Review: Excalibur #1
Back in the day, I used to own the origin of Captain Britain, way before Alan Moore and Alan Davis turned him into a satirical character of sorts. Then came Excalibur; a misfit group of mutants that somehow found a place to co-exist. With mutant supremo, Chris Claremont on art and Alan Davis producing fantastic art, the book was an eclectic mix that somehow managed to miss the big mutant events. But as you know all good things and all that meant that both Claremont and Davis left; the latter returning for swansong before moving onto Clan Destine. I have to say, with Davis’ second leaving, so did I. Further re-imagings and r-starts plagued the team. Now though, in the wake of the Krakoan forced climate impacting Otherworld, maybe its time for Britain’s protectors to take up the sword again!
As is the norm these days, it seems that if you are going to have a somewhat off the wall team you need to include a bad guy. Detective Comics, with the inclusion of Clayface and Justice Leagues Dark and Odyssey with Man-Bat and Darkseid respectively, have a lot to answer for! Here the big bad of choice is Apocalypse. Personally I found this a bit odd as I always thought of Apocalypse as a being of science, take Wolverine: Jungle Adventure for example, rather than of magic. Anyways, here the good Captain is waylaid and its it only by the passing of the amulet to his twin sister, Betsy Braddock, do we get a new Captain Britain. This is all happens after Apocalypse has enlisted the help of the mutants he needs to access the portal to Otherworld, which creates a sleeping beauty of sorts.
The book is written by Tini Howard, who is also working with a second odd fit of a team in Strikeforce. This book is a little less chaotic than Strikeforce, but by being so, it loses some of the humour, which I feel that this new World of X requires. Howard shows her knowledge of Excalibur, with the introduction of a variety of nods to the past. Twins, dead brothers, the amulet all make an appearance, giving the book the sort of vibe that while is not quite Claremont and Davis, it does build on aspects of their tenure. I am not quite sure how I feel about Betsy being the new Captain; I enjoyed her as Psylocke so am a little disappointed, especially as I think the new Captain costume is hideous. Back to the writing; Howard does well to develop the overall set up of the book; it will be interesting to see where this books goes.
The art is provided by Marcus To, who worked across the aisles as well as spending time at Aspen. The adage of not judging a book by its cover is well served here as behind an awful cover lies some pretty impressive art. To uses a range of clean lines, furthering the Davis vibe, to capture both a vert clean world and a very dark one. Panel structure is a little stagnant at times, especially on Krakoa, but this is well contrasted by the chaos of Otherworld and its Queen Morgan Le Fay. Also helping create quite a chasm between the two worlds is colorist Erick Arciniega who forgoes the usual World of X scheme in place of something lighter at times and very dark in others. VC’s Cory Petit does a passable Clayton Cowles, utilising the font that even after all this time still annoys me a little.
The range of books that are slatted to spin out of the House/Powers book seem to hark back to the X-Men heyday of sorts; not sure I really need a new Fallen Angels books regardless of their recent reprint in Marvel Tales. With that in mind, I am not sure how long the apparent ancillary books will last, especially as the main characters are getting ramped up in the next couple of months or so. Still, you have to applaud Marvel for trying to live up to it layered tapestry of history.
Writing – 3.5 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars
Overall – 3.75 Stars
Written by; Tini Howard
Art by; Marcus To
Colors by; Erick Arciniega
Letters by; Marcos To
Published by; Marvel Worldwide
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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