Excalibur #17 Art

Excalibur #17 Spoilers

Spoilers: [Alternate Timeline] Our Betsy Braddock is stranded in another timeline where she is Queen of the United Kingdom and in a relationship with [Alternate] Angel. Fortunately, the actual Queen Elizabeth III, who was displaced from her home dimension, has prepared for such eventuality and left a letter with instructions for Betsy. The Queen recommends that Betsy leaves for her home reality immediately and do not interfere with the timeline, meaning she can’t be seen by anyone. Angel explains the politics of this world to Betsy while she tells him they were in a relationship in Earth-616, but not when she looked like she does. It seems Betsy never swapped bodies in this dimension. Betsy is overwhelmed about how much the people of England, which is a safe haven for mutantkind, love their queen; however, she decides to head the Braddock Lighthouse as it is the only conduit to Otherworld available to return home. Even though Betsy assures him she has the skills of someone who has spent years in the covert world, Angel insists she takes a bodyguard to watch her back. The bodyguard turns out to be [Alternate] Kwannon, who also happens to be Angel’s ex-wife.

[Earth-616] Meanwhile, Pete Wisdom heads to Krakoa and meet Excalibur. Gambit, Rogue, Rictor and Jubilee decide to move to the Lighthouse as it seems the most likely place Betsy should return to. Wisdom explains that Coven Akkaba is using Betsy’s disappearance to turn the people of Britain and its intelligence agency against the idea of a mutant Captain Britain. Wisdom thinks that Marianna Stern is heading to the Lighthouse as well. Excalibur decides to escort Wisdom there.

[Alternate Timeline] The Braddock Lighthouse is a highly-defended intelligence facility known as King James III Memorial Intelligence Center, named after the previous king, Betsy’s father. Kwannon takes Betsy there by helicopter and Betsy explains that every reality’s Lighthouse is connected to Otherworld. Betsy awkwardly stares at Kwannon, which upsets the latter as she wants to know nothing of Betsy’s reality as per the Queen’s instructions. Betsy wants to ask her just a few questions.

[Earth-616] Excalibur reaches the Lighthouse just in time to stop Marianna Stern and her Coven from demolishing it. Marianna alleges there are no more Braddocks in this realm to claim it. Soon enough, a battle ensues between Excalibur and Coven Akkaba. Marianna gets ahold of Rictor while Wisdom, Gambit and Jubilee combine their powers and try to attack her. She laughs it off as they cannot beat true sorcery with unrefined magics.

[Alternate Timeline] While Kwannon and Betsy work together and infiltrate the facility, Kwannon obliges to answer three questions only. Betsy asks about Krakoa. Kwannon replies it exists, but no one ever goes there. Betsy then asks about Brian. Kwannon says he’s the head of the British space program. Lastly, Betsy asks if Kwannon has always lived in her body. She thinks it’s a waste of question. After incapacitating a few guards together, the duo finally reaches the glowing conduit connected to Otherworld. Betsy decides to tell Kwannon what happened to both of them in Earth-616. Kwannon is upset and doesn’t want to listen and forces Betsy towards the glowing conduit. Before vanishing, Betsy tells her she’s sorry.

[Earth-616] While Excalibur is cornered by Coven Akkaba’s minions, the Lighthouse is overwhelmed with energy. At that very moment, our Betsy returns to Earth-616 and emerges from the seas walking to the shore. Rogue tells Marianna to beat it as Captain Britain is back and they’re taking her home.

