Excalibur, Vol. 2

Excalibur (2019) #3-4

by Tini Howard (Writer), Mahmud Asrar (Cover Art), Marcus To (Illustrator)

In the aftermath of X OF SWORDS, Excalibur must uncover the fate of Betsy Braddock! Can they discern the secret of the woman on the shore? And who is…Queen Elizabeth III?! As the Krakoan Council makes moves to protect the mutants remaining in the realm of Otherworld, an invisible threat is unleashed on the island - unseen, unheard and almost undetectable. Can the team hunt it down before the all-important Hellfire Gala kicks off? And how will Excalibur's actions at the Gala change Krakoan diplomacy forever? As an escort mission reveals deep political unrest among Saturnyne's Otherworld court, a brutal sacrifice will bear bitter fruit. And when doom returns to Avalon, Excalibur's sacred duties to Otherworld will be tested to their very limits. Are they heroes to be celebrated? Or witchbreed to be put to the stake? Collecting EXCALIBUR (2019) #16-26.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, X Men, Graphic Novels

296 pages, Hardcover

First published October 11, 2022

Reviews

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

We begin with the fallout from Betsy's "death" in X of Swords (What exactly happened there? We never really find out, and maybe that's OK) and go through Merlyn's assault on Otherworld. It's a pretty strong throughline that continues to focus on the fantasy Otherworld.

What's perhaps most impressive about the volume is Howard's strong attention to continuity. Captain Britain, Excalibur, New Avengers, Secret Wars, Krakoa? It's all here! A great puzzle piece in the continuity that is Marvel.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in singles. I love what Tini Howard and crew have done with Betsy Braddock, probably my favorite X-Man of all time. This just keeps getting better & better.

[Rob Marney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The increasingly inaccurately named Excalibur cleans up after X of Swords in a long, windy final battle. But really it's a Betsy Braddock solo series with some occasional glimpses of the rest of the cast. The art is fun and colorful, which suits a pulpy tale of superhero fisticuffs and spell slinging like this one. The large scale story pitches are great - letting Betsy and Kwannon come to terms in the awkward, aggressive way they always would is a wonderful idea. The deep cuts like Malice and Strike are also great callbacks to Betsy's early days, keeping the themes of integration and self definition and appropriating random powers. And every time Brian and Meggan are on screen they steal the show. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, the setup from the first arc and major crossover is all but abandoned. There's so many people in this story who can alter reality at their whim that Howard keeps having to invent excuses and plot contrivances, and poor To can't really draw "a hole in reality itself" in the background of a dialogue panel. This is a larger problem with both Krakoa and the 2020s X-Men obsession with "feats", but it really doesn't help a book where Gambit and Rictor and Jubilee are supposed to have something to do. (They don't.) The attempts to make this a "mend relationships" book fall flat - I have no reason to care about Shatterstar, Rachel air drops in out of nowhere and out of character, and Gambit has never been so unconvincing. I do appreciate the effort, though.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was much better than the previous two volumes and if not for the slog of Otherworld in the ending chapters, would have been rated even higher. The main problem with this book is that its not Excalibur. Its Betsy and some random X-Men. The book focuses almost solely on Betsy, which is fine at times (the first half of this book) but then become increasingly repetitive. Tini Howard seems to have a great feel for Betsy and her role as Captain Britain and I enjoyed it. I much less enjoyed the second half of the book which was rehashing the same plot over and over again. Also, this version of Rictor is unlikable. Marcos To did a great job on the art chores. Overall, a good read that got weighed down towards the end.

[Sean McGinity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somehow Tini is able to raise Betsy up in stature, making her regal, while also paying homage to the history. Lovingly crafted and incredibly empowering .

[Nicolas Loze · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ça a mis longtemps mais Tini Howard à réussi à rendre intéressante une intrigue dans l'Outremonde, c'était pas gagné, et ça reste un peu ennuyeux...

3/5 pour le run entier