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EXCALIBUR: THE SWORD IS DRAWN (a.k.a. EXCALIBUR SELF-TITLED PRESTIGE FORMAT SPECIAL)

Main Cast: Captain Britain, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Phoenix (Rachel Summers,) Shadowcat

Credits: Chris Claremont, writer -- Alan Davis, penciler -- Paul Neary, inker -- Mark Farmer, additional inks -- Tom Orzechowski, letterer -- Glynis Oliver, colorist -- Ann Nocenti, editor -- Terry Kavanagh, assistant editor

Note 1: Rachel/Phoenix had been missing from our universe since Uncanny X-Men # 209, in which Spiral manipulated her into follwing her to the Mojoverse. A Phoenix mini-series detailing her experiences on Mojoworld was planned but never published, and she was not seen again until this story.

Note 2: Nightcrawler and Shadowcat were severely wounded during the Mutant Massacre in Uncanny X-Men # 211, and were still recovering on Muir Isle during the Fall of the Mutants, during which the X-Men appeared to die in Uncanny X-Men # 227. In reality, they were resurrected by Roma, and decided to let the world believe they were dead, in order to prevent harm from coming to their friends and families.

For more X-Continuity details, visit here.

Plot: Shadowcat has a horrible nightmare of being trapped on Mojoworld, and helping Phoenix escape from brainwashed X-Men who turn out to be monsters. She wakes up on Muir Isle, surrounded by photographs of her deceased teammates. She breaks down and cries.

Not far away, Meggan finishes playing with dolphins and flies to the lighthouse she shares with her lover, Captain Britain. She finds the TV on and the living room torn apart. The newscaster recaps a report about the death of the X-Men, one of whom was Captain Britain's sister, Psylocke. Meggan tries to comfort CB, but he's wallowing in booze and self-pity, and reacts oafishly. Blaming herself, Meggan decides to fly to Muir Isle and see if the surviving X-Men can help.

Meanwhile, Nightcrawler unwisely plays swashbuckler in the Muir Isle version of the Danger Room and nearly gets killed by the robots before Shadowcat rescues him. As they take a walk to clear their heads, he tells her that he had the same nightmare as her.

No sooner are they back indoor than they receive an unwanted visit from a colorful band of extra-dimensional mercenaries known as the Technet. They are in pursuit of Phoenix under orders of Omniversal Majestrix Opal Luna Saturnyne. Meggan, who had arrived at the same time, joins in the battle. She and Shadowcat are captured, but Nightcrawler escapes by teleporting away.

A short distance away, in London, Phoenix enters our dimension and literally crashes a masquerade ball. The monsters from Shadowcat's and Nightcrawler's dream -- warwolves -- are not far behind, but Phoenix outruns them for the moment.

Back at the lighthouse, Nightcrawler confronts Captain Britain and talks some sense into him. They both attempt to rescue Shadowcat and Meggan, only to find themselves caught in the crossfire of the Technet and the warwolves both trying to capture Phoenix. The five superheroes unexpectedly discover that they work very well as a team, and both sets of villains are driven off.

Phoenix uses her powers to evoke imagery of the Arthurian Legends and convinces the others to form a team which can carry on Professor X's dream now that the X-Men are no longer among the living. They name themselves after King Arthur's sword, Excalibur.

The Beginning...

Thoughts: A plot summary cannot adequately describe this wonderful story. When Chris Claremont clicks, as he does here, as he has done on a few other occassions, he fully justifies what I personally consider to be an inflated reputation. This is also where I've always felt Claremont should have stopped writing the X-Men altogether, and perhaps passed the torch to Louise Simonson. Re-reading all of the Fall of the Mutants crossovers in order to get a better sense of X-Continuity at the time this story is takes place, I found it impossible not to note how Weezie's writing on New Mutants and X-Factor was a million times sharper and more energetic than Claremont's on X-Men, and Claremont only got worse from there, much worse. If I sound harsh on Claremont, it's because I think he does have a talent, but an incredibly erratic one. I also feel that his particular talent is better suited for self-contained stories rather than extended serials. My two favorite examples are the X-Men/New Teen Titans Special and New Mutants Annual # 2, the latter being the first time he worked with Alan Davis, speaking of whom...

