{"id":7807,"date":"2022-04-27T23:39:26","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T22:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=7807"},"modified":"2022-04-27T23:47:24","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T22:47:24","slug":"knights-of-x-1-annotations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=7807","title":{"rendered":"Knights of X #1 annotations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>KNIGHTS OF X #1<\/strong>
\n“Hated and Feared”<\/strong>
\nWriter: Tini Howard<\/strong>
\nArtist: Bob Quinn<\/strong>
\nColourist: Erick Arciniega<\/strong>
\nLetterer: Ariana Maher<\/strong><\/p>\n

KNIGHTS OF X.<\/strong>\u00a0This is the relaunch of\u00a0Excalibur<\/em> vol 4; to all intents and purposes, this issue is\u00a0Excalibur<\/em> #27. Naturally, it’s meant to be a jumping on point, and this issue puts a lot of effort into catching new readers up on the plot.<\/p>\n

COVER \/ PAGE 1.<\/strong> The eight core members of Captain Britain’s questing party – running clockwise from the Captain herself, the others are Rictor, Shatterstar, Gambit, Shogo, Prestige, Meggan and Bei. The book in front of Betsy is the one that Roma gives her on pages 12-13.<\/p>\n

PAGES 2-3.<\/strong>\u00a0Furies attack the village of Jackdaw’s Nest.<\/em><\/p>\n

The narrator<\/strong> is dutifully recapping the plot of\u00a0Excalibur<\/em>, where Merlyn had seized control of Otherworld and was trying to root out mutants. Note that while we’re in Otherworld, the narrator now has a different font and mock-parchment captions, distancing the book from the look of other X-titles. Page 20 seems to indicate that the narrator is telling the story set out the X-marked book that Roma gives to Betsy later on.<\/p>\n

Jackdaw’s Nest.<\/strong> We saw this village previously in Excalibur<\/em>\u00a0#19, when Betsy and Kwannon passed through it. It seems to be the home town of Jackdaw, the sidekick from early 80s\u00a0Captain Britain<\/em> comics, but nothing really turns on that.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Furies.<\/strong> The Fury was originally a “cybiote” – apparently some sort of cybernetic thing – created by Jim Jaspers to hunt superheroes in\u00a0Marvel Super Heroes<\/em> #387. In Otherworld, a group of Furies inhabit a province called Infuri the Everforge, and are currently allied with Merlyn. The Furies are not normally portrayed as the giants seen here – no reason is given for their size, but Captain Bretland remarks on it later, so it’s clearly not an error. At this scale, they become reminiscent of the mutant-hunting Sentinels from the X-Men’s world, and of course they’re serving the same role. It’s not far removed from what they were created for in their earliest appearance. The Furies are conspicuously out of place in the generally quasi-Arthurian, or at least fantasy-based, mythos of Otherworld.<\/p>\n

“Back home, death is less of a problem.”<\/strong> We established during the “X of Swords” crossover that mutants who die in Otherworld can be resurrected on Krakoa, but come back as blank slates with altered personalities.<\/p>\n

Joshua Englehard<\/strong> is a mutant teenager from Krakoa who ran away to Otherworld in\u00a0New Mutants<\/em> #16-17.<\/p>\n

PAGES 4-6.<\/strong>\u00a0Captain Bretland rescues Joshua.<\/em><\/p>\n

Captain Bretland.<\/strong> One of the many Betsy-templated Captain Britains from alternate earths who were created during “X of Swords”. This is the first time we’ve seen her as anything more than a face in the crowd, but she was among the new Captains listed on a data page in\u00a0X of Swords: Destruction<\/em>. That issue said she was from Earth-904, but that was probably a number selected at random without checking whether it had been used before in official Marvel materials. If you take the number literally – and I wouldn’t recommend it – then she’s the Betsy Braddock from the world of\u00a0What If…?<\/em> vol 2 #12 (“What if the X-Men had Stayed in Asgard?”) “Bretland” was an Old English name for part of the country, which is probably a better idea of what her world is meant to be like. Either that or she’s from an Icelandic Britain.<\/p>\n

She’s here mainly to recap the plot to Josh, and he is here mainly to listen to it. Fair enough! It’s issue #1!<\/p>\n

Merlyn’s allies.<\/strong> Page 5 panel 3 shows an assortment of characters meeting in the Starlight Citadel. From left to right:<\/p>\n