Thanks to EllieGouldingVEVO for hosting the video.
I’m sort of loving this song and the radio doesn’t play it enough
I didn’t know this was off of the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack until I saw the video. I wonder if Beyonce is annoyed that her song used in the trailer was not the first released single. I’m sure she cries into her millions of dollars, routinely, over it.
#NotMyChristian
Chris Claremont
By
Alan Davis
Finisher Paul Neary
Colorist Glynis Oliver
Letterer Tom Orzechowski
Cover Dated July 1990
We jump back into Cross Time Caper with the final chapter! Its a fun romp, it just lasts way to long.
Lockheed is on the cover! That’s twice this month!
Lockheed wasn’t in issue 23.
Issue opens with Saturnyne being displeased with Excalibur and Courtney Ross celebrating Kitty Pryde’s 15th birthday. They are the same woman. Saturnyne is going to send Excalibur home, but she wants to keep Rachel here at the Omniversal Matrix.
London. Kitty doesn’t want to get out of bed. Courtney wants to celebrate. Kitty finally agrees.
It is so great to be seeing old school Alan Davis art again. Oliver’s coloring makes the art pop too.
Omniversal Matrix. Meggan is so mad (and jealous) of Saturnyne. They need a plan to sneak Rachel back home.
Rachel dresses in the classic blue Shadowcat costume, and like the cover, Lockheed almost ruins the situation. He hasn’t seen his dear friend in weeks and is excited to see her.
London. Kitty is going to get a makeover. She looks like a very young adult woman, ready for a classy evening.
Matrix. The Immigration Inspector isn’t happy with Excalibur. Captain Britain has a new costume, as does Meggan. He looks at ‘Shadowcat.’ She is taller, her voice is deeper and her . . . physiognomic configuration is different.
This upsets the John Byrne ‘homage,’ whose entire job is to have updated image of every costumed character. He is the, Artistarchivist. A brawl breaks out. With the distraction, Captain Britain flies off.
London. Kitty is mistaken to be much older by the waiter. She is able to order some crystal champagne. I’m not a fan. Courtney is impress with Kitty being able to pull it off.
Hub. Captain Britain cuts to the front of the line. He is attacked by Lady London and Centurion Britannus.
London. Courtney wonders if there is anything else Kitty wants to do before the sun comes up.
Hub. Nightcrawler gets into a sword fight with Chevalier Bretagne. Good thing everyone either provides their own name or another character calls them by name. Meggan comes in to help Kurt.
Paris. Kitty wanted to see Paris, she didn’t get much chance to during Uncanny X-Men 200.
Captain Britain seems to be winning.
Alistaire, Rachel and Lockheed are watching that fight on the news. Poor Lockheed and Rachel get blasted by some mud.
Captain Cymru was the one with the mud gun. The mud was meant to keep Kitty from phasing. Meggan and Kurt rejoin them.
Paris. Kitty is flirting and dancing, having a grand time.
The Hub. ‘Shadowcat’ helps Captain Britain out. She gets snatched up by a bigger Corp member. Good thing Lockheed was there with the save!
Meggan punches the Centurion. Widget gives them a warning to come back.
Saturnyne isn’t happy that she had to wait for Excalibur. She is going to let all of Excalibur go home, with strong hints that she isn’t being fooled by the Shadowcat gimmick.
Paris. Kitty is happier than she has been in a long while. Courtney has gotten Kitty, as the official present, a brand new car! A red Jaguar. Whatever happened to this car? Kitty drives it all the way to London.
Excalibur made it home, it only took twelve or so months. Meggan heads outside. First up on the agenda, locate Kitty. Meggan comes back, super excited. They are home, she gives Kurt and not Brian, a hug. Brian’s ?, Kurt’s !, is fun!
The final page is Galactus floating in the sky, waiting for Phoenix. He must have showed up during the few minutes between Meggan’s lap.
Cyclops in : You
Writer Jeff Loveness
Artist Mario Del Pennino
Colorist David Curiel
Letterer VC’s Joe Caramagna
Weapon X Facility. Canada. The story opens with Cyclops and his thoughts. He is reviewing his relationships. Two psychics. An unavailable space pirate for a father. A son who is older than him. A past version of himself who isn’t happy with him. Poor Rachel is left off the list as is Maddie.
Kitty shows up in the Cyclops’ first flashback sequence.
