Family Feuds And Forgotten Folklore Fill X Of Swords As Excalibur #13 & X-Men #13 Fixate On Fantasy

Ten swords, ten champions, ten battles for the fate of the world. X Of Swords continues to build towards the tournament this week. First Charlie Davis & Nola Pfau bring the Braddock drama with Excalibur #13 by Tini Howard, R.B. Silva, Nolan Woodard, and Ariana Maher. Then Chris Eddleman & Robert Secundus explore Amenth in X-Men #13 by Jonathan Hickman, Mahmud Asar, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles.

Excalibur #13

Charlie Davis: Well…It feels like we haven’t seen each other in ages, Nola. We had barely dipped our toes into X of Swords the last time we had an issue of Excalibur and now we’re collecting our swords and hoping for the best. Mine seems to already be covered in blood…how about you? 

Nola Pfau: It has indeed felt like some time! My calendar tells me #12 came out on September 16th, which was just over a month ago, but I could swear we took a summer off or something. I’m generally more of a knife person than a sword person, but I can assure you, I have many at the ready.

CD: Either way, I think they will do well in battle. Have to be ready, all things considered. But damn…as soon as I started this issue I knew it was going to be right up your alley and I think it was a much needed character focal piece that Excalibur has needed for some time. We hit the ground running right out of DOX and spent so much time building the framework for X of Swords that things got a little bogged down in the process. This felt like a breath of fresh air for me. What about you? 

NP:  Just…whew. As much as I have loved Excalibur up to this point (and I have, it’s easily my favorite book of the current line) [Ed. note: It’s our #2 {Nola’s note: don’t listen to Ed, he doesn’t work here}], so much time has been spent on seeing the fruition of •┤Ȧ├•’s schemes that I’ve been missing exactly this sort of Otherworld nonsense. I had fun breaking down some of it with Chris in our Creation coverage but here, god, this just…messy, messy Captain Britain Corps/Braddock family DRAMA. I love it. I love it.

CD: And despite all of the focus being on the world building up until this point, all of the moments in this issue feel really earned because they are playing off of so much history between everyone involved. This felt like the sweet spot between the nostalgic feel of an old title heading back to its roots and the bold new direction the X-Line has gone in. That’s not an easy task so I really applaud everyone involved. My biggest takeaway was just how deeply we explored Betsy’s current mindset. Do we wanna start there? 

Betsy’s Choice

NP: Gosh there’s so much to get into here too. I was legitimately angry on Betsy’s behalf for the first part of the issue, with the way Brian was speaking to her, the way everyone arrayed around her seemed to be trying to push her to give up the role of Captain Britain, and the way she just steadfastly, stubbornly refused. It’s a defining moment for her, really, to stand tall and say, no, this is mine, especially to her own brother, who held that mantle so long.

CD: It was genuinely distressing and even if you can see that Brian’s intentions are good, it still comes off as blatantly disrespectful. Maybe Betsy has worked in the dark for a long time, but that doesn’t make her heroics less heroic. 

The opening of this week’s issue also made me think about something I’d forgotten. Betsy has had no time to even just sit and think about what she wanted to do with herself after getting her old body back. No time to reconcile who she was before with who she is now. Maybe the mantle of Captain Britain was thrust upon her, but she’s used that as sort of a life raft to stay afloat through all of this. It’s a stepping stone to finding herself and whether or not she wants to keep moving forward is her choice, not anyone else’s and certainly not her brothers. It’s really powerful stuff. 

NP: Actually I’m really interested in that aspect of what’s being explored here. Like you say, the role was kind of thrust on her; I talked some about the thematic choices she was making back when the book first started in #1, but it wasn’t codified in the way that taking the role of Captain Britain historically is. Betsy references that in this issue, which is another bit of formalism I loved! I’ve talked about the way intention and wording matters in places like Otherworld, and Saturnyne’s response to Betsy saying she didn’t make the choice—”Your words. Not mine.” really reflected that, as did her later move to throw Betsy in jail. Whew. Mean lady, that Saturnyne.

