Excalibur #4 annotations
As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.
COVER / PAGE 1. Um… Captain Britain fights a dragon with flowers on it. It’s presumably meant to be one of the monsters that invades right at the end of the issue, but this doesn’t actually happen in the issue.
PAGES 2-3. Gambit checks in on Rogue, then goes to London to catch with Betsy, who is meeting the Queen.
All self explanatory. As Morgan Le Fey suggested last issue, the public is apparently not happy about the new Captain Britain being a mutant, so there are people protesting about it outside Buckingham Palace.
PAGES 4-5. Recap and credits. This is “Verse IV: Fall Back and Think of England!” by Tini Howard and Marcus To.
PAGES 6-8. Gambit gets into a fight with the protestors, and Captain Britain shows up to announce that they’re the new Excalibur.
British national identity. Rictor and Jubilee attempt to understand the difference between England and Britain. It’s, um, pitched at an introductory level. The analysis of the situation in Northern Ireland ends with the words “Northern Irish people are British”. And the Scottish independence movement doesn’t get mentioned. For whatever reason, this story treats Captain Britain as specifically representing the United Kingdom (the political entity) rather than the British Isles (the geographical feature), which rather begs the question of what would happen if the UK broke up. Bluntly, it’s difficult to avoid the feeling that this is a story about (in part) British national identity written by somebody with no real understanding of the topic.
Rictor. He’s feeling much better and back in control of his powers, which he cheerfully credits to Apocalypse. He’s also willing to use Apocalypse’s unusual new name. Jubilee is understandably suspicious; Rictor insists that Apocalypse didn’t do anything other than give him some insights.
The Queen. In this charmingly American story, the Queen seems to be personally running something or other, and dealing with Captain Britain in person. And… um, what? Has that ever been a thing for Captain Britain, or indeed for the Queen? The story doesn’t seem to be suggesting that the Queen has some sort of particular significance in dealing with Otherworld (on some views of magic, you could make a case for her having magical significance as a literal living symbol). It just seems to have some really weird ideas about how constitutional monarchy works.
PAGE 9. Data page. A copy of some sort of “Act” to the general effect that the UK recognises Otherworld as an “extraplanar” realm that exists alongside it, with Captain Britain as the UK’s representative to Otherworld. (I guess.) Why the UK’s representative to Otherworld would be an Otherworld resident is unclear, but at any rate the suggestion is that the holder of the office must have divided loyalties between the earthly and mystical planes.
A handwritten note from Pete Wisdom says that this “hasn’t been updated in a while”, so presumably it was written for Brian Braddock. It really doesn’t make sense for this to be an Act of Parliament; ironically, if it’s meant to be recognising a foreign state, it probably should be an Order made by the Queen on the advice of her Ministers…
PAGE 10. Apocalypse announces that he needs some macguffins in order to wake Rogue, and he wants Gambit and Rogue to get them for him.
Self-explanatory.
PAGES 11-12. On Krakoa, Jubilee and Meggan have an argument with Jamie Braddock.
Jubilee is bringing Shogo to safety; Meggan is taking refuge from protestors with infant daughter Maggie. She’s understandably surprised to learn that Jamie is back (if only because Betsy didn’t mention it – it might have at least crossed her mind that the resurrection programme would get to him in the end).
“I thought the new Krakoa was into that sort of thing.” Jamie’s rather crude pass at Meggan is obviously way over the line, but he’s not the first character to point about that people are acting very differently on Krakoa.
PAGE 13. Data page on the Braddock family tree. Mostly this is self-explanatory. The Krakoan under Betsy’s name reads CAPTAIN BRITAIN; under Jamie’s name, it reads MONARCH. That name was used for him in House of X as well, but it’s yet to turn up in an actual scene.
James Braddock Sr & Elizabeth Braddock. Betsy’s parents both appeared briefly in the 1970s Captain Britain series, mainly to get swiftly killed off. James has a back story as a Captain Britain Corps member from Otherworld who was sent to Earth; Elizabeth is basically a blank slate. The maiden name given here is new, and our attention is directed to the fact that her ancestry is unknown.
