Excalibur [02]: A Tower of Flowers SPOILERS

[CGAR]

They are sailing to the lighthouse

Starting from the previews the team of Kate, Betsy, Jubilee and Gambit are attacked by the Selkies. Which are a sort of magi seal people. Thought they were mermaids but they weren’t.

Betsy lures them away because they almost overrun the ship. ( I still don’t get why the X-Men aren’t using their jets and planes in this DoX era )

Once they get to land the seal people can’t attack because they can’t walk on land. They are having a difficult time finding the lighthouse.

We learn Marianna Stern and the Coven Akkaba destroyed the lighthouse.

Morgan La Fey really has it out for the Braddocks.

Another group of druids are protectors of the land and show Betsy this because she is a ‘seer’.

They recognize that she is Captain Britain and a protector. The way the leader of the druids says “We will let the earth here bear the fruits of Krakoa,” makes me think they did something that allowed Krakoa Rogue to create a whole new lighthouse. (Yes, she is still in slumber) And she is at the top of the lighthouse. Like a blue light.

Gambit is frustrated because of whats going on with Rogue and doesn’t want to leave her side. Jubilee wants to go get Shogo. (She has a nightmare that Apocalypse is active looking for her human child on Krakoa). She wakes up and makes a gate just to go get Shogo.

Betsy has a dream where the wolf with the broadsword shows up and leads her to a statue of Apocalypse which has two plates stating “He will use us, we can use him.”

The druids of the land come back to speak to Betsy to seek her aide. Coven Akkaba is a threat and as they are having this conversation. Guess who shows up. COVEN AKKABA.

As they are battling it out. ( I think this was my favorite part) Apocalypse and Betsy are having a psy conversation about what is going on.

He clarifies that Coven Akkaba were the human servants who ended up thinking they were just as good as mutants because they know magic. And you know Apocalypse was having none of that nonsense. So he rejected them.

Betsy accuses Apocalypse of putting that gate in otherworld to provoke Morgan. And he just says that the “gate is a spark of a cleansing flame”

He keeps imploring her to go save her brother for some reason.

But she states she won’t leave when her family land is being attacked. And Rogue is there.

So in like the most bad ass scene Apocalypse is like “I shall defend it”.

Comes through the Krakoa portal that Jubilee created earlier in the issue and just blasts the fawke out of Coven Akkaba. I don’t know if they are all dead.

Once again Apocalypse is like go get your brother. The longer they wait the more change and influence he will suffer.

Jubilee, Betsy and Gambit teleport to Otherworld and come face to face with a big dragon.

End.

I really like this issue. Even though the artist is the same I like the art here better than issue one.

Actually issue 2 starts moving the story a long quickly. And delves into many of the questions we may have had in issue one.

I really like the pacing but it may not be for everyone.

I'm really digging the Betsy/Apocalypse dynamic.

Gambit and Jubilee are kind of just there which I know many on these boards will not like but I'm hoping the writer gives them their moment to shine soon.

[PrezValentine]

Howard's dialogue makes me dislike nearly anyone here. Really doesn't go well with me. Art is good and so are the concepts, but making me angry at poor Gambit is a sin. He's nearly insufferable.

5/10. Better luck next issue.

[Hi-Fi]

Yeah, this was boring again. Gambit and Jubilee are both so one-note, even though we had like 20 pages with only 3 characters to make them pop. If only I was engaged by the story. It's not that it's bad, it's just not interesting to me. Also, why are these people doing everything Apocalypse asks them to? Why did they take Rogue there? It's weird that we got so much exposition this issue yet this wasn't adressed? Or maybe I missed it?

Art was great, though!

[CGAR]

Can't really speak on Gambit. But Jubilee seems to be the same since Brian Woods run.

I find this way more enjoyable than X-Men.

But I get it that everyone has their own tastes.

I'm excited to see where it heads but I do see a lot of the concerns people have with dialogue and character choices.

[Magneto]

Kinda agree with most users, I didn't like this issue very much. The dialogue just doesn't work IMO. Art is very good tho.

[Vegan Daddy]

That was a chore. Everything and everyone except Apocalypse is just blah.

