Excalibur Visionaries: Alan Davis, Vol. 1

Excalibur Visionaries #1

by Alan Davis

Excalibur leader Captain Britain is double-teamed by problems when the Technet take over his house and he's abducted to be put on trial by his fellow Captain Britains Meanwhile, Excalibur's own ranks grow as Widget, Kylun, and Cerise join the action - presuming anyone on the team survives the wrath of the Anti-Phoenix Plus, more than four years of mutant madness culminates in a fearsome fight in #50 Collects Excalibur #42-50.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, X Men, Superheroes, Comic Book, Fantasy

232 pages, Paperback

First published June 24, 2009

About the author

Alan Davis is an English writer and artist of comic books, known for his work on titles such as Captain Britain, The Uncanny X-Men, ClanDestine, Excalibur, JLA: The Nail and JLA: Another Nail and others.

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alan Davies returns and up to #50 constructs a definitive contextual rationale for Excalibur tying more securely into the current X-men unniverse (Roma connection) and the entire Captain Britain continuity. There's some good art as well by Davies! Features the Anti-Phoenix, Technet, the trial of Captain Britain etc ... plus two new members Kylun and Cerise. The humour remains, and overall this overall poor series has never been better! 5 out of 12.
Collects Excalibur #42-50.

[Nicolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excalibur is an underrated title. Like Alpha Flight, a superhero team and monthly comic title better known for its being Canadian, much of the charm of the monthly Excalibur comes from being based in the British Isles. So you have supporting characters speaking in word balloons with an almost unreadable accent and stakeouts in downtown London. Being a British super-team doesn’t stop it from having most of its adventures situated in the Otherworld, a nexus of the Marvel multi-verse and those stories are what Excalibur is best known.

Excalibur has a strong creative pedigree and has links to the X-Men. The team’s first adventures were scripted and drawn by Chris Claremont and Alan Davis. Claremont was the prime X-Men writer, having scribed the adventures of the mutant team’s most popular incarnation and has included three former X-Men as part of the Excalibur’s original line-up.

This collection features the first nine issues of the return of Davis, now assuming both writing and art duties. In those eight issues, Davis managed to resolve a continuity issue, re-powered Captain Britain, tied up loose threads from the earliest issues, glimpse Meggan’s origin and give the all powerful Phoenix a worthy adversary. Along the way, character development is not neglected and even increased the team roster with the introduction of some new characters.

I liked how Davis experimenting moving Nightcrawler beyond his original swashbuckling persona. Giving Kurt Wagner a broken leg that nullified his inborn agility made him explore his other talents. Unable to have adventures beyond Excalibur headquarters, he gets to train his own group of misfits, composed of former members of Excalibur nemesis Technet, and turns them from a undisciplined crew with a penchant for in-fighting into a coordinated strike force worthy of his mentor, Charles Xavier himself.

Davis uses the first eight issues here to build up to a double sized anniversary issue. During the build up the five original members are allowed to have their own adventures while moving the subplot in the background. The team reunites as the big showdown approaches.

When this was initially published as monthly pamphlets, this title was overshadowed by its more successful cousins, X-Men and X-Force. Casual readers would also be wary of picking up this title because of a higher price point and the European setting. I was into comics during this time, and I had no idea Excalibur was this interesting.

I’m glad Marvel has started collecting these comics into trade paperbacks. It helped me appreciate the stories they were telling in Excalibur. It has a high fantasy vibe of parallel Earths and such.

This book is right up my alley.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another X-spinoff that didn’t seem to “matter”, was Excalibur. Featuring Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde relocated to the UK, it began by Chris Claremont and the great Alan Davis. Halfway through they left, the series mattered even less for a while, and by the 90s Alan Davis had returned as writer as well as artist.

