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Excalibur (2004) (Collected Editions)
Excalibur, Vol. 1: Forging the Sword
The island of Genosha was once a thriving nation of mutants, built from the ground up by Magneto, Master of Magnetism. Then, an apocalyptic attack killed every man, woman and child - reducing an entire society to rubble within hours. Now, Professor X has come to Genosha with one intention: to rebuild a nation from its ashes!
Collecting: Excalibur 1-4
Collecting: Excalibur 1-4
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
24 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
About the author
Chris Claremont
3,286 books899 followersChris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.
Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.
Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.
Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.
Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
August 12, 2021
Such a short time after Grant Morrison's run and so much is being undone... in this case the death of Magneto (not a spoiler, as he is on the cover!). Admittedly it is part and parcel of all changes getting ready for the Bendis Marvel Universe.. but man did Marvel disrespect Morrison big-time. The book? Xavier and Magneto try to set up some sort of base in the ruins of Genosha. An OK read at 6 out of 12 from me.
March 12, 2015
I'm a rampaging Cherik shipper who needs to be sterilized because I'm afraid I've become a danger to the human species solely because
I CAN'T STOP THINKING AND TALKING ABOUT CHARLES AND ERIK AS A PAIRING.
Some days, I think they are my special slice of insanity, and I allow myself to indulge in them because anything in life compared to this heartbreaking relationship seems banal and boring.
And because I ship Professor X and Magento shamelessly, more so when it comes to their hot, younger versions in the X-Men: First Class film, I'm of course deliciously and disgustingly excited to read Chris Claremont's 2004 series Excalibur III which had nothing to do with the original Captain Britain material it was originally about. Rather, this is the story where Prof X and Mags "eloped" to Genosha so they can re-establish its sovereignty and civilization once again. They are joined by Callisto and a delightful gang of teenage mutants and a couple of idealists who want to make a difference.
But because this is the X-Men and Claremont we are talking about, such a nice premise is misleading and deceptive. And because this is Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr we're talking about, of course the issues are bound to get crazy, cheesy, emotastic and kindda-sorta homoerotic depending on how you interpret some scenes.
Known as Volume III, this version of Excalibur is something I've been dying to read because its basically a love letter to the fans of the ever-enduring core relationship between the aforementioned bookend-soulmates. The four-issued story arc Forging the Sword is collected in this first volume which feature tremendous amount of Cherik scenes that make my shipper heart suffocate in the syrupy thickness of my disastrous obsession for these two dorks.
Allow me to state this once again: Cherik is the oxygen, drugs and food that sustain my saddest nights on this planet and I will inhale, snort and devour it any goddamn chance I get.
In Excalibur III, Genosha has been decimated horrendously and it's presently in utter shambles while its mutant citizenry is clamoring for survival, searching for a leader to govern them. Unfortunately, Unus the Untouchable appointed himself as that. There was also a Magneto imposter walking around for a while, causing havoc in New York. This first issue, Paint It Black, opens with Charles Xavier soliloquising about his decision to leave the X-Men behind so he can go to Genosha, knowing they will survive without him anyway. Now Charles runs away to Genosha and takes the corpse of the poser-Magneto with him so he can meet up with the real Erik who apparently faked his own death and has been hiding from the world since.
I suppose they're both in Genosha to make amends with its people because they are considered the leaders of the mutant revolution no matter how much their views and methods clash. It's therefore a personal failure and injury to see such a civilization like Genosha become a wasteland because they were unable to save it. Now they feel obliged to fix that mistake together. So--if you think about it--they're keeping this all in clandestine mode, so neither the X-Men nor the Brotherhood know their whereabouts.
BECAUSE THEY FUCKING ELOPED, OKAY?
You see, Charles Xavier and Erik (Magnus) Lehnsherr never had what any of us might call a 'conventional' relationship. Their mutual understanding from the beginning becomes a rather complicated rivalry in the next decades to follow where they constantly find themselves fighting on the opposite sides of a war neither of them would compromise for--not even for the sake of salvaging their friendship. It seemed at first--from the moment they realized they were both mutants--that their first meeting was destined to happen; only to ultimately lose each other in the long run once it became clear that their ideologies would keep on clashing when it came to establishing and fighting for mutant rights. That was the deal breaker that prevented them from joining their forces and building a future.
The second issue of Excalibur III is entitled With A Little Help From My Friends gives us the opportunity to read a lengthy heart-to-heart discussion between Charles and Erik. I'm so deliriously happy that Erik has opened to Charles so readily in just a span of pages for this second issue. To reveal his vulnerability (his hopes and insecurities) like this just shows how far Erik has fallen and how much he intends to pick himself up and change for the better and with the help of the one person who will never fail him. "The past cannot be changed" is true, and that much applies to their relationship as well. Long ago when they have chosen sides, it was also by fighting against each other. There is an ocean of violence between them since and now it's time to do things differently--to establish a new mutant community in Genosha together--and that's the whole reason why they're there now. Look, I know I kept joking about them running away to elope because they're so in love since I started reviewing this series, but you know what?
