Title Page
"Save the Life of My Child, Part 4"
by Chris Claremont and Aaron Lopresti
Synopsis: Charles Xavier steps out of a helicopter and returns to his hooch where his pilot, Carmen Pryde, excitedly states that they’re a day from leaving the place. Carmen picks up a letter from his fiancée and asks Charles to be his best man. The room’s third resident, Wolverine, reports that Xavier re-upped for another tour, so won’t be able to make it. Carmen says that he’ll stay too, which Charles disagrees. Wolverine also reports that Moira left Xavier, which was the reason for the re-enlistment. Carmen again says that he’s going to stay which gets Xavier upset at both of them. Dr. Strange interrupts the scene, intrigued at where Xavier’s psyche is allowing this to go.
On a beach, Xavier asks Strange what the point is, as he wants help treating the Scarlet Witch. Strange tells him that she would likely be hiding in the places of his psyche that he’s not willing to go. Wanda comes up to Xavier, challenging him to catch her, and then runs off. Again, Strange tells him that if he wants to help her, he has to heal his own guilts to prevent her from using them to keep him away. Carmen interrupts the scene briefly as Xavier recounts to Strange his daughter, Kitty, and his eventual death in Genosha. The scene is broken up as a soldier approaches Xavier, saying the general wants to speak to him.
The general, Nick Fury, and C.I.A. representative Scott Summers report that his new mission is to seek out Magneto and the Scarlet Witch and eliminate them. Xavier thinks that Magneto is doing this, as he is afraid of himself and desperate. On a helicopter, heading for the mission, Xavier recounts Magneto’s history in the Nazi death camps, just before a dinosaur shoots them out of the sky near Wundagore Mountain. Xavier and Strange push on, finding themselves in the ravaged town of Vinnitsa, which Magneto destroyed to avenge the death of his daughter. They move on to the hut where Magda Lehnsherr gave birth to Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Thinking that they need to move faster, Strange casts a spell to move them closer to their goal, before they are separated by an attacking Dormammu.
Further down a tunnel, Xavier is haunted by a reflection of Cassandra Nova, whom he opens fire on before seeing a vision of Gabrielle Haller. Xavier pulls away from her, feeling guilt over his actions years ago in Israel where he used his powers to make her care for him. She forgives him and the two part as Xavier hears music by Scubert, whom he and Gabrielle both recall hearing in their pasts. He arrives in a lab where he is greeted by Sinister, who rambles on about how their histories interact. Xavier disperses the vision and finds Magneto reading to Scarlet Witch. Magneto disassembles Xavier’s gun, but after they speak about his demons, Magneto reassembles it. Xavier refuses to shoot him, saying that he has to earn his peace.
Xavier emerges from the vision back in Genosha where he and Dr. Strange speak over what they have seen. They both agree that with the powers at stake, anything is possible…even redemption.
Review: This review is going to be short and sweet, as there was not much to recount about this issue. From the cover and the build-up, you’d think the issue would be about Xavier and Strange trying and failing to treat the Scarlet Witch (as they talk about in House of M #1), but instead we’re given a confusing, cut-up psychic vision starting with the history of Xavier, going into the history of Magneto and the Scarlet Witch, and throwing in Nick Fury, Carmen Pryde, Wolverine, Cyclops and Dormammu for flavor. Actually, it’s a nice symbol of Excalibur as a whole…lots of things thrown together where they don’t belong, leaving readers scratching their heads as to the point. If you were wondering, nothing was done to help the Scarlet Witch in this issue.
A little bit of retconning was done, as it appears that the war Xavier fought in was Vietnam, not Korea as it was originally written in the 60s. That takes a little less than 20 years off of Xavier’s age and makes it more believable in today’s world. Of course, that is botched when Gabrielle Haller talks of surviving the Nazi death camps. Ah well, you win some, you lose some. I also questioned the presence of Carmen Pryde. His appearance here would point that it was a little bit of truth to it…which botches his first appearance back in Uncanny X-Men #129 where he and Xavier obviously meet for the first time. The sad part is both were written by Chris Claremont.
Lopresti’s art was as solid as usual, despite that he had three inkers on the book. Unlike some other titles, this one apparently couldn’t be delayed, as it was the prelude to House of M. You really don’t need it, though. Anything this book says can be brushed off as a mental scenario, and no real plot development for House of M came about.
So there we end this run of Excalibur. Can’t say I’m going to miss it. See you all in November for New Excalibur. Here’s hoping the book’s better than the title!