Apr. 28 – Excalibur and Fantastic Four

Excalibur Vol. 1 #73-74 by Richard Ashford, Terry Shoemaker, and Ian Churchill (1994) These are the worst issues of Excalibur to this point. The narrator is overused and annoying. All the characters constantly say or think what they are doing in weird ways. Rachel suddenly needs some guy’s help to control her powers. Moira suddenly

Apr. 27 – Excalibur, Fantastic Four, and X-Force

Excalibur Vol. 1 #72 by Richard Ashford and Ken Lashley (1993) I really did not enjoy the Lobdell issues that came after the Davis run. Richard Ashford takes it up a notch, with maybe the worst writing on the series so far. Every character has no nuance. Every page is littered with redundant thought balloons.

Apr. 7 – Excalibur: Fatal Attractions, Fantastic Four: Solve Everything, and X-Factor: Prisoner of Love

Excalibur Vol. 1 #71 by Scott Lobdell, Ken Lashley, Darick Robertson, and Matthew Ryan (1993) The X-Men are absolutely horrible in this issue. Why wouldn’t they just tell Colossus they can heal him? They were going to let him go regardless. Despite that (and that Excalibur got dramatically shaken up), I really liked this issue.

Mar. 27 – Excalibur, Ghost Rider, and Starjammers

Excalibur Vol. 1 #70 by Scott Lobdell, Richard Ashford, and Ken Lashley (1993) WordPress really doesn’t want me to use the cover of this issue as a picture A bad arc that leads to the departure of a main character? Shame. Grade: C Ghost Rider Vol. 6 #25-26 by Jason Aaron and Tan Eng Huat

Mar. 26 – Excalibur and Ghost Rider

Excalibur Vol. 1 #69 by Evan Skolnick and Steve Buccellato (1993) Skolnick really does not have the character voices down. Kitty is wildly out of character and mean to Meggan. Kurt is too one-dimensional. How did Marvel allow this to follow Alan Davis? Grade: C Ghost Rider Vol. 6 #23-24 by Jason Aaron, Roland Boschi,

Mar. 25 – Excalibur, Ghost Rider, and X-Men/Micronauts

Excalibur Vol. 1 #68 by Scott Lobdell, Dan Slott, and Steve Buccellato (1993) While not the worst issue, it’s a dramatic drop from the Alan Davis run that preceded it. Why would they opt to shelf Captain Britain off-panel? Extremely weird choice. Grade: B- Ghost Rider Vol. 6 #21-22 by Jason Aaron and Roland Boschi

Mar. 24 – Excalibur, Punisher, Ghost Rider, and X-Men/Micronauts

Excalibur Annual #1 by Evan Skolnick, Chris Marrinan, and Audwynn Newman (1993) It’s strange and seems like it was thrown together at the last instant. It doesn’t feel like Excalibur at all. I guess it’s nice to see Cerise in a leading roll for once. Grade: C+ Dark Reign: The List – Punisher by Rick

Mar. 11 – Captain America: Time’s Arrow, Excalibur: Days of Futures Yet to Come, and Watchmen

Excalibur Vol. 1 #67 by Alan Davis (1993) Alan Davis’s last issue of Excalibur ends a bit abruptly (and possibly one more issue would have been the “correct” length), but he packs in enough to make it feel satisfying. Is this the end of Rachel Summers’s main character arc? I’m glad she is opting to

Mar. 10 – Secret Warriors: Wheels Within Wheels, Excalibur, and Watchmen

Excalibur Vol. 1 #66 by Alan Davis (1993) This is nearly the end of Alan Davis’s run on Excalibur, which is sad, but he’s going out with a bang. Kitty continues to get mostly ignored. Shame. Grade: A Secret Warriors Vol. 1 #27-28 by Jonathan Hickman and Alessandro Vitti (2011) I’m really impressed. Hickman managed

Mar. 2 – Secret Warriors: Wake the Beast, Excalibur, and X of Swords

Excalibur Vol. 1 #65 by Alan Davis (1993) I’m ok with how this storyline finished up, but it did feel a bit rushed compared to much of what Davis has done. He’s only on the book a few more issues, but they’re about Rachel going back to her future/past, so I trust Davis will pull