WHY CAN'T IT BE BOTH ANYWAY?
Why can't Charles and Erik be in love all this time so they eloped AND also choose Genosha to start a future together because it's the place that they know they can restore and protect because its citizens need two outstanding leaders to whip it back into shape? These two men have shared a connection that continued to exist even in their darkest moments. Their trust and intuitive understanding of one another's faults and desires had made them seek each other throughout the years even when it is impossible to work out a compromise where their separate ideals can benefit from. And after decades of trials and errors, they finally arrived in the same page.
How can you not be moved to tears as I am, you cold-hearted non-shipper?!
The third and fourth issue continue the tradition of Charles and Erik caught up in so much drama whilst still finding ways to open up to each other, trying to be totes BFFs again while ignoring the electricity of unrequited love and unconsummated sexual tension between them. Here are some of the highlights of the first volume of this series that threaten to obliterate my ovaries.
These include Cherik having a meal during sunset and Charles checking out his 'body':
Charles complimenting Erik's culinary skills because he just prepared said meal earlier for Charles:
Erik not giving a fuck what people think about his relationship with Charles:
Other fun-filled honeymoon-ing activities such as Cherik scuba-diving:
Erik losing his shit because of the smallest things such as Charles mentioning his ex, Moira, which made Erik rather possessive:
And we also have Cherik confessing how much they need each other and how much they want their marriage to work this time:
These are just some of the gems you can find for this volume. In summary, Professor X and Magneto may be arch-nemesis for decades but Charles and Erik clearly belong together now and forever and Claremont's series proves that once and for all.
It's what's written in the stars.
Now here be the blurbs with links to individual issue reviews:
ISSUE #1 --> In which Charles hallucinates Moira with quite the cleavage, Unus is a jerkwad, and Erik wears the world's dorkiest orange sweater.
ISSUE #2 --> In which Cherik have their first date, talk about their feelings and regrets, and get sorely interrupted with the appearance of Callisto who complains about the make-up-break-up-make-up arrangement between Charles and Erik that is seriously starting to piss off everyone
ISSUE #3 --> In which Cherik spent some time underwater to locate a mysterious coffin while everyone on ground are fighting the bad guys
ISSUE #4 --> In which Charles and Erik once again prove they are better united than apart and where they confessed how the survival of Genosha and the survival of their relationship depend on compromise and cooperation this time around.
RECOMMENDED: 8/10
DO READ MY REVIEWS AT
And because I ship Professor X and Magento shamelessly, more so when it comes to their hot, younger versions in the X-Men: First Class film, I'm of course deliciously and disgustingly excited to read Chris Claremont's 2004 series Excalibur III which had nothing to do with the original Captain Britain material it was originally about. Rather, this is the story where Prof X and Mags "eloped" to Genosha so they can re-establish its sovereignty and civilization once again. They are joined by Callisto and a delightful gang of teenage mutants and a couple of idealists who want to make a difference.
But because this is the X-Men and Claremont we are talking about, such a nice premise is misleading and deceptive. And because this is Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr we're talking about, of course the issues are bound to get crazy, cheesy, emotastic and kindda-sorta homoerotic depending on how you interpret some scenes.
Known as Volume III, this version of Excalibur is something I've been dying to read because its basically a love letter to the fans of the ever-enduring core relationship between the aforementioned bookend-soulmates. The four-issued story arc Forging the Sword is collected in this first volume which feature tremendous amount of Cherik scenes that make my shipper heart suffocate in the syrupy thickness of my disastrous obsession for these two dorks.
Allow me to state this once again: Cherik is the oxygen, drugs and food that sustain my saddest nights on this planet and I will inhale, snort and devour it any goddamn chance I get.
In Excalibur III, Genosha has been decimated horrendously and it's presently in utter shambles while its mutant citizenry is clamoring for survival, searching for a leader to govern them. Unfortunately, Unus the Untouchable appointed himself as that. There was also a Magneto imposter walking around for a while, causing havoc in New York. This first issue, Paint It Black, opens with Charles Xavier soliloquising about his decision to leave the X-Men behind so he can go to Genosha, knowing they will survive without him anyway. Now Charles runs away to Genosha and takes the corpse of the poser-Magneto with him so he can meet up with the real Erik who apparently faked his own death and has been hiding from the world since.
I suppose they're both in Genosha to make amends with its people because they are considered the leaders of the mutant revolution no matter how much their views and methods clash. It's therefore a personal failure and injury to see such a civilization like Genosha become a wasteland because they were unable to save it. Now they feel obliged to fix that mistake together. So--if you think about it--they're keeping this all in clandestine mode, so neither the X-Men nor the Brotherhood know their whereabouts.
BECAUSE THEY FUCKING ELOPED, OKAY?
