Erik and Charles in comics canon, part 4

[ishtar79]

After the angst, betrayal and BDSM role-play of the last post comes the perfect antidote in the form of Excalibur V3, a 14-issue series that's a essentially a love letter to all Erik/Charles fans.


I'm skipping the nonsense that is the New X-Men Planet X storyline entirely, where writer Grant Morrison attempted to showcase how utterly unredeemable Magneto is by having him destroy much of New York (a city that's leveled with an alarming frequency in the Marvelverse), murder thousands of humans and send them to crematoriums (...stay classy, Morrison) and kill Jean Grey, only to be decapitated by Wolverine. Thankfully this was almost immediately retconned by having that “Magneto” actually be imposter alien Xorn, though the X-Men and the world at large are unaware of that detail.

Over everybody's protests, Charles goes to Genosha, which has been reduced to rubble by Charles evil twin sister (...oh, comics), to bury the body.




Again, context: Magneto is, at this point, the most wanted man in the world, everybody is out to get him, the X-Men were pissed at Charles for even providing him with a funeral, and as far as readers know, he's the psychopath who who did everything I described in the Planet X storyline. Which makes his unexpected appearance and Charles friendly greeting even more awesome.



And of course they wasted no time in resuming their chess game.




I don't know what I love more, Charles' delicate phrasing when referring to the whole supervillain thing or the Erik's violent and hot reaction at Xorn's actions being attributed to him. Which can totally be viewed as meta commentary expressing what Chris Claremont makes of that particular Morrison storyline (you know, the more old comics I read, the more I conclude that Claremont should always write those two).




I'm not even a fan of domestic fluff, but the sight of them preparing dinner together makes me ridiculously happy. I know they're having this whole discussion on the nature of mutation (...which the movie taught us is what Charles considers a come-on) and there are all these specters of Moira, Genosha, mindwipes and crucifixions hanging between them, but this is still basically curtain!fic.



Guys, THAT MIDDLE PANEL. The wine, the balcony, the sunset in the background...this reads as a date even without getting into the dialogue ( “I'm reading your body”-they are killing me here!).




You're not hallucinating things, that's a giant statue of Charles and Erik. It used to be just of Magneto the Genosha ruler, until Polaris, during a philosophical debate over “Magneto”'s body decided to prove a point to Charles by magnetically adding his face to it. Even Magneto's daughter kind of ships them!



And this is the part where they would probably move on to “dessert”, if not for the arrival of Callisto (former Morlock leader and Storm's secret girlfriend in my head) who is, let's put it midly, somewhat surprised by what she finds.



THE WORLD WOULD NEVER UNDERSTAND THEIR LOVE!

Eventually they calm Callisto down (maybe she hopes she'll get to watch), but the cockblocks keep happening in the form of psychic attacks and Moira's ghost .



How cute is Erik's concern and protectiveness? Anyway, the psychic attack is related to some plot-point I can't recall because honestly, plot? Not why I'm reading this series.




I think one of my favorite aspects of this, besides the obvious, is the humor. This is not a series that takes itself too seriously, and both Charles and Erik have more light-hearted moments than they've had in the comics in years.



Callisto is nice not to intrude on Couple's Scuba Diving.
In the water, they come across Karinda Shapandar, a human woman transformed into techno-organic mutant killing machine the Omega Sentinel. It goes without saying that they have very different ideas on how to deal with the situation.





I love that that they're still not seeing eye to eye, but that Charles' passion on the subject is enough to make Erik cast aside his reservations. They proceed to work together and manage to restore Karinda's psyche in an awesome sequence that includes Erik generating an MRI image underwater and demonstrating how they can do pretty much anything when they work together.




By Genosha law, this means they're now married.



Oh Charles, what poetry you have in your heart! Btw, “like the bookends of the same soul” should totally be the official Erik/Charles ship motto.

The thin plotlines continue to happen, when they're attacked by pirates (sadly, not of the space variety).



Erik's “Michael Xavier” fake identity is a running joke that will never get old!



The snark in this book continues to be marvelous, and pissy!Charles is my favourite Charles ever.




I'll just refrain from tacky remarks involving Claremontesque melodrama and heavy rain matching the mood. On a more serious note, Erik's reminiscences are foreshadowing the plot of the amazingly powerful limited series “Magneto Testament”, which is about his childhood and years in Auschwitz. I'd recommend it to anyone, though it goes without saying the subject matter is incredibly heavy.



Bwah! I can practically hear the distaste in Erik's voice when talking about fisticuffs. He misses having flunkies!



It's nice to see that sometime between all the fighting in the post-Apocalyptic setting, they took the time to acquire some proper wine glasses rather than the plebeian plastic ones they were using on their first date.



Everybody else is having a natural creeped out reaction at the world's most powerful telepath cracking mind control jokes, while Erik is all proud “that's my boyfriend!”. Also, out of all the great secondary characters in this book, Callisto is probably my favorite-she’s good at both pointing out the slash and providing the snarky commentary that keeps this from going into full Harlequin novel territory.



