{"id":6059,"date":"2020-12-23T22:06:52","date_gmt":"2020-12-23T22:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=6059"},"modified":"2020-12-23T22:07:02","modified_gmt":"2020-12-23T22:07:02","slug":"excalibur-16-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=6059","title":{"rendered":"Excalibur #16 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

EXCALIBUR vol 4 #16<\/strong>
“They Keep Killing Braddocks”<\/strong>
by Tini Howard, Marcus To & Erick Arciniega<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1:<\/strong> Rogue, Meggan, Rictor, Jubilee and Gambit in Otherworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 2.<\/strong> Breakfast with Rogue and Gambit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rogue is summarising the “X of Swords” crossover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve heard mention of the Marauder<\/em> bringing in goods from outside Krakoa before. Why you can’t just go through a gate to get them is never entirely clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 3.<\/strong> Jubilee and Rictor.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shogo is (or so Jubilee assumes) upset at no longer being a dragon, now that he’s outside Otherworld. It’s a very mild parallel to Rictor and Rogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Of all the members of Excalibur, Rictor was the one closest to Apocalypse, who left for Arakko at the end of “X of Swords”. Apocalypse is emphatically not dead, but Rictor as acting as if he was – as hammered by the parallel with Rogue in the previous scene. Rictor is acting as if he’s been dumped, but also as if he’s a cultist after the cult leader has disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 4.<\/strong> Recap and credits, in the post-X of Swords format. The title, “They Keep Killing Braddocks”, refers (I assume) to the Avengers<\/em> episode “They Keep Killing Steed”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 5-6.<\/strong> Excalibur gather at the Green Lagoon.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Green Lagoon bar was introduced in X-Force<\/em> and has appeared in various Krakoa-era X-books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gambit has referred Betsy’s case to X-Factor. As seen in their own series, X-Factor’s role on Krakoa is to verify that somebody is really dead, in order that they can be resurrected without raising awkward questions about duplication. As Gambit points out, even if the way is clear for her resurrection in that sense, Betsy died in Otherworld; a key plot point of “X of Swords” is that mutants who die in Otherworld are corrupted upon resurrection, and essentially start life afresh as a new version of themselves. But apparently Gorgon was going to be resurrected after his death in Otherworld, so the Krakoan policy seems to be to resurrect anyway and see how it turns out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Blob is regularly seen as the barman in the Green Lagoon, but his role in this scene also harks back to the Age of X-Man: X-Tremists <\/em>miniseries, where he and Psylocke had a romance of sorts in X-Man’s pocket universe. He’s shown here with the moustache that he had in X-Tremists<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rogue and Gambit clearly don’t care that much about Apocalypse’s departure; Rictor’s defence of him, and apparent incomprehension of how they could feel otherwise, is decidedly cultlike. As Rogue points out, even if you buy into the general desirability of Apocalypse’s plan, he pursued it in a totally manipulative way with no regard for requesting Rogue’s consent. Though Rictor doesn’t point this out directly, Apocalypse also kept banging on about Excalibur being his coven. Rictor strongly wants to continue his mentor’s work; the team’s complete lack of interest is an obstacle to that. (Note, though, that later in the issue he manages to get the team to work together on a spell without really explaining to them what they’re up to; their higher level of trust in him may make up for his lack of manipulative skill.) Gambit at least shows some sympathy for how Rictor is feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 7.<\/strong> Data page. X-Factor aren’t willing to certify Betsy as dead, essentially because her apparent death in issue #14 was weird, surrealistic, and magic-bound and they’re just generally not sure what was going on. They want “experts” to investigate further – which turns out to mean Excalibur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’d really like to see the back of these pseudo-handwriting fonts being used for signatures. It feels a bit tacky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 8-9.<\/strong> Excalibur meet X-Factor<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The X-Factor members (left to right) are Aurora, Northstar, Daken, Prestige, Prodigy and Eye-Boy. Polaris is missing, for some reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m honestly not sure what Rogue means about Betsy “being on the other side of the X-Men”. Maybe it’s an Americanism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 10-14.<\/strong> Excalibur arrive in Avalon.