"Excalibur" cancelled, last issue shipping next week

[Spider-Man]

According to Newsarama (http://www.newsarama):

Marvel has confirmed for Newsarama that the series, one of Marvel’s mid-tier X-titles will end with issue #14, due in stores next week. The series, written by Chris Claremont, with art by Aaron Lopresti, launched as part of Marvel’s “Reload” event in May of 2004, which saw new teams tackle existing X-titles, as well as the launch of Excalibur, District X and Astonishing X-Men. The revitalization of the X-franchise was meant, in part to target titles to certain regions or themes of the X-Universe. Excalibur, at its start was the title that followed Professor Xavier and Magneto through the fallout of Grant Morrison’s New X-Men run.

In any case, Marvel has confirmed for Newsarama that an announcement regarding Claremont’s new project, spinning out of House of M will be made at next month’s WizardWorld: Philadelphia convention.

http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=34062

Rumor has it that House of M will apparrently fix everything this title was supposed to giving it no reason to be around after the crossover.

[EarthX]

Although the slow-going nature of Claremont's setup of the group and his love of "remorseful Magneto" didn't help, the title's big problem was its make up.

It's hard to tell if it was a matter of editorial wanting all X-men to stay X-men or Claremont's love of his self-created mythology, but the choice of characters were all from the farthest fringes of Mutant lore, it seemed to me.

Callisto, the Dark Beast, super-sentinels (I think that what they called those two), trolls...
Unus the Untouchable was the biggest name in the series besides the big 2. Now that's saying something.

This title needed 3 or 4 X-men to leave with Xavier to have some more recognizable characters.

[ManicWebb]

*was waiting for an Excalibur trade*
I read all of my comics in trade format that I get from book stores, because it's too hard for me to search for a comic book shop. I never got around to reading this title, and it looks like I won't get the chance to.

[Chad Bonin]

I remember when this came out, we had to decided between putting out under "E" or "X".

And the only one I've picked up is #13, thanks to the glorious House Of M prelude that consisted of three pages. Given that it's ending, hell, I'll grab the last issue.

[DBZALLSTAR]

This kinda sucks, but I can't say I'm surprised.

Marvel's got almost as many series as they had back in the eighties and early nineties. It goes without saying that they can't support them all. They probably could financially, but as far as enough people picking them up, I don't think they'd find enough.

While we're on the subject of cancelled books, Gambit and Rogue are on the cancellation block as well, aren't they?

[wonderfly]

Rogue is cancelled as of issue #12. Gambit's status is up in the air, but it probably will suffer the same fate.

As for Excaliber, good riddance. Claremont's storytelling pace on the book was abysmal, and I cancelled it after Issue #4. The book really served no purpose, (it was one big prelude to House of M, if you think about it). Beyond that, it cancelled out Grant Morrison's Magneto plot, which was a horrible slap in the face to fans of the Morrison stories, considering the only excuse they came up with was, "That was a Magneto Imposter who tried to conquer New York, not the real thing".

[ManicWebb]

Beyond that, it cancelled out Grant Morrison's Magneto plot, which was a horrible slap in the face to fans of the Morrison stories, considering the only excuse they came up with was, "That was a Magneto Imposter who tried to conquer New York, not the real thing".
I think they did that because Grant Morrison wrote Magneto out of character. This is a guy who, despite being mortal enemies with the X-Men for years, was once civil enough to have taught at their school for a period of time. They've called a truce with him so many times I can't count them. Then he decides to kill Jean Grey on a whim? Despite how badly it complicated everything, I was half-relieved to find out that was an imposter.

[EarthX]

I think they did that because Grant Morrison wrote Magneto out of character. This is a guy who, despite being mortal enemies with the X-Men for years, was once civil enough to have taught at their school for a period of time. They've called a truce with him so many times I can't count them. Then he decides to kill Jean Grey on a whim? Despite how badly it complicated everything, I was half-relieved to find out that was an imposter.I think Morrison gave a decent explanation that the drugs made Magneto nuts.

"They did it" because Claremont wanted Magneto back. It's really that simple.

[halinar]

One month later... I think that drove a lot of people off. We are use to magento dying on a bi annual date but at least he usually stays dead for at least 6 months before "pop" I got better and used neosporin.

