Issue(s): Excalibur #91, Excalibur #92
Cover Date: Nov-Dec 95
Title: "Baby, I love you" / "I want you"
Credits:
Warren Ellis - Writer
David Williams, Mike Wieringo, Jeff Moy, & Mike Miller / Casey Jones - Penciler
Mike Miller, Michael Christian, & Phillip Moy / Mike Miller, Tom Simmons, Josef Rubinstein, & W.C. Carani - Inker
Suzanne Gaffney - Editor

Review/plot:
In issue #91, the Excalibur team go to the local pub (which turns out to be owned by Moira MacTaggert's extended family). Not much to report, but it's a fun downtime issue. The main development is that Kitty and Pete let the rest of the team know that they're dating, and they're all good with it.

The issue ends with Colossus showing up at Muir Island while Kitty and Pete are kissing. Colossus attacks Pete, badly injuring him - lung puncture and everything.

Needless to say, the rest of the group is horrified.

I don't love how Colossus is written throughout this issue. Part of the idea is that he's emotionally distraught and also physically tired from having walked all the way to Muir island (??!?). But his attack on Pete is not meant to illicit sympathy and he's explicitly depicted as acting like a big baby.

This is, i guess, a continuation of the horrible way that Colossus has been treated post-Claremont, and i guess Nightcrawler's analysis is an attempt to address that with more depth...

...but after Colossus' nearly irredeemable actions it doesn't seem like enough.

As it is, Nightcrawler, in an attempt to cover for his friend, concocts a story to tell the X-Men about how Colossus was suffering from residual effects from his brain damage. So Colossus will remain with the team for "observation". He and Kitty also have a reckoning.

Another thing marring these issues is the weak art-by-committee. Kind of like the story, it's fun looking at first glance but uglier upon further examination.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: When speculating about how the X-Men will react to Colossus' actions, Nightcrawler talks about Wolverine as if he isn't descending into a feral state, which seems to suggest this takes place after Nightcrawler sees Wolverine in the Wolverine '95 annual. That annual takes place between Wolverine #91-92, which were published months earlier than these issues, so it may not be possible for things to occur in that order, but since i have such a limited number of the relevant books, it works for me.

References:

• There are a few unfootnoted references to Excalibur #71, the last time Colossus was on Muir Island when he was treated for brain injuries.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A