In Review: Excalibur (2019-) #5

Synopsis: Locked in her mysterious coffin, Rogue dreams. Meanwhile, Apocalypse performs a ritual and the throne of power changes hands. The reign of mutant-kind reaches the Otherworld at last.

Review: Things come to a head between Gambit and Apocalypse as Rogues fate hangs in the balance.

The Story

As Rictor saves Gambit from being buried underground while they escape from some beardy druids. Betsy in her new role as Captain Britain is pulling escort duty in order to get Pete Wisdom safely to his apartment and to relative safety from the slew of monsters that are coming in from Morgan Le Fay’s otherworld.

While all of this is going on. Rogue is beginning to realize that the dream world in which she is currently in is sending her instructions on how to wake up. We later learn that Apocalypse deliberately put Rogue into a deep sleep, which is something that Gambit was not too pleased about. Suffice to say it winds up being all part of a ritual that Apocalypse has had planned.

The Artwork

Marcus To gets to deliver some great panels for this issue. I loved the fairytale nature of the dreamworld that Rogue was in and all of the clever little visual clues that were within those panels, which lead her back to a conscious state. The closing battle between Rogue and Apocalypse is really dramatic and very well drawn. I also enjoyed the panels in which we see Betsy as Captain Britain protecting Pete Wisdom as they head to his apartment so he can pick up a few things.

Overall

Tim Howard’s storytelling in this issue leads us down a few twists and turns, which proved to be rather enjoyable. Although the reveal at the end that Apocalypse’s motivations are not quite as selfless as he was making out was a tad predictable, it was just a matter of finding out what his plan was and it gets revealed to some extent in the final few pages of this issue.

Overall. This was a pretty enjoyable issue. Although I will admit to having had a little trouble following at times due to the fact that my head is still a little foggy with a cold and so forth.