COMIC ACCURATE: Excalibur

[Arsenalroy2k]

http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=1014&pictureid=15803FEATURING
Excalibur

Welcome everyone to another entry of Comic Accurate: Marvel Edition. This time around we head outside the United States to visit Excalibur. No, not the cool UK team with Captain Britain that my predecessor Dr. Morbius covered in a previous article. I'm talking about the less exciting one that came out in 2004 that was set in the ruins of Genosha.

Yeah, we're covering the ReLoad era of Excalibur, which didn't exactly feature a typical supergroup. So bear with me, gang. This is going to be a quick and odd one.

Click to read the full article! (http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5497221)

[Arsenalroy2k]

I read the full run of this volume about three years ago. I never understood why the non-team book set in am African nation with no relatable theme or characters from the prior run was named Excalibur. I guess they were banking on that money-making title to hook the readers. To say nothing of the twist at the end of the first issue.

Regardless, what we're going to be doing today is building a team featuring characters from the book. Not all of them, since a bunch of them don't exist. But we'll work with what we've got. For starters, the two leads of the series: Professor X and Magneto.

gx053 V Magneto
Team: The Brotherhood
Range: 10 :bolt::bolt:
Points: 189
Keywords: Acolytes, Brotherhood of Mutants, Hellfire Club, Ruler
m-winga-fistd-shieldg-starburst81118481118481017381017381017379162791627916279162KOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKO
(Attack) Magnetic Mastery: Give Magneto a power action. Magneto can use Telekenesis twice as a free action. If Magneto uses Telekenesis option 3 increase the damage dealt by 2.
(Defense) Magnetic Shield: Magneto can use Toughness. Characters halve their range values when Magneto is one of the targets of their attack.
(Special) Magnetic Field: Magneto can use Energy Shield/Deflection. When Magneto uses the Carry ability, he can carry up to 4 characters. Modify Magneto's combat values by +1 if he's occupying a square that contains a debris marker.

mu104 E Charles Xavier
Team: X-Men
Range: 10 :bolt:
Points: 125
Keywords: Mutant, Psychic, X-Men
m-boota-fistd-shieldg-starburst61017371017271016269162691525916258172KOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKO
(Attack) Telepath: Charles Xavier can use Psychic Blast and Incapacitate.
(Defense) Psychic Redirection: Charles Xavier can use Shape Change.
(Damage) Psychic Coordination: Charles Xavier can use Leadership and Perplex, but he can't use Perplex to modify his own combat values.

I was tempted to use the new Professor X figure or even the normal Monsters & Mutations one. But I'll get into this in a bit. Joining Xavier and Magneto on their attempt to restore Genosha was former Morlock leader Callisto.

ul021 V Callisto
Team: Morlocks
Range: 6 :bolt:
Points: 62
Keywords: Morlocks, Gene Nation
m-boota-fistd-shieldg-starburst101015281015289142891327813278121KOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKO

Also along for the ride? Karima Shapandar, the Omega Prime Sentinel. Although she debuted in an earlier comic, Excalibur is where she got a lot more exposure before joining the X-Men later on.

gx105 V Karima
Team: Police and X-Men
Range: 8 :bolt:
Points: 118
Keywords: Acolytes, Detective, Marauders, Police, Robot, X-Men
m-winga-fistd-indomitableg-starburst10101639101638917381017381016271016279151KOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKO

Our next member, is Dark Beast. He turned up in Genosha and after getting caught, agreed to work for Xavier and Magneto on "parole".

mu061 V Dark Beast
Team: The Brotherhood
Range: 0 :bolt:
Points: 69
Keywords: Brotherhood of Mutants, Morlocks, Mutant, Scientist
m-boota-fistd-shieldg-starburst8101728917279162781627815297172KOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKO
(Attack) Sadistic: Dark Beast can use Exploit Weakness
(Damage) Cruel Experiment: Give Dark Beast a power action and roll a d6. On a result of 3-6, give an action token to an adjacent opposing character with zero or one action token. On a 5 or 6, deal 2 unavoidable damage to an adjacent opposing character. On a 6, deal 1 damage to each adjacent opposing character. Apply all applicable results, which may be split among different characters.

