Excalibur #5: SPOILERS

[Devaishwarya]

Not quite how I thought it would go but...interesting twists non-the-less.

[FIGHT]

Gambit must learn his place. The hard way.

And yes I agree that Rogue's totally pregnant, but am I really interested in an -A- hybrid baby? Also, is it just me or does it look like she was impregnated in that dreamscape? My scary prediction is that now that she absorbed -A-, he can be "reborn" as her "baby".

Apocalypse takes over Rogue and Gambit's kid in the womb. Rogue wants to abort but thats a no no where she is from in the deep south. She keeps the baby, but Gambit leaves. Rogue is depressed until she sees her son's beautiful blue lips for the first time. Baby Apocalypse after seeing his mother turns her into his horsewoman.

That said, I really wish mutant magic and the theories behind it were more at the forefront of this series.

I agree completely.

[Ferro]

The last page has "revelation" in krakoan, and since rogue has all of apocalypse's memories and plans im very interested to see what we get from her
Also the 2 moons-2 suns was an interesting bit, its like rogue was the focus for a cosmic change, in the shape of an x no less that is what issue one tell us is the specific for mutant sorcery uses.

[Tenebrae]

I wanted to like this series, mainly for the magic exploration but I'm dropping it. It's very mediocre.

[raidensix]

Why is Rictor wearing a cape?

[Dthirds3]

Why is Rictor wearing a cape?

Hes a druid now. Magic peoples have capes

[Beetle]

So Brian became a soldier for Morgan let Fay
Kitty dropped off the team to build a new Lighthouse in her boat
Rachel is a flaming wolf on the astral plane
Meggan is hanging out on Krakoa, raising her kid
I wonder what Kurt will do when he cameos

[JB]

Wow, that was a twist and a half. First off, how cool about Rachel! That was super cute and a nice touch to have an Excalibur original involved.

Rogue looks great and I'm very curious as to what she learned while in •-[A]-•'s head. She tossed his ass around! His theory regarding "higher power formation" in the data page is very interesting to me and I look forward to learning more. "The true purpose of Homo superior".

Is it bad that I was happy to see Gambit finally silenced? I normally like him but I needed a break.

Most importantly though, my boy is giving me every single feel.



I was being worshipped. By men with beards...

[Ferro]

I think the dream sequenced served to pour the power rogue drained from the gate, into something all mutants can use alongside the constant energy from the newly created krakoan gate to outworld.

Because it forms the shape of an x with a mutant in the middle, and the second page talks how the skies were once an unifying element to human communities that crushed their sense of ego, when they started building they lost sight of the skies and ego started to poison their magic, they lost their, quote, "most exact almanac given to creatures of every realm".

So rogue created a mutant sky, an almanac (wich is in a yearly book released with tons of natural information) for others to look up regardless of distance.

This is probably a reach but thats how I read it

[JB]

I loved that Apoc beat an already injuried Gambit and everyone was worried about him but then Betsy went "Apocalypse is right, he was being a bitch now let him finish".

Right?? That's the Betsy I know. Not overly sentimental when there's business to be done.

[Romy Ship]

I dont think mutants are supposed to murder other mutants especially since one of the core laws is to make them. He's not just any mutant either; he's a Quiet Council member on the executive board. She should be punished

Well he did giver her permission. Hell, he WANTED her to do it. And anyway, ya'll know he isn't staying "dead". Not if this "completed" the ritual.

This issue was better for me than the last 2 but it's still choppy as all heck. This whole arc has felt jumbled. Hopefully the next issue pays off. I mean, Gambit IS brushing Rogue's hair so I'm already won over on that

Anyway, Gambit is written so horribly it hurts - I mean, just what we were lacking, right? Another issue where he is being called an "idiot" by 2 different people. It was BAD enough when Mystique did it in Astonishing but this is just getting to a point of insult on Gambit's behalf. I'm glad he finally did something clever by sending Rachel in to wake Rogue up. ROGUE IS AWAKE and has a little more flavor finally.

My biggest problem with this series is the dialogue and it reads like strangers talking to each other. The art is beautiful but the colors are a little too vibrant and despite that, a little boring.

Anyway, I'm stoked now that Rogue is awake. Even if she's blue. Loved her last line in this issue though. Poor Remy. I know he misses her but having to kiss her looking like ol' blue there... yeah.

Rogue: *punches •—[A]—•*

•—[A]—•: yeah....harder

Rogue: what?

•—[A]—•: what?

Ha! Yeah towards the end of their "fight" I was like... "Did •—[A]—• just get off?"

[Malachi]

Lets use a magical metaphor. With any magic it must work as a spectacle that is interesting executed. Even in word magic, that works so well in written text, it's all about the elegance of how it's executed. Here Tini reaserched the themes and symbolisism beyond who does what, how it looks like. Yet she forgets that the whole thing needs to entertain us primarily. Sure it's suppose to distract us, let us miss things. Then we are suppose to qestion how did she do that? How will it affect the rest of the run? The whole of Marvel and it mutants and so on. As it is now these issues read a lot better with a directors commentary underneath it. You can appreciate the thoughtprocess if you sit down and analyse it but it didn't entertain you when reading it. David Lynch is someone who has mastered telling us a story we must figure out ourselves, yet he makes the ride entertaining because he understands the story must work at that level to get us to the other levels. Mystery is fine but it's not enough if the rest isn't working.

Tini clearly likes some characters. She likes Rictor, -A-, Betsy, Shogo and Rogue(it seems). Jubilee is more of a afterthought. Gambit she seems to activly dislike. Rictors "mouthy idiot" I think covers it. Lets get him away from this book. It's doing no one any favors.

Now -A- is dead. Whitch is a speedbump at best in the current regime. So lets get him back fast and without any fanfare. It's unnecessary to bog the story's pace down with focusing on that. Have him direct things from Krakoa for a issue if that's what it needs.

As it has been presented before we see no big reason to why the last team + Rictor, -A- and Rogue can't go in and make quick work of Morgana. She hasn't been built up as a threat big enough for a more focused team with -A- handeling the understanding on how magic works. That is if they see a reason to go back to her. With Rogue back and the portal accesible it's more about fixing that leak.

Overall I'm ready to let this book go. On paper Tini has some interesting ideas and concepts but the execution is so lacking. Add to it that my favorite chracter is being treated like a idiot and reading this just gets me frustrated. I think she isn't ready for a big project like this. The structure isn't working and after 5 issues that problem remains.

[Vegan Daddy]

“I was being worshipped — by men with beards!”

Rictor likes daddies confirmed

[Ferro]

This is absolutly will affect mutants in general because of a detail in x-men 2 that conects arrako to outworld, the fact apocalyse is involved in both is no coincidence. Magic, Extradimensional Travel, Planes, Ancient Mutant lore, its absolutly building up to arrako

[nandes]

Rogue really just stole Moira X's look like that.