Captain Britain by Yildiray Cinar

X-Solicits for April 2021

	Excalibur #20 Tini Howard (W) • Marcus To (A) Cover by: Mahmud Asrar The Phantom Menace! An invisible threat is loose on the island of Krakoa — unseen, unheard, undetectable by any...except Excalibur.
	Marauders #19 Gerry Duggan (W) • Stefano Caselli (A) Cover by: Russell Dauterman Variant Cover by: David Finch A Pirate’s Life for Good! As the pressure pours on in Madripoor, the Marauders prepare to pillage and plunder as a proper pirate pleases!
	New Mutants #17 Vita Ayala (W) • Rod Reis (A) Cover by: Christian Ward Variant Cover by: Bob Mcleod What’s Left Over When You Go Home? With a mutant child lost in Otherworld, it’s up to the NEW MUTANTS to find and extract him…without losing themselves in the process. Meanwhile, on Krakoa: Warlock makes a friend. Wolfsbane makes a friend. Magik makes some enemies.
	X-Force #19 Benjamin Percy (W) • Garry Brown (A) Cover by: Joshua Cassara What Dreams are Made of! The only way to battle the nightmare is on its own turf. Sweet dreams, QUENTIN QUIRE.
	S.W.O.R.D. #5 Al Ewing (W) • Valerio Schiti (A/C) Variant Cover by: TBA All the Colors of the Dark! On Krakoa, Fabian Cortez and the Quiet Council discuss the rules of murder. But in space, the murders have already begun…and the killer has a connection to Cortez he’d never suspect. The color may be gold…but this, my friends…is pure giallo…
	Children of The Atom #2 Vita Ayala (W) • Bernard Chang (A) Cover by: R.B. Silva Variant Cover by: Mike Henderson Headshot Variant Cover by: Todd Nauck Breakout! A local prison riot is quickly turning into an escape and the only ones who can stop them are a bunch of high schoolers?! The strangest teens of all are on the case! Guest-starring the Avengers!
	X-Men Legends #3 Louise Simonson (W) • Walter Simonson (A/C) Connecting Variant Cover by: Iban Coello Action Figure Variant Cover by: John Tyler Christopher The Original X-Factor Returns – To Battle Apocalypse! The mutants once known as the original X-Men now fight the good fight as the mutant team X-Factor! Together with their mysterious sentient spaceship Ship and the newly transformed Archangel, they’ve defeated Cameron Hodge and foiled Apocalypse’s scheme. But as Ship starts to malfunction, Apocalypse’s true plan unfolds! Return to this classic era with legends Louise Simonson and Walter Simonson as they kick off an All-New tale set before X-Factor #43!

Excalibur #17 Preview

Excalibur #17
Writer: Tini Howard
Art by: Marcus To
Cover by: Mahmud Asrar

The Story:
Queen ElizabethIII?!?
Opportunities and opportunists. Two heads-of-state seek to restore the state of things.

In Stores: January 278, 2021

Captain Britain by Marcio Takara

X-Men Monday #92 – Tini Howard Answers Your Excalibur Questions

AiPT!: The X-Men Monday spotlight now turns to Excalibur. And you can’t talk Captain Britain, Rogue, Rictor and all the other mutant magic that takes place in the pages of Excalibur without its writer, Tini Howard. So, let’s see what Tini has to say, shall we? 

AIPT: In X-Men Monday #86, which you made a surprise appearance in, Jonathan Hickman used the word “expansion” to describe the Reign of X. So with that in mind, what does the Reign of X mean for Excalibur? 

Tini: Duty. We’re watching mutantkind expand into all of these new arenas, and Otherworld has been proven to not be very safe for mutants. Excalibur very much sees protecting and defending Krakoa’s connection to the kingdom of Avalon as part of their role. 

AIPT: How much of the design and character creation in the reborn Corps was you and Jonathan and how much of it was just letting artist Pepe Larraz run wild? 

Tini: I had a few I specifically asked for because I’m always planting seeds of things to come, but dynamite superstar Pepe Larraz just went above and beyond like he always does and delivered so many things that BECAME seeds of things to come and inspired stories already. I love Dino Betsy, and Swan Betsy too. I think it was Jonathan who suggested a swan, but I really lost my mind for what Pepe delivered on that one. Swans are mean. 

AIPT: We’ve seen humans react to Betsy as Captain Britain. And, of course, we know how Saturnyne feels, but what about the mutants of Krakoa’s views on Betsy brandishing the colors of another nation? Lance was curious, how do you see Betsy’s relationship with her fellow mutants as it pertains to her current status as Captain Britain? 

Tini: As always I’m treading a line here, I don’t want to spoil my books, or set things up: but we’ll see a lot of Krakoa for a few issues, and we’ll see more of Excalibur’s function on the island of Krakoa and within the lighthouse. We’ve cemented that Krakoa and Avalon are beyond allies at this point, they’re sister kingdoms, and that’s the status quo. Much in the way that Captain Britain the comic went from being about the Captain of Britain to being about reality-warping and the Corps… we’re doing similar stuff here. 