Callisto, honey, stop trying to apply earth logic to their relationship, it doesn't work.

Meanwhile, in the Avengers comic book, Magneto's daughter Wanda/the Scarlet Witch goes crazy and kills a bunch of her teammates. Feeling her distress, Magneto sweeps in and grabs her from under her teammates noses.

Charles is less than thrilled at this new development.



This whole page is made of pure win! Charles' facepalm at the helmet, Erik's casual mention of defying the laws of physics, Charles' “I can't leave you alone for one night!!!”...I'm thinking somebody's sleeping on the couch tonight.



To help Wanda, Charles enlists sorcerer supreme Doctor Strange. There's a whole issue of Charles in the telepathic plane where we learn lovely tidbits like the fact he mentally coerced Gabrielle Heller into having a relationship (I knew it!), until we eventually get to the most relevant scene, of what should be Charles and Erik's third breakup .



The book Erik is reading to Wanda is “The Once And Future King”. I don't know whether this being both Charles and Erik's favourite book started off in the comics and passed on to the movies, or the other way around, but either way it's nice to have some constants in their relationship in any universe.

Oh, right. Plot.




I know I should be sad and all, but I'm too busy at the “I can't believe this is canon” nature of the dialogue. Don't leave me! You're not the man I thought you were! Good Lord.



It's official, people, Magneto's driving force is LOVE. Charles is lucky it's the equally overdramatic and loquatious Stephen Strange listening to all this, rather than, say, the X-Men. There would be a lot more eye-rolling otherwise.

So yeah, this wraps up Excalibur, and leads to the House of M storyline, wherein Wanda creates an alternate reality where Magneto rules the world (at the urging of her inappropriately attached brother Pietro) and the whole things culminates in Wanda depowering most of the world's mutant population.

And just so I don't end this post on a sad note, here's a random scan from an X-Men holiday issue around the Excalibur era.



So Charles took enough of a break from happy coupledom to telepathically check in on the students he abandoned-that makes sense. Bringing Erik along for this...only makes sense if you accept they are a couple, and Charles wanted to watch the fireworks with his boyfriend.

Comments

[lilacsigil]

Man, I loved this (honestly kind of terrible) series SO MUCH! Charles and Erik hang out at their beach house and snark at each other and scare the kids! I could read that forever! It's very true that Erik and Wanda (and Pietro) are both seriously damaged people, though I think Wanda is in a better position to recover than her father is. And the generation after that seems to be doing pretty well!

I'm pretty sure the Once and Future King references started in the movieverse - I can't remember it ever being mentioned in the comics before this. Not even in the original Excalibur run!

[salinea]

squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Excalibur ♥ I'm usually not so fond of curtain fics but this is soooo delightful. The philosophical discussion and banter over dinner in the sunset, Erik's sweater of hotness ♥ it's just so ♥ ♥ ♥

I also really liked Callisto in this (have yet to come across her in anything else); and Karima.

murder thousands of humans and send them to crematoriums (...stay classy, Morrison)
Fuck you, Grant Morrison.

Oh Charles, what poetry you have in your heart! Btw, “like the bookends of the same soul” should totally be the official Erik/Charles ship motto.
The corniness is too delightful!

Charles wanted to watch the fireworks with his boyfriend.
awwwww :D

are you going to post more or is that the last of the series?

[senema82.livejournal.com]

I so do love this comic updates you posted.
Especially this one. Do you have any idea where I can still buy the comics? I tried to look for the Excalibur V3 saga but was somehow redirected to something else. Is this story already part of the House of M series?
Thanks for your posts and your help!

[marksykins.livejournal.com]

This is my favorite one so far.

[johnnash.livejournal.com]

Finally we've reached Excalibur. Thank you for mining all of the pages for the best parts and sharing them with everyone.

Every time I see them in their pajamas, I think of Futurama (I should help...but I am already in my pajamas), and I absolutely adore how the end of the series is Charles coming up with every excuse in the book for Erik's behavior. "No, seriously, he's a great person underneath it all. You just don't understand how love works, Stephen."

[belledewinter.livejournal.com]

God, I love these. They've been slashable for decades. ♥

[starrose]

omg I don't even KNOW where to start on commenting on all these! Everything is so perfectly canon WOW! LOL

“like the bookends of the same soul” should totally be the official Erik/Charles ship motto.

YES! Some sort of gif needs to be made with the movie and this quote.

[xue-lee.livejournal.com]

Oh my god, I love you so much.

Honestly, I wasn't even aware that Excalibur V3 even had a plot. I thought it was just a very flimsy excuse to write Erik/Charles fic because nothing else made much sense anyway.

[lolafeist.livejournal.com]

These updates are my happy place. You're amazing.