You see, Charles Xavier and Erik (Magnus) Lehnsherr never had what any of us might call a 'conventional' relationship. Their mutual understanding from the beginning becomes a rather complicated rivalry in the next decades to follow where they constantly find themselves fighting on the opposite sides of a war neither of them would compromise for--not even for the sake of salvaging their friendship. It seemed at first--from the moment they realized they were both mutants--that their first meeting was destined to happen; only to ultimately lose each other in the long run once it became clear that their ideologies would keep on clashing when it came to establishing and fighting for mutant rights. That was the deal breaker that prevented them from joining their forces and building a future.
The second issue of Excalibur III is entitled With A Little Help From My Friends gives us the opportunity to read a lengthy heart-to-heart discussion between Charles and Erik. I'm so deliriously happy that Erik has opened to Charles so readily in just a span of pages for this second issue. To reveal his vulnerability (his hopes and insecurities) like this just shows how far Erik has fallen and how much he intends to pick himself up and change for the better and with the help of the one person who will never fail him. "The past cannot be changed" is true, and that much applies to their relationship as well. Long ago when they have chosen sides, it was also by fighting against each other. There is an ocean of violence between them since and now it's time to do things differently--to establish a new mutant community in Genosha together--and that's the whole reason why they're there now. Look, I know I kept joking about them running away to elope because they're so in love since I started reviewing this series, but you know what?
WHY CAN'T IT BE BOTH ANYWAY?
Why can't Charles and Erik be in love all this time so they eloped AND also choose Genosha to start a future together because it's the place that they know they can restore and protect because its citizens need two outstanding leaders to whip it back into shape? These two men have shared a connection that continued to exist even in their darkest moments. Their trust and intuitive understanding of one another's faults and desires had made them seek each other throughout the years even when it is impossible to work out a compromise where their separate ideals can benefit from. And after decades of trials and errors, they finally arrived in the same page.
How can you not be moved to tears as I am, you cold-hearted non-shipper?!
The third and fourth issue continue the tradition of Charles and Erik caught up in so much drama whilst still finding ways to open up to each other, trying to be totes BFFs again while ignoring the electricity of unrequited love and unconsummated sexual tension between them. Here are some of the highlights of the first volume of this series that threaten to obliterate my ovaries.
These include Cherik having a meal during sunset and Charles checking out his 'body':
Charles complimenting Erik's culinary skills because he just prepared said meal earlier for Charles:
Erik not giving a fuck what people think about his relationship with Charles:
Other fun-filled honeymoon-ing activities such as Cherik scuba-diving:
Erik losing his shit because of the smallest things such as Charles mentioning his ex, Moira, which made Erik rather possessive:
And we also have Cherik confessing how much they need each other and how much they want their marriage to work this time:
These are just some of the gems you can find for this volume. In summary, Professor X and Magneto may be arch-nemesis for decades but Charles and Erik clearly belong together now and forever and Claremont's series proves that once and for all.
It's what's written in the stars.
Now here be the blurbs with links to individual issue reviews:
ISSUE #1 --> In which Charles hallucinates Moira with quite the cleavage, Unus is a jerkwad, and Erik wears the world's dorkiest orange sweater.
ISSUE #2 --> In which Cherik have their first date, talk about their feelings and regrets, and get sorely interrupted with the appearance of Callisto who complains about the make-up-break-up-make-up arrangement between Charles and Erik that is seriously starting to piss off everyone
ISSUE #3 --> In which Cherik spent some time underwater to locate a mysterious coffin while everyone on ground are fighting the bad guys
ISSUE #4 --> In which Charles and Erik once again prove they are better united than apart and where they confessed how the survival of Genosha and the survival of their relationship depend on compromise and cooperation this time around.
RECOMMENDED: 8/10
DO READ MY REVIEWS AT
June 4, 2018
Look, sometimes you go into an old X-Men book knowing it's just going to be awful but like, it's the one where Magneto comes back after being dead or whatever and you're just filling in the blanks at this point. But HOLY GOD THIS BOOK IS AWFUL. Like, such an old man book, both bc it stars old men and bc Claremont is trying to be cool (I think) by giving his new teenage mutant characters "cool" names like 'Freakshow' and 'Wicked.' And the teenagers both a) don't act like teenagers in any way, shape, or form and b) actually this point is just about Wicked, who is SUCH A CREEPY OLD MAN FANTASY. Like she is literally just walking fishnet stockings.
I mean, not literally. But literally. BLECH.
Oh my god this book is bad. It is so bad. I think I had to read it while peeking through my fingers. It's just, like, Magneto and Prof X have a sandwich, and then a bunch of crappy not-teenagers show up and have a fight you do not care about because they have names like Freakshow and Wicked.
Perhaps the greatest travesty is that the covers are AMAZING. Best covers for the worst book.
The WORST
I mean, not literally. But literally. BLECH.