CD: Something occurred to me about Saturnyne on my second read through of this issue. She’s giving Betsy the same shit everyone has always given Betsy in and out of comics. Which is, “This isn’t who you really are” “you’re not the one we wanted” and it really stung. It’s so thematically important to include the rogue Captain Britain Corps as the ones that Besty can actually rely on. They were tossed aside by Saturnyne too and I am glad they worked themselves into the plan. 

NP: She’s so mean! SO MEAN. I loved the little comics-specific trick the creative team pulled here too; when Betsy tells Brian he has to say what he wants her to give up, and in barges Saturnyne, saying the title. I say comics-specific because it really only can work this way in comics, it’s why it’s such a distinct form of its own. You can achieve similar with film, but not the same, because the moment isn’t frozen in time in the way that a panel is.

Where was I? Oh yes, choices. There’s a lot surrounding them in this issue, a lot of dithering. Saturnyne didn’t choose Betsy, she wants Brian. She makes that clear with her games in this issue, but the thing is; Saturnyne’s choice doesn’t actually matter. She talks about prophecy, about how there will be a Corps again (love that), and she clearly interprets that to mean that Brian will once again serve her, but again, as we already know, Brian chose the sword, not the amulet. 

Betsy, meanwhile, talks about how she didn’t choose, and it’s true that she didn’t in the same fashion; no one said to her, “here, pick one of these.” But she DID have the choice to either take the amulet in the first issue and run, or to stay and fight Morgan Le Fay (choosing “the sword” as it were) and she chose to listen to her brother in that moment.

This issue really plays with that! Betsy crushes the amulet entirely! She discards the symbolic choice and uses the rules of Otherworld against Saturnyne, with a ruse that grants her access to the Starlight Sword, choosing by its power to be Captain Britain again, and still, in spite of what Saturnyne wants. Just…god. It’s so good.

CD: It really, really is. There is a lot more to unpack in this issue, but Betsy and what she is both subjected to and what she chooses to move forward with are so integral to the issue that I don’t feel back spending a lot of time on it. Heck, that Starlight Sword is badass. But…since we have three points to make and three Braddocks, let’s talk about Brian, shall we? 

A Choice Himbo

NP: Oh, let’s. He was SO MUCH FUN in this issue and at least half of it is that he really played into what people kind of expect of him. We know Brian traditionally as a guy who is well-meaning but often makes the wrong call. He’s actually very smart, but the whole reason he has a reputation as a himbo is exactly this terrible decision-making ability. So when we see him seeming to condescend to Betsy, when we see him seeming to almost unnaturally fall under Saturnyne’s sway, we believe it, because they’re such common things for him! He literally started the book falling under the sway of a powerful magic lady.

CD: It’s really fun to see everyone seem to really just shirk people’s expectations of them. For Brian, it seems like he needs to really prove himself again. Not to everyone around him so much, but to himself. He keeps asserting that he doesn’t want to draw the sword because he doesn’t know what he’s dedicating himself to, but in the moment where he has to choose, it’s crystal clear that his intention is to protect his family. Even if one of those members is Jamie Braddock. We are led to believe that by taking this power, that Saturnyne somehow seeped into him, but he’s still firmly in control even as we see her court him into her bedroom. I don’t know what this role has in store for him exactly, but I am excited to see him as a protector of Avalon and essentially the Braddock name. Also, the opening sequence of Jamie and Brian riding on Griffin’s. Amazing. 

NP: I was really focused on that idea of him not drawing the sword, too, specifically because each time he said he wouldn’t draw it in anger. That was his weakness when he originally chose it; he was wounded and raw and wanted to lash out at people like Morgan after she victimized him, and so making the choice to keep it sheathed is a significant one for him in that context. He’s also someone who’s had a problem with anger and loss of control in the past, so to see him really focused on rejecting that was wholesome, even if the entire time I was going “BRIAN YOUR FAMILY IS IN DANGER, DRAW THE DAMNED SWORD.” And when he did, you were right; he draws it not in anger, but in defense, to protect. That’s Brian choosing once again to be the Hero, just like his sister did.

