Excalibur #1-3

Excalibur #1-3

Originally released in 1988

Written by Chris Claremont

Art by Alan Davis



I was curious about what a British-themed spin-off of the X-Men would be like.  As this was the first issue of the series, I thought the team would come together over the course of it and it could serve as an introduction to characters that I wasn't familiar with, but it starts off with the team already founded.  I was familiar with Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde through the X-Men, and vaguely familiar with Captain Britain (who is tied to the concept of the multiverse), though I wasn't familiar with his shape-shifting lover Meggan or Rachel Gray, the daughter of Jean Grey from an alternate future.



The book seems to be tied heavily to Chris Claremont's X-Men run, including events that I haven't seen yet. (among other things, the X-Men are believed to be dead)  Even the main villains of the first two issues are from a part of the X-Men lore that I'm only loosely familiar with, as they're hunters that work for Mojo. (all I know about Mojo is that he is from a dimension that treats everything like a television program)



The villains are known as Warwolves, with the disturbing ability to slip inside human bodies and wear their skin like clothing.  By the time the story starts, Kitty and Rachel have been tracking them for some time to no avail, with Kitty disguising herself as Rachel to act as bait.



The series has more of a comedic tone than I expected; it has its serious moments, but the villains seem to be bumbling goofballs, and even a prison break by the Juggernaut in issue 3 is stopped much quicker than I expected. (with him being imprisoned, he didn't have access to the helmet that makes him immune to psychic attack, which means that he won't last long against an incarnation of the Phoenix)



Due to my unfamiliarity with Captain Britain or parts of Claremont's X-Men run, I felt a little lost at times, unsure if strange events had ties to Captain Britain, or a section of Claremont's run that I hadn't read, or if this was something completely new.  At one point, a character named Opal Lun Sat-Yr-9 appears, and I'm not sure if this was meant to be ominous or not.



I do think I'd like this series once I have more context, but at the very least, I feel like I'd need to reach the introduction of Rachel Summers first.  As of now, it kind of feels like I started watching a show midway through season 3; I can follow some of what's going on, but some details are lost on me.  I suppose that's the downside of picking an issue to read on a whim.

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