[lantean-drift.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing these - they're so awesome and it's so lovely to be a part of a fandom that welcomes new fans with 'here, look at the fantastic source material we have to play with' and wants to share the love.
Thank you!!
.xx.

[tellytubby101.livejournal.com]

I agree with ^lantean_drift. It's amazingly lovely that you're doing this, rehashing comic!canon to those unfamiliar with it (like me).

This is all incredibly eye-opening. I did not know comics could have as much slash potential as manga does, in all honesty. Though the costumes ahahaha I still can't quite get over Magneto's gear...

The dialogue here is all over-dramatic and hilarious and it's really great to see those domestic panels. :D How many more of these entries do you think you're going to make? :)

Anyway, thank you so much for your hard work! ♥

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I just...I don't even...what?

How is this so fantastic? Don't answer. The only answer are these awesome posts of yours with the commentary. I think the next time I go into my LCS I may have to pick up some X-Men. What would be your recs for somebody getting into it? Obviously my primary interest is Charles/Erik, but I like them in context. I still don't quite get all the relationships with their children, for instance.

Oh, and what is a secondary mutation, exactly?

I love, btw, how completely buff these two are. I keep thinking that for MacAvoy to transform himself into comics!Charles he doesn't only need the wheelchair (or not, depending on whether he's walking or not) and the lack of hair (which according to comicsverse he wouldn't have had at the time of the events of the movie anyway, right?) but that awesome physique that looks great in the tight black X tee-shirt. The two of them are so dang hot!

[sandoz-iscariot.livejournal.com]

I love how Morrison!Magneto was so awful and character-destroying that Marvel retconned that that shit immediately, like before he was even in the ground.

"Reading your body," "Haven't seen that fire in you for some time," "bookends of the same soul" good LORD they are married. They even have the "don't talk about your ex-girlfriend at dinner" arguments.

(and LOL tentacle!Callisto. Claremont, you got some kinks, man.)

[titti]

You know I read these when they came out and still have them, but I absolutely adore reading your version of it. *g*

[waterpulse.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for these posts, they're amazing! :D

[quantumdoll.livejournal.com]

They are so married, I can't stand it. All they need is an on-panel kiss, and even then I doubt anyone would be surprised. "The bookends of the same soul", that's just beautiful.

[xlikethenightx.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is *awesome*. Thank you immensely for this. :D And also for your commentary, which is love. <3333

And deargod, they really are canon, aren't they? Those sly old writers. Especially Claremont. Tipping all of us the wink in practically every frame. XDDD

[nightscale.livejournal.com]

By this point I am utterly convinced that 'playing chess' is just a euphamism with these two, they sure do play it a lot after all, and i'm all starry eyed and smiling at the two of them working together as a team. Some of my favourite moments in any X-Men universe have been when they both have to team up against a greater threat, and dragging the X-Men/Brotherhood along with them.

I enjoy the bewildered expressions on their students/minions faces as they banter like old times while everyone else is like, " Wait don't you guys hate each other?".

I really am loving these posts. And I need more comic books.

[bofoddity.livejournal.com]

I'm really loving these posts. So much slashy awesomeness! A lot has been said about Claremont's obvious thing for femslash, but there's no doubt nobody ships Charles/Erik harder than he does. <3

[justcyanide.livejournal.com]

OMG they are SO cannon ♥

Thank you for uploading this :3

[katefish-617.livejournal.com]

thanks for all the updates. I really liked this one!!!

[lady-peony.livejournal.com]

Wow.

Like seriously? "Bookends of the same soul"?

I'm getting flashbacks to the phrase, "two halves of the same coin".

Thanks so much for uploading this. :DD

[katikat.livejournal.com]

I wanted to thank you for the amazing job you've done with this. I rec'd your posts in my LJ entry, I hope you don't mind. We need to spread the Charles/Erik love! :)

[upstart-crow.livejournal.com]

I know this post has been up for a few months, but I'm just now going through it--my partner and I are new to X-Men and really love Charles/Erik.

I'm curious...what are your thoughts on Ultimate X-Men? (I don't see it covered in post 3, but I may have missed something...) I'm just jawdropping at how horrible Charles and Erik are to each other in it ;_;

Can I just say I love you for this.

[mardigrasmaven.livejournal.com]

"Bookends of the same soul"... God, slashers don't even have to TRY and make their relationship make sense to others. All of this is so fucking canon, it hurts. I can't even... the stuff they can do together holds no bounds. So fucking married.

Poor Erik and Charles. Nobody fully understands their love after all these years. The X-Men severely dislike Erik too much to even try.

Pretty sure I was shipping this couple before I even knew what shipping was. Rereading these panels with your anecdotes had me rolling all over in happiness.

And Claremont can do no wrong. He hits all the right buttons when X-Men is under his direction.

Oh God, can't wait for First Class 2. I'm going to probably lose all the shits I have left when it comes out (hopefully with a fully formed Darwin back in the roster. >__>)