Excalibur on the rocks

As it might not surprise some of you to know, one of my favorite comic book runs is Warren Ellis' all-too-brief run on the (mostly) British Mutant Superteam known as Excalibur, if only because it gave us the glorious bastard that is Peter Wisdom. I'm also, more obscurely, a fan of the new Doctor Who show. So, when I learned Paul Cornell, the gentleman behind Family of Blood and the current Captain Britain and MI:13 series had his own blog, of course I had to take a look. And I'm quite glad I did, as it led me to this fine UK-based fellow's blog and more importantly, his drink recipes for major British Marvel characters. I have to say, his Peter Wisdom? Spot-on.

Still, something like this is too cool for me not to take up as a challenge. So, may I present my very own Excalibur-themed Cocktails!

Pryde And Wisdom



Smart money says a shot of painfully strong English Scotch with a Chicago-based beer as a chaser would do the trick. Still, not nearly creative enough for my tastes. Plus, all the best beers come from small breweries in Colorado, not Illinois.

The Pryde & Wisdom

1 oz Aftershock Cinnamon Liquor (for Wisdom's hot knives)
1 oz Blackberry schnapps (for Kitty's tech geekery)
1 1/2 oz Cranberry Juice (because Kitty would insist on something in this being healthy)
1/2 oz Everclear (because Wisdom would have to thumb his nose up at Kitty's attempts at making his alcohol healthy)

One of these and I imagine you'd end up having neither much pride or wisdom, which is a sad comment on how they're no longer together.
(And, if your tastes run to emo, whiny Russians, you can replace the Aftershock with Vodka and Everclear with more vodka, assuming you're one of those people.)

The Douglock



Bright yellow 'bot with blue accents? I think a variation on Electric Lemonade is in order. Try to use only Top Self ingredients, if possible.

1 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Blue Curacao
2 oz Sweet and sour
1/4 oz Goldschläger
1 splash 7-Up


Stay Out of Me Medlab!
(a.k.a. The Moira McTaggart)



Since she's now a deceased Scottish doctor, I must sadly recommend the Scotch Daisy (lifted in whole cloth from oh-so-helpful The Webtender)

"Ingredients:

* 2 oz Scotch
* 1 oz Lemon juice
* 1/2 tsp superfine Sugar
* 1/2 tsp Grenadine
* 1 Maraschino cherry
* 1 Orange slice

Mixing instructions:

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the Scotch, lemon juice, sugar, and grenadine. Shake well. Pour into an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with the cherry and the orange slice."

A little fruity for such a strong lass but there's hard Scotch at it's core. R.I.P., Doc.*

(*And yes, I know Sean would not approve. Shut up.)



Did you guys know there's actually a drink called a Wolfsbane? Remember when Rahne thought alcohol would "taste evil"? Yeah, you know, this drink doesn't strike me as dissuading her from that notion (egg? really?). Let's try to think up something better.

Bad Wolfsbane

1/2 oz Gold Tequila (to shake things up)
1/2 oz Goldschläger (the fresher the better)
2 oz Mead (preferably from the hair of the dog that bit you)
1 oz Summer Ale (preferably a Blond Summers Ale)

And yes, I know that mixing mead, beer, tequila and Goldschlager will make you . . . (wait for it) . . . sick as a dog!

And we mustn't forget Lockheed.



Burn Your Clothes

A shot that, much like Lockheed, is small but burns mightily.

1 1/2 oz chilled Tequila
1 1/2 oz cinnamon schnapps
4 dashes Tabasco® sauce

And on that note, I think I'm done for now. If I get any further requests, I may consider putting out more of these.

Happy reading and happy drinking . . . assuming any one of you out there is crazy enough to try making these.

14 Comic Book Couples I Love - Part 12

Just to show I don't write exclusively about supervillains in love, here's a much happier (albeit defunct) comics couple I love . . .

12. Kitty Pryde & Peter Wisdom



Now I like to think by now that I've made my feelings on Kitty Pryde abundantly clear. All of that said, the only writer who has ever made me completely enjoy the character instead of just tolerating her was - a tad surprisingly - Warren Ellis.



Even Joss Whedon, much as I love his work with an insane fervor, tends to push her back into that "cranky little girl" role and her (oh so disgustingly emo) relationship with Colossus. Warren Ellis' Excalibur was the first time I ever read Kitty Pryde as an adult, not a simpering, sulky teen, and guess what? I liked this woman. For the first time, I didn't have somebody trying to cram "LOOK AT KITTY ISN'T SHE CUTE AND PRECIOUS?!? HER NAME IS FREAKING KITTY OMG LOVE HER!" down my throat. He wrote her as a woman who'd grown up with the X-Men should be written - smart, capable and nearly unflappable. And the thing I liked most of all about Ellis' Pryde was the relationship between her and Peter Wisdom.



Much as I loved him immediately, Pete Wisdom was a character by Ellis some accuse of being one of his "stock characters" - a former spook who was angry, profane, violent and English (and it should be noted that all of the above links were created AFTER Peter Wisdom - so if you love Transmet or Desolation Jones, go find yourself some Excalibur). Wisdom had the ability to shoot 'hot knives' from his hands but didn't wear any spandex and made fun of those who did, eschewing a uniform for a rumpled dress shirt and tie. He smoke, drank and made a distinct effort to be unlikeable. So naturally, when Kitty fell for him, a lot of people cried bloody murder.



I'm sorry but I can't contain my fandom rant at this point - why is the Kitty Pryde/Colossus relationship so incredibly special to people? Was it like a million people's first comic book romance or something? The whole thing skeeves me out and drives me crazy.