This arc really felt like a culmination of all that had come before, concluding long-simmering storylines from years before. But it wasn’t just about Claremont’s Excalibur, it was also a conclusion to Alan Moore’s Captain Britain (also illustrated by Alan Davis back in the day). The Technet, an absurd group of villains, guest-starred in part of the multiverse mythos. It’s such a popular subject these days, and worth remembering that a lot of this was started by Alan Moore—like the Marvel Universe being 616. I’m sure he now regrets it.

So after reading the Captain Britain graphic novel reprint, and Excalibur # 1 – 25, then it finally all comes together by issue # 50. The villain Necrom may not have been that interesting, but the Phoenix was incorporated and this really was worth reading. Alan Davis has a wonderful imagination, and introduces new bizarre characters across the spacetime continuum as only he could. Eventually, Excalibur would get caught up in all the crossovers and become more of a regular X-Book, but this here was a great read for those keeping up with the classics.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

After Claremont left the title, Alan Davis took over both writing and art duties. This was actually a very good thing. Davis's art is a great fit for a more light-hearted superhero book like this, and I have to applaud him for giving all of the main characters their own unique and consistent looks. (As in, there's no way that I could ever confuse Rachel and Kitty, even if Kitty dyed her hair red, because they have different features. It's amazing how often this is not the case.) Most of the trade is a good, straightforward superhero book, with a few notable features. For one, what Davis did with Nightcrawler's character development is fantastic. The role of leader really suited him, and I don't think he ever got that back after he returned to the X-Men. Loose ends from Claremont's run are tied up, and the entire run to this point is brought together in a storyline that I suppose was meant to be epic and explain it all. Unfortunately, it ended up being a little too heavy on exposition to really get going. That only bogged down the last issue in the book, though, so most of it was a pretty fun read.

[fonz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Empieza muy bien, solucionando el triángulo Meggan-Britania-Rondador con una conversación entre personas adultas (bueno, vale, primero se dan la reglamentaria somanta de ostias) que no es muy habitual en el tebeo de superhéroes, aunque la rapidez con la que se soluciona un conflicto que se venía arrastrando desde el número 1 da una pista de lo que vendrá a continuación; un frenesí argumental en el que Davis tiene que reorganizar un puto sindiós de cabos sueltos que provienen de los 40 números anteriores (otro de los problemas del tebeo es que hay que leerse esos 40 números de historias mediocres para entender bien lo que pasa). Además introduce tramas y personajes nuevos y procura que en cada cuaderno de 23 páginas pasen cosas, así que la lectura es como intentar atender a veinte tareas simultáneamente. Tramas que se cierran de cualquier manera (el juicio a Britania, Meggan y Fénix en la selva negra) porque hay que pasar corriendo a otra cosa, personajes que salen de la nada sin saber muy bien para qué (Cerise), otras que de repente reclaman nuestra atención (lo de Irlanda) por no hablar de las prolijas y confusas explicaciones post-aventura al objeto de planchar la continuidad. En definitiva, un trajín para el que estoy ya muy mayor, la verdad. El esfuerzo de Davis para darle sentido a la dejadez de Claremont y sucesores es muy grande, pero no sé si merecía la pena...

En la parte buena, por supuesto el fenomenal dibujo de Davis, uno de los mejores representantes de la escuela del realismo superheróico estilizado de Neal Adams, y su sensual tratamiento del cuerpo tanto masculino como femenino de los héroes, lo que le da al tebeo un tono de carnalidad y erotismo soterrado muy interesante. Y por otro lado, entendiendo que esta es una serie de personajes, los maneja estupendamente, tanto en los diálogos como en la representación gestual, sobre todo los clásicos de la Patrulla-X como Fénix, Kitty, y en particular, Rondador Nocturno (quizá esta sea la mejor versión del personaje en toda su historia), y me ha dado un gustillo nostálgico encontrarme a estos personajes tal y como los recordaba, e incluso mejor tratados aún.

[Hamish · Rating 4 out of 5]

EDIT 8/11/16: My criticism of the last issue still stands, but the rest is good (and that last issue isn't necessarily bad, just disappointing) and Davis' art is so fantastic that I will change this to a 4.

