Writer / Penciler Alan Davis
Inker Mark Farmer
Letterer Janice Chiang
Colorists Moreshead & Thomas
Cover Dated July 1993
The Final Alan Davis / Mark Farmer Excalibur Comic!
Issue title, Days of Futures Yet to Come
Inside front cover ad is for the Super Mario Brothers film. So disappointingly nothing like the game!
Issue opens with Tangerine explaining to Excalibur about the tragic loss of their allies. There was a base named, Camelot, and the Sentinels located it and killed everyone there. RCE was busy fighting Ahab and that is the only reason why they are alive today. Allies who died in that slaughter were – Union Jack, Motormouth, Darkguard and Death’s Head.
Dark Angel and Arthur try to comfort Tangerine, the memories are all too fresh.
Kurt is sad for their lost but they must take the fight to the Sentinels.
Captain Britain takes the time to introduce the team. At first, it looks like he was going to not list Lockheed as a member so Kitty has to say Lockheed’s name.
Arthur notes that they had a Captain Britain and Meggan as heroes but they along with their babies (!) were killed by the Sentinels. The only Excalibur Arthur knows is his gun, which has the old Excalibur logo on the side of it.
Arthur introduces his team to Excalibur. Ending by taking off his own helmet, to reveal Nigel Orphington-Smythe, who was the threat Excalibur just fought in the last storyline. He was using RCE there and now he is leading them here.
Kurt states RCE stands for Resources Control Executive but Nigel corrects him, it is Resistance Coordination Executive. He also notices how Brian and Kurt don’t seem to like him, so he believes he was a villain in their timeline. Kurt tells him that he was a man with a destiny, looking for a purpose. Nigel responds with a, I understand. I’m glad he does, as I sure don’t.
Brian can’t help but notice all the similiarities between their timeline and this future timeline. RCX, Camelot, Cloud Nine, Arthur and Peter. Kurt tells him that there will be time to think about that later.
Kitty tells them that they have to save Rachel. Arthur repeats that it is a suicide mission. Kurt tells him that that is what Excalibur is going to do, they must succeed. Kurt sees a destroyed Sentinel and creates a plan.
At Sentinel HQ. Master Mold is getting a progress report. Ahab is having his hands fixed. Master Mold informs that the Nimrod project is now 159.23 days away instead of 160 days, so last issue took place in a span of an hour. He informs that Rachel has psychic barriers so Ahab will have to interrogate her.
Rachel is stuck inside of a bubble. She could break out of it if she used the remaining Phoenix powers she has. She wonders if she could go the opposite route and drain the bubble’s energy.
Rachel notices Widget standing off to the side. Rachel tries to read its mind to see if Kate is still inside of it. When she does, in her mind’s eye, she sees electric fields. Then the fields form into Kate’s face. Kate explains her current situation, that the Sentinels experimented on her, and then she was merged with the Widget unit and now the unit is absorbing all types of energies and data. Kate regrets trying to hide Rachel from the Sentinels as now they know about alternate timelines and are creating a means of traveling to those timelines.
The united heroes have found a way to puppet the damaged Sentinel. It is carrying Grace, Dark Angel and Killpower.
Inside the Sentinel, Cerise as created a force field and that’s how she is operating the Sentinel. Also how she is carrying the other heroes. Kurt explains to Arthur how they are going to trick the other Sentinels, they will use Kylun’s actual mutant power to do it. Kylun is a great swordsman but his actual mutant power is sound mimicry. A power that isn’t used all that much, as it takes a writer some thinking to showcase it.
Kitty draws attention to herself, she is dressed as she is on the cover. It is a look that only lasts this issue, thankfully. She comments that she has found her new look. Kurt asks what she is playing at. Kitty is not playing about, she and Kurt lack fire power so they need guns. Which they have stored in the leg of the Sentinel. She references how Cyclops, Havok and Storm are heavy hitters, which Cyclops and Storm I get her naming but Havok? I’m sure she has no real connection to him. I’m not even sure they have been in the same room more than five times. I can’t think of a single time at the moment.
