The Sword Is Drawn: Excalibur from the Beginning

[Shadowcat]

Attachment 477

Bonus FatEmma

Attachment 478

Somewhere SD is bursting with joy at these pics

Shhh. Don't say that too loud. He'll show up like the Candyman.

[Valeficent]

Shhh. Don't say that too loud. He'll show up like the Candyman.

Beetlejuice, let's keep our references classier

[Shadowcat]

Beetlejuice, let's keep our references classier

Given the material, I thought it was appropriate.

[Babylon23]

Nice summary Shadowcat.

I remember being so excited for this book. I'd gotten into Captain Britain and Meggan through the Delano/Davis issues of Captain Britain magazine and seeing them teaming up with my two favourite X-Men in Kurt and Kitty was fantastic. Claremont and Davis certainly delivered with this special.

Gatecrasher's Technet is such an amazing group. It's a shame they're rarely used these days.

[Raye]

O.O an Excalibur thread! I LOVE Excalibur. It was one of the first superhero books I read, and I am a longtime fan of Nightcrawler (the fun swashbuckler-y Nightcrawler, not the super religious priest Nightcrawler) because of it. I haven't read it in a long time, though. I may dig it out and read along.

Heretically, I preferred Warren Ellis's issues to Claremont or Davis's. Perhaps it was the abrupt tone.

While Excalibur did have it's rough spots (as any ongoing book is bound to have) there is nothing wrong with Ellis' issues, imo. It's those issues that made me a fan of Warren Ellis. I discovered X-Men, and comics in general really, after Claremont's heydey, in the 90's. I went back and read a lot of the older stuff, but I am just not a fan of Claremont, I know it's heresy, but there it is. I just prefer a more modern style. I actually can't stand most of his stuff. Most. Excalibur was the exception to that, the light humorous tone and the group of characters just worked, and meshed well with his style. (I was really hoping he would recapture it with the Nightcrawler solo, but... not so far, anyway.) Ellis' was different, but it was distinct and I liked it, and brought with it a style of writing that I just enjoy more, plus Pete Wisdom, somewhat squicky pairing with Kitty aside. (apparently the editors told him Kitty was older than she was) Ellis is easily one of my all time favorite writers, and I found him in Excalibur, branching out to his other stuff from there, so hey, thumbs up for that.

[DungeonmasterJim]

The wait between the Excalibur original graphic novel and the regular series was excruciating. But, man, was I happy when that series showed up and with Alan Davis as the artist!

[DDD]

The wait between the Excalibur original graphic novel and the regular series was excruciating. But, man, was I happy when that series showed up and with Alan Davis as the artist!

I started with #1. So I had to read special and CB trade, the only one available back then, a few issues later. It was exciting wondering about how all of those characters started, where they were from. I remember my friends couldn't stand not being properly spoon fed an origin story for everything right away. I thought this was the best ever. There were so many details for my imagination to fill in!

[Tazirai]

The wait between the Excalibur original graphic novel and the regular series was excruciating. But, man, was I happy when that series showed up and with Alan Davis as the artist!

Agreed.



Loved this GN

[The Sword is Drawn]

Heretically, I preferred Warren Ellis's issues to Claremont or Davis's. Perhaps it was the abrupt tone.

You're not alone, there. While I have strong appreciation for Davis solo run a number of the Claremont/Davis issue grate with me in places. Ellis' run had such a brilliant line-up and setting. It gave the book back a sense of identity. During Lobdell's run that seemed to have been so intentionally removed...

Ellis' run is the kind of Excalibur I'd WANT to read, even to this day. I also see a lot of things in that run which were later developed in Ellis' work on Stormwatch and The Authority. He writes damned good team books.

Domestic violence should always be denounced. I am not one of those neighbors who will pretend nothing is happening.

And I'm glad to hear it. But in this case I feel you are being misguided in your interpretation. At no point during the run of Excalibur does Brian strike Meggan, or Meggan strike Brian, unless under the control of a third party.

And this began as a Claremont book. There was LOTS of mind control.

They do not, off their own back, behave violently towards each other. Far from it. There's a lot of love here.

This is a comic book urban myth, which seems to come back around every once in a while. But that is all that it is.

What concerns me is that in the past this subject has become a meme on this forum making light of a very serious subject. We should not be letting this happen.

