Excalibur [02]: A Tower of Flowers SPOILERS

[H-E-D]

Yeah, I’m still not sold on the roster either. Seems like a missed opportunity to feature a mostly British cast by a mostly British creative team. I can accept what is though if we can just zhuzh up the art a bit.

Honestly the only reason I gave this book a chance is because it strayed so far from the classic Excalibur roster.

[DearMachine]

Tini is relatively new to comics (She started reading in her mid twenties and is in her early thirties now), she's a Nightwing fan first and foremost, she's upfront about that. There is a podcast online, I found easily enough, have a listen.

How is a Nightwing fan writing Gambit so badly, though? If she wrote him as straight-up Dick Grayson, he'd be more in character. Fun, acrobatic, loyal to family, great butt. Instead, she's giving us a Ric Grayson-level take on the character.

I will say that Tini had a tough ask following up Kelly Thompson, with her encyclopedic knowledge of characters and storylines. But I don't think she's done her due diligence with most of the characters.

[remydat]

Didnt they veto Carey from exploring it further? I dont think it will be revisited beyond Gambit dont trust Apocalypse which is dumb bc Gambut was the one who went and asked to be made a horseman.

Nah Carey had a storyline for it but then never got around to it because he was too busy drooling over Rogue and Magneto. It was covered later in Hellbound and a tad in Liu's AXM.

Gambit asked to be a horseman because he thought it was the best way to keep an eye on Poccy. That storyline was quite dumb as should be obvious to anyone that knew about Poccy that his horseman process fucked with your head. Milligan just wrote Gambit as too dumb or too arrogant to care.

[remydat]

How is a Nightwing fan writing Gambit so badly, though? If she wrote him as straight-up Dick Grayson, he'd be more in character. Fun, acrobatic, loyal to family, great butt. Instead, she's giving us a Ric Grayson-level take on the character.

I will say that Tini had a tough ask following up Kelly Thompson, with her encyclopedic knowledge of characters and storylines. But I don't think she's done her due diligence with most of the characters.

Because Gambit is just Rogue's husband and nothing more. He has been relegated to sidekick and not a character in his own right. Save for the solo, Gambit hasn't been written as his own independent character when around Rogue for years now.

[staptik777]

3/10 mediocre at best

[The Quiet Councilor]

Honestly the only reason I gave this book a chance is because it strayed so far from the classic Excalibur roster.

Oh, I get that. I wouldn’t want a retread of that era either, but that also was a mostly non-British cast. We have some great British (and Irish) characters who would be cool to see immersed in British mythology.

[H-E-D]

Oh, I get that. I wouldn’t want a retread of that era either, but that also was a mostly non-British cast. We have some great British (and Irish) characters who would be cool to see immersed in British mythology.

Pixie and Morrigan/Siryn 80,000% deserve to be on the team, yeah.

she's giving us a Ric Grayson-level take on the character.

That's a bit much.

[RD155]

I might be in the minority but I actually liked this issue. Definitely much better then X-men 2 for me ....Granted still not really feeling Gambit at the moment. Sucks cause he’s the main reason I’m picking this series up. He’s just off. Still feel this series because of the cast,setting and themes has a ton of potential. However I’m worried that’s Tini might not be the writer to tap into that potential...

[pkingdom]

Its weird how much and how little happened at the same time. And why is everyone using boats to get everywhere? They have planes. And spaceships. And teleporters. And portals.

Rouge could have been replaced with a sexy lamp, which is fitting, since that's what she became. If Jubilee was so concerned about Shogo, why not just stay home? The story hasn't really given a solid reason why she's sticking around.

I'm just not a fan of Apocalypse. Seeing him show up and help and characters even tolerating his presence after so many years of him being a 'we must stop him whatever the cost' kind of villain just baffles me to no end.

[Wolverine12]

I like the direction of this book, but this issue just felt like it was spinning it's wheels a bit. A bit too much brooding from Gambit and Jubilee and not quite enough action to move the story forward. Art was great and Apocalypse is by far my favorite character in this series. I am excited to see the team fight a dragon though....

[pkingdom]

I didn't realize this was by the same person who writes Strikeforce. That has the same problem of 'let's throw a group of characters who don't have anything to do with one another' and having to spend so much time trying to justify its existence. That series has a slightly better grasp on its character voices, but is just as rife with poorly thought out plotholes.

[Romy Ship]

I decided to read this thread. (That was not my best decision...)


This issue was fine. Still here for it. The art is magnificent and pretty much why I enjoyed this at all. Dialogue hasn't quite hit its stride but I remain hopeful.

Shogo eating Betsy's hair panel was my favorite.

[Malachi]

Rouge could have been replaced with a sexy lamp, which is fitting, since that's what she became. If Jubilee was so concerned about Shogo, why not just stay home? The story hasn't really given a solid reason why she's sticking around.

I'm just not a fan of Apocalypse. Seeing him show up and help and characters even tolerating his presence after so many years of him being a 'we must stop him whatever the cost' kind of villain just baffles me to no end.

Tini is putting herself in a though spot on Rogue. When she wakes up she is due focus. If she doesn't deliver on that or simply can't write a good Rogue then it will become so much more obvious. It reminds me of High Jump. A jumper can decline to jump at a certain height and save the remaining jumps for next height. Sometimes it works but it also adds extra pressure. In this case maybe Tini likes to focus on a smaller cast in the beginning.

With Jubilee it's a bit sad because I like her and want to read her in this comic but you are on the Money. Why is she here beyond circumenstance and why not stay on Krakoa if the situation with Shogo worries her.

It's a bit odd with this team that it's not like they where sucked into the portal with no going back. That is a Classic approach when a miss-matched team where brought into a adventure and couldn't switch/go-back. Now they can. If they realise that they might need Meggan, Nightcrawler or any other character that is not currently occupied elsewhere then they can bring them in. Or could before Betsy teleported them.

For the first time in years I'm reading all of the X-men ongoings. Bravo Hickman for doing that. I will have to say that so far X-men and Excalbur are the worst.

[Ravyn]

I sort of enjoyed it, mostly. Pretty art.

Even though so much of it was baffling. I too thought it was incredibly odd that they sailed vegetable-Rogue in a tiny boat all the way to Britain. But Kitty is a pirate now so boats are the X-Men's thing, I guess. Even weirder was Kitty just buggering off and leaving her friends to battle mer-seals. It almost felt like I was reading an issue of Excalibur with her around, at least for the first couple of pages.

I understood Gambit's mood this issue. He's the only one who actually seems concerned that his wife is a topiary now. Everyone is is waaay too flippant about that development.

Who I didn't like, is Betsy. Why is she being such a bitch to everyone? What was the point of her crabbing-out at Jubillee and Gambit before going to bed? Why are they following her lead at all? She's such a pill.

[Devaishwarya]

Enjoyed this issue very much.