Excalibur the older series. Is it any good?

[XandertheWise]

found a bunch of old issues of Excalibur at a small antique shop last week.

Just wondering about the old series. Were there any good decent story arcs to read from the old Excalibur series?

[JB]

found a bunch of old issues of Excalibur at a small antique shop last week.

Just wondering about the old series. Were there any good decent story arcs to read from the old Excalibur series?

The original Excalibur series if one of my all-time favorites. Claremont and Alan Davis were a dynamic duo to me. Later on starting around issue #42 Davis does both the penciling and writing and it's fantastic.

[Krakoa]

IMO Claremont's Excalibur is pretty overrated and is not his best work (especially Cross-Time Caper, which drags so hard), but Davis' Excalibur when he takes over as writer is fantastic and builds on what Claremont did in a really great way that makes reading Claremont necessary. Any of the fill-ins during that run that are not written by Claremont or Davis are not necessary and basically nothing interesting happens after Davis leaves the book.

[Luckystar.]

IMO Claremont's Excalibur is pretty overrated and is not his best work (especially Cross-Time Caper, which drags so hard), but Davis' Excalibur when he takes over as writer is fantastic and builds on what Claremont did in a really great way that makes reading Claremont necessary. Any of the fill-ins during that run that are not written by Claremont or Davis are not necessary and basically nothing interesting happens after Davis leaves the book.

I'd have to agree. I'm reading it for the first time now. Claremont's early issues are okay-ish. Alan Davis' run is amazing. The rest is not good.

[BobbysWorld]

I'd have to agree. I'm reading it for the first time now. Claremont's early issues are okay-ish. Alan Davis' run is amazing. The rest is not good.

Yeah, they kinda flip-flopped. Claremont's X-Men - good. His Excalibur? Nope. Davis' Excalibur - good. His X-Men? Nope.

[XandertheWise]

I dont care who's run of Excalibur was better or whatever. i asked what story arcs in Excalibur are worth reading through. Back then i wasnt into Excalibur since i was more into X-Force, Cable, X-Man, Uncanny X Men, Wolverine and X-Men Unlimited

i know that Kitty Pryde and captain britain and nightcrawler were in excalibur but as for the story arcs were there any good decent ones?

[Uncanny X-Man]

I would frankly read it all. The Claremont/Davis run, the Davis solo run and the Warren Ellis run are all well worth it. They're plagued by a number of fill-ins in between and after Ellis leaves, Ben Raab takes over and delivers a pretty inoffensive if unexciting run, but overall I'd say it's a good 125 issues, and a must-buy if you're a fan of any of the main characters.

[JB]

I dont care who's run of Excalibur was better or whatever. i asked what story arcs in Excalibur are worth reading through. Back then i wasnt into Excalibur since i was more into X-Force, Cable, X-Man, Uncanny X Men, Wolverine and X-Men Unlimited

i know that Kitty Pryde and captain britain and nightcrawler were in excalibur but as for the story arcs were there any good decent ones?

Well the title of the thread is asking if the series is "any good." I don't have a specific story arc to recommend because I liked the Claremont/Davis run and the Davis run and the storylines that ran through them.

[Anduinel]

I dont care who's run of Excalibur was better or whatever. i asked what story arcs in Excalibur are worth reading through. Back then i wasnt into Excalibur since i was more into X-Force, Cable, X-Man, Uncanny X Men, Wolverine and X-Men Unlimited

i know that Kitty Pryde and captain britain and nightcrawler were in excalibur but as for the story arcs were there any good decent ones?

I'd say it depends. Most of Excalibur v.1 is pretty light-hearted, even up into the "grim and gritty" 90s. I'm talking literal fairies, trolls, and jaunts into Wonderland light-hearted at times. So while it is quite a good book, it might not be to your taste. If you want to give it a shot anyway, I'd say read from the "Sword is Drawn" GN until about issue #58. This encompasses all of the Davis and Claremont work and a few pretty OK fill-ins. (It's a book that's easier to break down by writer than arc, really, just because so much of the early series was dominated by The Cross-Time Caper.) After that, maybe the Ellis stuff is worth picking up for actual story, unless you're really keen on seeing Slott and Lobdell cut their baby teeth on a book Harass considered disposable. Ellis' Excalibur went a bit dark, given the previous tone of the book, but he wrote a decent Nightcrawler and remembered that Captain Britain was supposed to have a functioning brain, so, there's that.

[Master of Sound]

I only liked it when Colossus and Wisdom joined. Before that it was kindo lame for me

[Habis]

I think Alan Davis's Excalibur was very good, but be warned, it isn't X-Men... it is its own thing, a fantasy tale about adventurers jumping across dimensions...

[BroHomo]

found a bunch of old issues of Excalibur at a small antique shop last week.

Just wondering about the old series. Were there any good decent story arcs to read from the old Excalibur series?

https://tenor.com/bogOP.gif

[mbm721]

I’d agree with the first few responders. It’s good/okay, but could be great or trash depending on personal preferences of style and genre. I’d say it’s prob most divisive late 80s/post fall of mutants book either love it or hate it. Most current Marvel editors and writers at marvel love it. Not my fave as a kid, night crawler was a big draw for me bc he wasn’t in the other x books at the time, but I read most of the run, and own about 40 issues, most from
The first 12-16 issues or so then the David stuff around 42-60, 75 (fatal attractions issue), Ellis from around 89-100.

[Krakoa]

I’d agree with the first few responders. It’s good/okay, but could be great or trash depending on personal preferences of style and genre. I’d say it’s prob most divisive late 80s/post fall of mutants book either love it or hate it. Most current Marvel editors and writers at marvel love it. Not my fave as a kid, night crawler was a big draw for me bc he wasn’t in the other x books at the time, but I read most of the run, and own about 40 issues, most from
The first 12-16 issues or so then the David stuff around 42-60, 75 (fatal attractions issue), Ellis from around 89-100.

Fatal Attractions is 71. 75 is the one where Rachel gets sent to the future to raise Cable.

[Micabe]

found a bunch of old issues of Excalibur at a small antique shop last week.

Just wondering about the old series. Were there any good decent story arcs to read from the old Excalibur series?

If you're an avid X-Fan then Excalibur Vol. 1 is an absolute must-have/read