IMO Alan Davis has never, in a quarter century of drawing comics, drawn a bad panel. And this story was perfect for him for a variety of reasons. One, before he started doing work for American publishers, he had helped re-invent Captain Britain, co-created Meggan, and also co-created the Technet. Two, the story favors the fanciful, which is one of Davis's greatest strengths as an artist.

When Claremont and Davis brought Excalibur back as a monthly series, Claremont's weaknesses as a writer took over, resulting in plots going out of control and loose ends all over the place by the time he left the book. In addition, I feel that Claremont pitched the monthly book too far in the direction of outright comedy, unlike the first story, which was more a delicate fantasy with touches of whimsy.

Which is why, for me, the true follow-up to the first story didn't occur until issue # 42 of the monthly book, when Alan Davis (who had left the book before Claremont did) returned as both penciler and writer. Davis's second run lasted two years, during which he not only addressed and resolved every loose end from previous Excalibur issues, but also a few non-Excalibur loose ends. And as he became more confident as a writer, he eventually recaptured the special flavor of the first Excalibur story.

And so, my next Excalibur review will be of # 42, because I simply can't force myself to re-read the Claremont/Davis issues before getting to the ones I really like. Particularly during this time in my life, when I'm trying to take some long overdue steps towards a new life and I don't have a lot of time for reading comics or going on the Internet in the first place.

Sorry to fans of the Claremont/Davis issues, then. And I hope to be back here sooner rather than later.

I remember this book vividly. Damn I loved Kitty as a pimply teenager. It was the first prestige comic that I ever bought, I remember cuz it cost the equivalent of 4 whole comics a whole 5 bucks. I remember being disappointed with the regular series too.

I did like the art throughout Davis' run. I didn't know why i dropped the series at the time but have since discovered that Claremont is really annoying sometimes.

Poor Tom Orzechowski having to hand print all those words for lo those many years. One of the unsung heroes of the comic industry.

I liked this series a lot at first, but all the zany cross-dimensional stuff just bored me after awhile. It was like they had no real life or purpose aside from bouncing around the multiverse. I'm just glad we don't have Widget bopping around anymore.

I actually liked Davis' Captain Britain work a lot more (read the tpb).

This is another series that I have complete access to, although have never read a single issue of. I'm a big fan of Claremont and Davis, although I agree with Stealth's assessment of Claremont's writing in the past.

Can't wait to read your reviews Stealth! I know I speak for a few of us when I say we've been jonesing for another Stealth review thread! (Oh, and don't feel even remotely bad about starting with #42--reading your enjoyment of those issue will make it more enjoyable for us!).

I advise you to read through it to the end of Davis' run immediately (but skip the Lobdell fill-in issues except the Alchemy two-parter with Joe Mad art. I like Lobdell elsewhere, but almost all his Excalibur issues are rushed/phoned-in fill-ins with some of the worst art on record)

I have to say that I LOVED the Claremont issues of Excalibur, especially the Cross-Time Caper. Excalibur was one of the first comics I collected back in 1989. I absolutely fell in love with Kurt and Kitty in particular, mostly due to Claremont's characterization.

I will agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of Davis' work, however. He will always be the ruler with with I measure other artists. No one does it better. Too bad he doesn't get the respect from fans and the people running the business that he deserves.

BTW, Stealth, I love this kind of stuff. Earlier this year, you inspired me to read LEGION...now I'm going to have to go reread Excalibur.

Thanks for the feedback, everybody. The next review will be up in a little while.



If Orzechowski had been paid at the rate of ten cents per word, he'd be a billionare by now.


When Davis became the writer, he actively went about finding other purposes for the characters. Have you read Excalibur # 61? No cross-dimensional silliness there, just one of the single greatest superhero stories ever published. I'm not going to spoil any of it before I review it, but if I were to recommend one issue to skeptics, it would be # 61.

I have read the Captain Britain tpb (now sadly out of print) and I'd agree that those stories are better than the early issues of Excalibur. I also have the 7-issue reprint mini-series which collects Davis's earliest Captain Britain stories (those reprints were delayed many years because of a feud between Marvel and the writer of many of these stories, Alan Moore -- yes, THE Alan Moore; his Captain Britain stories predated even his Swamp Thing stories, IIRC.)

