Review: EXCALIBUR #5

In the recently relaunched Marvel mutant universe, the EXCALIBUR title is an outlier of sorts. In some ways, EXCALIBUR has always been an outlier in the X-universe. The title has always centered around the United Kingdom and various aspects of British folklore. It has tended to keep its distance from the core of the X-world happenings. For some readers, this might place the most recent iteration of EXCALIBUR near the bottom of the list of revamped X-titles.

House of X and Powers of X together generated immense excitement amongst fans and critics. But that level of acclaim invited lots of questions about whether or not J. Hickman (and all of the great talent assembled to execute his vision) would be able to sustain the electric energy from HofX/PofX series into the monthly series. EXCALIBUR #5 proves that some of the best X-stories are still to come.

The first few months/issues of EXCALIBUR set up several key threads in the story line of the series that mature into a stunning conclusion in issue #5. First, Apocalypse, who now goes simply by the Krakoan letter “A,”“ is determined to mine and access the true source of mutant magic. The source resides in ancient mutant bones. In order to access them and to carry out plans that readers and teammates don“t quite know until this issue, he wants to access the magical Otherworld, ruled by Morgan Le Fay. Second, Gambit hates that “A”“ is his teammate, and in many ways the de facto leader of EXCALIBUR. And lastly, Rogue has been in a magical coma since the first issue. All of these threads are woven together into a climax in EXCALIBUR #5 that will impact the entire X-universe.

Magic, knights, wizards, Excalibur (the sword), and Morgan Le Fay are the kinds of magical story elements/references that have historically made EXCALIBUR a distant cousin to the other X-books. But Tini Howard (writer), Marcus To (artist) and Erick Arciniega (Color Artist), have produced a level of quality in the writing/dialogue and in the imagery that distinguishes this version of EXCALIBUR as the best in the title“s history. Issue #5 has to transition from the Otherworld, to London, to the interior of Rogue“s catatonic mind, guided by one of our favorite telepaths in the form of a canine familiar. The transitions and contrasts in coloring alone will make this issue one of the most interesting things on the shelf this week.

EXCALIBUR #5 is one of those issues where you will be forced to read it because everybody else will be talking about it. You will also want to avoid any spoilers in order to fully appreciated what Tini Howard has in store for some of the most interesting characters in any of the X-books. If you were thinking that once again, EXCALIBUR is just too far adrift from what else is happening in all of the other X-titles, think again. This issue is not one to pass on!

SCORE: 4/5

(W) Tini Howard (A) Marcus To (CA) Mahmud Asrar