AIPT: How does it feels to write the series and cast without Apocalypse in the picture? 

Tini: You know, I loved the idea of losing him. It made every bit of his story important and it was one of the elements that really galvanized the story for Jonathan and me–we were both really into it ending that way, and it made the whole thing feel really special. But I really loved writing Apocalypse and I miss him very much. 

AIPT: What made you choose Rictor as the cast member who would become interested in learning about and using mutant magic? 

Tini: He seemed like the perfect inheritor to Apocalypse’s very old style of magic. There’s a long cultural history of loners, sad folk, the ‘touched’ being able to be more open to the spiritual or magical world. I don’t think that’s always as obvious as ‘babbling at the sky,’ I think sometimes it just means that a quiet guy with really bad depression spends a lot of time in the vicinity of a certain kind of emotional rawness. It’s meant to feel ancient and fulfilling–you aren’t broken, you’re just meant for a role that doesn’t exist anymore, we can remake it for you. And in that he finds power. And that ties to his ability to feel the core of the Earth. They live on a living island, too, you know? Seemed significant.  

AIPT: Gambit and Rogue are two characters with a history of going their own way. Post-X of Swords, what would you say is keeping the couple a part of Excalibur? 

Tini: Rogue is very central in this upcoming arc and it’ll be clear why. It’s the same kind of thing that always keeps Rogue around and fired up, you know? 

AIPT: Has Brian Braddock’s powerset changed now that he’s Captain Avalon? 

Tini: The answer to this is ‘maybe, but I can’t and won’t tell you until it happens.’ I’m so sorry. I hope you didn’t pay too much for your question. 

AIPT: What’s the best thing about writing Maggie Braddock? 

Tini: It’s that she has the vocabulary of an adult but not the maturity of one. She’s a toddler-sized AP student. 

AIPT: Given Rachel Summers’ occasional appearances in Excalibur and the fact Betsy gifted Rachel Amazing Baby, is there something brewing between these two characters? 

Tini: See [the answer to the Captain Avalon question] and thank you so much, again, truly sorry. 

AIPT: In the stories to come, is it possible we’ll see other mutants who had no previous connection to magic–like Rictor–take an interest in mutant magic? 

Tini: It’s absolutely possible. I think it’s also important to distinguish the way we think of magic as humans versus how mutants are coming to embrace it. For humans, magic is an old-fashioned thing that we mostly grew out of, but have found that it might be useful to us once more. Mutants have never had this kind of culture, so they haven’t grown out of their magic. They’re in the thick of it, in its prime. It’s not about learning old forgotten methods of throwing fireballs, it’s new infant ways of joining together that redefine the limits of what they’re capable of as a species. 

AIPT: Can we expect to learn the differences in these forms of mutant magic at some point in the future. 

Tini: I don’t know that I’d say to ‘expect’ that or not. I’d say I’m excited to hear people thinking this way, it’s a fantastic anthropological exercise. See above for more on this kind of thought.

Captain Britain by Marcio Takara

Excalibur #20 Solicitation

Excalibur #20

Writer: Tini Howard

Art by: Marcus To

Cover by: Mahmud Asrar

The Story:

The phantom menace!

An invisible threat is loose on the island of Krakoa — unseen, unheard, undetectable by any...except Excalibur.

In Stores: April 7, 2021

Recap 2020 • Captain Britain

Betsy Braddock • Year in Review

Recap 2020 — Swords and Shattered Realities

The year saw the conclusion of Excalibur’s first year and Betsy Braddock’s rise as Captain Britain. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a particularly significant disruption to American comics. Comic shops closed and Diamond Comic Distributors completely shut down, as Marvel, DC and most of the largest comic-book publishers put business on hold for months in 2020.

As production resumed in the second half of the year, the events of Excalibur led to a major crossover between all X-Books called X of Swords. Betsy Braddock joined the Swordbearers of Krakoa and claimed the Starlight Sword to fight in a tournament against the Swordbearers of Arakko. Regrettably, Betsy’s role was cut short when she lost the first duel and mysteriously disappeared, only to return by the end of the year lost in an alternate timeline.