EXCALIBUR # 42: "A Hatch is Plotted"

Main Cast: Captain Britain, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Shadowcat

Credits: Alan Davis, writer and penciler -- Mark Farmer, inker -- Michael Heisler, letterer -- Glynis Oliver, colorist -- Terry Kavanagh, editor -- Mark Powers, assistant editor

Plot: Exiled to Earth since the failure of their previous mission (in EXCALIBUR: THE SWORD IS DRAWN, reviewed at top of page,) Gatecrasher and the Technet plot to destroy Excalibur. The lighthouse sufferes extensive damage but the team survive, and they defeat the Technet with partial thanks to the intervention of Horatio Cringebottom from the Ministry For Cross-Time Transport Regulation Monitor and Control. Cringebottom is accompanied by an oddball mechanic, Bert, who stabilizes Widget's powers. Before they leave, Cringebottom leaves a holographic message from Saturnyne: the Technet's contract has been terminated, and their exile is now permanent. Fearing for their lives, Gatecrasher and her sidekick, Yap, teleport away from the rest of the Technet. All the members of Excalibur -- with the exception of Captain Britain -- take pity on the Technet and invite them to stay, in exchange for helping repair the lighthouse. Meanwhile, on E'erath, an alternate Earth, a leonine barbarian named Kylun begins forming an army in order to overthrow the supernatural tyrant Necrom...and Excalibur is also on his hit list.

Thoughts: It almost goes without saying that, with Mark Farmer doing the full inks, Davis's art always looks its best. And although Davis is one of the most reliably good artists in comics, sometimes he outdoes himself, and this issue is one of those times. He really seems to be enjoying this homecoming.

And for a first-time writer, he doesn't do badly -- yes, Bert's verbose explanation of Widget's powers is tedious, but forgivable. And to his credit, Davis does a nice job of making the book accessible to new readers (all we need to know for the moment is that Excalibur have done a lot of cross-dimesional travelling,) and of bringing the book full circle for old readers by bringing back the team's very first opponents. Over the next few issues to come, Davis will gracefully weave together loose ends from the Claremont years, and set the stage for an exciting new direction.

EXCALIBUR # 43: "Home Comforts"

Main Cast: Captain Britain, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Shadowcat.

Credits: Alan Davis, writer and penciler -- Mark Farmer, inker, -- Michael Heisler, letterer -- Glynis Oliver, colorist -- Terry Kavanagh, editor -- Mark Powers, assistant editor

Plot: Ongoing repairs on the lighthouse result in a series of comical mishaps as Captain Britain keeps searching for a quiet place to read. But things turn tragic when CB explodes in misplaced jealousy against Nightcrawler's friendly gesture to Meggan. When the dust clears, Nightcrawler has a broken leg and Meggan has flown off in tears. Phoenix flies after Meggan. CB apologizes to Nightcrawler, who forgives him, but just then a group of alternate-dimension Captain Britains shows up, and they arrest our CB for breaking one of the Captain Britain morality codes. Meanwhile, on E'erath, Kylun and his forces rescue Princess Sa'tneen from Necrom's captivity.

Thoughts: Only two issues into his run as writer, and Davis is already improving quickly. The misunderstanding between CB and Nightcrawler had been foreshadowed as early as the previous issue, and is foreshadowed again in the opening scene of this issue. So when it does occur, the change in tone from comedy to tragedy is not jarring. And in the aftermath, Davis shows his deep understanding of the characters: Meggan hyper-sensitive and innocent (but NOT dumb, as other writers seem to think) Phoenix resourceful, Shadowcat wary, Captain Britain too high on pride and too low on self-esteem, and Nightcrawler lovably open, with nothing to hide.

EXCALIBUR # 44: "Witless For the Prosecution"

Main Cast: Captain Britain, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Shadowcat

Credits: Alan Davis, writer and penciler -- Mark Farmer, inker -- Michael Heisler, letterer -- Glynis Oliver, colorist -- Terry Kavanagh, editor -- Mark Powers, assistant editor

Plot: Our Captain Britain is taken to Otherworld, to be placed on trial before the Captain Britain Corps. The charges: too many cross-dimensional intrusions, plus his unprovoked assault on Nightcrawler, a citizen of our CB's assigned Earth. Our CB soon realizes that the CB Corps have already decided that he's guilty and the trial's just for show. He defies the other CBs, and they move in for the kill.

