Avengers Assemble 15.AU

[alliterator]

"Faiza's a special case, in that she represents Britain on a mystical level, so her being an NHS Doctor is a big part of my writing for her. Valkyrie and Stephen Strange might be healers, but their healing could leave patients broken by debt, simply because of the system they operate in—Faiza is a purer example, at least for now."
-- Al Ewing

While reading the comments in the Excalibur page, I realized that some people might not realize that Arthur hasn't wielded the sword Excalibur in a long time. In fact, the sword Excalibur has been wielded by Faiza Hussain since 2008. And there is one timeline in which Faiza herself became Captain Britain.

It just happens to be the Age of Ultron timeline.


Ultron has attached the world as Carol Danvers was in Britain and she and Brian Braddock have managed to save a bunch of people and bring them to Faiza to heal.



Brian and Carol come up with a plan to stop the main Ultron uplink and recruit Computer Graham and Magic Boot Mels for the mission. However, there's something Brian has to do first.









Unfortunately, in defeating the Ultron uplink, Carol, Brian, and the others are all killed.

Comments

[lordultimus]

Another Marvel event where the tie-ins were better than the actual event.

[alliterator]

I think that's most of them, actually.

Even Death of Doctor Strange, which was a pretty good event comic, still had way better tie-ins.

[tinygaylaura]

Faiza was so awesome :)

[sabertoothlotus]

I agree completely. More of her, please.

[tinygaylaura]

Has she appeared at all recently? The last time I remember seeing her was in some of Ewing's tie in issues to Secret Empire aka the only good thing about Secret Empire

[cainofdreaming]

She was in the Black Knight tie-in to the Death of Doctor Strange.

[deh_tommy]

I feel like that’s a dig at me, but I don’t care, more Faiza Hussain is usually good Faiza Hussain.

[blues32]

Uhh, yeah. I don't think Dr. Strange charges for his services either. No insurance required.

[beyondthefringe]

Sometimes Doctor Strange is considered out of network, and that's the problem.

And by out of network, I mean out of this plane of reality.

[alliterator]

Strange worked in US hospitals. Hospitals charge money. If you don't want to pay an enormous amount of money in a hospital, you need insurance.

Even when he got the use of his hands back, he went back to being a highly in demand surgeon in a hospital.

[gnarll]

Somehow, Faiza manages to be the coolest character in every book she appears in. The "free at the point of delivery" line in Valkyrie is still one of my favorites ever.

[lordultimus]

Honestly, I don't think I really see the Skinhead King Arthur stuff lasting past Howard's run. It seems like other writers don't seem interested in using her ideas; I don't recall "mutant magic" showing up anywhere else, nor do I recall anyone else using Apocalypse's Krakoan name. Hell, we just had a positive flashback of Arthur and Thor in Avengers not too long ago.

[mindsweeper]

Was "mutant magic" ever fleshed out in a way that another writer could use it? When I dropped Excalibur, it never really seemed like anything beyond the two words. I certainly couldn't describe what it meant. But maybe it eventually became a defined thing.

[tinygaylaura]

I don't consider anything that happens in Jason Aaron's Avengers run to matter personally.

Scratch that: I don't consider anything that Jason Aaron has done to matter

[lordy_co]

It doesn't help that she chose the one character in the whole of Western fiction that is bound to be used again and again and again to be her villain.

[alliterator]

I mean, when was the last time King Arthur actually appeared in a Marvel comic? Like, the '80s?

"Western fiction" is not the same thing as "the Marvel universe."

[alliterator]

Si Spurrier has been using the "Merlyn and Arthur are actually bad though" thing in his Black Knight stuff.

[lordultimus]

Wasn't Arthur being brainwashed by Merlyn instead of always evil in that, though.

[deh_tommy]

Eh, at his worst Arthur was shown as a well-meaning but fallible leader who was just as much a victim of Merlyn’s revisionist perfectionism as everyone else. Excalibur kind of played into this when he first showed up there but then pretty much immediately forgot about it the following issue.

[alliterator]

I mean, we haven't really seen anything from Arthur's perspective yet, though, so I don't think you can say whether or not he was a victim or willing participant.

[lordultimus]

Betsy sure seems to think he's a willing participant. She could be wrong, but until that's revealed, I'm expecting quite a few "Arthur sux" speeches from her.

