Sage (comics) New Excalibur
What was New Excalibur?
What was New Excalibur?
For reasons yet unknown, Sage leaves Sunspot's side and travels to England to join forces with the newly reformed New Excalibur. She helps them on various missions such as battling the Shadow King, and returning to ancient Camelot to prevent it from being prematurely destroyed. In a more subtle use of her observation abilities, Sage is instrumental in her teammate Nocturne's recovery from a debilitating stroke.  In order to learn more about a mysterious new foe, Albion, and thwart his attempt to conquer Britain, Sage creates the new cover identity and persona of Diana Fox. This persona appears to be fully devoted to Albion and his goals. However, this bothers her teammate Wisdom as he fears she might fail the mission, similar to her time with the Hellfire Club. Her Diana Fox persona climbs up the rank of Albion's Shadow Captains as Britannia, and develops a rivalry with Lionheart. Like the rest of Albion's army, Sage is given a suit that emphasizes loyalty to him, as well as equipping her with flight and superhuman physical strength. Although she has the opportunity to kill Albion, one purpose of her infiltration, she is struck by an errant pulse from an ancient item used by Albion to extinguish power in England. Though Lionheart suspects her betrayal, Albion believes she was only trying to protect him.  Wisdom's fears are realized after this when the Diana Fox persona takes complete control and Sage becomes fully committed to Albion's side. During this time, she slays two of New Excalibur's former allies in Shadow-X, Dark Cyclops and Dark Beast. A direct confrontation with her teammates in New Excalibur helps reassert Sage's original personality. Together with New Excalibur, Shadow-X, and now Lionheart, Sage defeats Albion and his Shadow Captains. CANNOTANSWER
For reasons yet unknown, Sage leaves Sunspot's side and travels to England to join forces with the newly reformed New Excalibur.
Excalibur is the name of several comic book titles featuring the team Excalibur and published by Marvel Comics, beginning with the original Excalibur comic book series which debuted in 1988.

Publication history

Excalibur (vol. 1, 1988–1998)
Excalibur's original creative team, writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer Alan Davis, incorporated elements of two Marvel properties: the X-Men and Captain Britain.  The resulting superhero team Excalibur first gathered together in Excalibur Special Edition #1 (1988) and were soon featured in a monthly series.

Davis left with Excalibur #24 (1990) and Claremont with Excalibur #34 (1991), leaving a number of various plot points unresolved before his departure. A year later, Davis returned as both writer and illustrator with Excalibur #42. He rejuvenated the series, returning to the (mostly) lighthearted tone of his original run, while resolving many of the plotlines Claremont had left dangling.

After Davis left again in 1993 (issue #67), Uncanny X-Men writer Scott Lobdell filled in for over a year (issues #68-82). Lobdell stated one of his key goals was to create a foundation for the series beyond being another X-Men spinoff, something both he and editor Bob Harras felt the series was lacking. In addition, the tone of the series changed as well, from a lighthearted, fun comic to a more grim and depressing series.

In 1994, Warren Ellis assumed writing duties (issue #83) and, using his dark sense of humor, helped the book gain its own voice once again.  Ellis left in 1996 (issue #103) and Ben Raab, his replacement (issue #106), failed to find a voice for the series, often borrowing plotlines from other X-books. Sales fell and Marvel canceled the series, which ended with issue #125 (1998).

Excalibur (vol. 2, 2001)
In 2001, a four-issue limited series titled Excalibur was published, written by Raab.  Originally solicited as Excalibur: Sword of Power, the subtitle was absent from the published issues, and, due to an error, the indicia described it as Excalibur volume 1. In addition, the solicited cover to issue #1 was unused.

Excalibur (vol. 3, 2004)
In 2004, Marvel Comics launched a new ongoing series titled Excalibur. Aside from the name and the writer (Claremont), it had no connection to Marvel's previous Excalibur titles. The series' last issue was #14, released in May, 2005.

The letters page of the final issue of Excalibur (vol. 3) announced a relaunch of the title as New Excalibur in November, 2005.