Brian wants to pick up his awkward conversation with Meggan from last issue. If he would love her if she looked like her fairy persona. He is honest with her that he isn’t sure, he wishes he had the right words to make things right. Those words would have been, of course I would love you no matter what you look like, but Meggan understands what he is trying to say. She just wants him to hold her now.
The heroes are approaching other Sentinels, Kurt tells them it is showtime!
Then there are ten pages of house ads regarding the thirtieth anniversary of both the X-Men and Avengers. As a kid, I must have have read those pages over and over again. Little did I know they were actually promoting a comic, MAX Yearbook. Marvel Avengers X-Men Yearbook. I’ve added it to my wishlist. Which I want to say I actually owned at one moment in time and read the heck out of it.
The heroes are lucky that Sentinels communicate with words, as they wouldn’t be able to pull this trick off. One Sentinel asks them a question, Kylun responds and they get an immediate follow up question. Kurt motions for Kylun to be silent. The Sentinel squad assumes it is malfunctioning and close ranks. The heroes are all smiles. It worked!
Inside HQ. Rachel is successful in absorbing the force field bubble. Rachel destroys the drones that were surrounding Kateget and they are free now to locate Master Mold again. Kateget teleports them straight there. Rachel then links her mind, Kate’s mind to Master Mold’s ‘mind.’
The heroes jump out of their Sentinel and notice all of these Sentinels are running around. The image of a Sentinel running is unsettling. Usually they just walk or fly.
The heroes are going to fight their way to Rachel.
Rachel is still trying to establish the link. Kateget warns that more Sentinels are making their way to them. Rachel assures her that Kurt and the others are about to make a dramatic entrance.
Killpower starts throwing grenades about, destroying Sentinels en mass. Kurt tells him to aim for Master Mold. Rachel belays that order, if they destroy the hive mind, then the Sentinels will just create a new one. Rachel is working on a solution that will fix everything. She just needs some time. Kitty shouts that they will do their best.
Tangerine starts having flashbacks to Camelot and is afraid of dying. Cerise, like a warrior Shi’ar, tells her to then die fighting.
Rachel has established the link but she can’t make sense of the data. Kateget states that they can.
Meggan is about to be clawed to death when Brian jumps in front of her, about to take the hit. Then the Sentinels all pause in their tracks.
Rachel explains what she and Kate did. They reprogrammed all the Sentinels, every single last one of them.
Ahab, in the shadows, sees Rachel winning and doesn’t like that. He comes out charging at her and throws a harpoon in her direction. One of the Sentinels grabs it, they have to protect all life. Rachel emphasizes, all life – human, mutant and even bigot cyborgs. Ahab vows to kill her and teleports away.
Kitty tells Rachel that she won. Rachel tells the ensemble heroes that Ahab is nothing without his Sentinels. She wasn’t interested in revenge, it was never about that. It was about giving Kate a second chance like how she gave Rachel.
Rachel goes on about how she learn a lesson about not needing to change the past but make peace with the present and make a better future.
Arthur tells her that she gave their future a chance. Rachel tells him that there is still work to be done. Arthur asks if she will help them (as apparently she hasn’t done enough – sheesh!)
The issue ends with Rachel telling him that she doesn’t belong in this future anymore. Her place is with her team, her home and her friends.
Kitty gets the final word, she loves happy endings. Everyone is smiling but Feron. The page is done sideways.
With that, Alan Davis ends his run on Excalibur. From here on out, Excalibur tries to find its place in the market, settling on being an X-Men in Europe book. They are connected more with the X-Men after this and it starts to feel more integrated into the X-World.
Back cover is an ad for Bleach’s Rocks, Chewy Fruit Candy, an ad I feel like was on the back of hundreds of comics during the early 90s.
Shadow and Flame with Magik 