For starters, you essentially have a 19-year-old falling for a 14-year-old, which is like a college freshman dating a middle schooler. Let that one sink in for a second. Yeeaaaah. So when people say Peter Wisdom was too old for her, I actually have to fight hard to keep from laughing. Not to mention the whole part where Colossus was always either cheating on her or crying emo tears because his seventh-hundredth family member just died . . . but now I'm just being petty. Although it was awesome when, after Colossus beat the crap out of Wisdom, everybody walked up to his cell and called him an idiot man-child. Heh. But I digress. Stupid Colossus.



Whether or not you think she belonged with Piotr 4EVAH (or if there was any Mary Sue-ing going on in either relationship), I think it's an undeniable fact that Ellis wrote Wisdom and Pryde as both being *GASP!* consenting, intelligent adults who found each other attractive. Wisdom was a cynical man who'd seen and done all sorts of nasty things who was utterly baffled that the upbeat, pretty girl with the big smile didn't so much as flinch at him (I mean, c'mon, three words here - Raised. By. WOLVERINE.). Hilariously, her weirdness often trumped his past easily.



I loved their complimentary dynamic. The interaction of his cynicism with her optimism, both tempered by the incredibly dark and bizarre lives they'd led. They were the picture perfect Powell & Loy of the Mutant set. When the folks at Marvel threw the relationship on the fire, I have to admit that I was pretty incensed. While the majority of fandom seems happy with having Kitty back with Emo Metal Speedo Boy, I know I'm not alone in missing this couple. My good friend Kay, for instance, takes time out from snidely insulting my need to blog about comics to check out this site for updates . . . religiously. Nerd. But as they say in Casablanca, we'll always have back issues.



Ah, well. It was fun while it lasted. Plus, Peter Wisdom's still running around the Marvel U being a snarky bastard, even if it is in a Claremont title (go figure). The important thing is that we all had a few laughs and that the relationship still makes me smile.



C'est le comics love, no?



And in a fit of irony, yes, yes I am looking forward to the Kitty Pryde Shojo Manga. At least this way, she's supposed to be a superhumanly adorable teen girl, you know?

ETA: OBLIGATORY VIDEO POST!

So, is it Kitty Pryde in "That's Our Wolvie!" or Wolverine in "That's Our Kitty!"?

Now, as I understand it, the above is the cover of a new book coming out called Wolverine: First Class, which details the wacky misadventures of Kitty & Wolvie back when she said things like "Gosh! He's kinda neat-lookin'!" and he said stuff like "Grrrrrr, I'm flamin' pissed, bub! *SNIKT*".
(You know, more so than now and without any irony.)

I must admit that, at first, I didn't see any need for this book. Upon reading the solicitation copy for issue two and seeing the cover, however, I have seen the light. Look now, so that ye may also understand:


WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #2
Written by FRED VAN LENTE
Penciled by ANDREA DI VITO
Cover by LEONARD KIRK
The good news: Kitty's managed to figure out Wolverine's birthday and has arranged a surprise candlelight dinner with the love of his life, Mariko Yashida, as his present. The bad news: The reason Wolverine never tells anybody about his birthday is that every year on that date Sabretooth shows up to dice him into cutlets. And Kitty has put Mariko within Sabretooth's grasp!
32 PGS./All Ages �$2.99

Do you get it yet? This isn't going to be some generic, boring mutant slugfest - it's a wacky sitcom!

Every issue will showcase the lovable yet ditzy Kitty, who means well but keeps making wacky mistakes that cause HILARITY to ensue. Or is it the gruff yet lovable Ed Asner-like Logan who throws a monkey wrench into our plucky heroine's life? Either way, I'm incredibly excited by this very concept.

Let's just imagine issue 22, shall we?

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #22

Kitty's in deep trouble this time! She went and made a date with both Peter Wisdom and Piotr Rasputin for the Homecoming Dance! Will Wolverine's "final solution" to the problem mean that Kitty's going to be shy one suitor - forever? Guest-starring Scott Baio as Douglock!



Not to mention the Very Special Annual!

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS VERY SPECIAL ANNUAL #1
Trying to keep her grades up, fighting Sentinels to stay alive AND singing in the school talent show isn't easy - so Kitty Pryde starts using Kick to give herself an extra "boost"! Can Wolverine show her that drugs are "flamin' bad" before it's too late?



See? IT ALL FITS PERFECTLY.

Mr. Van Lente? You are a freakin' genius, sir. I am SO looking forward to this.

Kitty Pryde is a walking, phasing anime cliche

Look people - let's all please stop the bitching about this upcoming X-Men Manga. The people writing it are superhumanly nice and prone to creating adorable art.

More to the point, there's no superheroine more perfect for a manga style digest than Kitty Pryde. While I've never been much attached to the character, one way or the other, Kitty Pryde in a shojo just makes freakin' sense. She's always been just one Sailor Scout outfit away from being a Japanese archetype (and sadly, that sort of outfit would be better than most of her in continuity ones).

Need proof? Let's go down the list, shall we?

Name or code names that are cute to the point of absurdity?

Check.

Mischievous yet helpful pet?

Check.


Magical weapon she can summon out of nowhere?

Check.

Rarely, if ever, seen without her important neck jewelry?

Check.


Pwns all comers despite her improbably young and inexperienced nature?

Check.

Super bad-ass ninja skills?

Check.

Falls in love with a dark-haired, older co-worker?



Check and DOUBLE CHECK.


Insanely over-sexualized by a bunch of fanboys who really should know better than to letch on a fictional teen/early twenties girl (not to name names but seriously, c'mon, stop it Schmis Schmlaremont. And yes, even you too, Choss Chedon.)?

Sadly, check (see also the "naughty schoolgirl" picture I've used at the very top of this post to illustrate my disturbing point).

You know, I could go on and on but really, I think the case is closed.

Don't you?