CD: This is really my first time getting to know characters like Brian and Jamie and even though I am not as familiar with their stories as you are, I really don’t find myself getting lost because X of Swords and Excalibur had done a great job recontextualizing places and characters and pushing them forward into new territory without forgetting where they came from. It’s kind of exactly what you want and need in a superhero story with lots and lots of back canon that you may or may not be familiar with. This issue made me just as invested in Brian’s story forward as I am in Betsy’s and I think that is really important. Also, it cannot be overstated how important it is that the story doesn’t push Betsy off to the side in order to recenter Brian as also important. They can be both. We have have our cake and eat it too so #$%& anyone who says differently. 

NP: I’m glad, because as you may know, I love Brian Braddock. He’s very dear to me for entirely different reasons than his sister, who is also very dear to me. Between this and the tease of Meggan on one of the Excalibur covers immediately post X of Swords, I can’t wait to see more of the both of them in the book going forward. 

At any rate, being Captain Avalon is a great choice for him, and it at least gives us a reason for the new costume! After all, he would have no reason to wear England’s lion as a herald of Avalon, as it’s a completely different place. I still don’t…love the new design? Nothing about it says who he represents in a really obvious way, which is always something I look for in a superhero costume. Y’know? Like Wolverine’s costume might not say “I am a man made to look like a wolverine,” but it does generally convey “I am small, feral, and full of pointy things,” which makes a kind of thematic sense. In the case specifically of patriotically-titled heroes, that generally means a costume that invokes a national flag of some sort, but since Avalon is a fictional place that hasn’t been featured strongly, it doesn’t really have the kind of recognizable iconography that, say, the Union Jack or the English lion have.

CD: Which ultimately means, we will get to see them flesh out Avalon as well. It’s happening a bit in Hellions right now, but I am excited when we get to more of it. Speaking of Avalon. We should probably talk about Jamie now, huh? 

That’s Certainly A Choice

NP: Jamie. The trouble with Jamie is that he’s known for two things; being a reality warper and not really being lucid. This has earned him the sobriquet ‘Mad King,’ which is catchy and has roots in all sorts of historical and fantasy fiction, but is also…well…a bit ableist. The trouble is, he really only has those two things, and he hasn’t been around much otherwise; even here in Excalibur he’s mostly popped up for capital-A Antics!, such as bothering Betsy back in #1 or his incursions resulting in the creation of what is known here as the “rogue” Captain Britain Corps, which…slow clap, Tini. See, because they’re incursion-based alternates of Excalibur members, one of whom is Rogue, so—well, you see.

Since the start of X of Swords, Jamie’s role has mostly been to be wacky, which I get, but falls a little flat for me; not because of anything wrong with the depiction, but just because “wacky” is not really a character type I go for. Case in point, we see him here wearing Sinister’s cape, which he bartered for back in Hellions. Still, this issue DID give me something I was greatly and sorely missing; his heart. For all of the troubles Jamie’s had, the Braddock siblings have always loved each other, and to see the three of them working in concert here, even while each played their role (the Hothead, the Himbo, and the Jester, which are all definitely tarot cards, right) [Ed. note: I believe they are actually the 3 Jokers], they were a family at the end and I loved that.

CD: You bring up a really good point about Jamie and I think with some work, he could actually turn into a character that I could care about or even end up liking. I don’t mind characters that are clearly the comic relief, but the fact that Jamie’s entire thing is that he’s unhinged, makes me cringe a little every time he pops up. It’s important to understand that his mental illness doesn’t have to be erased or removed for him to be more viable of a character, he just has to be treated with the same care anyone else might be. I think we are on a good path here and if anyone would be able to work this one out, it would be Tini. He’s a King, he’s in a position of power, his brother is his sworn protector. All of those things point to better things coming for Jamie. 

