Random Ramblings about Things and Whatever

Random Ramblings about Things and Whatever

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Random Comics Review:Excalibur #1,1988


Excalibur was an X-Men spin-off comics from the late 80's originally written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Alan Davis.Set mostly in England the team consisted of Captain Britain, Meggan, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, and the Rachel Summers Phoenix.The team believed the main X-men team to be dead and decided to fight evil in their own way.Their adventures featured many weird creatures and parallel dimensions.The original tone of the series was a lot more lighthearted than Uncanny X-Men.

This was the debut issue of the first ongoing which followed a mini-series.The Excalibur team is pretty much set up and living in Captain Britain's lighthouse.The reader gets to see the friendships between the characters and their relationships with other people that would become the supporting cast.The antagonists are the Warwovles, snarky otherworldly beings who disintegrate people and wear their skins.

Claremont's writing is clear and humorous.The script is wordy but not cumbersome.The plot moves along at a brisk pace.And the reader understand's the character's personalities and motivations without much confusion.Alan Davis's art is superb.The compositions and layout tell the story in a clear and concise manner.The reader is never confused about where the characters are or what they are doing.Davis is a master of figure drawings as well as facial expressions.His ability to draw detailed environments and objects without seeming cluttered puts other artists to shame.

This is the sort of storytelling I wish we had more these days.The main characters are established,threats are introduced,future subplots are set up and the issue ends on a cliffhanger,but read in isolation,the issue is still a satisfying read.This issue of Excalibur is a classic example of bronze age comics storytelling.

5 comments:

  1. Dude, I'm enjoying these random comics reviews. I just read the Modern Masters Alan Davis book published by TwoMorrows Press. That guy is a genius! It's an extended interview covering his entire career with spot illustrations throughout. He talks a bit about Excalibur and how it was a bit strange that Britain and Meggan were the main characters, although they weren't mutants. And then they went and somehow made Meggan a mutant against his wishes.
    Oh, and don't hate me, but I do have one little nitpick. Put two spaces between your periods and the start of the next sentence!
    Sorry, I'm anal grammar police.

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  2. It's all good.Whatever it takes to make me a better writer!

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  3. Argh! You just did it again. Now you're just messing me with me, aren't you?

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. That was a double post with a different account.

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