Oh my god this book is bad. It is so bad. I think I had to read it while peeking through my fingers. It's just, like, Magneto and Prof X have a sandwich, and then a bunch of crappy not-teenagers show up and have a fight you do not care about because they have names like Freakshow and Wicked.
Perhaps the greatest travesty is that the covers are AMAZING. Best covers for the worst book.
The WORST
August 20, 2024
a marvel assim lançando esse quadrinho: esse aqui é pros gays
October 18, 2014
Art: Aaron Lopresti's art is really pretty, especially the female characters - the pictures are sexy without being lewd and all of them are distinct, not carbon copies of each other. 5 stars.
Story: I was so happy to find a story about Charles and Erik! As much as I like Wolverine, Cyclops or Jean Grey, I don't have to have every X-Men book about them, really, it gets tiresome. And Charles and Erik, their differences and friendship, are so interesting! It's too sad that more comic books don't focus on them. It was interesting to see Charles so disillusioned with humans which brought him closer to Erik. I also loved Erik's admittance that, even after everything that happened, Charles was still his friend. Also: There are some very funny parts! 4 stars.
Story: I was so happy to find a story about Charles and Erik! As much as I like Wolverine, Cyclops or Jean Grey, I don't have to have every X-Men book about them, really, it gets tiresome. And Charles and Erik, their differences and friendship, are so interesting! It's too sad that more comic books don't focus on them. It was interesting to see Charles so disillusioned with humans which brought him closer to Erik. I also loved Erik's admittance that, even after everything that happened, Charles was still his friend. Also: There are some very funny parts! 4 stars.
July 30, 2017
Continuing the X-treme X-book read of 2017…
First of all, I have a question. Why on Earth is this series called Excalibur? It isn’t set in England, it doesn’t feature any of the characters that were in the original Excalibur series… Instead, it is a book set in the ruins of Genosha that seems to primarily Charles Xavier, Magneto (ummm what? More on this little wrinkle in a bit), Calysto (One of Claremont’s regular favorites) and a bunch of new characters or nobodies… Oh yeah, and Toad who somehow survived and returned from the debackle in New York. I am not seeing the link to Excalibur at al.
Second of all, Magneto… Reading this a decade or so after the original release, I am not privy to the external editorial forces that were happening at Marvel with Morrison leaving the main x-men book and the shake-up that followed his leaving. But wow. That has got to be the fastest retcon in Marvel history. What are we, two issues removed from Morrison leaving the x-books? And already, the most major surprise and plot point of his run, the Xorn/ Magneto reveal and soap opera that followed has been swept (quite strangely in this reader’s opinion) under the rug. Honestly, I don’t quite understand the reason for it. We all knew they would bring Magneto back eventually, but this quickly? While basically trying to pretend that that story didn’t happen… I mean, who was Xorn then? This just seems like a mess to try and somehow fix but we will see as I continue on.
Okay, all of that said… This book was quite good. Even though I think that Magneto shouldn’t be in the book, I am a huge sucker for a good Charles and Erik story and this one doesn’t disappoint, character wise. The plot is interesting and a lot of where the characters end up actually makes sense (which does not always happen in an x-book shakeup as we all know.) Sure, there are some weird hiccups (the switch between villain and hero of the omega sentinel is fast and a bit confusing for instance) but for the most part, this is some of Claremont’s strongest writing in a while. It seems like he was much more interested in this title than some of the stuff that he had been putting out for a bit.
As an introductory volume, it did its job in my opinion. I am intrigued and looking forward to seeing where Claremont and team take this odd grouping of mutants and what happens to the island of Genosha in this new era of the books.
First of all, I have a question. Why on Earth is this series called Excalibur? It isn’t set in England, it doesn’t feature any of the characters that were in the original Excalibur series… Instead, it is a book set in the ruins of Genosha that seems to primarily Charles Xavier, Magneto (ummm what? More on this little wrinkle in a bit), Calysto (One of Claremont’s regular favorites) and a bunch of new characters or nobodies… Oh yeah, and Toad who somehow survived and returned from the debackle in New York. I am not seeing the link to Excalibur at al.
Second of all, Magneto… Reading this a decade or so after the original release, I am not privy to the external editorial forces that were happening at Marvel with Morrison leaving the main x-men book and the shake-up that followed his leaving. But wow. That has got to be the fastest retcon in Marvel history. What are we, two issues removed from Morrison leaving the x-books? And already, the most major surprise and plot point of his run, the Xorn/ Magneto reveal and soap opera that followed has been swept (quite strangely in this reader’s opinion) under the rug. Honestly, I don’t quite understand the reason for it. We all knew they would bring Magneto back eventually, but this quickly? While basically trying to pretend that that story didn’t happen… I mean, who was Xorn then? This just seems like a mess to try and somehow fix but we will see as I continue on.