Cyclops claims that Wolverine is the most complicated relationship. Wolverine had it pretty easy. He didn’t have to worry about the team. He got to enjoy spending time with the team, as he didn’t have to worry about leading them to their deaths.
I really like how Jean isn’t harped on throughout the issue.
Years Ago. After Jean’s death, so Uncanny X-Men 138. Cyclops is leaving, Wolverine doesn’t want him to go, Cyclops stood up to the universe and now is a man Wolverine can respect.
We skip to X-Men Volume Two 25, when Magneto ripped ripped out Wolverine’s adamantium. After this, Wolverine was vulnerable. Cyclops helps Wolverine in the Danger Room.
Cyclops remembers other adventures but it all leads to Schism.
Kitty gets a mention!
Cyclops wonders what a funeral for Wolverine would be like. He suspects it would be more funeral for anyone than something specifically made for Wolverine. Kitty would probably offer a Bushido proverb. Such as : Life is for one generation; a good name is forever OR The clever hawk hides its claws.
Cyclops has decided to really honor Wolverine, so he goes to a seedy bar and starts a fight.
There is also a Nightcrawler / Colossus visiting Mariko’s grave.
The issue ends with a nice Hellion and Armor tale.
A Little Piece of You
Writer Rex Ogle
Penciler Patrick Scherberger
Inker Marc Deering
Colorist Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer VC’s Joe Caramanga
This story opens with Armor in the Danger Room, she created a scenario where she fights all of Wolverine’s greatest enemies in a bar. Mystique, Sabretooth, Silver Samurai and Viper, no Ogun though. She starts decently but she is no matched for their combined might.
Hellion enters the Danger Room, turning off the scenario.
Armor references Wolverine’s “Are you a beer?” which he told her in Giant Size Astonishing X-Men, once Kitty was officially not coming back to Earth and he was depressed.
I like seeing this side of Hellion, he’s usually only a jerk or a hothead.
Hellion references the often repeated “Wolverine taking a young lady under his guidance.” He lists them, in order – Shadowcat, Jubilee, Armor, X23 and Oya. Poor Armor, she was hot for a moment and then Wolverine moved on to two other gals in no time, at all.
Armor ‘felt’ Wolverine died. She has never felt a non-family member’s death. Poor Armor, she has had some close relatives die, her grandfather, her mother and her brother.
Story ends with Armor accepting Wolverine’s death. I sort of want more Hellion and Armor scenes.
Writer Terry Kavanagh
Penciler Dave Cockrum
Inker Jeff Albrecht
Colorist John Wilcox
Letterer Agustin Mas
Cover Dated June 1990
Phalkon Quest Part Two of Two
Lockheed is on the back cover! That doesn’t happen too often.
Chapter One
Deathbird has Lilandra at gun point. Lilandra is trying to get her kingdom back.
People are under the impression that poor Sikorsky is a traitor, but he was just reprogrammed. He takes a blast meant for Lilandra. The Starjammers try to distract Deathbird. Lilandra is about to kill her sister, by knife, as the Imperial Guard shows up.
Chapter Two
Binary, also on the team, blasts through the floor. The Starjammers rescue Lilandra, which annoys her as she was so close to killing her sister. They had to rescue her, as the Imperial Guard wouldn’t have waited for her. They are loyal to whomever is sitting on the throne. Binary starts fighting Zenith, who is her teammate’s, Raza, brother. Deathbird steals the location to Phalkon, which is the mysterious item both teams are after, but neither knows what it is – outside of it being quite powerful. The Starjammers ship is out of commission, so Deathbird has a giant head start.
Chapter Three
Binary uses her cosmic power to recharge the ship. They lost time but are back in the race. They have the coordinates, they are heading to Earth. On the way there, we get some interesting interactions. Binary tells Raza that she killed Zenith. He walks away, not revealing that he was his brother. They were not close, but it was Raza’s birthright to kill him. I had an action figure of Raza, when I was a kid, and did not play with him correctly.
Corsair and Hepzibah are flirting, this seems early in their relationship. I think they are only at the merely flirting phase. Ch’od is looking for someone to hang out with. Waldo, the ship’s robot interface, is arguing with Sikorsky.