Meanwhile: Meggan has calmed down, and Phoenix is helping her find out who she really is. Their search is interrupted by Phoenix's run-in with Micromax, an incompetent superhuman government stooge. Shadowcat joins Alistaire Stuart, a paranormal expert who has worked alongisde Excalibur in the past, on a voyage to Ireland (though he had been hoping Phoenix would join him -- he's had an unrequited crush on her for ages.) With almost all of Excalibur M.I.A., who should come knocking but Commander Dai Thomas of Scotland Yard (who has a history with Captain Britain which predates Excalibur). They need help catching an elusive criminal which appears to have supernatural powers; Emilia Witherspoon, a clairvoyant who has accompanied Commander Thomas, suggests to Nightcrawler (who still has his leg in a cast) that the Technet could deputize for his absent teammates. And on E'erath, Kylun and Princess Sa'tneen fight side by side as the rebellion against Necrom continues.

Thoughts: Davis continues to impress equally as both artist and writer. Here we have an issue which references countless events from the Claremont/Davis issues and the stories collected in the Captain Britain TPB (I count 10 footnotes in all), yet it's still easy to follow. The secret ingredients are clarity and concision, both such rare qualities in early-90s comic books. And Davis's continuing efforts to humanize both Captain Britain and Meggan are very welcome. There is more to him than a bad temper and a lack of self-confidence, just as there is more to her than a shaky sense of self and a tendency to be out of touch with reality. Who should know such things better than Davis, who at this point in time had probably worked on these characters longer than anyone else?

It's interesting that even though my misspent youth left my memory resembling swiss cheese, and all of the comics I've read over the years, how clear my memories are of these issues. Keep it coming!

Oh yes, Davis's Excalibur really is the stuff memories are made of. Thank you, AFO. The feedback is what really makes all the effort worthwhile.

Next review should be up early next week.

EXCALIBUR # 45: "Nightcrawler's Technet"

Main Cast: Captain Britain, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Shadowcat

Credits: Alan Davis, writer and penciler -- Mark Farmer, inker -- Michael Heisler, letterer -- Glynis Oliver, colorist

Plot: Nightcrawler plays Xavier to the Technet, complete with matching uniforms with an "N" symbol; together, they catch the thief, a demon working for Necrom, who needs certain art exhibits with mystical powers as part of his master plan. But Necrom is still not known to this dimension, and the mission is only a qualified success, because one the Technet, Joyboy, is left behind and kidnapped.

Meanwhile...Opal Luna Saturnyne, under orders from Roma, tells the Captain Britain Corps to let our Captain Britain go free; Captain Britain has an inspiring chat with Captain U.K., his only friend in the Corps; Meggan and Phoenix search for Meggan's adoptive gypsy family in Europe; and over on E'erath, Kylun and Sa'tneen storm Necrom's castle, only for Necrom to unleash zombie superheroes at them.

Thoughts: What a great cover, Davis paying tribute to Gil Kane and Dave Cockrum's classic cover to "Giant-Sized X-Men #1", with the Technet bursting through the page, same as the X-Men before them. And what a great take on Nightcrawler Davis had -- the key scene here is when he flinches at the thought of having been seen as a one-note jester by all his past and present teammates. Davis was, IMO, the first creator since Dave Cockrum to truly understand Nightcrawler.

An update for everyone following this thread: the next few issues are very difficult to summarize (even though the actual plot threads come together seamlessly) so it's gonna take me a while. I'm also trying to figure out the best way to get # 51-60 over with as quick as possible, because these issues have a lot of fill-ins and guest artists and even the all-Davis issues are IMO not as good as # 42-50 and # 61-67. I will see this thread to its finish, I'm just not sure how long it's gonna take. Thanks for your patience.

EXCALIBUR # 46: "Colin the Barbarian"

Main Cast: Captain Britain, Kylun, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Shadowcat.

Introducing: Cerise (cameo on last page.)

