Excalibur #111
“Broken Vows”
Writer: Ben Raab
Pencils: Rob Stotz
Inks: Scott Koblish
Colours: Kevin Tinsely
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Editors: Matt Idelson & Paul Tutrone
Original Publication date: August 1997
This week, we’re still in Hong Kong, doing dinner and drinking in between crying in the rain and throwing emotional and physical knives at our friends in Excalibur #111, “Broken Vows.” Actor and aspiring comics scholar Chapman Blake is here to help us understand all the dramatic choices and wow us all into speechlessness with his reparative reading of Brian and Meggan’s relationship. Also featuring the hotly anticipated return of Ogun and the almost certainly equally hotly anticipated return of famous ladies man and shopping enthusiast Rory Campbell!
On dinner and secrets:
“So many great stories start with this premise—a bunch of people having dinner, with secrets slowly coming out.” -Chapman
On confidence:
“Reading this, I was suddenly like—oh, I get what this is, it’s a writer who’s not confident in his own writing.” -Anna
On locations:
“’Why are we still in Hong Kong’ is a metaphor for everything I feel about this entire issue.” -Mav
On volatility:
“We ended the last issue with Brian and Meggan kissing, with Meggan saying she can wait forever. Now she’s ready to hurl his engagement ring off a building. It’s only been a week.” -Mav
On Meggan and Brian:
“To me, Brian and Meggan are emblematic of a lot of ‘greatest generation,’ baby boomer relationships… for good and bad.” -Chapman
On Meggan:
“Meggan is one of several characters that I read as being on the spectrum. She reminds me a lot of me growing up, using TV and other media to supplement the social knowledge she tends to lack.” -Chapman
On agency:
“I don’t like how this is using Ogun to give Pete Wisdom a big hero moment, while Kitty has zero agency.” -Anna
Want more Chapman Blake?
Chapman Blake is an actor and fledgling comics scholar, currently based in Dallas/Fort Worth. Some of his former credits include Judd Fry in the world premiere of the official concert of Oklahoma! The Musical from the Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation, as well as many Dallas Fort Worth regional premiere performances, such as Peter and the Starcatcher and Priscilla! Queen of the Desert. His interest in comics has recently blossomed from a simple hobby into a full blown passion for the world of comics scholarship, and he hopes to continue this pursuit by obtaining a sociology master’s in the near future.
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