What’s Covered?
New Excalibur # 4 - 8
Roster Watch
Synopsis
New Excalibur # 4 - 8: Lionheart, Black Tom, Shadow King
Writer - Chris Claremont
Pencils - Michael Ryan
We start off once more with Juggernaut on trial for damages, being defended by She-Hulk. This was a direct continuation of the "Trial of Juggernaut" arc from the Chuck Austen UXM run. It's worth mentioning that this is far from the first time Claremont has taken an idea from Chuck Austen and ran with it (an approach I'm ok with since I'm one of the few X-Men fans who supports Chuck Austen.) Pete Wisdom is able to get Juggernaut off the charges.
PW is convincing Sage to keep this new team (Pete, Sage, Juggs, Nocturne, Cap Britain, Dazzler) together. This early arc kicks off three plotlines, none of which are interesting: The WarWolves attacking, an attack by Lionheart, and Courtney Ross once again hitting on Brian. Ok, I'm somewhat entertained by Courtney getting Brian riled up.
We'll start with the Warwolves (sigh). This is a continuation from the first two issues of the original Excalibur run. The Warwolves are creatures from another dimension that kill humans and then wear their skin. The original arc ended in it's typically whimsy fashion with the Warwolves on display in a zoo. Here they escape and start attacking MI13 & Excalibur (everyone but Captain Britain).
What was Cap up to? I'm glad you asked. I briefly covered in my Captain Britain crash course how he got his powers. To make a long story short, Merlin (a powerful sorcerer from another dimension) gave him a chance to choose between the sword or amulet. The amulet represents a more passive approach and that's why Merlin endowed Brian with the powers of Captain Britain. However, not everyone chose the amulet. Kelsey Leigh, a female version of this power, going by Lionheart was currently with the Avengers. She was joined by a new character/villain named Albion who also chose the sword. It's unclear at this point why they choose to attack Brian, but he's wigging out about how strong Albion is.
Meanwhile, we get some check ins with Dazzler. It's made clear that she's broke and while she keeps getting offers to be famous again, she chooses her more simple life. The series also continues to ramp up the questions about how she survived 90 minutes without oxygen. Hmm, is she immortal now!? While several members of New Excalibur visit her local show, it's clear that Juggernaut has deep feelings for her. I actually loved this as it harks back to UXM # 217 when Dazzler thinks she needs to fight Juggernaut but learns that he's a big fan!
Later we learn about a British family of Superheroes who had a tragic end on M Day. Most of the family was flying in the air holding civilians when they were suddenly rendered powerless and crashed to the ground killing themselves and the civilians. Later, the last remaining member of the family blows up a train claiming this is the first of many attacks.
Meanwhile, Black Tom partners with Black Air and attacks Excalibur, frees the Shadow X-Men, and kills Dazzler (but don't worry, she makes it out alive). During this battle, Juggs is tricked with a Sammy Pare doppleganger, ANOTHER Chuck Austen reference. I actually got a little confused about this because at the same time evil Xavier attacks Sage and it might be that he was behind it all? Or did Black Tom stage the hijack? Or was it Black Air? Regardless, Black Tom is not grotesque anymore as M Day cured him, yet curiously left his magic staff working (don't ask).
There is a REALLY cool scene where Black Air double crosses Black Tom (shocker) and then he freaks out and holds a young girl hostage. Juggernaut talks to him alone and gives an amazing speech about doing what's right and in the end Black Tom walks out on his own ready to go with the authorities.
The final arc focuses more on Evil Xavier. It turns out that the Shadow King was behind this all along. You might recall that Psylocke confronts the Shadow King during Psi War (in X-Men V2 #78, published in August 1998.) In this issue, she battles him on the astral plane, ultimately trapping him within her mind. This act renders her unable to use her telepathic abilities without risking his release. Well, when she was killed in X-Treme X-Men # 3, that freed the Shadow King. He then went to another reality to find a different version of the X-Men that he could corrupt and bring over to Earth 616.
Shadow Xavier uses Ali pretending to want to kiss Juggs to get him to take off his helmet, thus making him susceptible to his powers. This puts all of Excalibur under Shadow Xavier's control except for Cap and Psylocke. Ultimately, Psylocke uses her telekinesis to put a bubble in X’s mind, hurting the Shadow King. He's defeated, but I doubt this is the last we'll see of him.
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