John Braddock. John Braddock, who established Braddock Manor, is a one-shot character from X-Men: Hellfire Club #4 (2000). He hasn’t previously been confirmed specifically as Brian’s grandfather, but it seems to fit with his timeline.
“Not by Sword Alone”. The legend at the top of the page generally refers to the role of “soft power” alongside might.
PAGES 14-20. Rictor and Gambit try to steal crystals from druids.
The crystals. Apocalypse has told Rictor the stones are made from the bones of long-dead mutants and contain their magical energy. That’s basically what he seemed to be discussing last issue, so this seems like it was a sincere explanation.
The druids. The crystals turn out to belong to the druid tribe we saw in previous issues. Being one-with-nature types, the druids aren’t particularly impressed about the idea of drawing power from the stones; but they see Rictor as being innately in tune with the earth, and therefore one of them. This leads them to start anointing Rictor and offering him the crystals – and then chucking Gambit into a pit. Naturally, Rictor’s powers choose this point to go wrong again (just as Apocalypse, who sorted out said powers, has exhausted his use for Rictor…)
“Talamū”. This is a reconstructed proto-Celtic word for “earth.”
PAGES 21-24. Captain Britain and Pete Wisdom have an awkward meeting with Coven Akkaba.
Coven Akkaba is, apparently, a more or less open organisation, which claims to be a legitimate mystical fraternity. They insist that the “Akkaba” refers to the pre-Apocalypse human dwelling. But this contradicts earlier issues which told us that they actually split from Apocalypse in the past, and pre-Apocalypse Akkaba was nothing very notable, so it’s likely that they’re lying. They are, however, seemingly being honest about their belief that humility is a virtue, which can be furthered by service to the mystical powers; that’s consistent with earlier issues. (There’s a parallel here with the druid tribe’s notion of living with the land instead of trying to control it.)
Betsy’s name. She takes offence at Pete calling her “Bets”, probably because Coven Akkaba are openly disputing her right to be Captain Britain, and she wants Pete to shore her up by addressing her accordingly. Of course, the importance of names (as part of the wider importance of symbols) is a long standing magical trope.
“You did not make the choice.” The Akkabans have a point. The established history of Captain Britain origin stories involves the prospective captain being offered a magically-significant choice between the amulet and the sword. Betsy never made that choice; she was simply given the amulet, and on top of that, in battle she’s using her powers to create a psychic sword and shield. On the basis that ritual is important in magic, this Captain Britain has not performed the ritual properly.
“In times of crisis in the Otherworld, she trusts my judgment over her own.” The Queen is apparently very trusting, given that she’s met Betsy once.
The Akkabans also suggest that any confidence might be misplaced, as Betsy has already damaged the fabric of Otherworld by charging around it with a dragon last issue. It’s unclear here whether this is actually a genuine blunder on Betsy’s part or a scheme by the Coven which they plan to blame on Betsy (or a bit of both).
PAGE 25. Apocalypse and Rogue watch the invasion.
Rogue is apparently awake and – in some sense – has been working with Apocalypse already.
PAGES 26-27. Reading order and trailers. The Krakoan reads NEXT: AWAKEN.
Excalibur and Fallen Angels have probably been my least favourite of the Dawn of X books so far.
X-Force and X-men have been probably my favourites while Marauders and New Mutants have been good too.
Yeah, this was my last issue of this.
In spite of having a lot of characters I like this just ain’t doing it for me.
Good lord.
In a year or so’s time, when Panini decide which parts of the Hickman era are “essential” enough to go in Essential X-Men, I confidently expect them to decide they really can’t be bothered repackaging this for a British audience.
(When they reprinted the story that had a caption reading “Picadilly Square”, they added an editorial note saying “Yes, we know. Don’t laugh.”)
Seems to be a lot of nonsense in this series.
Good fit for Gambit, though. A character named after a chess maneuver who throws playing cards.