I would like to reiterate how much I love Alan Davis and how much the first eight issues here epitomize what a good, straight-forward super-hero comic should be: wonderfully drawn, very funny, charming, gripping, addictive. The final issue epitomizes what people generally hate about super-hero comics: climax that doesn't make good on what was promised, confusing/continuity-heavy explanations that don't make sense and don't provide any type of closure and satisfaction to what went before. But if you ignore that one issue, the rest is a blast. Alan really brings back the fun that was in the early issues of the series and became quickly lost.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best Excalibur collection yet. Totally loved this one. Loved this book enough to add it to my Fav Shelf. Some pretty great super-hero stories here. And some of Alan Davis' best work. Heaven for me as I'm such a huge Davis fan. This is the book I'll come back to re-read again and again for my Excalibur fix.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many writers, when inheriting a series that have gone well off the rails, will just clear the deck of characters and plotlines and start fresh. Alan Davis was the artist on many of the issues where Claremont heaped bad idea upon bad idea until the series was just an unreadable mess, this has been pretty much his m.o. since the late 80s. He's a terrible writer who can't even commit to his own terrible ideas.

Davis takes the time to actually try and explain all the nonsense before he gets to his own stories. He reaches back into the origins of the characters and teams, or he offers new origins that enhance rather than contradict Claremont's ideas. It's a really sweet thing to do in order to make it seem like the previous issues weren't actually garbage, they just needed to be explained. The truth is, they were garbage.

I still can't get into this team. I find their adventures silly, and I'm never going to care about Otherworld or Marvel's UK magic continuity. I can, however, respect that, using that continuity Davis writes about as interesting a story as you can. I finished the volume with a better understanding of Meggan and Captain Britain. I was also surprised that he spent the time to flesh out some of the Technet characters, giving them distinct personalities rather than just giving them names and powers and tossing them off-panel like Claremont did.

Am I going to read this again? Probably not.

If you liked the previous Excalibur books (and there's no shame in that, I love lots of books that some people think are garbage), I think you m ight appreciate that this new run is going to lead to a slightly new direction but it's not going to abandon or cancel out the stories you've already enjoyed. I think it's a win for anyone who reads it.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alan Davis takes over Excalibur with a series of fun issues that make good use of the team. Writing and illustrating this run, he leans toward humor and excess, throwing oodles of weird aliens and alternate-universe heroes into the mix.

The visuals are creative and fun, but the storytelling tends toward excess. Example: It's not enough for an extra-dimensional mercenary team to trash the team's lighthouse base and become fill-in X-men. A whole other team of mercenaries has to show up to full up Davis' quota of superhero codenames and weird proboscises.

After some rocky issues in the last volume, though, Davis does bring back a welcome sense of cohesion. The interdimensional Captain Britain core makes trouble for Brian Braddock. New characters Kylun, Cerise and Feron are introduced, boosting the team dynamic (and sticking around for a while).

Megan's hidden past and Phoenix's splintered psyche are addressed in a good-ol' road trip, and the whole series to date is tied up in some larger machinations involving Merlin. (It didn't all make sense, to be honest, but it felt close enough.)

Davis' writing can be hokey--it felt old-fashioned, even at the time it was published--but at its best it adds a sense of whimsy and grandeur to the team's efforts, differentiating Excalibur from the other X-men titles.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was at the library and, on a shelf of recommended graphic novels, I saw this book. I was itching for something a little dumber and easier to read after plowing through a Zippy collection. Anyway, I checked it out - I'd read these issues years ago, but sold them off in one of my ebay purges probably ten years ago. Reading them again, now...

They held up okay. A little too much going on - what is the point of Cerise or Widget or Kylun, really? - and way too much expository, continuity-explaining backstory. (Way, way, way too much.) But Davis has a good handle on the cast and gives most of them a little plot of their own during this run.