Okay, all of that said… This book was quite good. Even though I think that Magneto shouldn’t be in the book, I am a huge sucker for a good Charles and Erik story and this one doesn’t disappoint, character wise. The plot is interesting and a lot of where the characters end up actually makes sense (which does not always happen in an x-book shakeup as we all know.) Sure, there are some weird hiccups (the switch between villain and hero of the omega sentinel is fast and a bit confusing for instance) but for the most part, this is some of Claremont’s strongest writing in a while. It seems like he was much more interested in this title than some of the stuff that he had been putting out for a bit.
As an introductory volume, it did its job in my opinion. I am intrigued and looking forward to seeing where Claremont and team take this odd grouping of mutants and what happens to the island of Genosha in this new era of the books.
January 11, 2018
With the destruction of Genosha and Magneto either in dead or hiding, Claremont uses a selection of mutants that were largely tangential to X-titles in the past to assemble a new team under the guidance of both Magneto and Xavier. Claremont's Excalibur III clearly wants to be an X-men book more than Excalibur book, but an X-men book without all the classic characters, exploring the rotating cast and removing the stable setting like Claremont did do to the X-men at the end of his 80s run on the comic. While I often complain about this era of X-titles suffering from the weight of too much continuity and too many minor characters, it is nice to move away from the key X-men as defined either by the early 90s line-up or by the original five. What is distracting though is that this doesn't seem to have anything to do with the prior Excalibur series except that Claremont writes it. No England. No Captian Britain. No high camp full of references and allusions to 70s-80s British pop culture or British classic literature.
Furthermore, this erases a lot of Grant Morrison's writing and returns the Magneto to Xavier relationship to pre X-men #1. This will make Claremont fans happy but will anger people not as invested in earlier continuity. This gives the book a retro-feel and a solid main dynamic, but it actually causes all sorts of a mess of larger X-universe.
Aaron Lopresti's art is nice. Sensual without being vulgar with a retro-80s color palette manages to invoke the pre-Jim Lee X-men and some of Alan Davis art without being a pastiche. Not all of the figure work is solid and sometimes things are a bit heavily inked, but it's enjoyable and subtle. I just don't know why this is an Excalibur title.
Furthermore, this erases a lot of Grant Morrison's writing and returns the Magneto to Xavier relationship to pre X-men #1. This will make Claremont fans happy but will anger people not as invested in earlier continuity. This gives the book a retro-feel and a solid main dynamic, but it actually causes all sorts of a mess of larger X-universe.
Aaron Lopresti's art is nice. Sensual without being vulgar with a retro-80s color palette manages to invoke the pre-Jim Lee X-men and some of Alan Davis art without being a pastiche. Not all of the figure work is solid and sometimes things are a bit heavily inked, but it's enjoyable and subtle. I just don't know why this is an Excalibur title.
October 3, 2022
This is the first of a handful of retcons undoing Morrison's New X-Men finale. Xavier travels to Genosha and discovers that Magneto is still alive. Together they try to rebuild the mutant nation.
I enjoyed this despite the lazy retcon. It's nice to have Claremont writing Magneto again but he seems almost too nice. Perhaps we'll see his darker side more as we approach House of M.
I enjoyed this despite the lazy retcon. It's nice to have Claremont writing Magneto again but he seems almost too nice. Perhaps we'll see his darker side more as we approach House of M.
February 6, 2022
El regreso de Magneto no está tan bien explicado como debería. Y es que todo lo relacionado a Xorn en New X-Men de Morrison resultó ser demasiado confuso y lleno de huecos argumentales que ningún otro autor, ni siquiera Claremont, pudo solucionar. Esto, por su puesto, deja mucho qué desear pues estamos hablando del regreso de uno de los personajes más importantes de la historia mutante, no es poca cosa. En sí, Excalibur brinda al lector diversión, nuevos mutantes y una química entre Erick y Xavier que vale la pena, a pesar de las grandes dudas que aún existen y que, lastimosamente, no creo que Claremont tenga muchas ganas de resolver.
January 4, 2020
Charles/Erik have become my all-time favorite comicbook couple, and one of my alltime favorites through all media. If you're a Charles/Erik fan, I highly recommend this collection that gives a taste both of their bittersweet past and what could yet come. It's also a good tale for those who like Callisto, strong women, and/or mutated teenagers with hard pasts who are determined to forge a better future. I wish they would have done more with this!
March 21, 2021
90s mutants were quite a ragtag bunch of weirdos eh?
Here I go reading what promises to be The definitive lead-in to give context to House of M, my last re-read as part of my quest to wrest all the juicy comics backstory out of WandaVision. (One review for all three trades because fuck it.)
And this is *definitely* a book I skipped the first time around. House of M was a Bendis joint through and through, and I’d already been well-educated on the avoidable excess that was 90s comics, so that I knew better than to bother trawling through that mountain of despair. Or so I’d been told.
Now with even greater distance, and a whole lot of time to understand which events and storylines echoed so far into the future, I’m just curious enough about the Genosha era to read this epilogue, understand a little of what was at stake when Wanda soon utters those infamous words.