Lilandra visits Xavier. This is sometime after Uncanny X-Men 200, so he is healing. Except, we are told, for all points and purposes, that he is dead. She starts crying. Ch’od finds Raza, he shares the situation about his brother. Corsair interrupts Lilandra, he tries to soothe her as Hepzibah interrupts them, as they were hugging. That doesn’t look good. The Starjammers have made it to Earth. There are dozens of Shi’ar ships blocking their path. They cut all of their power and coast by the armada. They are in Earth’s atmosphere and on Deathbird’s trail. She has already found the Phalkon.
They land their ship next to Deathbird’s. They see her crew have been knocked out. Next, they see Rachel Summers inside a space bed contraption. So the bed-like device is the Phalkon, but it requires a giant power source to power itself. That is my understanding.
Kitty phases the rest of Excalibur into the room the Starjammers are in. Corsair doesn’t recognize Kitty’s new team.
I really like Cockrum’s Lockheed.
Chapter Four
Binary and Nightcrawler recognize each other. As does Corsair and Kitty. Kitty would prefer that he call her, Shadowcat.
Kitty recognized the guards as being part of Lilandra’s crew. Deathbird is watching and enjoying the obvious misunderstanding. Nightcrawler believes that this situation is all about the Shi’ar’s hatred of the Phoenix. Lilandra explains that Deathbird is running the Shi’ar, and I like how she makes the point that Kurt should have remembered that.
Captain Britain sees Hepzibah, what he believes is her making a sneak attack. Raza fights him, and that breaks out so that we get the classic hero team vs hero team.
Shadowcat realizes she hasn’t seen Xavier yet. She tries to get onto the ship, but it starts to take off. Lilandra explains that Xavier is dead.
How great is this splash page!
Corsair is trying to get everyone to stop fighting.
Nice how Nightcrawler and Raza get into a sword fight. Binary fights Captain Britain. Widget and Cr’eee get into it. I’m not exactly sure who Cr’eee is.
The entire Imperial Guard shows up.
Because the Starjammers are on Earth, we have to check in with Cyclops and X-Factor.
Back to the fights. Shadowcat is about to be blasted by Electron and Tempest. She phases and they blast each other.
Gladiator and Binary get into it.
Lockheed fights Impulse, who I had to look up.
Shadowcat takes out Earthquake. Astra punches her, as they can both turn intangible.
Meanwhile, on the ship. Deathbird is about to harness Rachel’s Phoenix power. Lilandra punches her sister. The Imperial Guard take their unconscious queen and leave.
Rachel wakes up. She lost a small amount of her powers. How did the Shi’ar even capture her? Corsair has an idea of what to do with the stolen power.
Months later, the Starjammers are starting rebellions. The public face of it is . . . Bald Phoenix aka Professor X! He is alive and well. The Phoenix power won’t last, but while it does, he wants to do some good with it.
http://www.uncannyxcast.com/main/2015/2/5/episode-165-taking-ok-girls-to-perkins.html
At the very last seconds of the episode, Rob added my would-be voicemail as a blooper. That will teach me to not write it down ahead of time but I thought for sure that I could do it off the top of my head. The voicemail starts at the 1:26:45 of 1:27:36.
In the opening, Brian points out that I forgot to provide DCBS’ website :
Which I naturally know, as I use the service every month.
The correction and succeeding discussion lasts from 0:33 – 1:03, with the discussion going as far as 1:55 before the conversation moves to Brian’s recent birthday.
This makes for my fourth voicemail on the show
Cover Dated June 1990
Excalibur, including Kitty Pryde and Lockheed! Drawn by Neil Vokes. May be more risque than WordPress allows. If it is, let me know before you let WordPress know, please and thanks.
I own this issue and the 1993 Swimsuit Special, along with all four Marvel ones. I know Lockheed is in one of those.
Thanks to YouTuber IGN for hosting the video!
I like when Marvel makes these trailers for their big events. I wish Kitty showed up sooner than the 1:20 mark of a 1:53 trailer, especially with how Humphries has stated several times how she is crucial to the storyline. I like how Magik and her fill up the last seconds of the trailer.
Black Vortex is coming, get excited!
Writer Chris Claremont
Artists Chris Wozniak & Al Milgrom
Letterer Tim Harkins
Colorist Brad Vancata
Chief Interrogator Tom DeFalco
Cover Dated May 1990
Issue opens with Nightcrawler being interrogated. No one believes that he could be from an alternate universe.