Excalibur (vol. 4, 2019)

Excalibur was relaunched as a part of Dawn of X in October 2019. The initial roster comprised includes Betsy Braddock as the new Captain Britain, Gambit, Rogue, Jubilee, Rictor and Apocalypse.

Roster

Supporting characters
Angel (Warren Worthington III)
Captain Britain Corps
Monarch (Jamie Braddock)
Merlyn
Morgan le Fay
Opal Luna Saturnyne
Shatterstar (Gaveedra-Seven)
Pete Wisdom and S.T.R.I.K.E.
Psylocke (Kwannon)

Prints

Collected editions

Epic Collections

References

1988 comics debuts
Comics by Chris Claremont
Excalibur (comics)
X-Men titles The Lockheed Model 44 Excalibur was a proposed American airliner designed by Lockheed. The Model 44 was the first four-engined design from the company,  a low-wing monoplane with a retractable tricycle landing gear. Originally fitted with twin fins, the design ended up with three fins. It was to be powered by four 1200 hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp radial engines. Pan American Airways was close to ordering the Excalibur when Lockheed abandoned the project to devote its resources into developing the Model 49 Constellation that had been ordered by Trans World Airlines.

Design and development
In the late 1930s, American aircraft companies such as Boeing and Douglas started developing airliners capable of carrying more passengers at longer ranges than any previous airliner. Douglas, which had the majority of the airliner market with its DC-3, was having trouble finding customers for its proposed Douglas DC-4E (not to be confused with the later DC-4). Boeing also had trouble, as airlines were not interested in its planned 307, which caused its development to be delayed until 1937, when Pan American World Airways and Transcontinental & Western Air provided funding and five orders each. Thus, the 307 first flew on December 31, 1938 and entered service in July 1940.

Around this time, the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation was studying different airliner projects. The first was the Model 27, which had a canard configuration. The other two were the L-104 and L-105. The L-105 was smaller, with 1200 hp engines, and was more conventional than the L-104.  These studies led Lockheed's Burbank facility to settle on a design dubbed Model 44, a four-engined airliner that was announced to the public in April 1939. Soon afterwards, the new airliner was dubbed Excalibur. The Excalibur resembled an enlarged Model 10 Electra. It would be powered by four Wright GR-1820 Cyclone 9 radial engines, rated at , or four Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp radials. Its wingspan was , its length was , and its projected maximum speed was in the  range. Several variants were proposed, to accommodate different passenger loads.

The original Excalibur design envisioned a 21-passenger payload, with a  cruising speed. This was revised to 36 passengers at  cruise at  altitude. This change included increasing the fuselage diameter, making it comparable to the Model 18 Lodestar, and increasing the wingspan to  with an area of . A tricycle landing gear with steerable nosewheel was envisioned. With the revised specifications, the Excalibur could now effectively compete with the near monopoly Douglas had on the airliner market. Its projected performance was better (except in range) than the Boeing 307. The revision of specifications was partially due to a request from Pan American Airlines; their influence also caused the addition of the third tailfin. A variant designated the L-144, able to carry 40 passengers was planned, but was ultimately cancelled even though South African Airways had placed a potential order for two examples. Lockheed proceeded with a full-scale mockup of the proposed Excalibur, including most of the airliner except the right wing.

The eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, who recently gained ownership of Transcontinental & Western Air (dubbed TWA for short), decided to provide funding for the new Excalibur. He had a plan in mind to vastly improve the characteristics of the Excalibur by increasing comfort, speed and profit of the aircraft. It was thus that Hughes invited three workers from Lockheed and Jack Frye (president of TWA) to a meeting at his Hancock Park residence. The Lockheed employees included Clarence "Kelly" Johnson and Robert E. Gross. Hughes expressed his requirements for the "airliner of the future": a payload of 36 passengers (or 20 sleeping berths), a six-person crew, a  range, a  cruise speed, and a weight of . This meant that the Excalibur would have to get a  increase in speed and be able to fly  higher. It would need to cross the United States nonstop. The first decision was to re-engine the Excalibur with Wright R-2600 radials, which had not been tested yet. The next decision was to start from scratch while saving the overall shape and triple tail configuration of the original Excalibur.

