Why shouldn't Nightcrawler stab people? The rest of the X-Men get to!

Only two scans from this issue today: it's a personal favorite, and there was the temptation to scan half the book. Excalibur #100, "London's Burning" Written by Warren Ellis, pencils by Casey Jones, Randy Green, and Rob Haynes; inks by Tom Simmons, Jason Martin, Rick Ketchum, and Rob Haynes.

As you can tell from the first scan there, it's a very Ellis book from the dialog alone; but I'm more than all right with it: some of my favorite characters, taking the lead, and acting like they have some sense? About time! And even though this issue was part of the Onslaught crossover, it doesn't take over the main plotline either.

(The crossover scenes do seem like something the editors gave to Ellis and he ran with that ball: the X-Men arrive on Moira MacTaggert's Muir Island, to tell her Professor Xavier has become part of the monster Onslaught. On the ropes, the X-Men are there for a secret room Xavier left. When Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Moira investigate the Xavier Protocols are unlocked: in case he went bad, the Professor left notes and equipment on how to kill him. Unfortunately, he also left notes on how to kill several of the other X-Men; based on which ones showed for the information...)


Meanwhile, Excalibur has their own problems: the London Hellfire Club, a rogue group of British intelligence called Black Air, and their attempt to use Douglock the cyborg to control a demon imprisoned under the city. Evil mutant time-travelers, horrible biting bullets, the heel turn of Kurt's adopted mom Margali; a ton of plotlines Ellis had been building since he started in Excalibur #83 come due here.

Sadly, it couldn't last: Ellis would finish with the book on #103, and eventually Nightcrawler, Colossus, Shadowcat, and even Wolfsbane would be sent back to the United States...and rolled back from the professionals seen here to backups for Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, etc.