Excalibur #97

Nightcrawler crouches in an aggressive, predatory pose atop what appears to be heavy machinery, his blue skin and glowing yellow eyes radiating fierce intensity against a blazing orange-yellow background — and the cover itself announces "The New Nightcrawler — Center Stage!" This May 1996 issue of Excalibur spotlights the swashbuckling mutant in a story subtitled "A Tale of Harpoons and Heretics," promising plenty of action in Warren Ellis's run on the title. Cover pencils by Casey Jones give Nightcrawler a lean, dynamic energy that makes this 97th issue hard to pass up.