And while 80s Claremont never met a page he couldn’t overstuff with Maximum Wordage, this is relative tame by comparison. Or tolerable. Or maybe I’m just willing to cut the geezer some slack these days.
But holy crap are these never-heard-from-again mutants forgettable. Force field boy, green goo-arm girl, dino-transformer, ghost whisperer, the parade of barrel-bottom ideas never ends eh? And these are just the remnants left behind after 16 million other mutants were annihilated? What kind of encyclopaedia must 90s readers have kept scribbled all over their cell walls to have any hope of keeping them straight?
The setting and mood of this book is definitely notable - mutant refuge wiped clean, remnant mutants lost and desperate, inner conflict. Magneto has always been present for me so this “everyone thinks you’re dead” schtick has no resonance for me.
In fact the whole impact of this book feels hollow - I never lived through what must’ve been years of “mutants gathering peacefully on Genosha” era so I don’t feel the loss this leans so heavily on - and without it, this just seems like Yet Another Story Of Mutants Struggling To Survive Being Hunted By Bad White Dudes.
Not to mention having to deal with Charles and Erik acting completely against type. “I learned my military trade in a guerilla war”, Charles said - apparently channeling his inner John Rambo.
The most redeeming factor of this whole run is the fact this is where Magneto took Scarlet Witch after she wrought Avengers Disassembled. And that this story wasn’t truncated or interrupted, but led smoothly into House of M. Onwards!
Here I go reading what promises to be The definitive lead-in to give context to House of M, my last re-read as part of my quest to wrest all the juicy comics backstory out of WandaVision. (One review for all three trades because fuck it.)
And this is *definitely* a book I skipped the first time around. House of M was a Bendis joint through and through, and I’d already been well-educated on the avoidable excess that was 90s comics, so that I knew better than to bother trawling through that mountain of despair. Or so I’d been told.
Now with even greater distance, and a whole lot of time to understand which events and storylines echoed so far into the future, I’m just curious enough about the Genosha era to read this epilogue, understand a little of what was at stake when Wanda soon utters those infamous words.
And while 80s Claremont never met a page he couldn’t overstuff with Maximum Wordage, this is relative tame by comparison. Or tolerable. Or maybe I’m just willing to cut the geezer some slack these days.
But holy crap are these never-heard-from-again mutants forgettable. Force field boy, green goo-arm girl, dino-transformer, ghost whisperer, the parade of barrel-bottom ideas never ends eh? And these are just the remnants left behind after 16 million other mutants were annihilated? What kind of encyclopaedia must 90s readers have kept scribbled all over their cell walls to have any hope of keeping them straight?
The setting and mood of this book is definitely notable - mutant refuge wiped clean, remnant mutants lost and desperate, inner conflict. Magneto has always been present for me so this “everyone thinks you’re dead” schtick has no resonance for me.
In fact the whole impact of this book feels hollow - I never lived through what must’ve been years of “mutants gathering peacefully on Genosha” era so I don’t feel the loss this leans so heavily on - and without it, this just seems like Yet Another Story Of Mutants Struggling To Survive Being Hunted By Bad White Dudes.
Not to mention having to deal with Charles and Erik acting completely against type. “I learned my military trade in a guerilla war”, Charles said - apparently channeling his inner John Rambo.
The most redeeming factor of this whole run is the fact this is where Magneto took Scarlet Witch after she wrought Avengers Disassembled. And that this story wasn’t truncated or interrupted, but led smoothly into House of M. Onwards!
January 26, 2023
I liked this volume, even though it's arguably a little boring. Claremont is trying to breathe new life in the X-books in the post-Morrison era and set the stage for the new direction while also sweeping Morrison's Magneto arc under the rug. Joss Whedon's Astonishing was really the flagship title at this point, with Claremont essentially keeping the lights on with the other books. (I don't mean that as a quality judgement. Does anyone even remember the Reloaded era? It was completely eclipsed by Astonishing and later by Bendis taking over the Marvel Universe.)
Some thoughts on no particular order:
This book is late stage Claremont, so it's pretty wordy and the dialogue is less naturalistic than I prefer. And the slang is just terrible.
The retcon of the Morrison run is sad in a way, but I think Magneto in particular has been used well in the years since the Xorn switch, finally completing his Face turn in the Krakoa era. That being said, I have no idea how he survived or where he was this whole time or even how Xavier knew to contact him. Was this ever explained?
Xavier is well used in the book. It's really his show here. I'm not sure what he's trying to do in a practical sense, but philosophically, I'm on board.
The rest of the cast, aside from Callisto, are either third-string Brotherhood members who survived the massacre or new mutants with utterly terrible codenames but potential as characters.
I have no idea why this series is called Excalibur.
I don't fully understand why everyone is fighting over the bombed out husk of Genosha. I get it as an ideological point,but in a practical sense, I understood the place as essentially unlivable after the mega sentinel attacked. And it doesn't look like anyone has attempted to restore even basic infrastructure to the island. It's just a handful of factions playing king of the mountain over the ruins of a society.
