Betsy's team before; now they're completely lost in the crossfire.

These soldiers, though... they're terrible, opening fire against people who were clearly NOT attacking. Not like they represented any danger, with Betsy's telekinesis (...she still has telekinesis, right?), but still.

Anyway, the art looks great! If there's one thing the Excalibur readers can't complain about, it's the art; it's been fantastic issue after issue. Possibly the best-looking X-book from the Dawn of X era.

May 15, 2020 at 9:00 AM
randybear said...

Betsy is so hopeless here again. "I dont know, I dont understand, I cant" shes so lame now she has no confidence or inner strength anymore. The way Jubilee is looking to their LEADER for answers/guidance and shes just like "oh I dunno!"

Remember when Betsy was strong, independent, confident, funny, charming, creative with her powers etc etc etc this is just a shell, what a 'great start' for a new major status quo for the character. It's no surprise most are lukewarm if not straight up dismissive of her since DoX.

May 15, 2020 at 10:25 AM
randybear said...

Also seriously? They were just going to stand there and be shot if it weren't for Rictor? What a joke lol I mean I guess she wanted Ric to have something to do here but jesus I'm sure it could have been in a more organic manner, I'm sure Tini Howard is a lovely person but her run so far has been mediocre at best.

May 15, 2020 at 10:29 AM
Rahsaan said...

I wrote to the X-Office a couple of weeks ago:

Dear X-Office:

I write this with much concern as a reader and as a major Elizabeth Braddock fan. Besty has been my favorite since I started reading as a kid during the Mutant Massacre. Her growth and evolution have been spectacular. Of course, there have been some hiccups along the way, but where she arrived at the end of Mystery in Madripoor was perfect. She was finally her own woman om her own terms as a superhero. Granted, her relinquishing the Psylocke name was something I could live with since Mojo gave it to her when he enslaved her and her taking back the Captain Britain mantle which she tragically lost before seemed like an interesting twist. Unfortunately, as much as I looked forward to this run, Excalibur needs to either turn into a [A] solo series or it needs to end. I don't recognize any of the characters. Most of who are favorites of mine. Tini seems to have no interests in writing Betsy, Anna, Remy, Jubilation, or even Estaban Julio (who she says is a favorite of hers, but gave him that terrible druid storyline). Betsy is like a pod person and Remy is a manchild/brat under her. And Shogo the Dragon is silly. I feel like I am reading a children's book. And Elizabeth seems more like Superman now that the witty telepath who sued her powers in a bunch of interesting ways. We rarely see her using her powers at all other than manifesting her telepathic/telekinetic sword and shield. And it's a shame as she has such potential after self-actualizing in her own body, complete with her martial arts skills and her signature powers, butterfly signature, and an arsenal of psychic weaponry, including her psychic knife. For the life of me, I cannot understand why you thought it was cool to transfer that all to Kwannon versus giving that her character her own original and much-deserved spin.

I would like to see the non-[A] characters be featured in a non-slapstick book scripted by someone who knows them well and focuses on character development and interesting events. For instance, a book with this team leaving Otherworld/Avalon and focusing on uncovering Moira's true motives and finding proof of her existence and her grand plan so that the rest of Krakoa can have a choice. All this after Bets' has her first precognitive flash in years letting her know that Moira is around and up to something. (It seems as if no one at Marvel recalls that Elizabeth's psychic powers began as precognition which we last saw in X-Men Blue if memory serves.) Moira can be the antagonist of the book as I'm not sure that I fully believe that Moira isn't undermining mutantkind in the end based on her mandate that Destiny can't be resurrected as a check and balance to her. Maybe Elizabeth should be that check and balance like she was for both Erik and Charles in Uncanny and Astonishing respectively.

May 15, 2020 at 5:29 PM
Rahsaan said...

