Excalibur #38
“Out on a Limbo”
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Pencils and inks: Mark Badger
Colours: Brad Vancata
Letters: Spike
Editor: Terry Kavanagh
Original publication date: June 1991
Join Anna, Mav, and Andrew plus special guest Lisa, Nocturne’s BFF and co-host of the Nightcrawler-centric Simply Amazing podcast, to talk Kurt/Wanda, Wanda/Vision, histories of fandom, Wolverine & the X-Men, Nightscrawlers, Talia Josephine Wagner, Dave Cockrum’s saucy stash, Real Housewives, “Age of X-Man,” Earth-2182, Exiles, roleplaying games, Days of Our Lives, Chuck Austen dramas, and maybe, just maybe, a little “Promethium Exchange” in this episode that is technically sorta kinda about Excalibur #38, “Out on a Limbo.”
On Kurt and Dave:
On Kurt and Dave: “For Dave Cockrum, Kurt was a character that was super close to his heart. He considered himself Nightcrawler in the books, almost like his self-insert, to the point where November 11th is Kurt’s birthday, which is also Dave’s birthday.” -Lisa
On Austen dramas:
“Chuck Austen was very excited about ‘The Draco’ when it was coming out. He was pumping it up, he was telling us it was going to be the greatest thing, that it was going to be a game-changer. … He would tell us, Kurt’s father has already appeared in the comics. And we were all wracking our brains, trying to guess who it would be. Then it turns out—it’s the devil. After ‘The Draco,’ he didn’t come back much.” -Lisa
On Kurt/Wanda:
“Part of what fascinated me about the Kurt/Wanda ship is the world that they come from, where the Avengers are loved and the X-Men are hated, and here’s this X-Man and Avenger who have this child, in Nocturne. I’d love to know more about that world.” -Lisa
On Lisa's BFF:
“Nocturne is someone who doesn’t look human but she’s super—super—comfortable in her skin and her body. As someone who was not like that when they were younger, that really attracted me to her. She knows who she is and what she’s got, and she flaunts it. And I love that.” -Lisa
On adaptations:
“I have a huge soft spot for Wolverine & the X-Men. It’s my favourite adaptation featuring Nightcrawler. No contest. Romance-y pirate Nightcrawler is my jam, and we got that. There’s a freakin’ episode called ‘X-Calibre.’ What more could I ask for.” -Anna
On Kurt/Wanda/Vision:
“I think about Wanda’s connection to Vision being connected to his robotic-ness, on an emotional and physical level. There’s a striking contrast with Nightcrawler, who’s a very bodily character with certain animalistic traits. I’m not sure how Wanda going from Vision to Kurt would work, but I’m intrigued.” -Anna
On storytelling:
“One of the things that we notice in the transition from Claremont to Lobdell is the lack of emotional character beats. This is Limbo. There’s lots of opportunities to consider Kitty’s relationship with Illyana, Meggan’s transformation in Inferno, Kurt’s dark double… there’s so many ways you could advance the character arcs here, and none of that is happening.” -Andrew
On roleplaying:
“This comic book was written by someone who based it on a roleplaying game, and based their roleplaying game on their knowledge of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe. It’s written by someone who was like—I’m putting Darkhoth in a book. That’s what I’m doing.” -Mav
On leadership:
“The comic presents Brian as the leader of Excalibur. And it’s weird. Everyone’s like, ‘better ask Brian, he’s the leader.’ And I’m like, ‘he is? Nobody thinks that.’” -Mav
Want more Lisa?
Find her on Twitter, @TheOGNachturne
And! Find her chatting all things Nightcrawler with wonderful co-host Lauren on the Simply Amazing Podcast!
Anna recently joined the Simply Amazing Pod to talk Kurt and Sexuality. Give it a listen here!
And as usual:
You can find Anna on Twitter (@peppard_anna) and on her podcast with Andrew and Michael Hancock, Three Panel Contrast (@3PanelContrast).
You can find Andrew on Twitter (@ClaremontRun).
You can find Mav on Twitter (@chrismaverick) and on his podcast, VoxPopcast (@VoxPopcast).
Enjoy!
-GGW Team