Excalibur #21 Review/Spoilers - Don't Feel Like Dancin'

[Thievery]

Thanks again, Purp.

I did a quick search of his credits list. He seems to have gotten some high profile work over at DC, so he must be doing some good writing there.

I will miss Tina if she is replaced, though. I know that it is cool to hate her on this forum, but I like her. I'm in the minority on this forum, but I really enjoy her Excalibur.

[bishop66]

be a miracle if this book makes it to issue 25 howard is awful but weve had way way worse writers on the x-books suprsiing no one in x-editrial can see that this cast just does not work gambit is so miscast, several sspots this book could have a had a cast reboot, also hearing ram v has more marvel work possibly x-work but was told to think bigger than a d list x-book

[Purplevit]

Gambit already stole Excalibur sword, visited Outworld and became a champion of it, had a great bromance with Pete Wisdom and history with everyone except Rictor, fought magic villains before, he is a fan of Harry Potter world and read all books.
It just never were mentioned or used in Excalibur cause Tini never bothered to make her research or read this stories.

Could he fit better X-Force or Hellions? Definitely.
Was he miscast on Excalibur? No. He just was badly written or just used as punching bag or wallpaper here. With a good writer he would be a really fun team member for Excalibur.

[Devaishwarya]

On subsequent re-reading...I really enjoyed Rictor's power-display, separating the Lighthouse from the mainland and owning his new status as King Druid. And with him and Shatterstar reconnecting, there at the end, I hope this is the last we see of mopey Rictor.

[AppleJ]

I'm honestly, wholeheartedly sorry that I don't like this book. I wanted to. I tried to. The art has been great. On paper it looked like everything I could have wanted in a comic, but it's just not working for me. And I'm sorry for everyone that does like it and has to listen to my and others complaints.

I've been not buying and not reading it and not commenting in here since before X of Swords, but it's literally the only book that has featured my two favorite characters (badly imo) since HiXmen started. It's not like I can go read them elsewhere or that I won't need to know what happened in this book since it's now part of their canon.

I would heartily welcome a new writer for it. Or just having this writer set my other favorite character free so we can part ways. I wish Tini well and for her success. She seems like an awesome person and a perfect writer for someone else who is not me.

[nx01a]

Tried to read it. I really did. Couldn't get past page 3.

[CGAR]

Rumors of Ram V possibly taking over this book.

be a miracle if this book makes it to issue 25 howard is awful but weve had way way worse writers on the x-books suprsiing no one in x-editrial can see that this cast just does not work gambit is so miscast, several sspots this book could have a had a cast reboot, also hearing ram v has more marvel work possibly x-work but was told to think bigger than a d list x-book

IDK who Ram V is but I've been ready for a refresh reboot since the warwovles arc. A new creative team would be great. Wishful thinking per usal but I really think they are letting TH tell her full story.

And this needs to be said. No one HATES Tini. We just don't like her direction or the writing style. And I'm pretty sure she was mandated half of the cast she probably did not want on her team.

But I hope the rumors are true. For Betsy and Gambit.

And I've always said that I love how TH talks about what she wants to do but getting it down on paper and execution is just the complete opposite IMO.

[Rang10]

be a miracle if this book makes it to issue 25 howard is awful but weve had way way worse writers on the x-books suprsiing no one in x-editrial can see that this cast just does not work gambit is so miscast, several sspots this book could have a had a cast reboot, also hearing ram v has more marvel work possibly x-work but was told to think bigger than a d list x-book

This book onlly has a chance because of Krakoa setting giving some hype. You get jubilee, gambit, rogue and they were only wallpapers, that is how bad this book is.

Ram v is a great writer, seems like he doesnt miss. The problem of taking over Excalibur is that the book already lost lot of hype, readership. Marvel probably want him to takeover books with a fresh #1

There is also the x-men writers that are pretty tight and a new writer kicking other out might not be good.

[CGAR]

She has X-Corp so she's not getting kicked out.

Also they need to be professional and not petty.

[Rang10]

She has X-Corp so she's not getting kicked out.

Also they need to be professional and not petty.

About X-corp it looks like it wont be long. It did badly on first issue, the possibility of being a mini is high

[CGAR]

Are they back to releasing sales? I thought we haven't anything since last March. Because if we do I want to see what Excalibur sales are at compared to Hellions and X-Factor.

[Rang10]

Are they back to releasing sales? I thought we haven't anything since last March. Because if we do I want to see what Excalibur sales are at compared to Hellions and X-Factor.

They are releasing the ranking without the sales. I saw ICV2 top 50 and it corroborate with what BISHOP66 said: it was a very poor debut . Now I hope to see Diamond rank, if it got at least high orders

[Uncanny X-Man]

After a few issues that, while far from exceptional, were actually pretty decent, Howard is again showing some of her worst writing tendencies. I think she benefits from having a single focus per issue (like for the Kwannon story) because when she tries to juggle multiple plots and characters it all becomes incredibly uninteresting.

It's not that she doesn't have good ideas (on paper, the Clan Akkaba is a decent magic-based foe for a supposedly magic-adjacent team, the Ray/Betsy dance was cute, the UK brexiting Krakoa could be interesting) but then the execution really falls short and you quickly forget why you're supposed to care about any of it.

And too many characters in the book are written as being insufferable frankly, with Rictor taking the crown this issue. Writing characters who are angry all the time for vague reasons is a cheap way to create drama: it's a trap Chuck Austen always fell into and it just gets so tiresome after a while.

I hope for a relaunch soon with a new writer because this really isn't working for me and honestly it never did.

[Big Joe]

You're right. I didn't view the Clan that way, but they are. Ready to screw over the British people while saying they have their best interests in mind, but it's all their interests. Actually the more I think about it the more right you are as the Tories convinced people to vote leave on the promise the NHS would have more money. Only to take that away once they got more power. Exactly like the Clan and the mutant drugs.

And sadly I know what the Tories are doing to the NHS as I work for it.

Before anything else I just want to say a huge thank you for your dedication and sacrifice over the past 16 months or so. Without the superb service of the workers of the NHS the UK would have suffered even more than we already have.

I have to say I was actually laughing while I read the book because of the fairly transparent nod towards leaving the EU (great how that's going, isn't it), and the reasonably obvious NHS sell off stuff. I thought it was quite a clever critique of the UK's far right government and I'm very happy to see Johnson and co shown for what they are (even though not personally) even if only in a comic book.

[Big Joe]

Lmao I’m always like... you’re reading comics about mutants who do magic and the thing you find most unrealistic is right wing politics?

People do the same thing with not understanding why mutants still are hated and feared lol

I think if you don't live in the UK you'd perhaps not pick up on the subtle nuances of some of what's going on. I'm happy to see it pointed out this way.

Unfortunately I think people find right wing politics unrealistic because they find the idea of themselves being right wing horrible, and most would claim not to be.