Credits: Alan Davis, writer and penciler -- Mark Farmer, inker -- Michael Heisler, letterer -- Glynis Oliver, colorist -- Terry Kavanagh, editor -- Mark Powers, assistant editor

Plot: Sa'tneen's powers help her and Kylun overcome the zombies, but when she battles Necrom, she is mortally wounded. Enraged, Kylun chases Necrom to an inter-dimensional doorway. But the doorway deposits villain and hero in separate locations. Kylun ends up in the bathroom of the Excalibur lighthouse, where Nightcrawler is brushing his teeth. Still in a warrior rage, Kylun assumes Nightcrawler to be one of Necrom's demon drones and attacks him. But when Kylun's sword does not hurt Nightcrawler, he realizes Nightcrawler is one of the good guys. And then, Widget enters and he and Kylun recognize each other.

It turns out that Kylun is actually the grown-up version of Colin McKay, the little mutant boy who befriended Widget and escaped pursuit when Widget transported him to E'erath's dimension (all of this way back in Excalibur # 2). Nightcrawler tells Kylun that Necrom arrived in our dimension one month earlier. Kylun replies that if this is the case, then no one is safe.

Meanwhile, in Germany's Black Forest, Meggan and Phoenix are attacked by what appear to be Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster. But Phoenix decks them both, and they are revealed as a pair of old gypsy men abusing the illusion-casting powers of a gentle simian creature they were keeping captive in their caravan.

The creature tells Meggan and Phoenix his story. He is of an ancient hidden race named the Neuri. Decades ago, his act of kindness towards this band of gypsies was repaid with treachery; they captured him and forced him to use his mystical powers for their material gain. Overcome by greed, he gypsies killed each other, one by one, until only the two old men were left.

The Neuri also reveals that Meggan and Rachel were destined to find him, so that he could help Meggan discover her true and uniquely beautiful self and help Rachel put her fragmented memories back together.

The only thing the dying Neuri asks in return is that they take him outside so that he can take his final breath gazing at the open sky.

While Meggan and Phoenix head back home, there is the latest round of commotion at the lighthouse: Widget has built a full body for himself, and yet another inter-dimensional traveller arrives -- this one appears to be a giant-insect monster, but things are not what they seem.

Thoughts: Whew. See what I meant about these next few issues being difficult to summarize? But I wanted to at least get this one done for the moment, because it's one of my favorite issues.

Meggan's quest for her true identity finally arrives at its destination, and it has so many levels of subtext while still being so wonderfully simple. The Neuri sums it all up when he says, "Meggan, draw strength from your new wisdom. Accept your uniquess." No trendy early 90s pseuderies here, just a direct message of self-acceptance. Alan Davis's lack of pretentions is what makes him one of my favorite creators, and it makes me wish he would write more often than he does.

The whole sequence with the Neuri is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in comics, and colorist Glynis Oliver, one of the greatest colorists of all time, deserves special mention for keeping the colors delicate and unobstrusive even when the Neuri temporarily changes Meggan and Phoenix's visual perceptions to a bright, sparkling panorama.

The final page introduces us to one of my favorite Excalibur characters, Cerise (although we only see her with her armor on this issue.) I haven't read any Excalibur issues after # 67, but apparently Davis's successors retconned her into being a Shi'ar fugitive or some such nonsense. It's really sad when potentially great characters are demoted.

The next review will hopefully be sooner rather than later. As always, thanks for your patience.

I've been inspired to go back and reread Ex from the beginning, and I just reached the end of Davis's first run. Does anyone know why he left? God, he was brilliant. I feel like the first 16-18 issues of this run is some of Claremont's best work as well. All of the great characterization, subplots, love triangles, depth, and action without all the crappy continuity and loose ends. I LIKE the Cross-Time Caper, dammit!

I think Davis left the first time so he could draw Batman: Full Circle, the prestige format sequel to Batman: Year Two. He had hoped it would be a less frustrating experience than Batman: Year Two (which he had left after drawing only the first chapter), but it turned out to be more of the same headaches. After that was over, he returned to Excalibur. For the next few years after that, Davis did most of his work for Marvel, and didn't do anything but covers for DC.

