Cover: Alan Davis & Mark Farmer

Excalibur #48

Mar 1992 · Marvel · 1.75 USD; 2.15 CAD; 0.95 GBP

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“Irish Stew”

★ 1st appearance — Feron

About this Issue

Excalibur #48, titled 'Irish Stew,' is the pivotal chapter that launches the climactic Necrom arc of Alan Davis's celebrated writer-artist run — the creative high-water mark of the entire series. The issue delivers the first appearance of Feron, a mystic raised from birth to become the Phoenix Force's host, whose thwarted destiny and resentment of Rachel Summers give Davis a richly ironic new voice on the team. Set against an Irish archaeological dig haunted by the imprisoned Anti-Phoenix, the story also marks the moment when years of seemingly disconnected Excalibur storylines snap into purposeful focus, with Davis retroactively framing the team's entire chaotic history as a cosmic design orchestrated by Merlyn to prepare them for the coming battle. The issue's collected reprints across the Excalibur Visionaries, Epic Collection, Omnibus, and Phoenix Omnibus lines confirm that readers and editors alike regard this stretch of issues as the definitive statement of what the book could be.

In "Irish Stew," Excalibur answers Kitty's call to an Irish archaeological dig, where a buried box hides a mysterious presence stirring beneath the soil. As Rachel and Kitty venture inside, they face the Anti-Phoenix's mind games, testing their will and power—only for the entity to escape and merge with the ancient villain Necrom. Back at the lighthouse, the team is stunned by Widget's unexpected transformation. Written and illustrated by Alan Davis, with inks by Mark Farmer, colors by Glynis Oliver, and letters by Michael Heisler, this 1992 issue features a cover by Alan Davis and Mark Farmer.

writer, artist Alan Davis · inker Mark Farmer · colorist Glynis Oliver · letterer Michael Heisler · cover Alan Davis, Mark Farmer

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (NM) $0

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More listings for this title

NM $1.99 NM $1.99 FN $2.4 VF/NM $2.75 FN $2.9 VG $2.9 VF/NM $2.99 VF $3

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History

By the time #48 went on sale January 21, 1992, Alan Davis had been steering Excalibur as sole writer-artist since #42 — his first time taking full writing duties on any series — after returning to the title he had originally co-created with Chris Claremont, who had departed with #34. Davis partnered with inker Mark Farmer, with whom he had recently reconnected after Farmer replaced the departing Paul Neary; the Davis-Farmer pairing, which began in earnest on #42, would become one of the most consistent creative collaborations in the X-books of the era. Edited by Terry Kavanagh under editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco, the book operated editorially apart from the main X-Office, giving Davis unusual creative latitude to weave together threads stretching back through Claremont's run and even into Alan Moore's earlier Captain Britain work.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Feron (Earth-616), an Irish-born mystic raised by monks who was destined to host the Phoenix Force but never touched the ground — listed as a 'First appearance' in the Marvel Database and CMRO character records for #48.
First appearance (and death) of the Anti-Phoenix, the entity created when Necrom stole a fragment of the Phoenix Force from the original Feron centuries earlier and left it to animate a buried corpse.
First appearance of Brother Francis, the monk who accompanies Feron and serves as his apologist to Excalibur.
Written and pencilled by Alan Davis, inked by Mark Farmer, colored by Glynis Oliver, lettered by Michael Heisler, and edited by Terry Kavanagh — all during Davis's landmark solo writer-artist stint that began with #42.
Story title is 'Irish Stew'; the issue was on sale January 21, 1992, with a March 1992 cover date.
The issue exists as both a Direct Edition and a Newsstand variant.
The issue has been reprinted in: Excalibur Visionaries: Alan Davis Vol. 1 (2009), Excalibur Epic Collection Vol. 4: Curiouser and Curiouser (2020), Excalibur Omnibus Vol. 2 (2021), and Phoenix Omnibus Vol. 2 (2023).
The issue forms the opening chapter of the three-part Necrom climax (#48–50), which Davis designed to retroactively give narrative purpose to the entire preceding run — a strategy he described publicly as revealing that Excalibur had been deliberately assembled by Merlyn to face an omniversal threat.