Excalibur Epic Collection: Curiouser And Curiouser

Los Epic Collections son una manera relativamente barata -y relativamente sencilla- de leer historias en bloque de títulos de Marvel, iniciando desde la Era de Plata. Esta colección es mucho más reciente y pertenece a Excalibur, un título no tan conocido de mutantes de Marvel, pero muy relevante.Este volumen es altamente recomendable para aquellos que deseen conocer más de los comics que han dado forma a Marvel como la conocemos en distintos medios.Excalibur no solo maneja a varios de los mutantes más importantes de X-Men, sino a los encargados de producir las historias. Alan Davis es quien se hace cargo de la mayoría de estas historias. En ellas, vemos una explicación sencilla e interesante de la Fuerza Phoenix, muy mencionada en varias adaptaciones y su relación con Jean y su hija del futuro, Rachel.Además, la esperada reunión de Excalibur y The X-Men después de que a los últimos se les creyera muertos (tras la historia Fall of the Mutants, también disponible en recopilación). El arte corre a cargo principalmente de Alan Davis, uno de los mejores artistas del medio. También podemos ver a un muy joven Joe Madureira, quien se convertiría en una gran estrella del comic. Aquí dibuja la historia de dos partes de reunión.Otro bonus es el especial XX-Crossing, en la que Excalibur se enfrentan tangencialmente contra Doctor Doom y son enviados al pasado para pelear contra los 5 X-Men originales. El arte está asignado a varios grandes artistas del comic, como Jae Lee, Ron Lim, Rick Leonardi, Steve Lightle y más.Este es uno de los mejores volúmenes de Excalibur Epic Collection, muy recomendable.

Classic Alan Davis Excalibur contains some of the last stories to draw on Captain Britain's madcap adventures before the title became more X-Men oriented. Part of the Mutant Genesis era meet kylun, cerise, micromax and feron with appearances by the X-Men's original Blue Team and the last Excalibur one shots.

Alan Davis really nails the tone and look of this series as he returns to arts and writing duties. He adds some interesting new characters such as Kylun and Feron. The many plot threads surrounding Roma and Merlin, Saturnyne and Widget all finally play out, and in large part it's satisfying. Kitty and Nightcrawler finally reunite with the X-Men, with Kitty and Wolverine in particular having a nice moment. The only part that didn't work for me was the "XX Crossing" annual-type issue. The two of these that were in the previous volume didn't work for me either. Overall I really, really enjoyed this to the point of giving it five stars. It's just really high-quality superhero comics. BUT, it is also preceded by some really corny, dated stuff, so it's an acquired taste!After this, editorial mandated that the book change almost completely to be in line with the other X-books, so this is really the end of an era even though it's only halfway through the series (this collection ends on issue #58, but the series would make it all the way to #126.) Those crossover years are collected sporadically in bigger X-Men collections such as Phalanx Covenant. Then there are the "Excalibur Visionaries" collections following the Warren Ellis run. I share all this to point you to where to go if you want to know what happens next, but also to make it clear that, for completionists, this is the best way to close out the Claremont era, though he departed in the previous collection.

The product arrived swiftly and in fine condition. This seller was a true professional that I'd gladly purchase from again.The internal stories typify what comic books should be: fun, engaging, thrilling bits of escapist entertainment. From the culmination of the Phoenix (Rachel) arc, to the wacky Technet as Exclaibur's houseguests, to the deadly returns of Sat'yr'ne and Jaime Braddock, you will have a great time as a reader. And one issue features arguably the most sultry (or at least lengthy) kiss in recent comic book memory...

The Excalibur title had been floundering for a little while since the loss of first artist Alan Davis and then writer Chris Claremont, so the return of Davis as both writer AND artist gave it a much-needed shot in the arm. As soon as he arrives, he re-establishes the comedic tone and outlandish adventures of the team, helping the comic regain the unique voice it had had from the start. This latest Epic (volume 4) collects the bulk of Davis's second run, and is probably the strongest so far.Very importantly, Davis returns to the plotlines that had been dropped along the way, and sets about systematically and intricately resolving them in ways that feel like they had been planned all along. The character arcs of Captain Britain, Nightcrawler, Meggan and Phoenix all receive attention and resolve satisfyingly, leaving them all stronger and more complete.New team additions Cerise, Kylun and Feron are given attention to varying degrees, and unlike Claremont's original run, Davis manages to work in various parts of the original UK Captain Britain books without making them alienating to those who had only followed the American comics. It's certainly one of the strongest writer-artist runs in superhero comics, and probably the high point of the entire run of Exaclibur.Stories from a one-off special (XX Crossing) and Marvel Comics Presents are fairly weak, but luckily don't distract too much from the meat of the volume. Extras include a promotional poster, cover sketches, Swimsuit Special pinups and the covers of the Visionaries: Alan Davis collections. A great installment of a sometimes very variable series.