NP: Oh, he’s absolutely gonna screw that Kingdom all the way up, don’t get me wrong. But I think you’re right; Tini’s an empathetic writer and she really seems to understand the dynamic of the Braddocks as a family. Betsy leaping out a window onto Jamie’s gryphon might not be exactly the same as Jamie driving child Betsy around way too fast in a red sportscar, but it still gave me that feeling; of the three, these two are the adventurous ones, and so it makes sense that when she leaps into the unknown, there he is.

CD: This issue does one of the best things any issue of a comic can do, which is keep me invested and wanting to follow along to see what’s next. Several issues in and I can honestly say that every X-Book with a lead in to next weeks’ X Of Swords: Stasis being character pieces that showcase the sword and the sword bearer is one of the smartest things I’ve seen in a long time. It automatically gets rid of the “summer movie” aspect that so many crossovers have and make things feel so much more intimate on the road to the tournament. It’s how you do a tournament arc. You need to connect with the participants on an intimate level. You should care about who wins and who loses and what that means for them. It’s why we cared about every participant in the Cell Games and the World Martial Arts Tournament in Dragon Ball Z. We knew what the stakes were. Anime and Wrestling know how to make tournaments rad, I am glad that the X-Books are joining the fray.  

NP: Honestly, I know we’ve mentioned it before but the entire thing really feels like the build up to some of the more classic X-Men events of days past. Instead of just “BOOM, HERE’S AN EVENT NOW!” there’s build-up, there’s pieces very deliberately being put into place. We had a couple issues that were labeled “Prologue” just prior, but Excalibur especially has felt like prologue to this from the start, in ways that remind me of the build up to Inferno back in the day. It just has me so, so excited for what comes after Stasis. I can’t wait.

X-Men #13

Chris Eddleman: This crossover is already huge, massive, gigantic, a chonky boy. But we’re finally almost to the midpoint, which means a nice X-Men issue to lead the transition. This is our first issue in Mahmud Asrar’s ongoing stint on pencils, and we bid a farewell to Leinil Yu. That’s right, Rob, we have barely even gotten to talk about delightful blades, but now I’m thrilled that we draw swords together for another history lesson. Now for wrath, now for ruin, and a red dawn.

Blue Dad, Big Sad

CE: We start our issue as Apocalypse is still raging in the Healing Gardens, Pestilence’s deadly arrow lodged within him. I guess suddenly the sickness doesn’t infect those around him though, since he’s being held down by a ton of mutants. It’s interesting to see Magneto change his tune a little bit, as he and Xavier pretty heavily chastised Apocalypse for his actions earlier. This is a scene of community, and it reads like a family gathered around a dying relative. But of course, there’s no way he would actually die, but he would be DELAYED due to the resurrection eggs being destroyed just in case during Part 2 of this crossover. Time being at stake is pretty interesting to me, Rob. Death is irrelevant, so time becomes the limiting resource, which means for drastic decisions. I like that storytelling.

RS: The Resurrection Process doesn’t eliminate the stakes– it complicates them. So does everything we learn about Apocalypse. It’s an interesting reframing of him. Even aside from the flashbacks, the retcons, Apocalypse is placed in an interesting position. He’s both incredibly powerful and yet deeply week. He’s the only one who could survive Pestilence, and one of the few who could survive a Hope-suped Healer– but that survival has left him wounded, ailing still. He’s a weakened Apocalypse, at times despairing, at times raging Apocalypse, but still an immensely powerful one. 

CE: I’m not sure how to take his overcoming the pestilence. On the one hand, it shows an incredible strength and resilience of Apocalypse but, on the other I think it’s supposed to show the power of mutants working in community, and possibly the triumphs of the reformed Krakoan faction. I dunno, maybe I’m reading too much into it. I frankly love that Apocalypse was not strong enough to bridge the gap. It really underscores his guilt at leaving the rest of them behind, and shows that even his children have a special strength that he doesn’t possess. Do you think there’s something deeper there, or are we just showing the flaws in the formerly ultimate evil?

