Excalibur #90
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeExcalibur #90 closes the 'Dream Nails Trilogy' — Warren Ellis's three-part espionage-horror arc across issues #88–90 — and delivers two first appearances in a single 48-page story: Shrine, the Black Air telepath, and the Uncreated, a nihilistic alien species whose engineered bioweapon 'Blood Eagle' drives the plot of this finale. The issue also marks the moment Kitty Pryde formally invites Pete Wisdom to join Excalibur and the two share their first romantic scene aboard the Midnight Runner, setting the relationship that would anchor Ellis's entire run and spin off into the 1996 'Pryde and Wisdom' miniseries. On Muir Island, meanwhile, Spoor goads Rory Campbell into a defensive-grid incident that costs Campbell his leg — a pivotal step in the slow, dread-filled march toward Campbell's destined future identity as Ahab. The issue is the culmination of Ellis's effort to reframe Excalibur as a Britpop-inflected spy-horror book rather than a straightforward superhero team title, a creative pivot that made his run one of the most tonally distinctive on any X-book in the mid-1990s.
In "Dream Nails Trilogy Part Three: Blood Eagle," Excalibur grapples with escalating tensions as Shadowcat and Pete Wisdom delve into Black Air’s mysterious alien connections, while Wolfsbane returns to Muir Island seeking refuge. The team faces personal and physical trials when Rory endures a devastating setback during a therapy session with Spoor. Warren Ellis’s sharp storytelling, brought to life by Ken Lashley, David Williams, Carlos Pacheco, and Larry Stroman’s dynamic art, with inks by Tom Wegrzyn, Mike Miller, and Cam Smith, and vibrant colors by Joe Rosas, Ariane Lenshoek, and Malibu, culminates in a cover by Carlos Pacheco and Terry Austin that captures the story’s dark intensity.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Warren Ellis took over Excalibur with issue #83 after brief tenures by Richard Ashford and Scott Lobdell, and he used Pete Wisdom — a character he had originally sketched out years earlier in a pitch for publisher Trident Comics — as the engine for overhauling the book's identity. Ellis described Wisdom as 'the disgusting lovechild of The Sweeney's Jack Regan and James Bond,' a deliberately grounded cop-show archetype dropped into a generic superhero setting as a means of generating friction and character development. The Dream Nails arc (#88–90) required a large art team — Ken Lashley, David Williams, Carlos Pacheco, and Larry Stroman sharing penciling duties — reflecting the production pressures common to mid-1990s Marvel. Bob Harras served as Editor-in-Chief, with Suzanne Gaffney as the book's immediate editor.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Shrine, a Black Air telepathic operative who field-tests the 'Blood Eagle' virus on Pete Wisdom; this is also Shrine's only appearance.
- First appearance of the Uncreated, an alien species imprisoned within the Black Air 'Dream Nails' facility and the source of the biological weapon Blood Eagle; the Uncreated later recur as antagonists in Ellis's 'Starjammers' miniseries.
- Issue is the third and final chapter of the 'Dream Nails Trilogy' (Excalibur #88–90, August–October 1995), titled 'Blood Eagle,' released August 24, 1995 with an October 1995 cover date.
- Kitty Pryde invites Pete Wisdom to join Excalibur at the issue's conclusion, and the two share their first romantic moment aboard the Midnight Runner — the official start of their relationship.
- Rory Campbell (Earth-616) loses his leg in the Muir Island subplot when Spoor manipulates him into triggering the facility's defensive laser grid, advancing Campbell's arc toward his prophesied identity as the mutant-hunter Ahab.
- Written by Warren Ellis (pencilers: Ken Lashley, David Williams, Carlos Pacheco, Larry Stroman; editor: Suzanne Gaffney; editor-in-chief: Bob Harras); cover art by Carlos Pacheco and Terry Austin.
- This is a double-sized issue (48 pages) and shipped with Marvel OverPower game cards inserted between its pages — a common promotional insert for Marvel titles in this period.
- Collected in 'Excalibur Visionaries: Warren Ellis Vol. 1' (2010, ISBN 978-0785144564), which gathers Excalibur #83–90, and also appears in the 'Excalibur Omnibus Vol. 3' (2024, ISBN 978-1302953737).
Cast · 9 characters
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Shadowcat and Pete Wisdom investigate Black Air's alien dealings. Wolfsbane moves back to Muir Island. Rory loses a leg during a therapy session with Spoor.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
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