Excalibur #100
“London’s Burning”
Writer: Warren Ellis
Pencils: Casey Jones, Randy Green, & Rob Haynes
Inks: Tom Simmons, Jason Martin, Rick Ketcham & Rob Haynes
Colours: Ariane Lenshoek, Jim Hoston & Malibu Color
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Editing: Suzanne Gaffney
Original publication date: August 1996
It’s not our hundredth episode (been there, done that), but it is the mega-sized hundredth episode of the comic book we decided to dedicate 126+ weeks of our lives to discussing, which warrants a mega-sized ep! That can only mean we’re talking Excalibur #100, “London’s Burning,” with returning guest Dr. Andrew Kunka, who comes bearing tales of Warren Ellis slamming Harold Bloom while hopped up on too many Red Bulls. Plus! An update on the saga of Mav’s garage and maybe a special secret sleepy guest star.
On roadmaps:
“Reading Ellis’ Excalibur after reading Planetary and The Authority, the Excalibur run feels like a road map for those later, more confident series.” -Andy
On megasized-ness:
“What do we expect from an anniversary issue? We expect it to be big, we expect bang for our buck… on that level, this issue pleased me. There’s a lot of comic here.” -Anna
On Onslaughts:
“It feels like Ellis and the art team were told to prepare a 45-page story, then turned it into editorial who clawed back 5 pages to make Onslaught happen.” -Mav
On character:
“Was sword fighting the Red King a good choice? No. Was it a Kurt choice? Yes.” -Anna
On protocols:
“The glimpse into Xavier’s character that we get through the revelation of the Xavier Protocols is strangely relevant to the portrayal of Xavier in the current comics.” -Anna
On missing moments:
“I keep rooting for Amanda Sefton, then giving up on her when the book forgets about her, then they give her a great moment that makes me root for her again.” -Andrew
On leadership:
“A different leader’s speech would be authoritative and tactical. But Kurt’s speech is like, ‘please be nice to everybody and stay safe because I love you.’”-Anna
On exposition:
“I always say to myself—I did my PhD in Modernism. I’ve read Finnegans Wake and understood it. If I can’t understand I comic, it’s not on me.” -Andy
Want more Andy Kunka?
You can find him on Twitter (@doctork100)
And! Check out his Eisner Award-nominated book from Rutgers University Press, The Life and Comics of Howard Cruse: Taking Risks in the Service of Truth, available wherever fine books are sold!
You can also check out his previous book, Autobiographical Comics, from Bloomsbury!
Also, if you’re in a scholarly field or just want a taste of the same, check out Inks, the journal of the Comics Studies Society, where Andy serves as book editor.
And as usual:
You can find Anna on Twitter (@peppard_anna) and at Sequential Scholars (@seqscholars).
You can find Andrew on Twitter (@ClaremontRun) and at Sequential Scholars.
You can find Mav on Twitter (@chrismaverick) and on his podcast, VoxPopcast (@VoxPopcast).
Enjoy!
-GGW Team