RS: On one level, it shows just how powerful the enemy is, if Apocalypse was never strong enough to fight it. On another, it changes our understanding of Apocalypse’s history. He has sought out horsemen, and he has tested the mutant masses generally, to prepare for this day. Rather than a tyrant conqueror looking to rule the strongest nation, he’s a prophet preparing his people for a day of reckoning. It doesn’t justify the horrors he’s committed, but it changes our perception of those horrors, and it helps us understand his relationship with Krakoa. One thing to keep in mind going forward: Moira knows about all of this. We saw that she met the First Horsemen in life IX back in House Of X. It’s possible that her entire Krakoan design was based on Apocalypse’s edenic Okkara.

CE: Okkara being separated but not immediately pulled with the void is really interesting to me. Summoner’s story and even Krakoa’s made it seem to me as though the Twilight Sword splitting Krakoa was the instigating event to Arakko being dragged away, when in this story it seems a more deliberate act, with Arakko literally walking off with the rest of the mutants. I think we’re light on truth, and it’s an interesting technique to see these incomplete and unreliable stories. But back to Apocalypse, he gets a sad dad moment, like many other comics, but it’s due to his own weakness rather than his choices that he hasn’t seen his family. His sword is a symbol of that family, given to him by his sister, and it’s poetic that he takes it up again to fight them.

The Mama of All Mamas

CE: This of course leads us to Genesis, who seems to be the true power behind the ancient mutants that make up the Arakkoan diaspora. Apocalypse’s recollection reads slightly differently than Summoner’s to me, and not just because Summoner was deliberately lying through much or possibly all of his story. Apocalypse sees his wife as a much stronger force than him, and he is not the strongest being as he’s so often portrayed. Genesis is also portrayed as THE reason that mutants were so ahead of the Amenthan forces. She’s a leader and secret weapon all at once.

RS: And she’s clearly, we can now see, the woman on the 8 of Cups card. As we noted back in our discussion of the Free Comic Book Day issue, this denotes someone turning aside from a previous concern. Given what we see and learn of Annihilation this issue, given the art on that card, given that traditional meaning, and given Summoner’s story, I think we are being led to believe that Genesis now is Annihilation, that she has taken on the mask. Probably a bad thing for our heroes given that, even without that mask, she is immensely powerful.

CE: Yeah, it seems as though her power seems at the very least like, flora-based, or possibly that of the primal forces of creation itself. Mother, creation, a little cliche, but it’s shown as the ultimate power, which I really enjoy. I think you’re right and I think that’s a big call, Genesis being the body taken over by Annihilation. It’s curious that this would infer that the Arakkoans are following their greatest enemy rather than their beloved mother. Perhaps Genesis is more than she seems in this case. Maybe whatever Annihilation told her is somehow related. I wonder if even the diaspora is a much deeper ruse.

RS: For the most part, it’s all guesses for now, as we have only the lies of Summoner, Apocalypse’s pre-sundering memories, and the rhymes and riddles of Saturnyne. But we do get a few more concrete details. One that tickled me was that Isca the Unbeaten, Arrako’s Judas, is her sister. In-Laws, AMIRITE.

CE: Family is really the underscored concept in the Arakkoans it seems. Apocalypse and Genesis are parents, with the Horsemen children and more. We also seem to see a Summoneresque figure in many panels. Maybe a coparent with War?

RS: I definitely read that as SumMommy. 

CE: And so shall it be done, Robert. Anyway, I love ultimately that Genesis is more powerful than Apocalypse. Beginnings being more powerful than endings is a very “it’s all stories” bit, but I think it holds metaphorical power.

One Does Not Simply Walk Into Amenth

CE: Eruditic language be damned, the Amenthans are some straight up fantasy nonsense and I’m completely enthralled with it. The sort of nonsense dialogue that they spout about false gods and dead religions is basically me trying to fill in some fun flavor in descriptions of enemies and events during a session of D&D. But not only that, they’re portrayed as strange and alien as a result, with history we can’t comprehend or relate to, ruled over by a very bizarre idea. 

