XavierFiles: This week, Adam Reck goes to New York City Comic Con! Marcus To is interviewed from 29:40 to 40:00.
What is mutant magic?
Marcus To: It’s been established in House of X/Powers of X a lot of mutants thrive from Krakoa. I think that’s where a lot of the magic comes from. From that island and from the flowers that bloom there.
Do you feel that Excalibur is its own standalone or does it weave in between some of the other stories?
Marcus To: The book starts right at the end of what was established before. Our first arc is pretty standalone. We mention a bunch of things. There’s going to be a lot of characters we haven’t seen yet. We’re establishing everything these characters have gone through and are going to go through next. The first issue is quite a large one, so you’ll get a lot of story and it really sets the stage for everything that’s coming ahead of us. It’s pretty standalone. We’re going to really focus on Betsy and her new self.
It’s a really cool status quo change for her character.
Marcus To: Yeah. Having such a large change in who she once was, now she’s really by herself in a lot of ways, especially with Krakoa being only for mutants. She’s very close to Brian and she can’t be living with Brian all the time. They have to be apart.
How many versions of the Captain Britain look did you go through before settling down on the one?
Marcus To: Actually, it was pretty simple. I spoke to Tini on the phone. We talked about what we both wanted and were looking for. She sent over some reference that she was pouring over and I really wanted to stay true to the traditional Captain Britain looks. We made sure to keep the color scheme and the cross across the chest. Her helmet still basically looks like the old Captain Britain one. We’ll see her wearing that mask/helmet a few times in the story. I also wanted her to look like a leader and that’s the point of the cape and her golden X’s. I thought it would give her a lot more of a knight in shining armor/leader look to her. That was the main goal and it went pretty easily.
There’s something majestic about her look, especially with the flowers in her hair.
Marcus To: I looked through a few English maidens mixed with female armor. I thought it was only right for her to have a flower motif, especially with the Krakoan flowers being unique to the book.
What’s like drawing Apocalypse in this team?
Marcus To: It’s challenging from a visual standpoint because he’s so large, fitting him in panels sometimes it’s difficult. But it’s fun because every good story has good conflict and what better team conflict than having probably one of the greatest villains in X-Men’s lore on your team and you having to find a way to work with him. They’re all working towards the same goal. House of X established that Apocalypse felt like he no longer has to fight anymore because he’s gotten what he wanted. Imagine if you’re fighting your entire life and now you can just shed all that armor and wear the clothes you originally wanted to wear. A lot of my designs were trying to call back to that Pharaoh/Egyptian look and Apocalypse’s design was the one that took a lot of tries.
How’s it working with Tini?
Marcus To: Fantastic. I only met her through this project so I didn't know her before, which is a very unique experience. As with any new partnership, it takes a little while to get comfortable with each other’s writing style and art style. I’m going to finish issue #5 next week, so we’re rolling really good. It’s been a great experience. I learned a lot from Tini. She writes a very compelling script and after every issue I’m like “Oh man, what next?” And it’s exciting for me to draw that.
“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.
