Tini Howard Battle of the Atom Interview

[Kingdom X]

It's true that some of the magic pages from even Excalibur # 1 didn't really start to make sense until last week's X-Men, but that's frustrating at times.

It’s especially frustrating because I shouldn’t have to read X-Men to understand her book. Even if X of Swords ends up being amazing, that doesn’t justify how lackluster the first TWELVE issues of her run have been. She’s very much so riding on the fact that people are invested in Dawn of X and for some reason she was given some key pieces in the overall narrative.

[Muffinman]

With so many books being only given 12-18 issue runs before cancelation, how could she bank on so many incoherent and sloppily put together issues playing out to an eventual pay off? We are 12 issues in and this book is still a mess. Half of the cast are unrecognizable throw away characters and the other half are simply used as plot (?) devices if you could even call it that.

She wanted to write an A solo book and that is basically what we are getting. This entire run has been a boring and dragged out prelude to XoS which is very annoying as it was advertised as a TEAM book focusing on "mutant magic". We never really got either of those things.

The data pages being purposefully written in a way where they have nothing to do with the issues at hand could be ok if they had to do with an issue or two down the line. Having 2 data pages in 12 issues and all of them reading like nonsequiter fan fiction is not a writing style I think anyone can get behind, even if they all somehow do make sense in issue 17 where something actually happens. Who is to say that all the readers are going to remember or even care now that those data pages are over a year old.

I am a big fan of longer storytelling. Hickman, Clermont, Remender, Duggan, etc. have all been fantastic reads.This is just terrible writing. So much of her "plot" keeps taking place off panel.

The characters in this book deserve a better narrative or at least a somewhat coherent one. The fact that Betsy, who was kind of billed as the main in this book, has not had the body swap issue addressed and the only comments that we have on it are that it will be addressed "eventually" is ludicrous. We are 12 issues in, meaning at least 15 have been penned and it still has yet to be addressed?

[Ying Ko]

This book is so boring and badly written I honestly have no idea why I'm still reading it. Maybe out of some kind of sentimental notion I still hold for the original run? Other DOX books I'm reading totally bury Excalibur... X-Men, Hellions and even X-Force.

Not only that but I hate Betsy as Captain Britain. And where the hell are Meggan, Kurt and Brian? I keep waiting for them to pop up seeing how they aren't used anywhere else. Instead we get badly written Rogue and Gambit who even themselves seem to wonder why they're there, not to mention Jubilee who does nothing and adds nothing to the team.

Things need to improve quickly or I'm out following XOS.

[Lockheed]

Yeah, I think I'm out after XoS. It was some terrible whiplash to go from Thompson's spot-on characterization of Rogue and Gambit in Mr. and Mrs. X to whatever the heck Howard is doing with them. Why not pick two other characters who have actual ties to magic or even previous versions of Excalibur?

[FIGHT]

The latest issue made more sense and was decent but man the whole leading up to it has not been good. Jubilee is just there and still makes no sense and I'm so sick of her going on about Shogo. Rogue and Gambit have been about useless. The small Candra plot was all Gambit's here for? Other than those issues he spent whining about Rogue.

I guess they wanted to write about Apocalypse but every issue of X-Men he's in he's written way better by Hickman. The ]A{ thing is just dumb too.

I agree. People say Apocalypse is the only guy written well, but I don't enjoy him in Excalibur. He has been too vague in everything. Also manipulating Excalibur when they are written as idiots is not fun to read.

[frostedemma]

Yeah, I think I'm out after XoS. It was some terrible whiplash to go from Thompson's spot-on characterization of Rogue and Gambit in Mr. and Mrs. X to whatever the heck Howard is doing with them. Why not pick two other characters who have actual ties to magic or even previous versions of Excalibur?

I felt thompson characterisation was actually a regression from the development rogue got in x-men legacy and uncanny avengers and in excalibur she's just underused like the rest of the team

[frostedemma]

With so many books being only given 12-18 issue runs before cancelation, how could she bank on so many incoherent and sloppily put together issues playing out to an eventual pay off? We are 12 issues in and this book is still a mess. Half of the cast are unrecognizable throw away characters and the other half are simply used as plot (?) devices if you could even call it that.

She wanted to write an A solo book and that is basically what we are getting. This entire run has been a boring and dragged out prelude to XoS which is very annoying as it was advertised as a TEAM book focusing on "mutant magic". We never really got either of those things.