It would seem Meggan and Brian’s relationship involves them being separated throughout the years, whether he is trapped in the timeline or a slave of Morgan Le Fay, or she being trapped in Hell
For whatever reason, this story treats Captain Britain as specifically representing the United Kingdom (the political entity) rather than the British Isles (the geographical feature)…
Hmm. That Captain Britain represents the UK in some sense seems extradiegetically inevitable because she or he is dressed up in the UK’s flag. It’s probably better to be vague in-story and gesture, as traditionally, at some mystical relationship with some sort of primordial idea of Albion or whatever rather. But visually, the connection with the UK is there. (And has always been assumed, e.g. most obviously Captain UK).
But it’s not, I think, a terribly good idea to suggest that Captain-Britain-who-dresses-up-in-that-flag is well suited to represent the British Isles as a geographical entity, for fairly obvious reasons of what state occupies most of the second-largest of those islands.
That’s a job for Captain Totality Of The Relationships Among The Peoples Of These Islands, whose costume design would be somewhat different.
I don’t know. I kind of appreciated Jubilee and Rictor’s “what is great Britain” conversation for dodging several large elephants and not taking a political stance. But it would have been better left out altogether. I’m just glad the Queen wasn’t actually depicted on page.
Also, this story feels too rushed for the art to keep up. Thinking about it, it would really benefit from old-school narration boxes. Then I think it would feel more coherent. It would also help explain Betsy’s new stays quo a bit more without data page dumps. Does anybody else sometimes miss the purple prose captions or is it just me…?!
But still, the characters (Gambit, Jubilee, Rictor..) feel like themselves, and for that I’m enjoying it. The book is brisk!
I’d love a follow up conversation by Jubes or Rictor with one of the Cassidy clan – Banshee, Siryn or Black Tom – putting them straight on Northern Ireland (where the self-defined Irish population is nearing parity with the self-defined British population in a territory that is officially dual nationality).
re: Evilgus
Brisk is right! I liked this issue. Characters are reacting to things that other characters are setting into motion, instead of the plot moving things along because they need to happen. And the characters feel like themselves (with the possible exception of Apocalypse, but whatever), which is a plus for me. The book is finding it’s rhythm for me.
Also, yes, I sometimes miss the narrator captions.
I didn’t mind Jubilee and Rictor getting some of the details wrong. It sounded like two Americans trying to figure it out, and one of them being a little too confident in knowing things about a subject they don’t realize they don’t quite fully grasp. Very American, I say as an American. 🙂
re: Voord99
Yup, Captain UK/Linda McQuillan of Earth-238. It’s been long established that every Earth in the multiverse has some kind of Captain Britain counterpart, and most of them are Corps members. Just check out Mighty World of Marvel #13 or Excalibur #44 to see a whole mess of ’em: Captain Albion (neo-Elizabethan England), Hauptmann Englande (the Nazis won WWII), Captain Colonies (Steve Rogers according to the handbooks), just to name a few… Heck, Excalibur #49 has a Skrull Corps member (Skrull Lord Colony UK7, again according to the handbooks… name provided by Alan Davis!). The idea being that where/whatever the seat of British power is in a given reality/universe is where that world’s Captain represents (if I remember right).
re: sagatwarrior
Yeah, it seems like Meggan and Brian can only be happy if they aren’t being currently published.
re: Daibhid Ceannaideach
As much as I’m enjoying this series, I have to agree that so far it’s not very essential to the overall line, aside from being the book that Apocalypse is appearing in.
It’s kind of funny that Betsy needs to impress the Queen here, because the last time she was Captain Britain she did it (in part) to impress the Prime Minister.
Also, Betsy didn’t choose between the Amulet or the Sword last time she was Captain Britain, either. She was given an amplifier suit… which somehow gave her powers similar to Brian’s. Also kind of funny, the public loved her as Captain Britain until she “retired.” Of course, the mutant stuff wasn’t an issue for her in 1985.
Jamie’s “advance” on Meggan seemed like a general nod at people are acting oddly on Krakoa, but also a specific reference to non-traditional romantic unions (see: Jean/Scott/Logan).
Also, this review made me dig out some old Alan Davis Captain Britain comics, which is never a bad thing. 🙂
“Gambit” isn’t just a chess phrase, but Gambit should totally throw chesspieces. Especially when fighting the Hellfire Club.
