Issue(s): Excalibur #72, Excalibur #73
Cover Date: Dec 93 - Jan 94
Title: "Ooohhh... Siena!" / "Memories are made of this"
Credits:
Richard Ashford - Writer
Ken Lashley / Ian Churchill - Penciler
Randy Elliott & Cam Smith / Randy Elliott - Inker
Suzanne Gaffney - Editor

Review/plot:
Richard Ashford previously scripted Excalibur #70, and according to Ben Herman's comment on that entry Ashford was meant to be the regular writer of this series, but he'll only write these two issues and one more before Scott Lobdell returns. Ashford will then script some of Lobdell's isues, but so do other people. Ashford had mainly been an assistant editor, but he's elevated to full editor status around this time (on Marvel Comics Presents). These two issues don't make me feel like it was a great loss that he didn't stay on the book, but it's not like Lobdell returning is a win for us either. Any way you look at it, we are just holding out until Warren Ellis' run.

This story does have one development of importance, the introduction of minor character Rory Campbell (who will eventually turn out to maybe be the person who will become Ahab in the future).

It also has another thing going for it. Before that, though: a reminder. The status quo at this point is that after Fatal Attractions, the former X-Men members of Excalibur have decided to stay at Muir Island where they'll be more directly involved in X-book related things. All of the more Captain Britain related elements have been removed from the book. That's meant to be somewhat temporary - this issue keeps the plot about Captain Britain being lost in the timestream alive by having Phoenix merge with him again - but for these issues at least the plot is very much an X-Men plot.

The story is that the Gamemaster has agreed to award Siena Blaze points if she can get the DNA mapping of Proteus from Moira MacTaggert. She can also kill MacTaggert for more points.

The thing that i like is this: the whole deal with Siena Blaze is supposed to be that every time she uses her powers there's a chance she'll blow a hole in the atmosphere and destroy the Earth. But of course that can't actually ever happen. Unless she's fighting someone with Phoenix-level powers who can fix it.

Anyway, that's basically it. Phoenix manages to fix the damage and Excalibur drive Blaze away. There's also a lot of talk about how MacTaggert still has data on her son as if that's a big scandal, which i don't really get. Most of issue #72 is filled with a boring virtual reality training session that goes out of control, so there isn't a lot of story here. And i don't think using Excalibur as an auxiliary X-Men team works very well. Having Excalibur fight people like that just strips them of their unique identity. And you can't get more random than the Upstarts choosing to go after a group of characters because of their dumb game (there is a little more to it involving Mr. Sinister, as we'll see next issue, but still).

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - first Rory Campbell

Chronological Placement Considerations: Lockheed is said to be missing. We'll learn next issue that Mr. Sinister set up the assignment for the Gamemaster to give to Blaze. His glove appears at the beginning of issue #72. Mr. Sinister is also appearing in Cable at this time, but i don't think it matter in which order his appearances occur. Even between these issues and Excalibur #74 should be fine (he's stirring multiple pots).

References:

• Nightcrawler references the time the X-Men fought Proteus in Uncanny X-Men #125-128. Proteus' more recent appearance in the Kings of Pain crossover (mostly X-Factor annual #6) is ignored.
  
• Moira considered cloning Proteus but Banshee talked her out of it in Classic X-Men #36.
  
• Siena Blaze failed to earn points by killing the X-Men leadership in X-Men Unlimited #1.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A