Excalibur #61
“Truth and Cons-equence”
Writer and pencils: Alan Davis
Inks: Mark Farmer
Colours: Glynis Oliver
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Original publication date: January 1993
Gosh Golly Wow Returns! And so does Rachel Summers! Sort of! All that and the pod’s most anticipated guest of all-time, writer and founder of the Phoenix Force Fan Club, (as featured in Excalibur #51), Jason Grey! We talk (natch) lots of Rachel and Phoenix, and work through lots of complicated feelings about Galactus’ pro-life politics. Plus! Meggan and Brian get engaged, Kurt gives some advice we didn’t love, and Kitty and Feron have a meet-cute…? We don’t cover quite as many permutations of time and space as this cosmos-spanning comic, but close!
On the symbolism of the Phoenix:
“I love the life, death, rebirth nature of the Phoenix, and the symbolism of second chances—you can always come back and try again.” -Jason
On Rachel's characterization:
“I liked that Rachel was a character who was still trying to figure out who she was, while still being very confident.” -Jason
On Phoenix Force Fan Club:
“I had my Phoenix Force fan club letter printed in Excalibur #51… at which point Rachel promptly left the book for ten issues. Even though it’s not quite her—I was so thrilled to have her back.” -Jason
On cosmic battles:
“They go out of their way to say there’s no atmosphere on the planet, so there’s no sound effects to interfere with the beautiful splash pages.” -Jason
On pro-life Galactus:
“This language about the sea of life yet unborn… and the idea that eliminating potential babies is a greater crime than what Galactus does… whether the story intended it or not, this is the philosophy of pro-life-ism. Potential life is more valuable than people who already exist. And that burden is placed on a powerful woman as a punishment for her power. There’s a deeply anti-feminist reading of this scene that makes me very uncomfortable.” -Anna
On the proposal:
“My critique of the Brian and Meggan plot is encapsulated by the proposal, where Brian is like, ‘I’m a broken person and I can never offer you the attention you deserve but I don’t want to be alone so marry me anyway.’ And Meggan’s like, ‘yeah, sure!’ Brian’s words are all about himself; nothing about Meggan.” -Andrew
“I’m more generous on the proposal than Andrew is, only because this is a by-the-number soap opera/rom-com proposal from the era in question. I’ve seen Meg Ryan receive this speech a dozen times. And she always says yes.” -Mav
On romance:
“Davis does a lot of work with the art to sell us on the engagement. Brian is gaze-y and vulnerable, and it’s probably the most sexy-romantic moment Brian and Meggan have had. Previously, Meggan’s most romantic moments have involved Kurt.” -Anna
On Kurt and Brian being bros:
“I get where Davis is trying to go with this scene—Kurt and Brian have matured and can talk about stuff now without competing. But they’re still talking to each other about Meggan rather than talking to Meggan. Kurt has still never had a conversation with Meggan about any of this.” -Anna
On Kitty and Feron:
“I think the scene with Kitty & Feron is well done because it’s not forced. Everyone has those moments in life where you realize—wait, I’m talking about someone else, to someone else, but I’m actually talking about myself.” -Jason
Want more Jason Grey?
Find Jason on Twitter (@Foenix).
Plus! Check out all Jason’s fab writing on horror movies and other nerdy things, plus podcasts old and new, at the website triskaidekafiles.com!
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