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Friday, April 28, 2017

X-amining Excalibur #61

"Truth and Consequence"
Late January 1993

In a Nutshell
Phoenix battles Galactus

Writer/Penciler: Alan Davis
Inker: Mark Farmer
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Terry Kavanaugh
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Plot
Traveling through space, Phoenix encounters Galactus in the midst of preparing a planet's energy for consumption. Determined to save the planet's life, Phoenix destroys Galactus' apparatus, triggering a fight between them. On Earth, Nightcrawler & Captain Britain are training, but Nightcrawler gets the better of Captain Britain, who admits he's still upset about Sat-yr-9's killing of Courtney Ross. Meanwhile, radio DJ Scott Wright is attacked. He is secretly Micromax, and though he manages to fight back, he's eventually knocked out. At Braddock Manor, Kitty and Feron try to restore the Mastermind computer in the building's basement, but are interrupted by another brief appearance and disappearance of Widget. At the Braddock summer cottage on the coast, Brian proposes to Meggan, unaware they are being targeted from afar. Back in space, their battle still raging, Galactus stuns Phoenix with the knowledge that her energy is derived from the energy of unborn life. Back on Earth, Kitty receives a call from Alistair, who says he's discovered who framed his sister and has infiltrated the RCX headquarters. However, before he can say more, he's knocked out from behind.

Firsts and Other Notables
This issue marks the return of Phoenix to the series, though at this point, Phoenix the cosmic entity is still in full control of Rachel Summer's body, and Rachel herself remains dormant.


The centerpiece of this issue is the battle between Phoenix and Galactus, during which the pair debate their relative merits as cosmic beings. In the process, Alan Davis continues to expand the mythology surrounding the Phoenix Force, most notably via Galactus' assertion here that she's powered by unborn life.


Captain Britain proposes to Meggan this issue; though she accepts and the pair do eventually get married, it won't be until the series final issue, #125. So in the end, they'll be engaged for more issues of the series then not, albeit with a lot of plot-derived absences, disappearances, and separations to blame.


Widget pops up again briefly, still spouting (apparent) gibberish before disappearing again, as Davis keeps simmering what will ultimately be his final plotline for the series.


Creator Central
Both Alan Davis & Mark Farmer return with this issue, bringing to an end Davis' final absence from the series (at least until his final absence, when he leaves the book for good).

A Work in Progress
Brian notes that he hasn't been sleeping since their encounter with Sat-yr-9 and her subsequent escape, something which bothers Meggan.

This issue reveals that Micromax is Scott Wright, a local radio DJ.


He is attacked by agents sent by Nigel Orpington-Smith, the leader of the RCX, who first appeared in issue #49.

Kitty and Feron argue about Feron's poor attitude, and in the process, Feron makes Kitty recognize some of her May Sue-ish tendencies.


Alistair learns the RCX framed his sister before her death, but a cliffhanger interrupts him before we learn more.


Claremontisms
During their sparring session, Captain Britain asks Nightcrawler if he's surprised someone as big as him can move so fast.


Young Love
Nightcrawler counsels Captain Britain not to take Meggan for granted, saying love must be expressed, prompting his later proposal.


Artistic Achievements
Davis depicts the battle between Galactus and Phoenix through a series of wordless one page splashes sprinkled throughout the issue.


It's in the Mail 
Letters in this issue rave about Joe Madureira's work on issues #57-58. It's also noticed that Alistair's now-deceased sister's name is actually Alysdane (as it was spelled in issues #55-56), not "Alysande", as its been spelled in every one of her other appearances. I never noticed either the correct "misspelling" in issues #55-56, nor ever knew her name wasn't Alysande, until reading this letter column for this review.

Austin's Analysis
Most of this issue is focused on character building (Brian & Meggan getting engaged, Kitty realizing she's kind of a Mary Sue) and plot setup (both the immediate "attack on Micromax" and the more simmering Widget stuff), and that's all well and good (and appreciated), but Alan Davis is back behind the wheel, and his stuff has never looked better. The various full page splashes depicting the battle between Galactus & Phoenix, interspersed throughout the issue, are simply gorgeous. We've seen the pair battle before, in issue #25, but that was drawn by Chris Wozniak (and featured more of the whole team in action), whereas this gives us the full-on majesty of Alan Davis drawing two cosmically-powered characters in pitched battle. It's a heck of a way to mark a much-needed return, and does a lot to wash out memories of the previous two-issue Wakanda story.

Next Issue
Next week: Uncanny X-Men #297, X-Factor #87 and Wolverine #66.

8 comments:

  1. Whoops, sorry for the late post, folks - I had this scheduled to release on the wrong Friday, and didn't notice until just now. Blame post-move brain!

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  2. A mutant named Scott is radio DJ, what novelty.

    That opening splash gotta be a homage to some (D)PS image. It just gotta. But for the life of mine I can't find the supposed original.

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  3. I remember being so disappointed that Alan Davis ran off to DC right before the issue where Phoenix fights Galactus in #25, cuz that shit looked terrible. So much of Davis' later run is picking up from Claremont's abridged run and fixing some mistakes, and finally seeing Phoenix vs Galactus in all its glory is such a delight.

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  4. The whole Phoenix/Galactus relationship does less than nothing for me, but I do love Davis's illustrations of their fight in this issue, and the way he presents it with the random splash pages.

    I also really like Micromax, which I think I may have mentioned back when he first appeared, too.

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  5. No more terrible fill-ins! Yay! Granted, the whole "Phoenix's power comes from the unborn or something" retcon has always kind of stuck in my craw, as it (along with Davis' other Phoenix revelations/retcons during this run) seems so at odds with what's already been established. However, it looks great, which forgives a lot. Plus Davis is back! And I like subplots!
    -Pushpaw

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  6. The silent “Meanwhile…” splash pages of Phoenix and Galactus in combat are rather literally awesome — not just for the great art but because we know from Brian’s dialogue that days have passed as they battle.

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  7. I wasn't collecting Excalibur at the time, so it's only recently (relatively) that I read these Davis-penned issues. The RCS storyline isn't my favorite, but man, I love the Phoenix vs. Galactus stuff. So good! And I love how Alan Davis draws the original Cockrum-designed Phoenix costume. I wish they'd kept her in the green one. I've never liked the red as much.

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  8. Steve Wright was a very popular DJ on BBC radio 1 and 2 back then (and now!)

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