Last, but not least, was a late addition to the series. Angel and Husk joined, in what I guess was an attempt to put some more familiar faces in the book.

cm214 LE Warren Worthington III
Team: X-Men
Range: 6 :bolt::bolt:
Points: 71
Keywords: X-Men, Hellfire Club
m-winga-fistd-shieldg-starburst129152108142108132871318713166121KOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKO

So far, this team comes out to 634 points. Yeah, we don't have characters like Shola, Freakshow, Wicked and Husk, but we can just say they were off moving rubble or something. I don't know, the book wasn't exactly a thrill ride. That and I wouldn't hold my breath that we'll see them in the immediate future. So we might as well play what we can now, rather than wait what'll likely be an eternity.

Seriously, if they make Shola, Freakshow and Wicked before the rest of teams like X-Factor, X-Force, Generation X or even the lesser known X-Men, something has gone horribly wrong.

But I digress... With 66 points to play with on feats, we've got some options. I went with Fortitude and Protected on Magneto. Expensive insurance, but better to have it and not need it than vice versa. I just then threw Camouflage and Auto Regen on Karima.

Here's where I wanted to talk about the Professor X piece. I was really tempted to use the new Professor X figure or even the normal Monsters & Mutations one. But with this lineup, I need someone else to dishing out more than two damage and need him out in the field with a solid defense. If his teammates need modifiers, we can just throw Contingency Plan on him. Between that and his Perplex, that can help all his teammates, not just ones he shares keywords with.

This is pretty much a tent-pole team, built around Magneto and Xavier, so keep them safe and you might do alright. Either that or they'll just stay alive long enough to watch their teammates all get KO'd. Let me know how it works out if you try it.

Next time, we cut to the chase. We stop looking at teams related to the X-Men and just visit the X-Men.

[goblynqueen23]

Great article, but I don't believe you've ever done a bad one.
2 Thumbs Up!!!

[phantomrider]

i think your 2 points off with the feats

[Arsenalroy2k]

i think your 2 points off with the feats

Nope. The six figures come out to 634, adding Fortitude, Protected, Camouflage, Auto Regen and Contingency Plan put it at a total of 699.

118+189+69+125+62+71+25+8+8+12+12 = 699

[Tim Drake]

^Yeah, but the article says you've got "68 points left over for feats." Should be 66. ;)

[Arsenalroy2k]

^Yeah, but the article says you've got "68 points left over for feats." Should be 66. ;)

Whoops. Not anymore it doesn't.

[de4dp00l]

I'd probably swap in Morlock Leader for V Callisto for the same reason you went with the LE Chuck. Her damage potential would be invaluable to the team, and while she's fragile, she's not much worse that the V. Plus, she's cheaper by 15 points.

[No-Name]

Ohhhhh, Excalibur. Like several other books, suffered the curse of "Post-1990s Chris Claremont".

[WakandaMan]

Clarement was at a Con here in Australia recently. Out of curiousity I went along to his Q&A session.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh.........waste of time.

[Kingofdreams]

I'd probably swap in Morlock Leader for V Callisto for the same reason you went with the LE Chuck. Her damage potential would be invaluable to the team, and while she's fragile, she's not much worse that the V. Plus, she's cheaper by 15 points.

Plus I think the Morlock leader dial more closely resembles Calisto at the time (multiple knife wielding tentacles = flurry blades) :)

[spoiler1]

I would try to put Unus on there somehow. I mean he did hang out with Freakshow a lot LOL ;)

[WolvieFan9]

I concur with using Morlock Leader -- all she needs to be a whirling dervish of death is some TK to get her into the fight, and Magneto brings that with plenty to spare.

I didn't read the run of books, so I am not sure if Warren has to have a ranged attack at that time or not. If he's not using a ranged attack, then you can substitute in the new GSX Angel and get the team to 598 points.

