The genesis of Excalibur came from Captain Britain, an initially unsuccessful attempt by Marvel to break into the British market which was co-created by American staff, including Chris Claremont.
The new roster featuring Havok, Longshot and Dazzler proved popular and were central to Claremont's plans for the series, so Marvel wanted both a 'home' for the characters and the sales potential of a fourth X-Men book.
[2] After winning considerable acclaim in Britain, he was head-hunted by DC Comics, again receiving praise for his work on Batman and the Outsiders before falling out with the company.
Claremont was assigned to write the series, but allowed Davis - more used to working via the full script process rather than the 'Marvel method' considerable leeway and input.
Claremont chose to return Colossus to Uncanny X-Men rather than use him for Excalibur, due to Captain Britain already fulfilling the team's need for a strongman type.
[6] With the creators given a large amount of freedom by Marvel, the series soon received plaudits for its humorous tone and wit compared to the darker turn taken by both the other X-Men related titles and the wider industry at the time.
[1] The success also led to Marvel printing a trade paperback compiling the material Davis had produced for Captain Britain, which was coloured by several artists.
Davis and writer Jamie Delano were required to sell their rights to the material to do so; as Alan Moore refused to do likewise, his work on the title was not included in the collection.
The following issue saw the debut of a new costume for Captain Britain; it had been designed for the character's primarily black-and-white British appearances, but Davis found the American colourists were frequently making mistakes and so simplified it.
However, his return would only last for two issues - after completing the delayed "Cross-Time Caper" arc he left the title, later stating that he was unhappy with the effect compromises he was having to make to get back on schedule were having on the quality of his work.
However, other commitments delayed his return and Lobdell contributed a short run to bridge the gap, including a three-part arc featuring the Avengers West Coast; the events of his stories were guided by Davis.
[10] As Neary had decided to continue his more lucrative pencilling career, Davis linked up with Mark Farmer as inker - the pair had briefly worked together before, notably on the final issue of Captain Britain, and would go on to have a long partnership.
[7] His return allowed the conclusion of numerous unresolved plot-lines and saw the first major expansion to the comic's regular cast with the additions of Cerise, Kylun, Micromax and Feron.
The recent additions to the cast were abruptly written out, as was Captain Britain - who became lost in the time-steam off-panel before Excalibur #68, leading to Meggan also falling out of focus.
The series did not feature an Excalibur team or all of the original cast, instead focusing on Captain Britain, Meggan, Psylocke and the Black Knight battling to save Otherworld.
Aside from the name and the writer (Claremont), it had no connection to Marvel's previous Excalibur titles, instead focusing on rebuilding efforts in Genosha and the relationship between Professor X and Magneto.
The replacement title featured the return of an Excalibur team, consisting of Captain Britain, Pete Wisdom, Dazzler, Juggernaut, Nocturne and Sage.