[Sundowhn]

I know the topic of Brian's characterization in early Excal is a controversial one, but I have to say I found it interesting and very, very humanizing. No, he never struck Meg, however, he was a poor partner at the time, as happens sooner or later in almost any relationship if the two are together long enough. It added a huge element of realism, imo. He went through a rough spot and shut her out, lashing out at her or anyone else who tried to get close to him and his pain. He was grieving for Betsy. He was suffering immense guilt and a sense of failure and so he coped liked so many people in the real world have done -- with drink. Take then that he was thrust into a situation of having a very capable, level-headed man show up and take on his role in the form of Nightcrawler. Not only did Kurt lead the team, but even Meg started looking to him for her emotional needs. The whole story really set Brian up to re-evaluate his life and his purpose going forward.

I also really liked how the development of Brian, Meg and Kurt was all tied together. Brian needed Kurt to break him out of his funk and decide the man he was going into the future. Kurt needed to be forced into a position of responsibility by Brian's problems to evolve him from the playful swashbuckler eschewing responsibility that he was in the past. Meg needed both to make her realize she was her own person, not just a reflection of the expectations of others.

That's just my 2 cents, though.

[jdtennesse]

Since Excalibur was an X-Book, different from X-Men, obviously, I mostly liked Kurt, Rachel and Kitty, I remember reading Fall of the Mutants, when the three of them thought their friends dead and recovering on Muir Island... Great character moments. And then everything bagan anew. Which stories do you all think were the best? I liked the beginning but never read the whole series, especially the latter issues, so it's difficult for me to judge. What I didn't like were the latter volumes and incarnations of Excalibur, with Juggs and Dazzler that is.

[The Sword is Drawn]

I know the topic of Brian's characterization in early Excal is a controversial one, but I have to say I found it interesting and very, very humanizing. No, he never struck Meg, however, he was a poor partner at the time, as happens sooner or later in almost any relationship if the two are together long enough. It added a huge element of realism, imo. He went through a rough spot and shut her out, lashing out at her or anyone else who tried to get close to him and his pain. He was grieving for Betsy. He was suffering immense guilt and a sense of failure and so he coped liked so many people in the real world have done -- with drink. Take then that he was thrust into a situation of having a very capable, level-headed man show up and take on his role in the form of Nightcrawler. Not only did Kurt lead the team, but even Meg started looking to him for her emotional needs. The whole story really set Brian up to re-evaluate his life and his purpose going forward.

I also really liked how the development of Brian, Meg and Kurt was all tied together. Brian needed Kurt to break him out of his funk and decide the man he was going into the future. Kurt needed to be forced into a position of responsibility by Brian's problems to evolve him from the playful swashbuckler eschewing responsibility that he was in the past. Meg needed both to make her realize she was her own person, not just a reflection of the expectations of others.

That's just my 2 cents, though.

No, I think that's a very fair evaluation, and one which definitely matches with what Chris Claremont was aiming to do.

The series does bond them togerher. What has perhaps frustrated me the most is that since Excalibur concluded in the late 90s these incredibly close friendships were just... dropped. Never referred to again properly until this past month, in all honesty. Excalibur was like a family. It was a close-nit team of friends and colleagues who came together in the bleakest of times and stuck together.

[MollyBarton]

I've read the Ellis run of Excalibur, and now I'm starting at the beginning. I have to say, I love Nightcrawler in Excalibur a lot more than X-Men, he really gets to shine.

[Sundowhn]

No, I think that's a very fair evaluation, and one which definitely matches with what Chris Claremont was aiming to do.

The series does bond them togerher. What has perhaps frustrated me the most is that since Excalibur concluded in the late 90s these incredibly close friendships were just... dropped. Never referred to again properly until this past month, in all honesty. Excalibur was like a family. It was a close-nit team of friends and colleagues who came together in the bleakest of times and stuck together.

That's frustrated me immensely, as well. I mean, these guys were close. Other than vague references, I think Remender is the only one to really give a nod to three of them in UXF and that was brief.

[jarrod]

That's frustrated me immensely, as well. I mean, these guys were close. Other than vague references, I think Remender is the only one to really give a nod to three of them in UXF and that was brief.

That was also with an AU Kurt. I did like when Remender had Brian mention Rachel during AVX tho.