EXCALIBUR # 47: "Come One and All, to the Ugly Bug-Eyed Monster Ball"

Main Cast: Captain Britain, Cerise, Kylun, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Shadowcat

Credits: Alan Davis, writer and penciler -- Mark Farmer, inker -- Michael Heisler, letterer -- Glynis Oliver, colorist -- Terry Kavanagh, editor -- Mark Powers, assistant editor

Plot: Without thinking twice, the Technet attacks the new arrival. Fortunately, before anyone gets hurt, the fight is broken up when the absent Technet member, Numbers, enters the room with his lover, Excalibur's pet dragon, and their hundred or so newly hatched children.

The new arrival assures them it comes in peace, and then removes its helmet -- it's not an insect-monster after all, it's a beautiful warrior-woman from another dimension.

"I am Cerise, warrior of of the Ghrand Jhar, genestock of Subruki, Zarstok, and Kuli Ka. Mine is the power to generate malleable energy fields of coherent light force that obey my will."

She explains that she had left her homeworld of Shaskofrugnon because she was bored and wanted adventure; inter-dimensional turbulence accidentally transported her to our dimension. As she finishes her tale, Widget begins to evolve his self-constructed body even further, and YET ANOTHER group of inter-dimensional travellers end up at the lighthouse.

Meanwhile, on Otherworld, Captain Britain strikes up a chat with (what appears to be) a kindly old member of the Captain Britain Corps, who convinces our CB that Roma has been secretly manipulating him and all the other members of Excalibur, going all the way back to the days just before the team formed; in addition, Roma may have put a jinx on our CB, making him clumsy, to force him to learn the value of teamwork.

Our CB flies to Roma's citadel to find out for himself. He fights his way through the guards (who alert Saturnyne) until he reaches Roma, who calmly informs him that her manipulations have been necesarry to deal with an upcoming battle against the forces of evil, a gambit begun by her late father, Merlyn. When CB tells her that Merlyn's not dead and relates a recent Excalibur encounter with him [a story told in Excalibur: Special Edition, a stand-alone story which neither Davis nor Claremont had anything to do with], she deduces that someone of even more power than her is toying with both Excalibur and her. Saturnyne interrupts the proceedings, but Roma and CB tell her to back off. CB demands that Roma stop doing things the way her father would have, that she should have simply asked him and his friends for help; he then calmly asks her to remove the blunder jinx before he heads home.

Back at the lighthouse, the members of the Technet (plus the dragon and the little ones) hitch a ride home with the other group of travellers, because, apparently, our dimension will cease to exist in 78 hours.

Phoenix and Meggan arrive, and Nightcrawler introduces them to Kylun and Cerise. Captain Britain arrives, and he and Meggan embrace; he asks Nightcrawler to forgive him, and Nightcrawler does. After more introductions, it's time for everyone to get up to speed on the danger that lies ahead.

That danger is about to manifest itself in an burial site in Ireland, right where the archeological team led by Alistaire Stewart and Shadowcat is exploring.

Thoughts: The plot strands begin to come together -- and it's only taken six issues! Amazing how Davis, the novice writer, manages to get more things resolved in a few issues than more experienced X-writers have resolved in years.

Only three more issues to go before the slate-cleaning is completed. In the meantime, there's the usual great artwork, as well as the arrival of Cerise. I know that I already said this in my review of # 46, but what a waste of a potentially fascinating character when Davis's successors retconned her into being a Shi'ar criminal who had lied to Excalibur. I would have loved to see how Davis might have envisioned her homeworld of Shaskofrugnon; that's such a great name, Shaskofrugnon -- sounds like an exotic ice cream flavor. At least there's always fanfics where the story can be told differently.

I've finally caught up with you, after starting at the beginning. Good God, there's a good two years of poop between Davis's two runs on the title--artwise and storywise (with the possible exception of Girl's School from Heck...but even that is debatable--the fact that Courtney isn't really Courtney kind of ruins it for me).

It truly was amazing how quickly and logically Davis wraps up the entire mess of Excalibur's first 50 issues.

And to think that Davis was reluctant to become a writer. He only did it because of Terry Kavanagh's encouragement. Kavanagh was a great, great editor...it's a shame he quit editing to become a mediocre writer.