The build-up to the big finale doesn't really mean much - I could care less (actually, I can't) about the Phoenix and anti-Phoenix. Mostly, I enjoyed the sense of silliness much of the book, and Davis remains a very good superhero artist. I wouldn't recommend it, but it's got moments.

[Tim B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a super fun collection. Alan Davis came back with a bang incorporating what other writers had done, explaining it, and bringing it to a very satisfying conclusion. I read this after Volume 1 of Knights of Pendragon, and it really made me appreciate the fun within Excalibur. This collection educates the reader on the past (lots about Otherworld, Phoenix, Roma, and Merlyn). The alternate reality mirages are a really neat diversion. And you get to see Captain Britain with the full energy matrix power, although he doesn’t utilize it in obvious ways, it is great to see.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has probably been my favorite stretch of the original Excalibur series so far. Co-creator Alan Davis proves that he is quite possibly the definitive Excalibur writer and artist of this era. This run combines the irreverent fun with high stakes. New characters join the cast, Technet returns, and the team faces a universal threat. The concluding chapter wobbles on the landing, but still a great deal of fun and a solid read for x-fans if the late 80s/early 90s era.

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A much-needed refresh of the title, with Alan Davis on story as well as art. The fun outweighs the weird a little more than before, which was a plus at this point, but Davis does stuff in an awful lot of new characters and twists in the lead-up to issue #50. Still an enjoyable read! (B+)

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptionally good stuff by Alan Davis (duh). This is one of those runs that I have never read until now that makes me wonder how much more great stuff I missed during my sabbatical from comic books in the 1990s.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excalibur was always a book that was nice to look at, but the writing tended to let the Alan Davis art down, so the obvious solution is to let Alan Davis write it as well.
and then it gets fun.

This is when the series moved away from X-history and more into the weirdness of Marvel UK comics.
Great stuff.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Davis really revitalizes the comic, which was wavering in Claremont’s last days (and became irrelevant in the half-year afterward). He does a masterful job of revisiting Claremont’s many loose ends and closing them effortlessly, whether it be major issues like Technet’s hunt for Rachel or minor ones like Nightcrawler and Megan’s attraction. He simultaneously manages to match the best of Excalibur’s humorous tone, and even returns to old plots, characters, and settings from the original Captain Britain days!

Davis’ introduction of new characters is less successful. Though Kylun is himself an interesting loose end, Micro Max is just annoying and Cerise and Ferun aren’t as engaging as any of the comic’s originals.

As for the plots: most of the volume is taken up by characters arcs, and they’re generally fine. Nightcrawler’s training of the Technet is the funniest and Rachel’s the most interesting. The big story begins in the final issues, with the anti-phoenix and Necrom and that’s enjoyable, with its focus on Otherworld and the Corps, though I think the super-sized 50th issue drags a bit. Nice milestone for the comic though.

[Ryan Viergutz]

This was a long volume but a good one. When Excalibur gets referred to as the 'weirdest and wackiest superhero team' they aren't bloody fooling. They aren't dysfunctional so much as they're a mix of characters that probably wouldn't always work in the same story and roam around alternate dimensions and get dragged into schemes that look them look coherent. o_o

I love pretty much all of these characters and that says a lot, I think.

[Lisa Feld · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is absolutely my favorite part of Excalibur's run, where it all comes together. Alan Davis is at the top of his game, with beautiful, seemingly effortless brilliance in his art and even a few visual puns thrown in, and the writing is amazing, bringing together a dozen different plots and subplots from the comic into one gorgeous crescendo. It's an absolute joy to read.

[Markus Seaberry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read, Alan Davis' art was good, but too many unresolved plotlines and a flimsy conclusion keep it from being the excellent read that I had hoped for.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another multi dimensional adventure. Captain Britain is put on trial and finally lots of plot strings are tied together. Some nice little scenes but not cohesive enough to get a 4 star.

[dude · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5