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or what’s left of Excalibur, at any rate. As always, the gateway opens into Jamie Braddock’s throne room. There are ruins visible in the background behind Jamie, so evidently there’s still a bit of rebuilding to be done after the war with Morgan le Fey in the early issues of this series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamie still has Mr Sinister’s cape, which he traded for a horse in Hellions<\/em> #5. It’s lying on his throne through most of the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maggie Braddock, who debuted in X-Men Gold Annual<\/em> #1 a couple of years ago, is a super-intelligent toddler with the mind and mannerisms of someone older. Rictor asks why she doesn’t turn into a dragon like Shogo. He seems to assume that Shogo’s transformation would happen to any <\/em>child, for which he has no real evidence. At any rate, if it’s something to do with innocence and a fantasy-based mindset, then Maggie’s unusual mental state would probably explain it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meggan is referred to in this scene as Gloriana, which was the name she took in Captain Britain and MI-13 <\/em>#14; it never really seemed to stick. As she acknowledges, despite her court title, she’s not really a sorceress; she does, however, have some degree of magical affinity as part of her powers. It’s therefore unsurprising that she would feel empowered in Otherworld. Rictor seizes on it as some sort of evidence of a meaningful connection – he seems rather keen to ascribe great significance to the fact that “mutants rule Avalon”, but in practice that just means Jamie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “awful woman” who “might come out of her citadel” is Saturnyne. She was also presumably the one who told Jamie not to “muck about in reality to find Betsy”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 15-16.<\/strong> Excalibur visit the site where Betsy died.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The duel took place in issue #14. Meggan seems to get quickly carried away with the rush of energy to the head. Rictor attributes this to her being “both mutant and faerie” – I’m not sure any story has gone so far as to claim that she’s literally half-faerie, though her powers have always been somewhat in that direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rictor’s book is Apocalypse’s grimoire, which he’s evidently taken for himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 17.<\/strong> Jamie visits Rictor.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Hellions<\/em> #5, Sinister told Jamie that in exchange for letting the Hellions into Avalon, “I will allow you one visit to Bar Sinister, where you’ll be provided with a black market clone of your choosing.” Sinister had in mind that Jamie would want a spare body for himself, but he didn’t actually make that a condition of his offer. Instead, Jamie asks for a clone of Betsy. Sinister accepts that as a valid request, though seems understandably confused about why Jamie would want one. Jamie seems to think this will help bring Betsy back, but it’s not altogether clear what he has in mind – perhaps that her spirit is still out there and simply needs a host body waiting for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jamie kindly returns Sinister’s beloved cape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 18-21.<\/strong> Excalibur try to summon up Betsy’s spirit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rictor’s approach to combining mutant powers here has obvious parallels to the idea of combining mutant powers that we’ve seen with the Five in various titles, and the Six in S.W.O.R.D.<\/em>. He’s effectively saying that mutant powers are indistinguishable from magic and that a mutant coven is along the same lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rictor’s approach doesn’t work, but he does manage to conjure up a bunch of Captain Britain Corps members, all of them alternate Betsies. Easily recognisable from previous issues are the Violet Swan, Britannica Rex (the dinosaur), and Captain Baboon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 22.<\/strong> Data page; an extract from Apocalypse’s grimoire, with Rictor’s annotations. He seems convinced that he can “lead this”, though that feels ambitious from what we’ve seen to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGES 23-24.<\/strong> Betsy wakes from a dream.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Betsy’s consciousness is in a world where she appears to be the queen, and she appears to have Angel as a partner. Psylocke and Archangel were a couple of much of the 90s, but of course that was Kwannon as Psylocke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE 25.<\/strong> Trailers. The Krakoan reads NEXT: THE THIRD.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition. EXCALIBUR vol 4 #16“They Keep Killing Braddocks”by Tini Howard, Marcus To & Erick Arciniega COVER \/ PAGE 1: Rogue, Meggan, Rictor, Jubilee and Gambit in Otherworld. PAGE 2. Breakfast with Rogue and Gambit. Rogue is summarising the “X of Swords” crossover. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6059"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6062,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6059\/revisions\/6062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}