[Glio]

The 90's Cyclops mind has been introduced in Gambit #PlotTwist

[Knives]

Apocalypse is hiding something but I believe he really wants to help Betsy and the others.

Well, I don't blame Jubillee for having trouble with Apocalypse in Krakoa (though I'm more afraid of Sinister).

Gambit in a bad mood is a rare sight to see and it is usually him who makes the jokes while the others get nervous with him so I appreciate the change despite Rogue's situation.

Considering the final scene we can get an idea how far this journey with magic and myths can go .

Rank 8 of 10.

[Purplevit]

It wasn't good at all. Probably as bad for me as X-Men 2.

Art is the only good thing about it.
Really sad. I want to like this book and it to be good but Tini's voice and characterization is bad.

Not expecting anything good from futher issues. Probably need to stop supporting it.

[Andru]

I hate being negative...but this issue was un-readable for me. The writing came off very amateur and hard to follow in any sensible way.

On a positive note, the art was quite nice! But not nice enough to save a scatter-brained plot.

I was looking forward to Rictor, but I think I am dropping out.

[Veitha]

It was kind of good, but kind of not. Art is great, but it was a bit boring at times for me. I like the druids and selkies and such though. I'm not really liking Apoc here.

[Malachi]

I hate being negative...but this issue was un-readable for me. The writing came off very amateur and hard to follow in any sensible way.

On a positive note, the art was quite nice! But not nice enough to save a scatter-brained plot.

I was looking forward to Rictor, but I think I am dropping out.

I believe that if we got to look at Tini's six issue plot(or the number her first arc is) then it probably would look ok. Even great or amazing.

Dialouge and characterisation on the other hand is just dreadful so far. Gambit has no character, he can't seem to go one sentence without saying Rogue. Jubilee is the same with Shogo. While one might defend this and say that how is people would be then I simply have one thing to say. Who thought it would be fun to read? It's all on Tini, she made these choices. For her first 2 issues. When she needs to build goodwill and entice readers. Not test them for a payoff later on. Comic readers these days are cynics and sparse in number. It's even more important that you deliver a good a first arc. If you get a full first arc that is. It might be cancelled by then.

The faux setup with Betsy being annoyed at a annoying Gambit just feels contrived since we are annoyed at Gambit but on the other hand Betsy haven't given us a really good reason why Rogue is brought there and in that manner. There are many other ways this could have been arranged. Not 3 people on a small boat with Betsy hoping the connection might spark something. Writting this it seems they are at their wits end and feeling that time is running out. Yet we never get that established. For all we know this is their first option and they just set sail without consulting any other magic user.

The art is nice but with the exception of Betsy and Apocalypse it doesn't seem to have any impact. Jubilee and Gambit throw out energy there and there but it seems to be mostly a lightshow without any substence. I would like to beileve that bodies would go flying and the gorund would be shattered. Something to make me feel that it's not just pretty.

I think my frustration is mostly because I know it could be so much better. Knowing that it have to be so much better for us to get a long run. Hickman built up a lot of goodwill but that can dissepear quite fast in todays climate. I hope next issue is dramatically better!

3/10

[Whim]

There's not much good but the art was pretty well done. Much better than X-Men and Marauders.

Other than that ....? The plot seems like forced fantasy that doesn't make much sense.

Like literally why is Jubilee here and with the baby?

The writer is just using whoever they want but it doesn't feel coherent right now. Certain characters just feel there. Rictor is probably going to be the same. Someone who just gets shoved in.

There's just not much about the Morgan Le Fay stuff to hook you or make it interesting.

[Triniking1234]

I think Tini is trying to do old school compression to get in as much stuff possible. This is why you need editors to say stuff like "Leave this Jamie **** for later" and "Where are you going with this Shogo drama?"

[Filthy Mutie]

The book was fine, but was definitely compressed. Howard is trying to get somewhere in a hurry. Gambit's dialog was a little annoying. The worrying and Krakoan gate stuff was a little grating--like the problem existed to just create a reason for Shogo to get to the lighthouse, and then into Otherworld. I hope the rest of the book can just breathe, because it's otherwise fine and promising. Still in my pull list.