But I guess it doesn't matter that much because Bendis is a few months away from assassinating Scarlet Witch's character and resetting the mutant paradigm with the Decimation.
So in essence this whole series is a placeholder, which is too bad, because rebuilding a mutant nation could have been something really interesting. (Which I suppose they did do with both Utopia and Krakoa, both under vastly different circumstances.)
Still, I liked it.
Some thoughts on no particular order:
This book is late stage Claremont, so it's pretty wordy and the dialogue is less naturalistic than I prefer. And the slang is just terrible.
The retcon of the Morrison run is sad in a way, but I think Magneto in particular has been used well in the years since the Xorn switch, finally completing his Face turn in the Krakoa era. That being said, I have no idea how he survived or where he was this whole time or even how Xavier knew to contact him. Was this ever explained?
Xavier is well used in the book. It's really his show here. I'm not sure what he's trying to do in a practical sense, but philosophically, I'm on board.
The rest of the cast, aside from Callisto, are either third-string Brotherhood members who survived the massacre or new mutants with utterly terrible codenames but potential as characters.
I have no idea why this series is called Excalibur.
I don't fully understand why everyone is fighting over the bombed out husk of Genosha. I get it as an ideological point,but in a practical sense, I understood the place as essentially unlivable after the mega sentinel attacked. And it doesn't look like anyone has attempted to restore even basic infrastructure to the island. It's just a handful of factions playing king of the mountain over the ruins of a society.
But I guess it doesn't matter that much because Bendis is a few months away from assassinating Scarlet Witch's character and resetting the mutant paradigm with the Decimation.
So in essence this whole series is a placeholder, which is too bad, because rebuilding a mutant nation could have been something really interesting. (Which I suppose they did do with both Utopia and Krakoa, both under vastly different circumstances.)
Still, I liked it.
March 24, 2018
This is where I'm starting my read through of the Marvel universe. I'm not sure if it is the best starting point, but it will have to do. I'll backtrack later, right now I just wanna to do my best to catch up to the major events and current continuities.
Basically there's an island where mutants have been living, that was attacked by someone I'm not familiar with and involving a sentinel, leaving thousands of mutants dead. Magneto led the island and was presumed dead. Charles Xavier leaves behind the X-Men to go to the place (Genosha), where he finds Magneto and tries to set the island back up, but ends up finding magistrates (people who were trained to keep mutant slaves under check before the island was taken over BY mutants as a kind of refuge, who have also brought a container holding an omega sentinel. There are a lot of characters I don't recognize, but the story in of itself is interesting thus far. I'm hoping the next several issues keep up a solid pace and a good story.
NOTE: The Genosha events occurred within Grant Morrison's run of New X-Men, so eventually I WILL have to backtrack to figure out how all of that went down before this
Basically there's an island where mutants have been living, that was attacked by someone I'm not familiar with and involving a sentinel, leaving thousands of mutants dead. Magneto led the island and was presumed dead. Charles Xavier leaves behind the X-Men to go to the place (Genosha), where he finds Magneto and tries to set the island back up, but ends up finding magistrates (people who were trained to keep mutant slaves under check before the island was taken over BY mutants as a kind of refuge, who have also brought a container holding an omega sentinel. There are a lot of characters I don't recognize, but the story in of itself is interesting thus far. I'm hoping the next several issues keep up a solid pace and a good story.
NOTE: The Genosha events occurred within Grant Morrison's run of New X-Men, so eventually I WILL have to backtrack to figure out how all of that went down before this
December 17, 2023
The writing is good but this is an awkward place to jump in and given how the X-Men were being handled at the time you might need to read about a hundred issues just to make sense of it. The art is very 2004 here, much like the Ultimate X-Men from the same period which is... not great. I like the characters and storyline well enough but you can easily skip this unless you really love the destruction of Genosha story.
June 3, 2020
Not your daddy's Excalibur
This isn't the Excaliber comic I grew up reading. None of the characters from that classic 80's run appear here. But there is Professor X and Magneto at least. Written by comic legend Chris Claremont this new iteration takes place in genosha and features characters I've never heard of before. Overall an okay story but didn't grab me much.
This isn't the Excaliber comic I grew up reading. None of the characters from that classic 80's run appear here. But there is Professor X and Magneto at least. Written by comic legend Chris Claremont this new iteration takes place in genosha and features characters I've never heard of before. Overall an okay story but didn't grab me much.
October 22, 2021
Upped this to a 4 from 3.5 because this is such a Erik/Charles shipper book that it makes my heart happy (and I don't even ship them).
A lot of this directly contradicts stuff from other runs but who cares. Can't do anything about it so just go with the flow.
I loved Freaksjow swallowing Unus!
A lot of this directly contradicts stuff from other runs but who cares. Can't do anything about it so just go with the flow.
I loved Freaksjow swallowing Unus!
