Excalibur Classic, Vol. 2: Two-Edged Sword

Excalibur (1988-1998) #6-11

by Chris Claremont, Ron Lim, Marshall Rogers (Illustrator)

The British mutant team's earliest incarnation is still trying to find its feet, only to fall headfirst into the Inferno Meanwhile, Mojo's first batch of X-Babies escape to Earth, but Excalibur has much worse doppelgangers to deal with before the Cross Time Caper commences Guest-starring the New Mutants Featuring dinosaurs, demons, rock stars and royalty Collects Excalibur #6-11 & Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, X Men, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published July 19, 2006

About the author

Chris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.

Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.

Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume centres round a visit from the Nazi(!) Excalibur from an Alternate dimension as well as a three-part 'X-Men: Inferno' crossover in America. The demented Mojo, Major Domo, Minor Domo, Ricochet Rita and the X-babies star with Excalibur in the manic and often very funny 'Mojo Mayhem'. Chris Claremont's attempt at a more comedic magical realist interpretation of mutant Marveldom not only holds well but manages to maintain continuity with the Marvel Universe. 5 out of 12.

Collecting Excalibur #6 to #11 and Mojo Mayhem.

[Dawn Livingston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read these comics when they came out however long ago that was (late 80's? early 90's?).

The bulk of the artwork is fantastic, among my favorite, but I see a few flaws now where I didn't before. The stories are even more creative than I remembered, so much more than the books I've been reading. Comics are such an amazing vehicle for creativity.

This is not a graphic novel to start with if you like Excalibur but don't know much about them. The more you have read and know about Excalibur and how the characters in Excalibur are connected to others in the Marvel universe the more at home you'll be with this comic.

I have to admit I think this is about as good as it gets when it comes to Excalibur. This is worth owning, even at full price.

[Drew Perron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excalibur is an interesting series. It's often referred to as "the lighthearted X-book", and while that's often true, it can get pretty intense, though never dour. I think there's something else that makes it so great, though.

In the '80s, there was a strain of comics that were very much in the tone of what we, today, would call young adult fiction; fantastic, focused on emotion and internal experiences, often involving romance intertwined with action. These were most often found in indie comics, but mainstream superheroes also dabbled; and that tendency became a very important part of Chris Claremont's X-Men, as he interweaved it with more traditional superheroing in an ongoing serial format which influenced not only superheroes, but the nature of serial storytelling to this day.

Excalibur, I would say, is where that combination of superheroes and YA shone most brightly, in the '80s and even into the '90s. Kitty Pryde becomes a relatable urban fantasy hero, and she and the rest of the cast go through weird and colorful explorations of self and relationships. And this volume is an excellent example of that.

[Lisa Feld · Rating 4 out of 5]

In which our heroes pay homage to a certain blue police box...

Seriously, though, we have Alistaire Stuart working for the Weird Happenings Organization ("What?" "No, WHO."), plastic mannequins taking over a city, and a capricious mode of transportation launching our heroes on a journey that, though it mostly involves alternate realities and alien worlds, is called the Cross-TIME caper. Not to mention that lovely mix of horror, humor, and general looniness...

I'd give this collection 3.5 stars; we keep switching artists and writers, so the quality is all over the place. The highlight of this collection is absolutely Alan Davis's work on the Inferno storyline and the aftermath in New York. Kitty confronts nightmares spun out of her subconscious guilt over her friends' deaths, while Meggan is left to wonder, since her empathy and shapeshifting make her echo the desires and thoughts of those around her, whether she has any core self to call her own.

[Loz Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 1st 11 issues of Excalibur rocked. I loved each issue and the inferno tie ins were brilliant. There are so many little scenes and images that stick in my mind to this day, like Brian and Kitty sucked into the theatre and are playing out the horror movie. Megan in her goblin persona, Rachel the shop dummy and Nightcrawlers freefall dive off the mutated empire state building. So cool. It brings back such nostalgia from the only team based in my home country at that time.
All that and Alan davis Art. Brilliant.

[Lulu (the library leopard)]

I missed Alan Davis's art during the guest artist sections but also this includes an issue where teenage versions of the X-Men from an evil reality TV world encounter Chris Claremont on the way to a convention in the Scottish highlands and steal his car which is quite frankly the exact kind of bonkers X-Men content I'm here for, so.
Also the Nazi stuff was actually really harrowing (especially Kitty?!), geez.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably more like a 3.5. The Inferno tie-in issues were very good and the two issues where the team battled the Lightning Force were enjoyable. The Manhattan adventure did some character work, but slowed down the pace a bit. The final chapter (issue 11) continued the mystery of Widget and served to conclude the Lightning Force story and set up the Cross-Time Caper in the coming issues. Claremont and Davis continue to grow their team and its dynamics to mostly satisfying results.