EXCALIBUR # 48: "Irish Stew"

Main Cast: Captain Britain, Cerise, Kylun, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Shadowcat.

Credits: Alan Davis, writer and penciler -- Mark Farmer, inker -- Michael Heisler, letterer -- Glynis Oliver, colorist -- Terry Kavanagh, editor -- Mark Powers, assistant editor

Plot: The underground evil turns out to be the Anti-Phoenix, who tries to manipulate Rachel into unleashing the Phoenix force. She refuses, and the Anti-Phoenix flies away. Feron, a petulant teenage boy raised by monks to be the designated heir to the Phoenix force, tries to stop the Anti-Phoenix but almost gets killed; the members of Excalibur join the battle, but the Anti-Phoenix molds the surrounding rock and mud into big, brutish monsters, and flies away while the heroes fight the monsters. After winning this battle, the team flies to the lighthouse to try to use their tracking devices to find the Anti-Phoenix. They arrived to find that Widget has evolved into a bizarre new form. Rachel senses that the Anti-Phoenix has willingly allowed Necrom to absorb its lifeforce, and the resulting cosmic-powered Necrom is now coming after Rachel.

Thoughts: As the climax approaches, the stories get easier to summarize. If only other writers would do this! Feron is an annoying brat, the only one of Davis' Excalibur creations that should never have made it past the sketch stage. But Davis gives a good showcase to his creation Kylun, a favorite of mine -- it is Kylun who defeats the rock monsters, thanks to his enchanted swords, and later provides the funniest moment when his mutant power turns out to have nothing to do with his fighting skills. The plot thread of Widget's evolution will not be resolved until many issues later, but it does get resolved. Again, if only more writers would do this!

EXCALIBUR # 49: "Let There Be Dark"

Main Cast: Captain Britain, Cerise, Kylun, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Shadowcat

Credits: Alan Davis, writer and penciler -- Mark Farmer, inker -- Michael Heisler, letterer -- Glynis Oliver, colorist -- Terry Kavanagh, editor -- Mark Powers, assistant editor

Plot: En route to the lighthouse, Necrom fuels himself by absorbing the lifeforces of almost an entire unit of F.I.6, the government organization last seen blundering around in issue # 44 -- the only survivor is their token superhero, Micromax. At the lighthouse, Nightcrawler takes charge, the cross-time craziness gets even more frequent, and Captain Britain inexplicably expands to Liefeld-ian proportions. Necrom arrives and informs the heroes that he is causing the multiple alternate earths to compress into one, and he will only stop if Rachel surrenders the Phoenix force to him. And in Otherworld, Roma and Saturnyne have a surprise guest: Roma's supposedly deceased father, Merlyn!

Thoughts: The set-up for the big conclusion in the big special 50th issue! There's really not much more that can be said, except that it's just as wonderful as the last several issues and that the cover is another homage to classic X-Men, in this case Neal Adams' Living Monolith cover from Uncanny X-Men # 56. Davis does have impeccable taste in his infulences.

EXCALIBUR # 50: "Winner Loses All"

Cast: Captain Britain, Cerise, Kylun, Meggan, Nightcrawler, Phoenix, Shadowcat

Credits: Alan Davis, writer and penciler -- Mark Farmer, inker -- Michael Heisler, letterer -- Joe Rosas, colorist -- Terry Kavanagh, editor -- Mark Powers, assistant editor

Plot: The five founding members of Excalibur merge, each of their individual abilities combining into one super-super-being with the powers to stop the convergence of the multiverse. But even though they succeed, Necrom must still be dealt with.

Meanwhile, on Otherworld, Merlyn reveals to Roma and Saturnyne that he had to operate behind the scenes or else Necrom would have found him and destroyed him; at stake is the energy matrix located at the alignment of the multiple dimensions -- the Excalibur lighthouse.

Kylun fends off a sneak attack by Necrom, wounding the villain, who flees. Confronting the founding members of Excalibur, Necrom threatens to absorb the lifeforces of Rachel's teammates if she does not release the Phoenix force.

Rachel transforms into Phoenix and attacks Necrom head-on. She opens a stargate to another solar system, which is devastated by their battle. Pretending to sacrifice herself, she overloads Necrom with cosmic power until he explodes into atomic particles.

