Excalibur [20] : Review and Spoilers

[superjosh]

The whole thing with Malice just came out of nowhere. And it's kinda mean that they resurrected her without asking Lorna's opinion. I'd be pissed if I were her.

Seriously, what was the point of this? If they were going to do a Malice story, it should have been in X-Factor and it absolutely should have included Lorna.

Doing this kind of random, out-of-the-box storyline requires finesse and an accurately thorough knowledge of history and continuity. Howard has neither. Mike Carey was someone who did this well.

[CGAR]

Something that kind of bugs me is that Betsy created a body for herself in MiM out of all this psychic energy. How she truly views herself and we lost that to a lame XoS fight. Was that subversion? And now in this issue she says she didn’t like her body?

Just imagine you dying but being able to create a body for yourself as you truly see yourself in your minds eye. And then all of a sudden you’re insecure again and don’t like that body �� huh �� like wtf �� she took Betsy in a direction that just doesn’t jive

I’ll give kudos to the relationship she set up for Kwannon and Betsy moving forward but there’s so much inner monologue and insights from Betsy we should have gotten �� we shouldn’t have to rely on back issues to fill in important story details

[Kingdom X]

She created her version of herself. Permanent purple hair and eyes and everything.



The take Williams started of “hating” her body feels like a big misinterpretation of Betsy and just doesn’t ring true.

Thank you for the clarification! I will say that Williams take worked better for me because it was mostly framed as a past issue that she didn't talk about (like a lot of people don't), the scenes were written with an appropriate amount of care, AND it was in an AU where everybody was acting wonky so if you didn't want to pay attention to it you didn't have to.

[Psycwave]

Thank you for the clarification! I will say that Williams take worked better for me because it was mostly framed as a past issue that she didn't talk about (like a lot of people don't), the scenes were written with an appropriate amount of care, AND it was in an AU where everybody was acting wonky so if you didn't want to pay attention to it you didn't have to.

In a AU sense it was fine. I’ve even said I done mind the body dysmorphia bit as I can even see where that could work with her past as a model, but to the point where Betsy says she hated her body completely? Or to give off the sense that she never liked it and attributing it to feelings on the body swap? It doesn’t work for me.

[Kingdom X]

In a AU sense it was fine. I’ve even said I done mind the body dysmorphia bit as I can even see where that could work with her past as a model, but to the point where Betsy says she hated her body completely? Or to give off the sense that she never liked it and attributing it to feelings on the body swap? It doesn’t work for me.

I feel like that’s a slippery slope though, to say she has body dysmorphia but then qualify it, because the disorder is very much so about lacking control.

I do agree that it worked best in the AU, and if it’s going to be brought into the main universe it should be handled better.

[Psycwave]

I feel like that’s a slippery slope though, to say she has body dysmorphia but then qualify it, because the disorder is very much so about lacking control.

I do agree that it worked best in the AU, and if it’s going to be brought into the main universe it should be handled better.

Agreed! I think that's where my issue stems from. It feels clumsy here and also strips away a very strong arc for Betsy where she reclaims her original body. Eh. Maybe I need to sit with the issue for a few more days lol.

[Daedra]

I feel like that’s a slippery slope though, to say she has body dysmorphia but then qualify it, because the disorder is very much so about lacking control.

I do agree that it worked best in the AU, and if it’s going to be brought into the main universe it should be handled better.

Does Betsy character really needs to be affected by a mental disorder now? Can’t the writer just leave her the hell alone..... go give body dismorphia to magneto, wolverine(logan) or iron man and let us enjoy some action fun oriented comic book adventure.

[Rang10]

Does Betsy character really needs to be affected by a mental disorder now? Can’t the writer just leave her the hell alone..... go give body dismorphia to magneto, wolverine(logan) or iron man and let us enjoy some action fun oriented comic book adventure.

Writer should stick to fun, she trying to be deep has been very bad and backfiring

She created her version of herself. Permanent purple hair and eyes and everything.



The take Williams started of “hating” her body feels like a big misinterpretation of Betsy and just doesn’t ring true.

It's hard to explain how a idealized version of a person, still make said person hates her own ideal body.

[jwatson]

Something that kind of bugs me is that Betsy created a body for herself in MiM out of all this psychic energy. How she truly views herself and we lost that to a lame XoS fight. Was that subversion? And now in this issue she says she didn’t like her body?