The data pages being purposefully written in a way where they have nothing to do with the issues at hand could be ok if they had to do with an issue or two down the line. Having 2 data pages in 12 issues and all of them reading like nonsequiter fan fiction is not a writing style I think anyone can get behind, even if they all somehow do make sense in issue 17 where something actually happens. Who is to say that all the readers are going to remember or even care now that those data pages are over a year old.

I am a big fan of longer storytelling. Hickman, Clermont, Remender, Duggan, etc. have all been fantastic reads.This is just terrible writing. So much of her "plot" keeps taking place off panel.

The characters in this book deserve a better narrative or at least a somewhat coherent one. The fact that Betsy, who was kind of billed as the main in this book, has not had the body swap issue addressed and the only comments that we have on it are that it will be addressed "eventually" is ludicrous. We are 12 issues in, meaning at least 15 have been penned and it still has yet to be addressed?

I think the reason why she's doing this "pay off in the long run" is because excalibur is one of the main flagship title for dox

[Lockheed]

I felt thompson characterisation was actually a regression from the development rogue got in x-men legacy and uncanny avengers and in excalibur she's just underused like the rest of the team

I don't disagree with you and should have been more specific. I think Thompson really understood their voices and how they would act/respond to novel situations. I agree it was a regression from Rogue's development in Legacy and UA in terms of her control of her powers and her overcoming past traumas and identity crises. My criticism of Howard is that she doesn't appear to understand the characters on any level to the point that they don't even act or sound like themselves, let alone what it means for their overarching character growth.

[MentalManipulator]

I'm kind of apprehensive on how she will handle the body dysmorphia angle that she has in mind for Betsy. I hope that she doesn't spend too much time claiming Betsy hates her British body just because she was a model and all.

[MYCMTSC]

I think whether or not you think Tini is doing a good job with each character is one thing, but she is definitely writing a team book. Sure, there are more principal characters but the others have had focus.

[Malachi]

I think whether or not you think Tini is doing a good job with each character is one thing, but she is definitely writing a team book. Sure, there are more principal characters but the others have had focus.

There is no value in the word team book. The standards for it to be counted as a team book is so low that it doesn’t really affect any of the points that are being made here.

It’s not about any subjective opinion any fan has about this. It’s very simple. What is the characters motivation? Contribution? Character arc? Interaction? All the 101 basic questions. All either not answered or just hastily given a shallow answer.

[frostedemma]

I'm kind of apprehensive on how she will handle the body dysmorphia angle that she has in mind for Betsy. I hope that she doesn't spend too much time claiming Betsy hates her British body just because she was a model and all.

as long as it doesn't resemble anything to the nonsense that leah williams wrote in prisoner x i'm good. Kinda wish it was an asian writer or at least a woc tackling this because what leah wrote about betsy hating her white body but feeling confident "hot" and in charge of her sexuality or whatever in kwannon body's felt really off and bordeline like betsy was fetishising her asian body.

[H-E-D]

No one minds waiting for the long-game. Hickman is how you do it right, he's dropping seeds left and right for plots far in the future that people are picking up on.

CC also had various plot-lines running it once, it wasn't one single plot going on at one time and for multiple characters. It never felt like a chore to drop one arc and to continue into another until it was ready. The characters weren't twiddling their thumbs waiting for the Phoenix Saga to happen.

Criticisms against Tini follow specifically on her writing weaknesses which seems to IMO display poor characterization, favoritism, poor narrative direction for half the cast, and an incoherent plot.

Building up to a long game is all well in good, but the journey needs to be entertaining as well or you miss the point of growth in a character and how that adds to a plot.

"Favoritism" is such a nonsense critique.

[H-E-D]

as long as it doesn't resemble anything to the nonsense that leah williams wrote in prisoner x i'm good. Kinda wish it was an asian writer or at least a woc tackling this because what leah wrote about betsy hating her white body but feeling confident "hot" and in charge of her sexuality or whatever in kwannon body's felt really off and bordeline like betsy was fetishising her asian body.

You mean X-Tremists.

[ChronoRogue]

"Favoritism" is such a nonsense critique.

How? If you are writing a team book and only one or a few characters get any sort of meaningful development then it is absolutely a critique.

Not every character needs to change arbitrarily, but they absolutely should have an impact on the story as an individual. Otherwise it might as well be a supporting character filling that role.

Plus there is Mary and Gary Stu writing which is a trope in itself, which Apocalypse certainly seems to suck up the intelligence of every character in the same room as him.