[GregX]

Morrison butchered Magneto. Simple as that. And it's been made pretty clear in interviews I've read that he had no respect at all for the character.

He was so out of character. Magneto is a villain, yes. But he's not an evil, mass-murdering drugged up psychopath.

And Morrison was trying to tell me that Wolverine could never pick up Magneto's stench on Xorn? If Mystique can't hide from Wolverine's senses, no one can.

Retconning it was a slap in the face to Morrison? Well, Morrison's portrayal of Magneto was a slap in the face to a great character, to every other writer that ever used him, and to Magneto's fans.

[ManicWebb]

I think Morrison gave a decent explanation that the drugs made Magneto nuts.
And I'd like to think Magneto getting hopped up on drugs is maybe a tad out of character for him.

"They did it" because Claremont wanted Magneto back. It's really that simple.
And I think Claremont wanted Magneto back because of what Morrison did to him. Claremont put a lot of work into making Magneto a sympathetic and 3-dimensional character during the 70s and 80s, and everytime a new writer comes along and turns Mags into a blood-lustful maniac, Claremont takes back the reigns and fixes him. Morrison gave us a BS excuse for Magneto, so they had to turn that guy into an imposter, and let Claremont put him back to normal.

Morrison might have had some interesting ideas for new characters and shaking up the status quo, but he had no idea how to treat the pre-existing characters. It's because of Morrison that we have a depressed Beast, a re-eviled Emma Frost (who hasn't been this dark or b****y since before the Generation X books began over ten years ago), and a dead Jean Grey-Summers that led to yet another Phoenix story that further complicated her connection to it.

Oh, and he never listed Jean by her Phoenix codename on the cast roster pages. It's a pet peeve of mine when people ignore her codenames.


That aside, does anyone know if a trade of Excalibur is coming out? Or if there's already a volume available? Because I just remembered the cancelled New Mutants title is still being released as two trades.

[wonderfly]

a re-eviled Emma Frost (who hasn't been this dark or b****y since before the Generation X books began over ten years ago),Where do you see this? In the current pages of Astonishing Xmen? She's always been a B****, it's a part of who she is.


and a dead Jean Grey-Summers that led to yet another Phoenix story that further complicated her connection to it.Hey, it was Claremont who opened the floodgates on killing Jean and bringing her back. And the recent "Endsong" miniseries was actually pretty well written. Speaking of Claremont, he's now responsible for bringing back Psylocke as well. Face it, death doesn't matter in Claremont's universe. When Morrison killed Jean and Magneto, it was a powerful moment. Till Marvel (or Claremont) said, "Nope! Death doesn't matter! Gotta reverse it!"


One month later... I think that drove a lot of people off. We are use to magento dying on a bi annual date but at least he usually stays dead for at least 6 months before "pop" I got better and used neosporin.
Yeah...I could've swallowed his reappearance a bit better if they had at least waited a couple of years...and if it was someone besides Claremont bringing him back. He has too much sway over the X universe...just because he wrote the title for 17 years doesn't mean he needs to be in control of it forever. Thankfully, Joss Whedon seems to be in control of the "Flagship" title, and Claremont is stuck with writing the little satellite titles...

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,


That aside, does anyone know if a trade of Excalibur is coming out? Or if there's already a volume available? Because I just remembered the cancelled New Mutants title is still being released as two trades.
It looks like Marvel's done 2 TPBs for the current Excalibur. The first covers #1-4 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0785115277/qid=1116600933/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-2003060-1000127?v=glance&s=books), and the second (not yet released) covers #5-10 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0785114769/qid=1116600933/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-2003060-1000127?v=glance&s=books) and, according to Diamond, is on stands now.

At least, I'm pretty sure that's the current series. There have been so many over the years...

And in the interests of playing peacemaker, may I take an intermediary position in the Magneto argument by saying I hated what I could struggle through in both Chris Claremont AND Grant Morrison's recent runs on X-Men? ;)

-- Ed/Ace

[Cyporiean]

Because I just remembered the cancelled New Mutants title is still being released as two trades.

New Mutants got canned? damn..