I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out why this current Excalibur volume feels so uninspired, and I now realize why. One big reason that the first volume of Excalibur worked (aside from having Claremont and Davis, who were invested in the characters... Excalibur went to hell after those two left) was that its silliness was a reprieve from how dark the other three X-Men books were. Think about what was happening then... Mutant Massacre to Fall of The Mutants to Inferno to the X-Men splintering post Inferno to X-factor dealing with the fallout of Inferno with Jean's psyche and then losing Baby Nathan to the New Mutants losing many of their members in tragedy like Doug, Illyana, Mirage, Sunspot, Rusty, Skids, Wolfsbane, Warlock... And then the X-Tinction Agenda... Pretty much it was all very dark until blue/gold. The fantasy of Excalibur worked well as an escape. Also, Davis and Claremont really put a lot into showing depth and emotion and telling interesting stories with satire and fantasy. The mutants are in a very different place now with Krakoa and having their own society... and Howard's book is basic as hell. She doesn't seem to know the characters nor does she seem to want to give us an interesting story. Excalibur as it currently is needs to end if she's not willing to write it as it deserves.

Everyone in that book needs to be tied way more to Krakoa sociopolitics. I'm over Otherworld and Avalon. If things don't change to give us back the well-characterized X-Men we know and love and a story that intrigues me with the upcoming Ten of Sword Crossover, I am afraid I will be dropping Excalibur from my pull-list. And that would be terrible as Betsy is my favorite X-Man and we saw such great capacity for her as a self-actualized asset to the X-Men (as both a telepath/telekinetic and a leader) only to have her be unrecognizable now in the Captain Britain role and team lead of other popular characters. This book and new direction were supposed to be a step up and instead, it feels like a demotion to obscurity. Betsy as Disassembled Psylocke was the real glow up for our beloved character. This current incarnation is the pits. Maybe that means she creates a new code-name or just goes by her real name. ( I'm not sure why Kwannon insists on going by Psylocke, but I can see why Betsy would disavow it due to its origin. Plus, Kitty and Jean prove that the X-Men no longer need aliases since the world knows their true identities.) I do know that the Captain Britain thing is not the good look for her that i wanted. And Excalibur isn't a good look for anyone in the book save for maybe [A].

Sincerely,

Rahsaan

May 15, 2020 at 5:29 PM
Ry said...

@mattsarchamp you’re right, I’m so dumb. It makes more sense if it’s Jean alongside Professor X since they are both telepathes and play major roles. I saw the fire and mask and thought of Firestar, it’s weird that she was featured on the HOX/POX teaser and hasn’t showed up in any of the books. I know she’s never really been an X-men character until recently aside form her being a mutant and her origin with the Hellions. I think Krakoa could really bring Firestar into the fold and make a really interesting story with her. Since her powers are radiation based and give her cancer it would be interesting to see how she’s doing with the Krakoan medicine (it’s never specified what their medicine does) and the five being able to resurrect mutants. Maybe she would be less careful with how she uses her powers. I think there’s a lot of untapped potential with Firestar that the X-office is missing out on.

May 15, 2020 at 8:13 PM
FSaker said...

@Ry, Firestar is probably living in Krakoa and just wasn't assigned to the rosters in the X-books so far. I wonder if Justice is there as well. Maybe they'll be featured soon; it's hard to give room to so many mutant characters, but I agree that they have lots of potential.

---

@Rahsaan, great letter! Unfortunately, I doubt Marvel will accept your feedback, but hopefully they do.

To be fair, the problem of Excalibur being disconnected from the Krakoan matters seems to be addressed in the next issue, with the team having to deal with the war between London and Krakoa (hopefully this won't be the only issue where the Krakoan sociopolitics are shown in this book).

But the problem of Apocalypse getting much more attention than the other characters is very serious; Howard has possibly the best group of X-Men on her hands, and it seems she's just not appreciating it. I do believe she's a very talented writer, and that she can make this book great, but she seriously needs to take the characters she's writing seriously.

As for the Betsy/Kwannon situation, I'm perfectly okay with Kwannon being the new Psylocke and Betsy being Captain Britain, but I fully agree that Betsy's new identity shouldn't mean the suppression of her psychic powers. And she should definitely get her psychic butterfly back (Kwannon can keep the psi-knife).

May 16, 2020 at 10:00 AM
Finn said...

Betsy was way better in the asian body than now. Just saying. She's slowly droping out as ny favorite sci-fi character ever . it's sad .

May 17, 2020 at 10:56 AM
X-Man said...

I dont think the body is the issue, especially since most of the time she frankly looked white to me anyway. My problem is she should have the same personality and abilities. My problem is it looks like they are trying to give the edgy part of her to Kwannon to make her popular or something. I want Betsy's personality to be the one she had years before and in Dissambled. Hopefully the X of Swords thing will showcase her to be more edgy like we are used to.

