Though I’d read plenty of issues of Excalibur before, for one reason or another I’d never actually read any of the original run from the beginning. So I recently picked up the 1988 first issue for a decent price, from the excellent Vanguard Comics, and my thoughts follow.

It was always cool to me that us Brits got our own super team in the Marvel Universe; even more so that half of the team were superstars from the much bigger X-Men comic. Did it matter that they weren’t British? Not a bit; having Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde in London dealing with mutant, interdimensional and supernatural threats was fantastic. Of course there was also Rachel Summers (aka the second Phoenix), Captain Britain and his shapeshifting girlfriend, Meggan, too.

This issue sees the team formed after the X-Men are thought (mistakenly, of course) to be dead; the Brit super team find themselves up against a terrifying threat on the streets of London: the Warwolves. Hailing from Mojoworld, the Warwolves can disguise themselves as humans, by wearing the skin of a person after dissolving their internal organs and skeleton.

If that sounds surprisingly grim to you for a CCA-approved comic from the late 80s, you’re not alone – I was quite shocked at how graphic and disturbing the Warwolves were in this issue.

Dated 80s sexism aside, this issue has aged pretty well. It’s a fairly swiftly paced story too, though there are seeds for future plot developments being sown throughout, in typical Chris Claremont style.

Excalibur was lauded in its day for the brilliant artwork by Alan Davis, and it really is a standout; though the colouring may feel dated, the pencils by Davis (nicely inked by Paul Neary) are pretty timeless.

It’s an excellent start to the series, then, and unlike many comics of its day, it isn’t a single part story, and ends on a cliffhanger. I’ll definitely be going back to read more, as it’s aged a lot more gracefully than many other titles of the time period, and I’m really fond of the team’s unusual dynamic. The London setting is the icing on an already very tasty cake, too.

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