Excalibur #6
Today's comic was another dollar bin rescue from Retro Reboot in Waycross, GA! That means I got it for fifty cents cheaper than what I paid for it off the spinner rack back in the day. Excalibur was one of Marvel’s titles that cost $1.50, so it was ahead of the curve on the upcoming price changes. I found this one in near mint condition, which is great because I read my original copy to pieces.
The colorist seemed to have a hard time with this cover. Capt. Britain, whose costume was always a colorist's nightmare anyway, has been knocked out to a pasty white, probably to not interfere with the red and blue Excalibur logo. Zombified Kitty Pryde has a gray face, but normally colored neck and finger tips. Meggan's body is orange for some reason and the part covering her breast actually makes it look like her breast is supposed to be hanging out. All in all, this cover is a mess, which is a shame because it was one of my favorite issues from the early run of Excalibur.
An Inferno tie-in issue, this was around the height of my collecting the X-titles. Excalibur was the goofy, light-hearted alternative to the more serious X-books. I’m not sure it was ever quite as funny as it was meant to be, but the gorgeous Alan Davis art was the real selling point—especially Meggan, and especially, especially this issue’s evil Goblin Princess Meggan. Yowza! I recall that her kinky outfit and Bride of Frankenstein hairdo really set my teenage hormones on fire.
One notable bit of minutiae in this issue: lacking any sort of official vehicle like the Avenger’s Quinjet or the X-Men’s plot-convenient teleporter Gateway, half of Excalibur’s battle is just getting across the Atlantic to New York. With Phoenix gone, the other two team fliers, Capt. Britain and Meggan, must carry Shadowcat and Nightcrawler in their arms.
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