Excalibur #21
“Crusader X”
Writer: Chris Claremont
Pencils: Chris Wozniak
Inks: Al Milgrom
Colours: Bran Vancata
Letters: Tom Orzechowski
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Original publication date: April 1990
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][/et_pb_code][et_pb_button button_url=”https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/8601/excalibur_1988_21″ url_new_window=”on” button_text=”marvel unlimited link” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”14px” button_text_color=”#FFFFFF” button_bg_color=”#ef00db” button_border_width=”8px” button_border_color=”RGBA(255,255,255,0)” button_letter_spacing=”2px” button_font=”Nunito|700||on|||||” button_use_icon=”off” custom_margin=”30px|||” animation_style=”slide” animation_direction=”right” animation_intensity_slide=”5%” animation_starting_opacity=”100%” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”0px” box_shadow_vertical=”25px” box_shadow_blur=”45px” box_shadow_color=”rgba(148,166,191,0.25)” global_colors_info=”{}” button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”][/et_pb_button][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”My Books Section” _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_margin=”23px|||||” custom_padding=”100px||100px|” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_margin=”-78px|auto||auto||” custom_padding=”||0px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||7px|||” global_colors_info=”{}”]Anna, Mav, and Andrew are joined by Dr. Martin Zeller-Jacques to tackle Excalibur #21, “Crusader X,” which Mav describes as “definitely, technically a comic.” The players and pencils are new, but the plot is intentionally—though not always enjoyably—familiar, as we revisit Rachel revisiting her trauma (again) in an issue that restages the Dark Phoenix Saga with new masterminds (but also the same old Mastermind). We also talk serialization, sexy Pietàs, and the further transformations of Nigel Frobisher, and unanimously declare evil Iron Man the best part of the issue. Plus, how a poster in the Albany Public Library ignited a lifetime love of comics!
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]This episode has an enhanced video version! Watch here:
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_video src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ6CxtkSPGM&list=PLAu_opnK2VxtQMOfDFgKQvxpRxwZToYIO&index=23" _builder_version="4.14.7" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"][/et_pb_video][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.14.5" _module_preset="default" custom_margin="26px|auto||auto||" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.14.5" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_blurb title="On the promising set-up:" image="https://voxpopcast.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/21_opening-splash.jpg" _builder_version="4.14.7" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"]“I think this issue does a good job of setting up the world you’re in. A continuity comic asks its reader to do a lot of work – to know a lot of stuff coming in. A comic introducing a new world relieves some of that burden. We get an immediate sense of Crusader X’s ideology and place in the world.” -Martin
[/et_pb_blurb][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.14.5" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.14.5" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_blurb title="On Sat-yr-Courtney’s evolving villainy:" image="https://voxpopcast.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/21_kitty-and-courtney.jpg" _builder_version="4.14.7" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"]“I like that we’re drawing attention to the trope of characters being re-dressed in comics, and instead of not commenting on it at all, being like ‘holy crap, someone re-dressed me, this is creepy as hell, what does this mean, I gotta get out of here.’” -Andrew
[/et_pb_blurb][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.14.5" _module_preset="default" custom_margin="-16px|auto||auto||" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.14.5" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_blurb title="On the further transformations of Nigel:" image="https://voxpopcast.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/21_nigel-vixen.jpg" _builder_version="4.14.7" _module_preset="default" custom_padding="0px|||||" global_colors_info="{}"]“We’ve discussed Nigel previously as perhaps having some type of queer desire, though the nature of it remains unclear – we’re not sure whether his transformations relate to sex, gender, or sexuality. I’m not sure transforming him into Vixen builds very productively on that.” -Anna
[/et_pb_blurb][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.14.5" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.14.5" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_blurb title="On Wozniak’s limitations:" image="https://voxpopcast.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/21_wozniak-kurt.jpg" _builder_version="4.14.7" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"]“I don’t think there’s any getting around the further you get from either a lantern-jawed, traditional male hero or a sexy lady in a revealing outfit, the weaker Wozniak’s penciling seems to be. Excalibur is mostly women, plus Nightcrawler, who doesn’t have a stereotypically super-masculine body. So, he does his worst work on most of the main characters in this series.” -Martin
“Something about the weight of Wozniak’s style, and the squareness and the blockiness of his style… I do see him really struggling with both the quite character moments and also the unique physicality of a character like Nightcrawler.” -Anna
[/et_pb_blurb][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.14.5" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.14.5" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_blurb title="On re-traumatizing Rachel:" image="https://voxpopcast.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/21_jean-and-rachel.jpg" _builder_version="4.14.7" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"]“Having Rachel continually interacting with the Phoenix saga motivates the question of: ‘why is Rachel here’? If one of the foundational tenants of the X-Men world is that the Phoenix force is too powerful to exist, that’s an important question. And it’s not clear that Rachel herself has a good answer. Having her re-experience the fate of the previous Phoenix may be trying to address that question of – ‘what is the role of the Phoenix in this space’”? -Martin
[/et_pb_blurb][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.14.5" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}" custom_padding="||77px|||"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.14.5" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_blurb title="On unproductive Pietàs:" image="https://voxpopcast.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/21_pieta.jpg" _builder_version="4.14.7" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"]“Having this much sexualized exposure, in this particular moment, in this particular way (note the individual flames emanating from Rachel’s breasts), is maybe not the most productive choice to visualize the emotional crux of this issue.” -Anna
[/et_pb_blurb][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]If you’re so inclined: you can read up about Wozniak’s goals for the book, from a then-contemporary interview!
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src="https://voxpopcast.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/wozniak-interview-1.jpg" _builder_version="4.14.7" _module_preset="default" title_text="wozniak interview 1" hover_enabled="0" sticky_enabled="0"][/et_pb_image][et_pb_image src="https://voxpopcast.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/wozniak-interview-2.jpg" _builder_version="4.14.7" _module_preset="default" title_text="wozniak interview 2" hover_enabled="0" sticky_enabled="0"][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="4.14.5" _module_preset="default" custom_margin="-48px|auto||auto||" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="4.14.5" _module_preset="default" global_colors_info="{}"][et_pb_team_member name="Want more Martin Zeller-Jacques?" image_url="https://voxpopcast.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/21_literature-and-adaptation.jpg" _builder_version="4.14.7" _module_preset="default" link_option_url="https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/A+Companion+to+Literature%2C+Film%2C+and+Adaptation-p-9781118312049" link_option_url_new_window="on" global_colors_info="{}"]Visit him seaside, or find him on Twitter (@MZacques)!
And! Read his writing on X-Men! His book chapter “Adapting the X-Men: Comic-Book Narratives in Film Franchises” is included in A Companion to Literature, Film, and Adaptation.
[/et_pb_team_member][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.14.5″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-107px|||||” custom_padding=”80px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.14.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.14.5″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.5″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-63px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”]And as usual:
You can find Anna on Twitter (@peppard_anna) and on her podcast with Andrew and Michael Hancock, Three Panel Contrast (@3PanelContrast).
You can find Andrew on Twitter (@ClaremontRun).
You can find Mav on Twitter (@chrismaverick) and on his podcast, VoxPopcast (@VoxPopcast).
Enjoy!
-GGW Team
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