May 17, 2020 at 4:08 PM
Rahsaan said...

Agreed. Her body doesn't make or break the character as there were years when Asian Betsy was also written like a hollow shell under some writers. The current writing is the issue. Betsy was a boss in Disassembled.

May 18, 2020 at 4:54 PM
Rahsaan said...

Thanks, Fsaker. I'm glad you appreciated the letter. I too also doubt they care as long as people are buying the book. If Excalibur is still awful after Swords of Ten, I will be dropping from my pull list. It's already a chore to read. Why pay money for something I do not enjoy that treats my favorite characters like crap?

May 18, 2020 at 4:57 PM
X-Man said...

@Rahsaan exactly. If people dont enjoy the current writing she is getting in this body by the current writer, I doubt they'd like any story the current writer would give her in the Asian body.

May 19, 2020 at 12:58 AM
Rahsaan said...

This morning I replied to my last email to the X-Office with this:


Hi, X-Office.

It looks like I’m not the only one who feels this way:

https://www.cbr.com/xmen-every-dawn-x-title-ranked/

May 21, 2020 at 9:37 AM
Rahsaan said...

For the record, this ranking is accurate. House of X and Powers of 10 were leagues beyond anything we have gotten so far. In fact, Dawn of X is largely a letdown after last summer’s two minis.

May 21, 2020 at 9:37 AM
randybear said...

I hate CBR. Your best bet is to just send brief to the point comments via twitter directly to the corresponding editor.

I doubt anyone at Marvel took the time to read your novel above Rashaan. No shad just being realistic. You have good intentions and know how to express yourself eloquently, just keep it short and to the point and be your usual charming self. I think that goes a lot further tbh.

May 21, 2020 at 2:31 PM
FSaker said...

I'm not sure about the CBR ranking... I mean, Fallen Angels in #4? Really? It seems like they only had this book rated so high because it has a famous writer behind it, because I remember many readers said they hated it.

May 21, 2020 at 3:15 PM
Rahsaan said...

@randy, thank you. If they don't take time to read though, that explains why the books are still a far cry from their 80s heyday. I recall back in the 80s and 90s when books had letters pages, like X-Mail and gave No-Prizes for catching errors that editorial did not, people wrote letters at least as long as mine and the editors and writers not only read them but also actually addressed each of the points in them.

May 21, 2020 at 5:02 PM
Rahsaan said...

Hell, reading 200-character Tweets for feedback might be why the books have been so bad for decades now.

May 21, 2020 at 6:37 PM
X-Man said...

@FSaker I didnt agree with the rankings either. I thought Fallen Angels writing and art left a lot to be desired (and that is me being generous lol) and ironically I found the actual X-Men titled comic to be pretty boring. Excalibur certainly isnt a masterpiece (and thank you @Rahsaan for writing on behalf of the Betsy fans to get the office to up their game in writing her in character), but I would rank Excalibur above those 2 books honestly. My wish would be that this current author study the characters and not approach it like a D&D game. I don't think she is bad per se, just might not be a good fit for these X-Men characters.

May 22, 2020 at 11:58 AM
Rahsaan said...

@X-Man, you’re welcome. I care about these characters. To be perfectly honest, I am afraid I may be outgrowing them though. I am bored with the entire Dawn of X line and reading the books feels largely like a chore with Excalibur being the most tedious of all. I was super pumped and excited when House of X and Powers of Ten ended as the X-Men were the most intriguing they have been in years. And now once again, there are too many titles to count and everything seems to be a drag. The only Dawn of X books I have thoroughly enjoyed are the Giant-Size X-Men issues. I think if something does not change for me once Swords of Ten ends, I’m out. This is too expensive a habit to not get any enjoyment from.

May 23, 2020 at 10:08 AM
X-Man said...

@Rahsaan I hope it picks up, I would hate to lose your perspective on the characters and your eloquent posting style. A suggestion if I may? I work at a public Library and we order a lot of graphic novels (for instance we have the Disassembled one and just got the Powers and House of X one) so if you didn't mind waiting a bit, you could always just go to your library and take out a graphic novel for whatever current titles are out now, and read the stories for free.

May 24, 2020 at 12:57 AM
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