Crusader-X flies to the Xavier School. He flies into a female Archangel. Cable is investigating the damage along with various police officers. Crusader-X takes off his helmet, we see he has long black hair.
Rachel remembers her origins. She fought the Shadow King and Mojo, already, she is ready for another round.
Proper Marvel Universe. Kitty heads over to the Regent’s Park Zoo, where the four Warwolves are kept. She taunts them, and walks away. Their leader implies that they will regain two members soon.
A lady who looks like Kitty Pryde, in a green dress, walks outside. Some street thugs start harassing her because she is Crusader-X’s girlfriend. Lockheed shows up to save Kitty.
Look how great Wozniak’s Lockheed is!
Captain Britain balls up the thugs’ van. That must be awkward with it between his legs. Meggan keeps calling her, Kitty. Kitty corrects her, she is the Courtney Ross of this Earth. Which furthers the subplot of our Kitty and Courtney and why Courtney is so interested in Kitty. I’m not sure if that is ever resolved. I suppose we will find out.
Hellfire Club. Rachel is told Iron Man and Shadow King’s big plan. At the Queen’s birthday party, with all of the assembled world leaders, Iron Man is going to kill them all. Jean Grey is suppose to be the head of security. Rachel is going to fool people to believe she is her mother.
Over with Nightcrawler. He is hitting on Alistaire’s sister. On this Earth, he is the soldier and she is the scientist. Crusader-X finds Kurt and tries to attack him. Good thing Captain Britain shows up. They are essentially evenly paired.
Hampton Court, with the World Summit. Rachel successfully gets Iron Man into the building. It is empty, as Rachel warned everyone ahead of time. We get Iron Man vs Rachel. Once she hits him with a psychic attack, the armor takes over. Tony, weirdly, prerecorded a message, as he anticipated Shadow King turning on him.
Lockheed, Meggan and Courtney are watching the Braddock battle. Rachel summons them to help her. Meggan shows up, as Rachel passes out at her feet.
Lockheed gives a mega-roar, a move I didn’t give him on Pokemon but I could have. This gets the attention of the Braddocks. They see Iron Man has beaten Meggan, this doesn’t please them.
The police can’t hold Iron Man, as he only really hit two women, he didn’t try to kill any world leaders. The police will be keeping an eye on him.
Next issue, Alan Davis returns! He will do the final two parts of Cross Time Caper, and then a new creative team takes over. Apparently, we’ve already seen them, so it is probably this issue’s creative team.
Two letters this issue – Bob Schreub Jr. of New Jersey and Jacqueline Middleton of Australia.
Writer Brian Michael Bendis
Artist Valerio Schiti
Colorist Jason Keith
Letterer VC’s Cory Petit
Usually I don’t post the recap page but look, Kitty Pryde is referenced! That is crucial information!
Bendis made StarKat (Star Lord and Kitty Pryde) a couple at the end of Trial of Jean Grey – or at least, teased it there. Sam Humphries over in his Legendary Star Lord series, has been the main writer of the relationship. Bendis revisited them in All New X-Men 30, the only time we’ve seen Quill as a hologram.
I guess if I read the credits page of the Preview, I would have known Kitty was going to be in this issue. I had known ahead of time as my pal, starlord215, posted this image from Schiti’s twitter account –
Which was pretty cool. I’ve since started following Humphries on the Tweets. Anyone who follows me (and I recommend you do!) knows that a group of us have been #StarKatNation bugging Humphries about wanting the couple to remain.
Some of the fans want Kitty in space full time, which I rather she just spent half of her time. I’ve used the opportunity to promote that Lockheed needs to be in more comics.
This issue opens with a politician running for president of Spartax. He’s running on an anti-Earth platform. This Kree fellow hates Earth and gets loud in the bar. The barkeep throws him out. He is followed by someone. That someone is Agent Venom, whose symbiote is out of control. The Kree fellow was lying about going to Earth all of the time and is unable to get Venom back home. So Venom kills him.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Home Ship. The outskirts of the Milky Way Galaxy.
We see Quill and Pryde talking. I like how she takes off her gloves to see him. That’s pretty intimate. Quill confesses to having sex with hundreds of space ladies. Which, naturally, turns off her off. At most, Kitty has had sex with two dudes. I never got the impression that her and Bobby ever even made out that much. Doop probably got farther with her than Bobby.
Schiti draws a great Shadowcat.