Roma transports Rachel back to Otherworld, where her teammates discover that she is alive but comatose. Merlyn gloats callously over his victory as if it were the only thing that mattered, causing Captain Britain and Meggan to discharge excess cosmic energy and destroy the lighthouse, destroying all its multiversal counterparts as well. Merlyn, furious at being left with nothing to show for his manipulations, vanishes.

Roma transports Excalibur safely back to Earth-616. Nightcrawler fears that Roma will continue to play games with them, while Captain Britain believes Roma is giving them a fresh start, and that they're nobody's pawns now. But the checkboard floor they're standing on would seem to lean the argument in Nightcrawler's favor...

Thoughts: So it ends, with as much of bang as it began.

Rachel's speech as she transforms into Phoenix never ceases to thrill me no matter how many times I re-read it: "I'm PHOENIX. I accepted the power and now it's time to prove I'm worthy of it."

I find it rather amusing that Alan Davis needed only nine issues to do what DC has tried and failed over and over again at doing over the past 20-plus years: tell a coherent story about multiple realities overcoming a powerful threat.

Now, although Davis succeeded at giving Excalibur a clean slate to start over from, the book would have several deadline-related starts and stops over the next ten issues, not really reaching its full potential until # 61. But better late than never.

The next time I have a chance to update this thread, I'll do my best to reach # 61 as fast as I can.

I have decided to turn this thread into an all-purpose retro review thread. I will get back to Excalibur someday, but for now, let's revisit INFINITY INC.

INFINITY INC. #1 - "Generations!"

[b]Created by: Roy Thomas, Jerry Ordway, and Mike Machlan

Credits: Roy Thomas, co-plotter, scripter, and editor - Dann Thomas, co-plotter - Jerry Ordway, penciller - Mike Machlan, inker

Plot: Silver Scarab, Fury, Northwind, and Nuklon, the childen and/or godchildren of the JSA, barge in on a JSA meeting demanding to join the team. After the JSA votes to turn them down, two more progeny, Jade and Obsidian, show up and are also turned down. Power Girl and Huntress go after them all. Brainwave crashes through the wall of the JSA's brownstone.

Thoughts: Infinty Inc. is my second favorite Roy Thomas comic after his Silver Age Avengers run. This shares many of the same qualities -- particularly the intense and complex character interactions. Roy was the first large-scale team comics writer to really give each character their own distinctive voice. In particular, I like how Doctor Fate is used as the voice of reason -- "True, the youngster's manners may be a bit lacking...but which of us has not acted rashly on occassion, in our youth?" -- followed immediately by a wisecrack from Power Girl and a reprimand for Power Girl from her friend Huntress (probably the only one who'd dare reprimand Power Girl.)

But the focus of this book is on the youngsters. We get the origins and personalites established for Silver Scarab (insecure hothead with daddy issues), Fury (willful spitfire with mommy issues), Nuklon (nice guy who makes lapses in judgement, like the infamous mohawk), and Northwind (sensitive half-breed outcast from another land.) Roy's seasoning as a writer keeps even this exposition brisk and fascinating, helped to no end by Ordway & Machlan's gorgeous art. And since this is a superhero comic, we get a deadly villain at the end and a cliffhanger that leaves us hungry for more.

I loved Ordway art in II and All-Star Sq. He really brought the characters to life, more so in my opinion than RT's writing.

Thomas seemed to write types more than he wrote characters - when he needed a hothead, he wrote whoever was handy to fit that role, if there wasn't a traditional one immediately available (this really stands out when totally inappropriate - Captain America or Cosmic Boy acting like his generic hotheads, for instance).

His dialogue varied between passable and awkward (sometimes reaching good), and his use of certain types of dramatic scenes often fell flat (for instance, the youngsters bursting in attacking a JSA meeting looked dynamic on the surface, but made no sense. Why would anyone think it's a good idea? Why wouldn't your whole extended group of uncles, who knew you since you were infants, immediately recognize you?)

He had some very good ideas, but often played them out in formulaic ways.

II #1 was filled with a lot of promise and potential, a potential often brushed upon but never unleashed.