[Chad Bonin]

Excalibur's 2nd trade has already come out, and New Mutants was cancelled last year.

[Cyporiean]

New Mutants was cancelled last year.
how many issues are left then?

[wonderfly]

Okay, I think there's some confusion going on here:

New Mutants volume 2 was cancelled last year in April, to make way for the "Xmen Reloaded" titles. New Mutants was renamed "New Xmen: Academy X" and relaunched with a new Issue #1.

So it's not really been cancelled. The plotlines and characters are carrying on in the new book. It's been that way for a year now. You guys just now noticing? :p

[JLU Dude]

Hey, it was Claremont who opened the floodgates on killing Jean and bringing her back. And the recent "Endsong" miniseries was actually pretty well written. Speaking of Claremont, he's now responsible for bringing back Psylocke as well. Face it, death doesn't matter in Claremont's universe. When Morrison killed Jean and Magneto, it was a powerful moment. Till Marvel (or Claremont) said, "Nope! Death doesn't matter! Gotta reverse it!"
Despite, that in some cases, it wasn't Claremont, this is about the case for most X-Men characters.:p

[Chad Bonin]

Right. The book "New Mutants" cancelled last year with the X-Men Reload event. A new series, "New X-Men: Academy X" was launched, and has been going on since. It even has a spinoff mini coming next week (New X-Men: Hellions), and will take part in House Of M.

[Cyporiean]

ah well, I was still considering X-Men Academy to be New Mutants, so thats what I thought you were talking about..

whatever happened to the Revival of NYX?

[Chad Bonin]

"Marvel Must Haves: NYX 1-3" has just come out. They'll do "Marvel Must Haves: NYX 4-5" soon, and issues 6 and 7 have already been resolicited.

[DBZALLSTAR]

Guess what boys and girls, it turns out Excalibur isn't really cancelled.
Well it isn't, and yet then again, it isn't.
According to the letters page in tomorrow's release of #14 (brought to everyone by Newsarama), Excalibur returns in November as (hold for drum roll) New Excalibur!!!
I actually don't care for the name change, but maybe Marvel decided they needed a couple extra dollars, and they decided to put out another # 1, as is their policy. Whether this will continue what has currently been going on in Excalibur as far as the Genosha stories or whether it will be the long awaited Captain Britain series has not been announced. Who knows? Maybe Marvel will put Captain Britain in the book to raise sales. I'd rather see Brian get the Excalibur title, and Claremont, being the creative fellow he is, can come up with a new title for the book. Is it really necessary to cancel the book if Marvel's just going to add one word to the title? Nevermind. If it wasn't necessary, they're wouldn't be New Avengers, New Thunderbolts, New Invaders (even though it's cancelled), etc. As much as I enjoyed Excalibur, I just don't think the name change serves any purpose other than to put out another # 1 and raise sales. However, that's just my opinion.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Press release on Excalibur -> New Excalibur (http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=34476). They aren't even trying any more, are they?

Meanwhile, it turns out that Alan Davis is going to move to Fantastic Four: The End (http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/pulse.cgi?http%3A//www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%26f%3D36%26t%3D003812). The press release doesn't name a writer, so either Davis is going to write it or they haven't picked one yet.

-- Ed/Ace

[90'sCartoonMan]

Excalibur returns in November as (hold for drum roll) New Excalibur!!!
I actually don't care for the name change, but maybe Marvel decided they needed a couple extra dollars, and they decided to put out another # 1, as is their policy.
...She-Hulk's not going to come back as New She-Hulk is it? New Excalibur sounds lame, but New She-Hulk is beyond idiotic.

[Knightmare]

...She-Hulk's not going to come back as New She-Hulk is it? New Excalibur sounds lame, but New She-Hulk is beyond idiotic.
I agree this New insert name here stuff has to stop; it was ok for New Avengers, kinda cool for New Thunderbolts(but should have been dropped from the title by now), stupid for New Invaders, and even stupider for New Excalibur.

[halinar]

Yet another dump to get another #1 sales jump on a floundering title.

Within a couple more years everything will be up to Vol 10. Good luck trying to keep a collection in order.

Lets hear it for Batman/Superman/Action/Detective. Uber number runs with out a reboot.