I just thought of a theory of how he got his name though. He’s got those long legs, and great quads from wearing those heavy steel boots. French for leg is Jambe. He’s basically called Mr Sexy Legs 1990.
@Col_Fury: You left out Caledonia. How could you do that? 🙂
Given claremont’s love of the Avengers TV show, maybe he was named after mike gambit. 🙂
@Si
Right, ‘gambit’ literally means an opening move (usually sacrificial) calculated to gain advantage and it can apply to more than just chess (e.g. business, politics).
But where games are concerned, chess is the game that the term ‘gambit’ is associated with, not poker. Just strange that he’s called that. To me it’s like imagining Liefeld drawing Domino for the first time and saying, “I shall call her… Backgammon!”
Out of curiosity, I did a Google search for “poker gambit” just to see if and how ‘gambit’ might apply to card games. This was the top result…
“Keister’s Gambit” is a fairly common technique used by many experienced board and card game players that consists of stuffing one’s arse with one or more desirable game pieces prior to the beginning of the game, then discretely extracting them as needed during the game to replace less desirable game pieces, which are quickly shoved back in.”
re: Voord 99
Oh yeah, Caledonia. She was from the Claremont/Larroca Fantastic Four run. The last surviving Scot of her world, right?
I also failed to mention Britanicus Rex, the Corps member of a world where dinosaurs evolved into a humanoid-like species. 🙂
Also, that should be Skrull Lord *of* Colony UK7 in my above post. >sigh<
To be fair, when marvel comics try to talk about the American government or even states outside of New York, they are often wrong as well. Either because of ignorance or because reality doesn’t make a good comic book. 😉
I’ve always found the premise that Britain is somehow the magical nexus of the multiverse to be eurocentric at best and completely asinine at worst.
Like, the same level of dumb as the Leprechauns of Cassidy Keep.
@col_Fury
My favorite is Captain Airstrip-1, glimpsed briefly in the Moore/Davis stories, who represents the Britain of George Orwell’s 1984 and greets Brian with a chipper “doubleplus-good to meet you”
I thought that the Everglades were the magical nexus of all realities?
The Man Thing has something to say!
The Queen meets with each new PM, right? Doesn’t seem unreasonable that she’d meet with the new Captain Britain. But I’m American so… Shrug.
Well, but the Queen meets with the new prime minister because technically she appoints him/her. The equivalent for Captain Britain would be having to have a conversation with Merlin.
That being said, distinguished people do get invited to dinner with the Queen (I’m told it’s a more relaxed experience than one might imagine), and in the MU that presumably would be the sort of thing that would happen to the country’s most prominent superhero. So a new Captain Britain being invited to meet the Queen is not terribly unlikely. But from what I understand the suggestion in this comic is that meeting with the Queen is a requirement to *be* Captain Britain.
That’s not to say that there wouldn’t be story potential in having the government (not the Queen) try to exert some supervision over someone going around calling themselves “Captain Britain,” especially in the HoXPoX context in which Captain Britain is a longtime member of the X-Men, who have just set up their own foreign state. (Not entirely clear on Betsy’s personal relationship with Krakoa as an individual, since none of this is on Unlimited yet.)
I’m still amused by the scene in Captain Britain and MI:13 where Brian gets knocked through a wall in Buckingham Palace and the queen is just sitting on the throne doing nothing while wearing the crown and carrying the scepter in an otherwise deserted room.
He interrupted her Odinsleep, obv.
Hey, it’s established now that her maj meets with our top spy, so why not our top superhero too?
It still seems weird that when needing someone to retrieve something from underground, Apocalypse would specifically seek out Rictor (the guy who makes vibratory shockwaves) rather than Magma, whose whole deal is drawing power from the earth and being attuned to it.
Were she a more prominent character, this and her absence from New Mutants (and failure to even be mentioned) would probably be a plot point. Maybe Apocalypse wanted someone more easily manipulable, or didn’t want anyone connected with Selene, the one mutant older than him. Given her relative obscurity though, I’m thinking it’s probably more a case of “Oh… yeah, we kinda forgot about her.”