Kitty is charmed by Quill’s confession that he doesn’t want to sleep with any more space ladies. All he wanted to do was call her. Which is a huge step for him.
Drax is killing an alien triceratops thingie.
Knowhere. A port of call near the end of the universe. Don’t ask for the Happy Frouhk. I really like how we are just picking up right where Guardians issue 14 left off. Which was the last issue I read, and the issue Flash was left on Knowhere with nothing to do. He goes back to the arms dealer that we met that issue.
Gamora enters the arm dealer’s shop. She recognizes Venom and he knows her but attacks her. As they fight, Rocket zaps him and imprisons the symbiote. With that, we are reminded that Flash Thompson has no legs.
Quill reveals that Iron Man gave them a device to take down Venom, if necessary. Flash wants to go back to Earth, he had control over the symbiote there.
Quill is all for going back to Earth so he can see his girlfriend, which is cool that he finally settled on a label for her.
The Guardian’s Ship. Rocket is trying to find a more suitable container. Groot touches the glass that it was sitting in, and the glass breaks.
Issue ends with Venom-Groot saying, I am Venom – so we know it is on.
Writer Chris Claremont
Penciler Chris Wozniak
Inker Al Milgrom
Colorist Brad Vancata
Letterer Tom Orzechowski
Lord of all he surveys Tom DeFalco
Cover Dated April 1990
We jump right back into Cross Time Caper! yay?
Fun homage cover to Excalibur 1! Good job, Mr. Wozniak! I like how Lockheed gets onto another cover! Still a rarity! It comes at a price, as Lockheed doesn’t appear in the issue itself.
Issue opens on Crusader-X’s Earth. He is this Earth’s Captain Britain. He is on patrol. I sort of dig his costume design. I like the brown boots with matching shoulder pads. He catches up with the science team, WHO – inspired by Doctor Who. They have found Excalibur’s train that they have been using as a base. Turns out that Nightcrawler is a Prussian villain. Fun descriptions of what Excalibur’s costumes look like.
Proper Marvel Universe. Kitty wakes up in Braddock Manor. She wonders who undress her and then redressed her. Courtney Ross enters the room with some coffee. Kitty is frustrated that her natural state is to be intangible. Kitty gives a quick recap of how Doctor Doom healed her and soon after, the X-Men presumably died.
Crusader-X Earth. We see Jean Grey going to the Xavier School, in England. Mastermind is pulling his old trick on her. This time, he is making her, the Shadow Queen.
Rachel senses this Jean being in trouble. Excalibur tries to calm her.
Over at the Hellfire Club of London. Shadow King just killed Emma Frost. He is the overall ruler of the club. He doesn’t waste time with the whole Black and White nonsense. Tony Stark, in full Iron Man (minus helmet), is trying to make a deal. Tony wants to break America away from British rule. He is there knowingly against Captain America’s wishes.
Proper Marvel Universe. This is the issue with Nigel Frobisher and Vixen. Nigel was a business man who kept annoyingly hitting on Rachel. Vixen is the low level head of a gang. Jimmy, the brother of Brian and Betsy / Captain Britain and Psylocke. He is walking around in just a tiny pair of white undies. It is unsettling. Jimmy kills Vixen’s henchmen and Vixen. Jimmy makes it possible that Nigel can change into Vixen when needed. Which is also unsettling.
Crusader-X’s Earth. Jean gets attacked by Cannonball, he was just trying his skills. It doesn’t work out for him. Shadow King makes it so that Jean believes she not only killed Xavier and Moira, but she enjoyed it.
Rachel ditches Kurt to save her not-mother. Just then, Crusader-X finds Kurt and starts beating him. He flies off with Kurt. Meggan and Captain Britain show up and start tracking Kurt. Meggan can tell that Rachel ditched him.
Issue ends as Rachel gets to Jean, as Jean dies. Rachel swears vengeance.
 | John Klein III on X-Men United 1 |
 | MoxieMk5 on X-Men United 1 |
 | Ron on Emily VanCamp |
| John Klein III on Exceptional X-Men 12 |
| MoxieMk5 on Exceptional X-Men 12 |
| John Klein III on X-Men United 1 |
| MoxieMk5 on X-Men United 1 |
| Ron on Emily VanCamp |
| John Klein III on Exceptional X-Men 12 |
| MoxieMk5 on Exceptional X-Men 12 |
Shadow and Flame with Magik 