In Review: Excalibur #21

Synopsis: This month on Excalibur. RICTOR HATES PARTIES. Even the nice ones. And with Captain Britain’s return to a changed world, this one is looking to be not so nice. Excalibur’s Earth-shattering HELLFIRE GALA issue will change Krakoan diplomacy forever.

The Story

Letting their hair down after much turmoil. The Excalibur team attend a celebratory bash in their honor. However, not all of team Excalibur are pleased to be there. Richthor who is still establishing himself as Apocalypse’s replacement in terms of magical dealings feels really unhappy with all the fanfare and isn’t making a secret of it. But Richtor’s foul mood is the least of Excaliburs problems.

Among the guest is the former leader of MI13 Pete Wisdom who has some urgent news for Betsy Braddock aka Captain Britain. Seemingly while she has been recovering from her ordeal with Miss Malice. Coven Akkaba has made plans and is about to execute them. Just as Pete Wisdom begins to fully warn Betsy. In walks the Covens leader Brousseau who has dire news about the alliance between Great Britain and Krakoa. Moreover, the coven is about free a huge threat to both Krakoa and Great Britain. A threat, which Betsy and Excalibur thought that they’d managed to contain.

Artwork

Markus To continues to bring his best to the artwork. I loved the panels in which Pete Wisdom was filling Betsy in on what Akkaba has been up to. I particularly liked the green colour wash that was used for the flashback sequences in which we see the coven meetings. Additionally, the artist does a great job of capturing the overall mood of the party. Overall some solid work.

Overall

Excalibur continues to present us with some great plot twists and they continue in this issue. I loved how the writer Tini Howard managed to capture a mood of complacency amongst most of Excalibur’s members. She made clever use of Richtor’s foul mood to get the others rallying around to try and lift his spirits. This was clever writing in that it created a sort of complacency, which allowed the entrance of the Akkaba contingent to make an impact.

Overall. A great issue, which looks to be bringing things full circle.

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