[alliterator]

"Hell, we just had a positive flashback of Arthur and Thor in Avengers not too long ago."

We also had the Phoenix tell Thor that she was his mother. I'm not sure whether or not we're supposed to believe most of the things that happen in Aaron's Avengers.

[lordultimus]

Cates directly referenced the Phoenix Mom thing in his run on Thor. Do you believe him?

[alliterator]

No.

[beyondthefringe]

Magic Boots Mel was such a brilliant character.
This issue was when I first started to love Ewing as a writer.

[jgraygaming]

As much as I enjoyed Clairmont's run on the original Excalibur, I'm increasingly of the opinion that comics heavily steeped in British lore or culture should be written by actual British writers and not ones from the United States.

[beyondthefringe]

I do feel as though British writers have a unique sensibility that shows through in a way American writers don't. Cornell, Spurrier, Gaiman, Morrison, Ellis, Ennis, Ewing, Moore--while they're all quite different, they're very -British- in their experiences, upbringing, influences, and styles, and their work. As a result, they "get" British lore and culture in a way that feels more authentic. And just compare how John Constantine feels when written by British authors and when written by Americans.

I'm not saying that American writers can't write about Camelot and Arthur, but the American view of Camelot is going to be different and probably a little more removed and idealized. But on the other hand, an American writer trying to write a Brexit allegory isn't going to understand it the way someone living in England would.

We can obviously apply this to any culture or country or experience--this is why in the YA/MG genres, the idea of representation, diversity, and own voices, has REALLY taken off in recent years, because authors who've lived an experience or a culture will get it in a way others won't.

This is a long-winded way of saying that Tini Howard wasn't the best writer to tackle the subjects she's been handling in Excalibur, when there are others out there who could have don't so much more with this concept of mutant identity versus British identity, the magic and folklore particular to the British Isles, the very concept of Captain Britain as a totemic representation...

And also I believe that Faiza Hussein needs a clause in her character contract that only those who truly get her as a hijab-wearing Pakistani-British female NHS doctor with superpowers and Excalibur can write her. Cornell, Ewing, Spurrier all seem to understand her (thank Cornell for seeking proper advice in her creation!!!), but she's such a VERY SPECIFIC Venn diagram of elements that I don't want to see her misused. (I suppose i Saladin Ahmed or G. Willow Wilson, for instance, would do her justice as a Muslim character, but could they get her specific British nature?)

[thezmage]

I'm reminded of something Gaiman said in the forward to an anniversary edition of American Gods: That people told him that he should have had sports as one of the new gods on account of their place in American culture. I feel like an American writer would've thought of that.

[beyondthefringe]

Hmmm. Makes sense. Americans LOVE their sports. We may not lay claim to all the big ones, but I found myself thinking the other day about how many major sports evolved and came to prominence in America and are identified with it.
(Baseball, (American) football, Basketball, probably NASCAR and other forms of automobile racing...
And of course I'm just talking about the team sports and those which draw in huge crowds. The rest of the world still loves football/soccer more than we do. Ice hockey feels kind of split--it's popular here yes, but also elsewhere.
But all that aside, as far as SYMBOLIC goes, America's got the big three of Baseball, Basketball, Football and that could totally generate a uniquely American God.

[scorntx]

And this was only the second issue Ewing wrote for Marvel.
(Avengers Assemble #14, all about Black Widow surviving the Robot Apocalypse, was the first. Funnily enough, that one seems to be a lot easier to find than this.)

There was a lot to love in it.
Sure, it's a tie-in to a confusing-even-by-Bendis-doing-time-travel-story-standards, but damn if it's not a good 'un anyhow.
Brian's speech about the Ebony Blade's always stuck in the brain.
Computer Graham teaching the Ultrons a new word.
And, of course, Faiza.

Side note: Not exactly disproving the theory of Carol Danvers being the Charlie Brown of Marvel.
All her greatest deeds are in the side-material, and she still dies in the process.

[bruinsfan]

Wait, this was before his Mighty Avengers run?

[beyondthefringe]

Age of Ultron ran from March to June 2013, during which this took place.
Ewing's Mighty Avengers debuted in September 2013.

[bruinsfan]

Thanks! It sure doesn't seem like it happened that long ago.