January01

Excalibur #5

Verse V: Panic on the Streets of London

Captain Britain teams up with Pete Wisdom to protect the people from London against the creatures from Otherworld breaching into Earth.

Fallen Angels #5

Sensei

Captain Britain trains during the sunset in Krakoa and is joined by Kwannon, who apparently forgives her.

Excalibur #6

Verse VI: Watch the Throne

Captain Britain fights Brian Braddock in the final battle against Morgan le Fay. Betsy wins the duel and Apocalypse claims the throne of Avalon for Jamie Braddock.

February02

Excalibur #7

Verse VII: The Unspeakable and the Uneatable

Captain Britain and Excalibur are assigned to retrieve Warwolves for Apocalypse's ritual. Cullen Bloodstone invites them to a hunt in his estate.

March03

Excalibur #8

Verse VIII: The Unspeakable and the Uneatable II

Excalibur decides to deceit Cullen Bloodstone and hunt the Warwolves out of his sight. After knocking him unconscious, Excalibur succeed in their mission.

Excalibur #9

Verse IX: Schools of Magic

Excalibur travels to Otherworld at Apocalypse's behest hoping to break into the Starlight Citadel. The team fights Saturnyne's White Priestesses.

X-Force #9

The Moral Jungle

Captain Britain join other mutants at the Green Lagoon tiki bar. Betsy happily drinks with Dani Moonstar.

June06

Excalibur #10

Alternate

Verse X: A Crooked World

Captain Britain and Excalibur are caught up in a war between Krakoa and London. Captain Britain's death causes her teammates to become Captains Britain.

August08

Excalibur #11

Verse XI: Blood of the Changeling

Captain Britain and Excalibur succeed in planting a gateway in the Starlight Citadel after defeating the Priestesses. Saturnyne finally decides to meet them.

September09

Excalibur #12

Verse XII: The Beginning

Captain Britain learns from Saturnyne why the latter distrusts her as a Champion. Betsy encourages Gambit to sacrifice Candra's life to complete Apocalypse's ritual.

X-Men: Marvels Snapshots #1

Flashback

And the Rest Will Follow

Cyclops leads the X-Men's blue team, including Psylocke.

October10

Excalibur #13

X of Swords: Chapter 9, Avalon

Captain Britain and Brian Braddock travel to Otherworld as both are named in Saturnyne's prophecy. The twins fool the Majestrix and Betsy claims the Starlight Sword.

X of Swords: Stasis #1

X of Swords: Chapter 11, Champions

The Swordbearers of Krakoa head to Otherworld for the tournament against the Champions of Arakko. Betsy draws the Nine of Swords tarot card foretelling her future.

November11

Marauders #14

X of Swords: Chapter 13, Parley

The Swordbearers of Krakoa and Arakko are invited to a feast offered by Saturnyne. Betsy briefly argues with Wolverine for blaming their predicament on Brian.

Marauders #15

X of Swords: Chapter 14, Dinner

After dinner is finished, Saturnyne draws the tarot cards and sets the first battle: Captain Britain vs. Isca the Unbeaten.

Excalibur #14

X of Swords: Chapter 15, Versus

Captain Britain duels Isca, the Unbeaten. After a brief battle, the Starlight Sword shatters and so does Betsy Braddock, who is deceived by Saturnyne.

Excalibur #15

Alternate

X of Swords: Chapter 21, Allir

Saturnyne performs a ritual using Captain Britain's shattered pieces and summons a new Captain Britain Corps consisting of alternate Betsys.

X of Swords: Destruction #1

Alternate

X of Swords: Chapter 22, The End

The new Captain Britain Corps joins the battle between the X-Men and the forces of Arakko, helping to defeat the daemons of Amenth.

December12

Excalibur #16

Alternate

Absence Makes the Heart

The Captain Britain Corps is summoned by Meggan's ritual. Excalibur asks for their help to find their own Betsy Braddock.

Excalibur #16

Absence Makes the Heart

After shattering into pieces, Betsy Braddock wakes up in an alternate timeline where she is Queen Elizabeth III and is married to Warren Worthington III.

Refresh your memories and talk about your favorite stories, writers, artists, quotes and more. Happy New Year!