EXCALIBUR #59-60 at Couture's

(as seen in the pages of Advanced Iron #55)

EXCALIBUR #59-60

"Enter… the Panther!"

December 1992, January 1993

Story: Scott Lobdell
Pencils: Scott Kolins
Inks: Holdredge and Kryssing

The British super-team (comprising Shadowcat, Captain Britain and Meggan) is in Africa, in the beautiful jungle paradise of Wakanda to be more specific. The trio is there on business in their civilian identities but they are not the only guests of king T'Challa.

Also present are Captain America and Iron Man (Rhodey was still going by that name at this stage). Rhodey is representing Stark Enterprises at this international conference on the environment.

The problem with Wakanda is that there always seems to be some new lunatic waiting in the wings to attempt another coup d'état against the king. This time is no exception, and soon the guests come under attack from a being apparently made of wood and calling himself "ICON". He's managed to turn several of the country's citizens into wooden zombies and uses them as his personal army. Will the heroes fight back against this innocent horde or will the Black Panther abdicate his throne?

The story is enjoyable and (as are many old Excalibur stories) it is also funny in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way. It's a comic that doesn't take itself too seriously and I find that very refreshing.

It's also interesting to see Cap starting to guess that this new Iron Man truly may not be Tony Stark at all! And poor Rhodey is all confused when Meggan thinks she recognises him (she met Tony-Iron Man in Excalibur #37-39). That's one of the things I always loved most about Jim standing in as Iron Man. He feels awkward, he hesitates to be himself, he thinks he's meant to act like something he's not. That makes him truly, in my opinion, one of the most human and realistic characters in Marvel history.

As for the art, well, the character that is by far drawn a lot better than the others is War Machine. I've rarely seen this armor look so good in fact. I wouldn't be surprised if these artists were huge Bob Layton fans because I recognize some influences in the armor's reflections and shadows. All in all, two very entertaining books indeed.

Don't get me wrong, War Machine DOES look great… but that's just about all he does.

He basically spends the whole time standing around, barely uttering a word. That was a bit of a disappointment. Sounds to me like the people responsible for Excalibur decided to cash in on the new character's popularity by having him as part of the decor. But, to be fair, I must say that, at least, WM plays a part in the very lame ICON's final defeat!

Also, another disappointment for me was Rhodey's failure to recognise Kitty Pryde. I mean, she did phase through his armor in Uncanny X-Men annual #7, how many young girls with that kind of power has Rhodey come across since? Call me a continuity freak if you will, but sometimes I just think I know my Marvel history better than Marvel does…

Captain America thinks: "Iron Man imbibing? It adds credence to the theory that Tony Stark is no longer the man beneath he armor. But until this fellow does anything suspicious, I'm content with keeping an eye on him."

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