30 Days of Scans_Daily: Day 20: Storyline/Book I could read over and over again

[freezer]

My choice combines what would've been my choice for favorite artist (Alan Davis) and a legendary writer who hadn't devolved into a cliched hack yet (Chris Claremont). I give you:



For those not versed in lesser X-history: After an encounter with Lightning Force (a Nazi Excalibur from another dimension), Excalibur ended up on a year-long Sliders-style jaunt throughout parallel dimensions. Most of the twelve issues of the storyline were either excuses to savage other comics icons (Issue 23 was one big parody of Judge Dredd) or let Davis and Claremont tell wild, self-contained stories.

Issue 14 is probably the most famous, as it was a pseudo-prequel (a Chapter 0, if you will) of the Acts Of Vengeance megacrossover. Here's the front cover:



And here's the back cover:



And one random page from it:



Cliff Note's context: They've landed on an Earth where most of the heroes are warped versions of themselves, Rick Jones has Wolverine Publicity and all-out war has been declared on the villains of the world. It doesn't end well.

The whole saga is collected in Excalibur Classics Vol. 3 and 4 - covering issues 12-24. If you've ever wondered what the big deal about the original Excalbur was, this is the place to start.

Comments

[proteus_lives]

I love how the sound effect of Black Bolt punching Kang is KANG!

[nezchan]

I like how AlternaLoki has his "this is such a chore" face on.

[sianmink]

Cross-Time Caper is <3. When all the X-books were EPIC 90s ANGST Excalibur was fun adventurous romp.

[freezer]

When all the X-books were EPIC 90s ANGST Excalibur was fun adventurous romp.

That's why I loved it so... and also why I held such a (unfair, I suppose) grudge against Ellis-Calibur.

[shanejayell]

It went dark WAY before then, IMHO.

Tho admittedly Ellis didn't help.

[shanejayell]

I liked the Caper, but DAMN did it run too long.

[silverzeo]

WTF is with that backcover?

[blake_reitz]

What! The Captain America costume worn by a cyborg assassin? Ridiculous! Truly this earth is messed up.

Also I really like how the back cover looks like a Marvel OHOTMU cover.

[brandiweed.livejournal.com]

Cross-Time was all right, but this Acts of Vengeance 1-issue parody was a lot of fun, especially Galactus showing up and sounding suspiciously like a Graham Chapman character. (There was also a Take That at John Byrne and Claremont himself.)

[selke]

I just picked a Captain Britain collection. It put me in the mood for some MAJOR Excalibur. Thanks for this! :)

[myniamh]

I have the trades and I love it too.

[northstarfan]

I can understand why you'd feel that way, but for me, the Ellis run was a step up from the murky period after Davis left and all fun and whimsy was immediately squashed out of the book. "Britannic" for God's sake...some part of me still wants to send the man cookies just for sweeping that under the nearest rug.

Don't get me wrong, I'd have preferred very much if Marvel had kept the line-wide mutant angst and needless deck-clearing out of the book to begin with, but Ellis having some fun with the title, even if it mostly came from poking fun at the superhero genre, was far better than what we'd been getting.

Mind you, he lost most of the goodwill he'd built up in that department after the BS he pulled with Alistair Stuart in X-Force...

[halloweenjack]

Humpty Dumpty MODOK made me laugh.

[pallas_athena]

I love the Cross-Time Caper... until they lose Alan Davis. (Though I have a sneaky fondness for the one where everyone suddenly goes manga and Dirty Pair show up.)