[Fallout13]

Thank you! While I do agree the series was somewhat lackluster, I liked the potential of the team they were forming with Wicked, Shola, and Freakshow. Of course then a little story came along called House of M and all the series got cut off before they could finish what they were doing. I agree with what others have said about using the LE Morlock Leader. I traded for her specifically because it better represents the tentacled version with flurry and blades. I will hold out hope that they eventually make Wicked, Freakshow, and Shola (They made Karima! Didn't think that would happen.) but I still think its a crime that they haven't made a Husk.

[UncannyAvenger]

Nice overview, but I think that a more accurate build could have included Morlock Leader Callisto (she did the tentacles at the time, right?) and V CM Archangel since he didn't have his metal wings or a ranged attack at the time. 68pts w/12 speed, 10 attack, and 3 damage up front made him an awesome first-strike piece for me back in the day, especially when I did a Chuck Austen (ugh) X-Men team w/him, V Juggs, Iceman, Polaris, Havok, Nightcrawler, and Northstar.

[Carbon Rod]

Oh this volume of Excalibur. Props to Arsenalroy for doing the article, but man, what a turd of a book.

That being said, I do like the team he made here. I'm all about Mutations and Monsters LE Charles Xavier. I've made several "mutant" and "X-Men" keyword teams back in the day with it's sole purpose being the look on my opponents face when Xavier goes head to head with a tent pole and wins. I keep meaning to mod him with Cosmic Justice Lex Luthor since I need a bald guy standing there in a suit to represent the Xavier dial and ole' Lex fits the bill.

[Beast]

Ohhhhh, Excalibur. Like several other books, suffered the curse of "Post-1990s Chris Claremont".
Actually, it was more House of M than anything.

It took Xavier and Magneto off the table. Which is why the book was cancelled.

I enjoyed the book quite a lot myself. It was a shame HoM ruined it.

[Ro-gan]

I read the full run of this volume about three years ago. I never understood why the non-team book set in am African nation with no relatable theme or characters from the prior run was named Excalibur. I guess they were banking on that money-making title to hook the readers. To say nothing of the twist at the end of the first issue.

Actually, CC called it Excalibur for the King Arthur theme. Not for the original Excalibur team he put together with Alan Davis back in the 1980's.


Ohhhhh, Excalibur. Like several other books, suffered the curse of "Post-1990s Chris Claremont".

That was because of his editors who wouldn't let him cut loose with his ideas because the toyline and cartoons would have suffered because he had major plotlines coming up where Charlie X was going to die permanently; Wolvie was going to be "killed" for a year (real life time); and, Sinister was going to be taking over the X-Men's mansion and recruiting the entire Summer's line and others to his side. The remaining X-Men would be on the run (for their lives).

And, if it wasn't for the editors, Jean Grey would have stayed dead (as in forever after sacrificing herself during the Dark Phoenix Saga) and Cyclops would have stayed happily married to Maddie and never left Alaska except for maybe a yearly team-up with the X-Men. Also, Nathan was going to be a non-mutant and never turn into the atrocity that was Cable.

The X-Men Forever comic out now isn't what was supposed to be done back in the day as it is advertised. It, too, has been toned down by the editors and Joey Q (who has not hidden his hatred for CC and Dave Cockrum).


Clarement was at a Con here in Australia recently. Out of curiousity I went along to his Q&A session.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh.........waste of time.

:tired:


Oh this volume of Excalibur. Props to Arsenalroy for doing the article, but man, what a turd of a book.

The book was supposed to be good but House Of M (a turd of a series) ruined CC's book.

I spoke with both CC and Aaron Lopresti about the long term plans for that book at a Con once. The whole premise was slowly turning Magneto back to a villain. It all was going to happen due to something that Charlie and Moira discovered and was mentioned in a hanging plotline from back in the 1980-1990's. Mag's power was destroying and affecting his mind in negative ways. Hence him always being anathema to Charlie's dream of mutants living in harmony with the genetic deadends that are Homo Sapiens.


Actually, it was more House of M than anything.

It took Xavier and Magneto off the table. Which is why the book was cancelled.

I enjoyed the book quite a lot myself. It was a shame HoM ruined it.

YAY!! Someone with taste!! :cool:

[Arsenalroy2k]

Actually, CC called it Excalibur for the King Arthur theme. Not for the original Excalibur team he put together with Alan Davis back in the 1980's.