Just imagine you dying but being able to create a body for yourself as you truly see yourself in your minds eye. And then all of a sudden you’re insecure again and don’t like that body �� huh �� like wtf �� she took Betsy in a direction that just doesn’t jive

I’ll give kudos to the relationship she set up for Kwannon and Betsy moving forward but there’s so much inner monologue and insights from Betsy we should have gotten �� we shouldn’t have to rely on back issues to fill in important story details

I actually thought this too, especially after the way people reacted to X-men 19. Not only did Betsy create her own body in what was a powerful storyline were she regained agency but she lost that body, had a new one created by someone else, and then someone else got to occupy it before she even got to try it on. So in a way it felt she was put back into the kwannon situation but with her own body, which in this case i think is the one Jamie created so it isn't even a replica of the one she herself created. But then i just let it go. lol

[CGAR]

I actually thought this too, especially after the way people reacted to X-men 19. Not only did Betsy create her own body in what was a powerful storyline were she regained agency but she lost that body, had a new one created by someone else, and then someone else got to occupy it before she even got to try it on. So in a way it felt she was put back into the kwannon situation but with her own body, which in this case i think is the one Jamie created so it isn't even a replica of the one she herself created. But then i just let it go. lol

Yeah its best I do that as well. Let it go. It is what it is. I just want Betsy, Rogue, and Gambit to have a better writer. And I'm probably not gonna get that till after the Hickman era.

[Thievery]

I thought that this issue was fine.

I appear to be in the minority, but didn't mind the idea that Malice was used to tell another body switch/possession story with Betsy and Kwannon. It gave them a chance to do a body switch story as a team-up instead of enemies. Often they are antagonistic towards each other when body switching and possession are brought up because of their past history. Nice to see this issue carry on from last issue in terms of Kwannon being over their past and being willing to help Betsy.

It was a little surprising to see Malice portrayed as a teenager. She struck me as older than that. I liked it, though.
Does the comic state how long that Malice has been alive? This could be a situation like with Synch, where Malice is actually an older character stuck in a teenager's body.

I'm glad that Polaris was not in the comic. Malice is involved in to many of her stories as it is.
I also don't see why Polaris should have some sort of say as to whether Malice should be resurrected or not. There are villains on that island who have done worse things to other X-Men than what Malice has done to Lorna.

[MentalManipulator]

She created her version of herself. Permanent purple hair and eyes and everything.



The take Williams started of “hating” her body feels like a big misinterpretation of Betsy and just doesn’t ring true.

I miss this costume and the pink and purple for betsy. But I liked this issue. I think it's a right step in a good direction for Betsy and Kwannon. I hope they keep working together and I sure do hope the Butterfly effect comes back to her soon.

[Sutekh]

I'm glad that Polaris was not in the comic. Malice is involved in to many of her stories as it is.
I also don't see why Polaris should have some sort of say as to whether Malice should be resurrected or not. There are villains on that island who have done worse things to other X-Men than what Malice has done to Lorna.

Agreed. Emma alone has body-stolen both Storm and Iceman and taken them for rides, and she's more or less on friendly-ish terms with both of them now.

Not to mention (too late, I just did!) Sinister and his OG Marauders like Greycrow sharing an island with some of the Morlocks they massacred (most of which want nothing to do with Krakoa, but Callisto is one of the exceptions).

Polaris is also, IMO, too defined by emotional instability. I think it would be an interesting sign of character growth for her to find out Malice is back and be all, "Meh, whatever. ***** better stay the hell away from me, is all I'm sayin'..."

I kind of liked the story for what it was, and think it was one of the better ones. Malice was just about the most cliched two-dimensional cackling villain stereotypes that era pumped out (evil for the lulz), and I am pleased to see her get some of the sort of development that other over-the-top villains like Apocalypse and Sinister have gotten, 'cause normally it's just the bad dudes that get layers and the bad ladies only get redeemed if there's hero peen involved.

[Wolverine12]

Thought this was a decent issue. Art was good and having Kwannon, Betsy and Emma be sympathetic for Malice makes sense even if a bit heavy handed. I get Charles going straight to the pit option, I know some thought it was too big of a punishment but Malice possessed a QC council member during a meeting, that's asking for a lot of trouble imo.

[Havok83]

Thought this was a decent issue. Art was good and having Kwannon, Betsy and Emma be sympathetic for Malice makes sense even if a bit heavy handed. I get Charles going straight to the pit option, I know some thought it was too big of a punishment but Malice possessed a QC council member during a meeting, that's asking for a lot of trouble imo.

There's no law against that. If anything Malice just highlighted a flaw in their government and laws that were established which should spark some revision going forward. Malice committed no crime on Krakoa