Excalibur #89
“Easy Tiger”
Writer: Warren Ellis
Pencils: David Williams
Inks: Mike Miller, Mike Christian & Philip Moy
Colours: Joe Rosas & Digital Chameleon
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Editors: Suzanne Gaffney & Bob Harras
Original publication date: September 1995
We’ve got one by the proverbial tail in Excalibur #89, “Easy Tiger,” in which returning guest, comics and pop culture scholar Nicole Freim, helps us peel back Pete Wisdom’s battered trench coat to reveal… a guy who might be more of an asshole than John Constantine? But hey, his hot knives are cool, and that’s enough for Kitty Pryde to almost kiss him with her lips in the laboratory of Black Air’s top-secret base for aliens and general weirdness. Plus! Amanda smooches Kurt and everybody hates Rory who hates Spoor.
On tropes:
“Progression of the enemies-to-lovers trope seemed, to me… let’s just say awfully quick.” -Nicole
On unflattering comparisons:
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Pete Wisdom actually seems like *more* of a jerk than John Constantine? Or at least a different flavour of jerk.” -Nicole
On growing up:
“At this time, Kitty had 25 years of comics where she was a child placed in adult situations. Here, she’s an adult for the first time. The conflict with Pete has nothing to do with her ‘childishness.’” -Mav
On super-symbolism:
“I liked the metaphorical use of Kitty’s powers—the way Pete appreciates Kitty in part by appreciating the power of phasing.” -Andrew
On Amanda Sefton, who's just like us:
“Amanda Sefton is like an adjunct professor. She doesn’t make enough money as a superhero so she’s got to supplement her income with two other jobs.” -Mav
On visual symbolism:
“The connection between the characters, who are switching roles throughout this scene, is visually evoked by the way the laser grid changes and binds them together.” -Anna
On The New Meggan:
“In this era of Excalibur, every issue is a backdoor pilot for a new version of Meggan.” -Andrew
Want more Nicole Freim?
You can find her writing about superheroes and pop culture lots of places, but most recently, she penned the chapter “Superman vs. The Soap Opera: The Success of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” in the book Adapting Superman: Essays on the Transmedia Man of Steel! Edited by past guest John Darowksi with additional essays by Anna and Mav.
And! You should definitely check out the recent Voxpopcast episode “Pour Some Gritty on It!” about gritty re-imaginings, and “Eating the Rich! (on film)” discussing recent films with villains hailing from the one percent, including The Menu.
And as usual:
You can find Anna on Twitter (@peppard_anna) and at Sequential Scholars (@seqscholars).
You can find Andrew on Twitter (@ClaremontRun) and at Sequential Scholars.
You can find Mav on Twitter (@chrismaverick) and on his podcast, VoxPopcast (@VoxPopcast).
Enjoy!
-GGW Team