Excalibur (comics)
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Excalibur is the title of three Marvel Comics series, each offshoots of the popular X-Men franchise.
The first Excalibur, (1988-98), featured an eponymous group consisting of the English superhero Captain Britain, his lover Meggan and several onetime members of the X-Men and related mutant teams. Originally a wacky series involving cross-dimensional travel, it became a more typical X-Book in later years.
The second Excalibur, a 2001 four issue mini-series, featuring Captain Britain, Meggan, Psylocke and the Black Knight, featured Captain Britain's ascent to the throne of Otherworld.
The third Excalibur, (2004-2005), which has little to do with the first, chronicles the efforts of X-Men founder Charles Xavier and his former nemesis Magneto to rebuild the mutant homeland of Genosha. This grouping has not laid claim to the name Excalibur, despite the title of the comic.
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The original Excalibur
Template:Superteambox Excalibur's original creative team, writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer Alan Davis, incorporated elements of two Marvel properties: the X-Men and Captain Britain.
The X-Men are a group of mutants - human beings born with extraordinary powers - who use their abilities to defend a society that hates and fears them. Claremont had authored their series since 1976, guiding them to tremendous success. He borrowed four characters from the X-Men for Excalibur:
- Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner), a rascally German who possessed the ability to teleport and a freakish appearance
- Phoenix (Rachel Summers), a telekinetic and telepathic young woman from a dystopian future
- Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde), a teenaged computer expert with the ability to “phase” through solid objects
- Lockheed, her small pet dragon.
A Marvel UK property co-created by Claremont in 1976, Captain Britain is a protector of Great Britain, endowed with superhuman powers by the legendary wizard Merlyn. Davis and Alan Moore, during their joint early 1980s stint, established that the Marvel Universe's Captain Britain one of many from various dimensions and that one of his main roles is guarding the lighthouse that is placed at the convergence of realities.
Excalibur, which also featured Captain Britain's emotionally unstable, shapeshifter love Meggan, first gathered together in Excalibur Special Edition #1 (1988) and were soon featured in a monthly series. With the help of a maniac, dimension-hopping robot named Widget, they embarked on a series of wacky adventures through parallel worlds, many of which had previously been featured in Captain Britain’s UK-only series.
Davis left with Excalibur #24 (1990), and Claremont with Excalibur #34 (1991) and the series began to flag badly. A year later, Davis returned to the book as both writer and illustrator with Excalibur #42, and rejuvenated it, returning to the (mostly) lighthearted tone of his original run, while resolving many plotlines Claremont had left dangling. He also added several new members, including the mystic Feron, the warrior Kylun and the alien seductress Cerise, and also introduced the giant-sized Micromax.
After Davis left in 1993, Uncanny X-Men writer Scott Lobdell filled-in for several months. In a jarring transition, Captain Britain was lost off-panel, Meggan was suddenly catatonic from losing Captain Britain off-panel, and the newer members were summarily disposed off. Marvel stationed the team on the fictitious Muir Island, off the coast of Scotland, and tied the series closer to the X-Men family, casting-off most Captain Britain-related elements entirely, while Phoenix was disposed of to bring a much altered "Britannic" back, and Douglock, who was eventually revealed to be Warlock reborn with Cypher's form and memories, joined the team
In 1994, Warren Ellis assumed writing duties and, using his dark sense of humor, helped the book gain its own voice once again. Revisions made in his time on the book included reverting "Britannic" back to Captain Britain once more, adding
- Pete Wisdom, an often-obnoxious British spy, often considered Ellis’ alter ego, who could turn his fingers into hot knifes. In a bold move, Ellis made Wisdom (who is at the very least representitive of an archetype - chain-smoking sarcastic obnoxious Englishman - that Ellis writes into almost all his books) the romantic interest of the once young and innocent Shadowcat.
and, at the insistance of the editors:
- Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair), a werewolf-like young woman from the X-Men spin-off New Mutants
- Colossus (Peter Rasputin), a Russian X-Men who could turn into “organic steel.”.
Ellis left in 1996 and Ben Raab, his replacement, failed to find a voice for the series, often borrowing plotlines from other X-Books. Sales fell and Marvel cancelled the series, partially so Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and Colossus could return to the X-Men. The series ended with issue #125 (1998) featuring the wedding of Meggan and a depowered Captain Britain.
In 2001, a 4-part miniseries titled Excalibur, featuring Captain Britain, Meggan, Psylocke and the Black Knight and written by Raab, detailed Captain Britain's advent to King of the extra-dimensional realm of Otherworld.
Excalibur vol. 3 (2004)
Template:Superteambox In 2004 Marvel Comics launched a new ongoing series titled Excalibur, this time dealing with the efforts of Professor Xavier and Magneto to rebuild the devastated mutant nation of Genosha (which was destroyed at the beginning of Grant Morrison's X-Men run). Aside from the name and the writer (Claremont) it has no connection to Marvel's previous Excalibur titles. Other cast members include Callisto, another mutant leader, and newcomers such as Wicked, Freakshow, Shola Inkose, and Karima Shapandar. Archangel has also appeared in the series.
That grouping never laid claim to the name Excalibur, despite the title of the comic. Its last issue was #14, released in May 2005, the letters page of which announced a relaunch of the title as "New Excalibur." New Excalibur appears to be have more in common with the original series, featuring Captain Britain as one of its main characters, among other things.
Bibliography
Original Team
- Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn (1987) (also known as Excalibur Special Edition)
- Excalibur #1-125 (October 1988 - October 1998)
- Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem (December 1989)
- Excalibur: Weird War III (December 1990, ISBN 0-87135-702-X)
- Excalibur: The Possession (July 1991)
- Excalibur: Air Apparent (December 1991)
- Excalibur Annual 1-2 (1993 - 1994)
- Excalibur #-1 (July 1997)
Mini-Series
- Excalibur #1-4 (February 2001 - May 2001) (solicited as Excalibur: Sword of Power, and occasionally called by that name)
2004 version
- Excalibur #1-14 (July 2004 - May 2005)
- Excalibur Volume 1: Forging The Sword (November 2004, ISBN 0785115277) (trade paperback reprints #1-4)
- Excalibur Volume 2: Saturday Night Fever (June 2005, ISBN 0785114769) (trade paperback reprints #5-10)
- House of M: Excalibur - Prelude (August 2005, ISBN 0785118128) (trade paperback reprints #11-14)