{"id":6777,"date":"2021-06-12T21:01:52","date_gmt":"2021-06-12T20:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=6777"},"modified":"2021-06-12T21:01:52","modified_gmt":"2021-06-12T20:01:52","slug":"excalibur-21-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=6777","title":{"rendered":"Excalibur #21 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>EXCALIBUR vol 4 #21
\n“Don’t Feel Like Dancin'”
\nby Tini Howard, Marcus To & Erick Arciniega<\/strong><\/p>\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1:<\/strong> Rictor storms out of the Hellfire Gala, leaving earthquake-related chaos behind him. It doesn’t happen quite so literally in the issue itself.<\/p>\n

PAGE 2.<\/strong>\u00a0Excalibur prepare to head to the party.<\/em><\/p>\n

As we’ll see later, Rictor’s basic objection to the Hellfire Gala is that he sees it as another example of how everyone has moved on and forgotten about Apocalypse. When, clearly, everyone should be spending their days brooding about Apocalypse like Rictor does. He does have a point that nobody else appears to be especially bothered about Apocalypse’s departure, and you can see that by this point he might well be reading that as a personal insult too – not only has Apocalypse’s interest in mutant magic been sidelined by everyone else, but what must they think of Rictor’s attempt to keep it alive?<\/p>\n

The butterflies hovering around Betsy’s dress reflect the butterfly image that appears over her face when she uses her telepathy.<\/p>\n

PAGE 3.<\/strong> Recap and credits. As with all\u00a0“Hellfire Gala” tie-in issues, the layout has been altered to vaguely resemble an invitation. And there’s a big red circle, for reasons that will become apparent in this week’s\u00a0X-Men<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

PAGES 4-5.<\/strong>\u00a0Shatterstar approaches Rictor.<\/em><\/p>\n

Apparently Betsy has been absent from the public eye for “months”, which is part of the reason that Clan Akkaba are giving for sidelining her. Although Betsy only went actively missing at the end of “X of Swords”, she spent several issues before that on Otherworld affairs, and she’s done very little public in Britain (that we’ve seen, at least) over the course of this series. The last storyline to take place in the real world was the Cullen Bloodstone two-parter in issues #6-7, and even that was largely in private. So the British public will have seen little or no evidence of Betsy actually performing the functions of Captain Britain.<\/p>\n

Like\u00a0everyone<\/em> at this gala, Betsy’s dress is designed by Jumbo Carnation, the mutant fashion designer from (principally)\u00a0Marauders<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Shatterstar and Rictor were a couple for a long time (though admittedly, a lot of that was when they weren’t actually appearing anywhere regularly). Shatterstar just returned to Earth over in\u00a0X-Factor<\/em> #9, after a lengthy stint as an unwilling broadcaster in the Mojoverse. In particular, he’s come direct from his fight with the Morrigan in that issue, which is why he’s covered in blood. Rictor seems to misread this as a fashion statement.<\/p>\n

The fight with the Morrigan \u00a0ended with the Morrigan doing something unspecified-yet-magical to Shatterstar and the absent Rictor. This might well have something to do with Rictor’s mood in this issue.\u00a0X-Factor<\/em> #9 indicated that the Morrigan arc would be continued in\u00a0X-Factor<\/em> #10, another Hellfire Gala tie-in and the final issue of that series.<\/p>\n

PAGE 6.<\/strong>\u00a0Excalibur congratulate Rogue on being elected to the X-Men.<\/em><\/p>\n

This evidently comes immediately after the scene in\u00a0X-Men<\/em> #21 where the new X-Men are announced. Rogue is joining the X-Men and is effectively written out of the series, which is a little awkward given that her husband Gambit is staying. We’re told here that Gambit (and their pet cats) will be maintaining a home with Excalibur as well as the marital home on Krakoa.<\/p>\n

PAGES 7-8.<\/strong>\u00a0Pete Wisdom brings Betsy up to speed.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Rogue’s smart little lie to get Coven Akkaba off your ass while Miss Malice was in charge…”<\/strong> In issue #17, \u00a0Rogue got Coven Akkaba to leave the lighthouse alone by pointing to the apparent return of Betsy Braddock. As we found out in issue #19, this was actually a duplicate body created by Jamie Braddock, temporarily possessed by Malice. Despite what Pete says here, Rogue doesn’t seem to have been lying in issue #17; she had obvious doubts about whether this was the right Betsy \u00a0by the start of issue #18, but that’s about it.<\/p>\n

“Ridiculous mutant fashions.”<\/strong> Pete has consistently refused to have anything to do with Krakoan culture in this series. Frankly, even the costume he’s wearing is far too over the top. For this line to work he shouldn’t be wearing anything more elaborate than a conventional tuxedo (preferably hired).<\/p>\n

Pete is rather vague about\u00a0who<\/em> exactly nominated Clan Akkaba to a position of authority. In previous issues Howard seemed to be saying that decisions in this area were being taken by the Queen herself. But she also seems to be suggesting here that getting appointed as an ambassador gives Brousseau the ability to make foreign policy, which is very much Not How It Works. It’s all rather hand-wavey, but I’m not sure the practicalities of\u00a0how<\/em> Brousseau has achieved political power, and who exactly he’s influencing, can really be glossed over to quite this extent if the plot is going to work.<\/p>\n