February 1, 2025
Un inici molt prometedor del que se suposa era una continuació del Xtreme Xmen de Claremont, però recorda massa als antics segona i tercera genesis del mateix autor, ara a rebufo del que va fer Morrison en el seu pas pels mutants. Bon dibuix i personatges interessants, pero sabent que acaba en 3 numeros, te un aire depriment que no acaba de quadrar.
December 4, 2020
Looks like this was a pretty short 14 comic series of which this is the first 4. I like Charles and Magneto working together and the new heroes introduced are pretty cool too. I'm interested in seeing where this goes.
November 20, 2018
Charles and Erik literally run away to an island and cook and play chess, so, yeah, I'm going to love it.
May 25, 2020
Nice read and art.
December 12, 2020
Cool but very 90's. I bet it was amazing at the time it was written.
February 17, 2021
no me gustó tanto porque siento que fue la introducción pero hubo buenas peleas
October 15, 2021
No attachment to previous Excalibur and serves as a vehicle to retcon our way to House of M :(
February 6, 2024
2.5/5.0
August 17, 2025
unspectacular
2.75 stars
2.75 stars
April 17, 2012
I have read a lot of Chris Claremont junk lately, and this is really a step above what he was putting out at the time(about 2004). The story is well written and the art is very good. A couple of things bother me about this, though. First, I bought the tpb to get some sort of explanation about why Magneto is once again a sympathetic good guy, when his last few appearances tell otherwise. Unfortunately, this volume does not clear up that question. The evil Magneto, from New X-Men, that killed Jean Grey was some sort of robot or some such bullshit. This Magneto has the same personality as the one that joined Xavier back in the 80's and lead the New Mutants for a while. Really, this kind of a lapse is much more in synch with the sloppy editorial decisions made in DC, where every new writer threatens to rewrite the entire universe through lack editorial control. I'll stop ranting now...
January 25, 2016
There are 2 great features here. Xavier and Magneto work together, combining their strengths and weaknesses to pick up the pieces in Genosha. However, there's a bit of strangeness since Claremont is also picking up Grant Morrison's pieces, and he apparently wasn't happy with all of them. Magneto's uber-villainry and death-apparent in the Morrison run is explained vaguely as, "I don't know who that was, Charles, but it wasn't me." Wel'okays. The second feature is the origin of Omega Sentinel, a rather cool chick that heretofore I was mostly aware of from playing Marvel Avengers Online. *slight embarrassment* Incidentally, they appear to be introducing yet another set of "New Mutants"...but not because there's another set at the school being taught by Scott and Emma. As usual, some seem forgettable. Others I like. Since I have a soft spot for Goth chicks, I'd like to see Wicked developed, but I doubt it.
July 26, 2025
Surprisingly good for a 21st century Claremont X-book. The new characters aren't original or great, but the dialog (apart from a couple of tone-dead "teenagerisms" from Wicked & Freakshow) is fairly modern, and the Magneto/Professor X interactions at the heart of the story are better than any of the Magneto/Professor X stories since X-Men #3 (the 1991 series).
I recommend this for anyone looking for a decent Magneto Is Not Really A Bad Guy story.
I know there are fans who felt this retcon was too close to the end of the Morrison run (where Magneto and Jean Grey die) but I hated that arc, so in my headcannon, Magneto has been on Genosha since its destruction at the beginning of the Morrison run.
Having read the Claremont/Davis run of X-Men earlier tonight/yesterday, I'm enjoying Claremont being teamed up with a less cartoony artist. While I enjoyed Davis's art, Lopresti brings a gravitas that this particular story needed.
I recommend this for anyone looking for a decent Magneto Is Not Really A Bad Guy story.
I know there are fans who felt this retcon was too close to the end of the Morrison run (where Magneto and Jean Grey die) but I hated that arc, so in my headcannon, Magneto has been on Genosha since its destruction at the beginning of the Morrison run.
Having read the Claremont/Davis run of X-Men earlier tonight/yesterday, I'm enjoying Claremont being teamed up with a less cartoony artist. While I enjoyed Davis's art, Lopresti brings a gravitas that this particular story needed.
September 12, 2013
Pretty typical but solid Claremont work, slugfests punctuated with moments of optimism and moralizing. He does a good job of introducing or reintroducing some characters, while completely ignoring others who are integral to the fight scenes, which makes things puzzling if you aren't currently keeping up with your X-men scorecard. Also, why is this called Excalibur? Not a Brit in sight. The closest thing is the Scottish ghost of Moira MacTaggert. I guess they needed to renew the trademark.
July 28, 2015
Okay, the art is mediocre and the plot is nonsense and mumble mumble retcon whatever but let's be real, I care about one thing, and that thing is Charles and Erik secretly shacked up in the ruins of Genosha, drinking wine out of plastic cups and playing chess as the sun sets over the water. Eventually they hold hands and decide to form a government. A++ would roll my eyes again.
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