riterWriter
Excalibur #122
“The Search, Part 1”
Writer: Ben Raab on writing
Pencils: Dale Eaglesham
Inks: Scott Koblish
Colours: Kevin Tinsely
Letters: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Editing: Frank Pittarese
Original publication date: July 1998
This week, we can’t do much better than mimic enjoying Excalibur #122, “The Search, Part 1,” but we’re fully focused on enjoying the company as we count down our final four with returning guest Dr. Michael Hancock, here to reminiscence about his first issue of the series, purchased off the rack at the 7/11 when he was but an impressionable teen! What’ll Michael make of this one now that he has a fully developed brain? You’ll have to listen to find out!
On battles:
“A lot of series culminate with a final battle against the heroes’ greatest foes. This feels very underwhelming by comparison.” -Michael
On tolerance:
“As someone who started reading X-Men comics with Operation: Zero Tolerance, I have very strong opinions on the correct use of Prime Sentinels. And this issue disappoints on that level.” -Michael
On constraints:
“The editorial constraints on this book are very apparent. They’re on the hunt for Professor Xavier, but they’re not allowed to have Xavier. They can have Mimic.” -Andrew
On jobbing:
“We have this expectation, as fans, that the people writing comics are as fannishly invested as we are. But sometimes, that’s not the case. Creators don’t choose what they work on—it’s a job.” -Anna
On returns:
“It’s a weird time to think about endings, particularly endings that involve a return to the status quo after attempts to do something different.” -Anna
Want more Michael Hancock?
Find him on Twitter/X and Bluesky (@PersonofCon), and on his old pod talking comics with Anna and Andrew, Three Panel Contrast!
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