If that was truly the case, then there is a phenomenal gap there in terms of intent and execution.

Ohhhhh, Excalibur. Like several other books, suffered the curse of "Post-1990s Chris Claremont".

I'd say the curse struck around everything after 2000 more than his stuff from the 90's. X-Treme X-Men, Revolution, ReLoad, Excalibur, Exiles, New Excalibur, and god help us all... Die By The Sword. Oof. And that's just the X-stuff.

And seriously? People are trying to put the blame on House of M? The effects of that crossover hit in the last four issues. There were still ten equally snooze-inducing non-"House of M" issues before that.

That being said, I do like the team he made here. I'm all about Mutations and Monsters LE Charles Xavier.

Nothing better than that figure scooting three squares forward then pasting someone hard with a ranged attack.

[UncannyAvenger]

I think what was happening in the Excalibur series was that CC was trying to do too much too fast, which actually goes against some of the things that made his writing so great back in the day: he would deliberately take time to develop the actions and personalities in a storyline to the point where the readers connected and truly care about what happened at the climax of the storyline and everything after.

In this comic, no matter how interesting things could have gotten, characters like Shola, Wicked, and Freakshow just really didn't get enough time to grow outside of "stock-character" mode while other minor characters were introduced to make a pretty unbelievable and "deus ex machina" background for two of the most powerful mutants (i.e. the minor characters were there to do what Xavier and Magneto couldn't do on their own).

What's more is that old standards like Xavier and Magneto were forced into seemingly unnatural positions as they re-hashed moments from the 80's and 90's. Carrying over to the execution of this were the elements of CC's runs on previous X-books that made it pretty inaccessible for newer readers. I'm not a new reader by any means, but I remember thinking "It's a good thing I've got 15+ years of experience of interpreting CC's writing, or I wouldn't have gotten that reference in the plot..."

Respect where it's due, tho: I liked how CC worked characters he didn't create or work on extensively into the story. Dark Beast, Sugar Man, and Unus' gang were good ideas, although I think the book could've benefited from more of that in lieu of Claremont trying to introduce forgettable one-shot characters.

[Arsenalroy2k]

An important update! I played the following Excalibur team this past weekend:

Magneto (GSX) w/ Fortitude & Protected
Dark Beast w/ Lunge
Professor X (GSX)
LE Karima
V Callisto

I went 2-1. The wins were largely attributed to Magneto (and the fact that I was playing his double TK totally wrong). Dark Beast got a six on his Cruel Experiment a couple of times, Karima was a beast in round two, and Xavier was a persistent nuisance. But for the most part, with the exception of round two, every round ended with a lot of the team dead save for Magneto.

The problem with them is they're predominantly a range-based team, and if people get up close, it's over.

More details over in the "What did you play? How did it do?" thread.

[Ro-gan]

I think what was happening in the Excalibur series was that CC was trying to do too much too fast, which actually goes against some of the things that made his writing so great back in the day: he would deliberately take time to develop the actions and personalities in a storyline to the point where the readers connected and truly care about what happened at the climax of the storyline and everything after.

In this comic, no matter how interesting things could have gotten, characters like Shola, Wicked, and Freakshow just really didn't get enough time to grow outside of "stock-character" mode while other minor characters were introduced to make a pretty unbelievable and "deus ex machina" background for two of the most powerful mutants (i.e. the minor characters were there to do what Xavier and Magneto couldn't do on their own).

What's more is that old standards like Xavier and Magneto were forced into seemingly unnatural positions as they re-hashed moments from the 80's and 90's. Carrying over to the execution of this were the elements of CC's runs on previous X-books that made it pretty inaccessible for newer readers. I'm not a new reader by any means, but I remember thinking "It's a good thing I've got 15+ years of experience of interpreting CC's writing, or I wouldn't have gotten that reference in the plot..."

Respect where it's due, tho: I liked how CC worked characters he didn't create or work on extensively into the story. Dark Beast, Sugar Man, and Unus' gang were good ideas, although I think the book could've benefited from more of that in lieu of Claremont trying to introduce forgettable one-shot characters.

I agree with everything you've said.