I may not have given Excalibur a try at first but as someone who wasn't keeping up with the book before, I can say that now is a good place to start. Tini Howard handles the characters well and injects a tone that makes following the team fun. Even without being a fantasy buff, you can tell that each member fills a specific role and they are definitely about to embark on an epic quest. My only issue is that the plot doesn't really give Marcus To's art anything to do. If the last few pages are any indication, however, it will have its chance to shine as the team moves forward. Read Full Review

I love seeing Excalibur being able to support each other in their time of loss. Even when disagreeing, they can find ways to continue together. By the end, we see them forming a stronger unit with the beautiful flow of their powers coming together. Meggan joining this lineup is absolutely exciting to me, as I have been a long time fan of this character. Im really looking forward to what this creative team has planned for her and with the fun cliffhanger, the direction of the team in Reign of X. Read Full Review

The result is an accessible collection of characters with more than a dozen hooks to excite readers about what may come next. Read Full Review

That said, even though the path seemed obvious, the issue just didn't have enough excitement, intrigue, or pizzazz to keep me hooked. It was unfortunately rather flat and cluttered with dialogue. EXCALIBUR #16 may be a perfect spot for new readers to hop on board but they're going to have to give this series a ton of time. Overall, if you're invested in EXCALIBUR, you'll tune in this week to see where your favorites are after X OF SWORDS. Otherwise, this may not be the week to give it a try. Read Full Review

While I dont know if this issue is necessarily a good jumping-on point for those not already following the story in progress, its a promising start for this new arc that gives the team something meaningful to do, hopefully culminating in the full return of a de-shattered Betsy. Marcus Tos art also continues to be a lovely asset, with whimsical visuals that help sell Excaliburs place in the Krakoa saga. And again, Gambit in a crop top. Cant go wrong with that. Read Full Review

Excalibur #16 uses classic storytelling while finding fresh directions to take these characters in. Read Full Review

As far as single issues go, this one is very much a groundwork laying one, which Howard does well. Several interesting mysteries are presented and the character work done was much-needed. Read Full Review

Good post event setup for future of the title. Maggie Braddock is the best.

Colours (as with most Hickman X books) are amazing

This is pretty much a reset issue for Excalibur; setting up the mystery of what happened to the Betsy Braddock of Earth 616; showing the fallout of X Of Swords and how it affected the team. Hopefully Rogue and Gambit will become more prominent as the series progresses. They are still lacking in this series. But Rictor continues to be an interesting protagonist and I like how he starts taking lead of the team here.

The team draws itself together and goes hunting for 616 Betsy, with only Rictor feeling any real regret for also losing Apocalypse. Very pretty art, a solid pace, and intriguing plot developments are the positives for me. It's a pretty wordy comic, though, and some of the character voices sound "off."

Don't want, NEED more Maggie Braddock

I've been fairly critical of this series, but I enjoyed this issue. It had good character bits and felt more connected to the rest of the X-line than most titles.

It's difficult to pick up where an event left off, but I think Excalibur is on the right track. Extra points for including Blob, it was a nice call back to X-Tremists.

The story was a bit slow, but enjoyable.

Art 4/5
Story 3/5

A little slow.

Excalibur
Volume: 4, Issue: 16
“They Keep Killing Braddocks”

Publisher: Marvel @marvel
Writer: Tini Howard @tinihoward
Artist: Marcus To @marcusanthonyto
Colors: Erick Arciniega @erick.arciniega
Letters: Ariana Maher
Cover: Mahmud Asrar @mahmudasrar & Matthew Wilson

The tournament between Arakko has concluded. The team of Excalibur struggle to deal with the loss of Betsy Braddock and contact X-Factor in hopes of her resurrection by the Five. Unsatisfied with their results, Excalibur heads to Otherworld to investigate the mystery surrounding Betsy's supposed demise. Aided by Meggan, Rictor is able to cast a spell from Apocalypse’s grimoire and summons forth the Captain Britain Corps and enlists their aid.
Elsewhere, restored by an unknown matter, Betsy Braddock suddenly awakens before Warren. But the question is, is she the true Betsy? As prior, Jamie Braddock called upon a favor of Mr. Sinister to deliver him a clone body.

Jamie never specified that he wanted Betsy from Sinister, we’re just left to assume it was. I’m curious if it’s that simple of if he has something more grand at play here. Going forward I hope to see more of Maggie Braddock, she cracks me up. I love the artistic design of Captain Avalon. I would totally read a solo title.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5)
Reviewed by: @meanadam of The Comic Book Club of Instagram
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very mediocre writing, bunch of people talking terrible dialogues