So that’s the cover. Starting a story with a “cute” speech impediment is never a good thing.
These issues are the start of Alan Davis’ return as artist and run as sole creator of a book that’s been a train wreck, pretty much from the beginning.
Does it make a difference?
Well, as to the art, definitely. Storywise, it’s better (and bad stories are easier to tolerate with great art), but still not really my cuppa. It’s just too silly. Like this guy, who looks like a giant Tweety…
…But actually is small.
He’s from Technet, an alternate-Earth evil company run by Saturnyne. This comic was already confusing due to the large cast, and now members of Technet will be regulars, as they move to Earth at the end of issue #43. I’m not tagging all these weirdoes. They almost all stay in Excalibur without ever visiting other comics.
In issue #43, Captain Britain gets stuck in Otherworld, where in #44 he is put on trial and defended by a female “Captain U.K.” from an alternate Earth. Otherworld is where all the Captain Britains come together to police each others’ behavior, and our Cap is in trouble because he got in a brawl with Nightcrawler after learning that Kurt was dating Meggan, Cap’s sister. (But the fight was for the good–the two characters worked out their differences with their fists and squashed a conflict that had been ongoing since issue #1.) Cap beats the rap, of course.
Lots of subplots over these issues–Alan Davis clearly studied the complicated, soap operatic style of his creative partner Chris Claremont. I’m not getting into them because for the most part Excalibur is a self-contained comic.
These issues also introduce FI-6, a British agency investigating superhero activity. I’m not tagging it, or its members, because they only ever appear in this series. And nobody is looking for them, honestly.
The cover to #45 is a tribute.
