Excalibur #7
“Goblin Morn”
Writer: Chris Claremont
Pencils/Plotting: Alan Davis
Inks: Paul Neary
Colours: Glynis Oliver
Lettering: Tom Orzechowski and Augustin Mas
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Original Publication date: April 1989
In this episode, Anna, Mav, and Andrew are joined by film and comics scholar and self-professed Kitty Pryde fanboy Matt Linton (@ABoyCalledMonk) of The Kino Club 313 Blog for another day in the Inferno, discussing Excalibur #7, “Goblin Morn.” We celebrate Kurt’s healthy flirting with a (non-binary?) animate gargoyle, and talk Kitty as Final Girl/Cool Girl/Mary Sue, along with BDSM fashion and why throwing random ingredients and the recipe book into a fire doesn’t usually make a cake (unless you’re Nightcrawler).
This episode has an enhanced video version! Watch here:
On Excalibur’s relationship to the "Inferno" event:
“It’s fitting for Excalibur to be on the fringes of Inferno, dealing with ramifications. Because that’s how the team was founded—dealing with ramifications of bigger X-Men crises.” -Anna
“Inferno is at least 50% event as setting. Once you have hell on earth as a premise, you can bring in any character you want, without getting too hung up on who’s doing what where.” -Matt
On the appeal of Nightcrawler as an identification character:
“I like Kurt as a character who tends to react to adventure with ‘cool we’re going on an adventure.’ Kurt’s all-in, and that makes him model enthusiasm for the reader.”-Andrew
More Nightcrawler identification:
“One of the things that always drew me to Nightcrawler is that he’s a character who’s physically different. He’s the character who can’t hide, and at a certain point, chooses not to. That’s what I always responded to. He’s a character who’s willing to exist as he is, and be who he is.”-Matt
On Kurt’s defining acceptance:
“The relationship with the gargoyle signals the crux of Kurt’s character. Kurt is willing to give you humanity through the simple fact of you stating your humanity.” -Mav
On Kurt Wagner’s sexual chemistry:
Anna: “Did we read the gargoyle as male or female and does it matter?”
Matt: “Kurt’s a bit like Oscar Isaac—he has sexual chemistry with everyone.”
On Kitty Pryde as horror movie Final Girl:
“Typically, the horror movie Final Girl defeats the monster by taking on a symbolically phallic role. The last confrontation is her taking the sword and slicing Brian open.” -Mav
More Final Girl thoughts:
“Kitty is an innocent victim character who also has the symbolic attribute of being invincible. She’s both ideal and imperfect as a final girl because she can’t really be hurt. Unless you change the rules, so they do.”-Andrew
More Final girl thoughts:
“One of the conventions of the Final Girl is that they’re initially less sexualized, but become more so, because the threat is a sexual threat. Kitty’s confrontations with Brian mirror that.”-Matt
On Brian's climactic fashion:
Anna: “Compared to Havok’s Goblin Prince outfit… this is more. A lot more.”
Andrew: “Or less.”
Plus! Our friend @HallofGeekdom made some wonderful “Mojoverse posters” inspired by this issue/episode!
Want more?
For more on what Matt Linton gets up to, you can find him on Twitter (@ABoyCalledMonk) and at The Kino Club 313 Blog. And be sure to check out his essay “Blood and Fire: Monstrous Women in Carrie and the ‘Dark Phoenix Saga’” appearing in Gender and Contemporary Horror in Comics, Games and Transmedia.
Also mentioned on the pod:
Andrew’s work on “The Dark Phoenix Saga,” including the Sequart article “Ever to Ashes: The Unadaptable Nature of the Dark Phoenix Saga.”
Andrew talking about Kitty Pryde (and lots of other fab things!) on the Professor Latinx videocast.
You can read more about Carol Clover’s seminal book Men, Women, and Chainsaws there and here.
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