RS: I’m still on a Big Conspiracy Theory that this is all related to Moira somehow; I think the Brood are a failed Moira experiment from a previous life, and I think these very Giger-esque demons are related to the Brood. They’re not a complete hive mind, but they’re definitely hive-like, and they conquer through assimilation. Indeed, their leader assimilates people through her mask. Galaxy brain theory: this is Evil Moira X from the Dark Multiverse below Otherworld. [Ed. note: The Moira Who Laughs]

CE: Rob, this is a special kind of bonkers and I completely love it. I do wonder how Moira could be related. Surely in Life XI she experienced something somewhat similar to this as she encountered the First Horsemen. It seems like a gaping hole to not seek her advice but, X-Men notoriously don’t know how to use the phone. 

The Amenthans are fascinating to me because unlike mutants, where everyone is an important part of a whole, they seem to be individual to a point, but ultimately can at any time be subsumed by their leader, who is a very Dr. Fate-esque mask. Instead of the individual being in service of the community, and vice-versa, the Amenthans are subjects. I think Hivemind is a very good way to look at it, even if it’s control by force rather than by nature.

RS: What I most want to see is their relationship with the land Arrako itself now. Because I’m not certain if the forces of Amenth are an inversion of Krakoa, or if they’re a dark reflection. Is Amenth respecting Arrako’s will? Then again, given the Douglas plotline, is Mutantdom respecting Krakoa’s? Is Genesis enforcing her will on her fellow mutants? Is Moira? Is this a warning of how things can go wrong in Krakoa, or is it a sign that already there are problems? I don’t think we’ll get a clean answer this crossover, but also, I think that’s a good thing; the thing I love most about Krakoa is that it’s messy, it’s complicated, it’s both inspiring and flawed. We get to dwell in the complications.

CE: And even though Arakko seems ANTAGONISTIC, it’s hard to call them evil. We still have very little idea of their goals, other than being a hardened society bent on survival. Is it conquest, control, or simply another facet of their difficult existence? Is Amenth controlling or is Arakko using a tool? Summoner’s ability to call these demons makes it murky, and the masked figure of Annihilation further complicates things. I wish we could be more explicit, but it’s really just all up in the air to an extent. I enjoyed this issue as another tale, but it seems like something that will truly be complete with further installments.

RS: As we wrap up, I’m wondering Chris, what are your thoughts on the event as a whole so far? We’re about halfway through, and we know a lot less, and the plot has moved a lot less than I thought would be the case by now. But I have to say: I’m really, really enjoying the way the story has moved overall. I’ve loved each Sword Fetch Quest, and I’ve enjoyed the slow burn as we near the tournament. 

CE: Well, I think the plot that we’re getting is really exciting characterwise, with these interested snippets of Arakkoan history to sort of fill in the gaps. Issues like this one, New Mutants, and Excalibur give some really cool and necessary pathos as we move into the second phase of the event. I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit. This is the first event spinning out of Dawn of X and so far I’m here for it.

X-Traneous Thoughts

• The Starlight Sword looks RAD. I love the asymmetrical starburst guard.
• Poor, poor alternate universe Jubilee :c
• Honestly I’m maddest about that because her shades were the coolest. She should’ve been allowed to live!
• Something about the way Captain Britain Rictor and Captain Britain Gambit were standing makes me want to see them kiss. 
• I’m shocked by this, Charlie. Shocked.
• I am going to be thinking about each individual sword bearer v. sword bearer match up like its wrestling. I hope Isca and Besty have a romantic deathmatch. 
• Apocalypse’s Sword is forged from beating the royal vanguard of the Uhari, who are an aquatic Atlantean race that first appeared in Hickman’s Fantastic Four run.
• Gorgon is just vibing this whole issue and it’s great.
• The ancient council scene with Arakko and Krakoa is so neat. Two big faces!
• Glad to see Asrar on art. I thought his Genesis was incredibly cool.
• Krakoan reads CHAMPIONS