As we’ll see later, Pete was asked to accompany Clan Akkaba on this event because they’re planning to sacrifice him later. (He’ll be fine. They’ll resurrect him.)<\/p>\n

PAGES 9-11.<\/strong>\u00a0Brousseau repudiates the UK\/Krakoa deal.<\/em><\/p>\n

Again, there’s a fundamental problem in presenting this as a decision of Brousseau himself, rather than a decision of the UK Government under his influence. It seems to be a Brexit allegory, but nothing about it really shows any real understanding of the political forces at work on the British right. Unfortunately, we’re coming back here to one of my fundamental problems with\u00a0Excalibur<\/em>, which is that the plot demands to be about “what representing Britain means”, and by extension what Britain\u00a0<\/em>means.\u00a0\u00a0But the book seems largely oblivious to modern Britain and to the questions of nationalism and identity that have dominated British politics over the last five to ten years.<\/p>\n

Arthur<\/strong> vanished from Avalon somewhere before issue #1, for reasons which have never been clearly established. It’s by no means clear that he “abandoned” his post as Betsy alleges, and it’s far from apparent what basis she might have for that allegation. Obviously, there’s a parallel here with Betsy furiously rejecting the same allegation when directed at her.<\/p>\n

PAGES 12-13.<\/strong>\u00a0Meggan and Nightcrawler.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is reprising the Captain Britain \/ Meggan \/ Nightcrawler triangle from the original\u00a0Excalibur<\/em> run. Meggan is very obviously pregnant and Brian must be staggeringly slow on the uptake if he can’t see it.<\/p>\n

Nightcrawler was also drunk over in\u00a0Hellions<\/em> #12, though that scene presumably comes later in the night.<\/p>\n

PAGE 14.<\/strong>\u00a0Betsy and Rachel.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Back when Malice had you taken over, I didn’t pry. And I told others not to pry.”<\/strong> In issue #18.<\/p>\n

PAGE 15.<\/strong> Data page on Coven Akkaba.<\/p>\n

Katherine Bushwick.<\/strong> This sounds like a reference to the Witches of Bushwick<\/a>, which seems to have been some sort of witchcraft-inspired networking outfit in Brooklyn a few years back. The name was also used for a film that played the festival circuit last year.<\/p>\n

“Murray’s largely disproved ‘witch cult’ hypothesis, which states that modern British covens are holdouts of pre-Roman druidic god and hero worship.”<\/strong> The witch-cult hypothesis was a theory that medieval witch trials were actually an attempt to suppress remaining pagan religions; by implication, it would indeed be claiming that surviving \u00a0British covens were descendants of that religion. Although she didn’t originate the idea, it was indeed popularised by Margaret Murray (1863-1963), who wrote a book in the topic in 1921 (The Witch-Cult in Western Europe<\/em>), had some acceptance in mainstream academia, and wrote the article on witchcraft in the\u00a0Encyclopaedia Brittanica<\/em>. The theory has indeed long since been discredited – which is interesting considering the druids who are wandering around in this book.<\/p>\n

The High Priestess and Priest.<\/strong> Although all the focus is on Brousseau, we do keep getting reminded about Marianna Stern.<\/p>\n

Coven Scandia.<\/strong> Presumably referring to Sir Percy of Scandia, the Marvel Universe’s original (Arthurian) Black Knight.<\/p>\n

Coven Modred.<\/strong> Referring to the sorcerer Modred the Mystic.<\/p>\n

PAGES 16-17.<\/strong> Clan Akkaba sacrifice Pete Wisdom.<\/em><\/p>\n

Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. But this also means he’ll be resurrected on Krakoa, a place he’s been actively avoiding up to now.<\/p>\n

PAGE 18.<\/strong>\u00a0Morgan le Fey is freed.<\/em><\/p>\n

Morgan has been a prisoner of Jamie Braddock since he deposed her in issue #6. He was supposed to give her free passage but… well. The suggestion seems to be that this is a good time to cast the spell because Jamie is (unusually) away from Avalon and attending the party.<\/p>\n

PAGES 19-20.<\/strong>\u00a0Rictor summons the druids.<\/em><\/p>\n

Basically, he’s symbolically moving the lighthouse off mainland Britain and onto an island.<\/p>\n

Note that he uses a version of the “To me, my X-Men” rallying call.<\/p>\n

PAGES 21-22.<\/strong>\u00a0Morgan escapes Avalon.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rictor seems decidedly upset by what he’s achieved here. His earlier comments were about doubting he could do it, but he really doesn’t seem celebratory at all. Hmm.<\/p>\n

PAGE<\/strong>\u00a023.<\/strong> Rictor and Shatterstar catch up.<\/em><\/p>\n

PAGE<\/strong> 24<\/strong>. Data page. Apparently the Krakoans are claiming that their artifically created island about a minute’s swim from the mainland is not part of Britain. Good luck with that.<\/p>\n

PAGE 25.<\/strong> Trailers. The Krakoan reads NEXT: DOWN THE BARREL.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition. EXCALIBUR vol 4 #21 “Don’t Feel Like Dancin’” by Tini Howard, Marcus To & Erick Arciniega COVER \/ PAGE 1: Rictor storms out of the Hellfire Gala, leaving earthquake-related chaos behind him. It doesn’t happen quite so literally in the issue […]<\/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,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-annotations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6777","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=6777"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6784,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6777\/revisions\/6784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}