[Todd Glaeser · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fill-in artists were ok, but they were no Alan Davis. the book suffers a bit when AD is not there. The X-babies story with the Excaliber cameo at the end was fun to read, and was included because Kitty was in Excalibur at the time, I suppose. Man, is that cover DARK! The original on the inside is so much more accessible!

[Andrew Alvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heh, more great artwork and character building going on especially the taught and burgeoning potential romance between team members that should definitely NOT be happening.

Big plus for Arthur Adams incredible artwork in Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem, absolutely fantastic stuff.

[ribbonknight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shines the most when Kitty is the focus - after Inferno, during the Mojo short, etc. Too uneven for a higher rating, though.

[Tom Malinowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excalibur continues their adventures... they get involved in Inferno and deal with doppelgangers from a stark alternate timeline. Widget just keeps on chomping away with mixed results.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, love the character work. Missed Davis’ art on the last few issues though.

[C. Varn · Rating 3 out of 5]

These is such a strange era of story arcs: the ending of the Inferno crossover, the introduction of Nazi Excalibur (and hints of the Cross-Time Caper), and the X-Babies. Written in a period where the X-men were believed to be dead, Claremont does actually do a lot of teen soap opera romance elements of the storyline and the utter bizarreness of it all. Alan Davis's light-hand really defines the book, but other artists start to step in here. Kitty Pryde becomes the focal hero and the really the narrative grounding for the book which gets more and more surreal.

This period of Excalibur is mostly pleasant, but doesn't add up to much. It reads like a Hero comic mixed with a YA novel, but it is from the late 80s/early 90s before YA novels were really a developed thing.

So this remains weird, but fun, but this is the weakest period of the first Claremont run. One feels like Claremont really hasn't figured out what to do with Excalibur and how integrated he really wants to be in the X-books.

[Andrew]

Excalibur, the British superhero group that contains more foreigners than Brits, continues their adventures in this second collection of reprints from the comic. Excalibur travels to New York to combat with a demon infestation, and stays home to deal with their doppelgangers from a dimension where the Nazis won World War II and rule Europe. PLUS, in a bonus story, Kitty Pryde attempts to protect the X-Babies from Mojo's agent, the, uh, Agent.

Like the previous collection, I found this to be a pleasant diversion. It did not grab me to the point where I could not put it down, nor such that I will spend hours later this year reminiscing about how much I liked it or how thought-provoking it was. That doesn't make it bad, just not 5-star.

Also like the previous collection: Interesting enough for me to start the next collection in the series, not interesting enough for me to rave about it.

RATING: 3 1/2 stars, rounded down to 3 stars.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Inferno tie-in that leads things off is interesting because we see how Excalibur's humor integrates with the rest of the X-universe, but sort of disappointing for the fact that they don't do anything [6]. The follow-up in New York is better because it gives all the characters a chance to shine [7]. The two-parter about the German Excalibur is a nice taste of what’s to come, but probably seemed a lot more innovative back in 1989 [6]. The last regular issue in the volume offers a nice tie-up going back to the start of the volume [7]. The Mojo story that ends things is OK adventure [6.5].

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the early stories of this series, as the team was just learning to be a team and had all these fantastic adventures while getting used to each other and dealing with the idea that they didn't have a team super jet or communicators and so it was a bit more of a challenge to get across the globe to save the world from evil creatures.

Plus, the light house is one of the great hero team headquarters.

[Jessica Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume had some great stuff -- Inferno, Nazi Excalibur, soap opera romance, and an exciting cliffhanger -- but it also had the X-Babies. Man, fuck the X-Babies. They're not adorable enough to make up for how annoying they are and I'm creeped out by all the adult women who flirt with baby Longshot. I get that being super-charming is one of his deals just like the adult version but it's weird and gross when he's about seven.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume ties in with the Inferno storyline, and gives Megan's shapeshifting abilities some depth. There are quite a few story strands knocking about, with alternative universes, a frog doorway and Mojo. The Mojo bits are the highlight of this volume, the X babies as always are highly entertaining.

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

(This review covers Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.)

Weird, but fun. One of best X-titles ever, IMHO. (Of course, I might be biased, since it was also a favorite when I was younger.) The only complaint I have is that Captain Britain is a bit dim compared to his Moore/Davis portrayal, but it works. (B+)

[Jase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inferno crossover issues are pointless for this series but the next issues get campy and small mystery. Not knowing why things are happening is a tad confusing with an alternative nazi universe with Moira and Callisto. Prepare for lots of dialogue and side notes.

[Hamish · Rating 3 out of 5]

A step down from the first volume due to the inclusion of some dubious fill-in artists. Jesus, what the fuck happened to Marshall Rogers?

[Matthew Ledrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Excalibur continues to excite."

Read the entire review at TheBookCloset

[Variaciones Enrojo]

Edición española, tomo 2.

[Laissez Farrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, really.