The new design differed so much from the original Excalibur, that a different model designation was needed. It was first given the temporary designation L-104, then it was later officially designated the Model 49 or "Excalibur A". In time, the Model 49 would become a completely different aircraft from the original Model 44. Lockheed later dropped the name "Excalibur" as the new airliner had little to do with its predecessor. The end result was the Lockheed L-049 Constellation.

Specifications

See also

References
Notes

Bibliography

Excalibur
Abandoned civil aircraft projects of the United States
Four-engined tractor aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Excalibur
Four-engined piston aircraft
Triple-tail aircraft Alan Simon (born 3 July 1964) is a French folk-rock musician and composer, best known for his rock operas performed with noted rock musicians guesting. Simon is associated with Breton Celticism, and his most ambitious works are typically on themes linked to Celtic myth and history. Simon has also branched out into film-making.

Life
Simon was born in Nantes, spending his early years in the moorlands of Goulaine. He left school at 15 to travel the world, supporting himself in a variety of trades. From 1979 to 1992 he lived in Asia. He also travelled twice around the world, financed by photographic work, journalism and musical performances. He also marketed his songs to rock musicians, having some success and building up contacts before he achieved fame.

He currently resides near Nantes.

Career

Early work
Aged 20, he wrote his first work, The Rebel Child, which won the Grand Prize of the Society of Artists in France. In 1995, he composed his first musical story, Le Petit Arthur (Little Arthur) (Polygram), which became, three years later, one of the tools for learning the French language in Denmark. The story Les Enfants du Futur (The Children of the Future) (Walt Disney) was released in 1996 and brings together over 25 artists including Jean Reno, Albert Dupontel and .

Excalibur

Simon achieved fame with his rock opera Excalibur, La Légende des Celtes (Excalibur, The Legend of the Celts) (Sony) in 1999, of which he was both songwriter and producer. The first part of an intended trilogy, Excalibur blended musical styles and was performed by Roger Hodgson (ex-Supertramp), Fairport Convention, Dan Ar Braz, Tri Yann, Angelo Branduardi, Didier Lockwood and Gabriel Yacoub. Within weeks, the album went top 10 and gold in France. Five concert performances took place between October 1999 and June 2000, including one at Paris-Bercy. A live recording, released as Excalibur, le concert mythique (Excalibur, the legendary concert) (CD and DVD) was recorded at the first performance in Rennes on 12 October 1999.

Gaia and other works
In the following year, Simon collaborated with Hodgson on the latter's album Open The Door. The album charted in France (Top 30), Spain (Top 5), Switzerland and Belgium. Simon co-wrote the last song on the album.

In 2003, he created GAIA (Universal / BMG / Sony), a humanitarian concept album dealing with the preservation of the environment. Guests included Midnight Oil, Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues, Zucchero, Jane Birkin, Cesaria Evora, Billy Preston. GAIA was played before 60,000 spectators in Zurich in early 2004. The album Msde the top five in Australia. He also published his first book, Gaia, carnets secrets de la planète bleue, published by Editions du Seuil in March 2003.

In 2004, he composed the song "I have a dream" for the anti-apartheid musical Sud Afrique. The South African group Umoja also performed Simon's song "The Way".

In 2005, Simon directed his first feature film, O Genghis which traces the odyssey of the last nomadic Mongol descendants of Genghis Khan. This film was shot in Russia and Asia (with contributions by Jean Reno and Omar Sharif). O Genghis was released in 20 countries and has been broadcast many times on Canal +.

Fascinated by the return of the wolf to French territory, Simon wrote the 2006 screenplay Mon frère le loup (My brother the wolf). The project remains unrealised.

Excalibur extended
In 2007, Simon released the second part of "Excalibur", Excalibur II, l'anneau des Celtes (Excalibur II, the ring of the Celts) with contributions from Jon Anderson (Yes), Alan Parsons, Barclay James Harvest, Maddy Prior, Jacqui McShee, John Wetton, Justin Hayward, Flook, Karan Casey, Fairport Convention, Andreas Vollenweider and Martin Barre.

Simon's novel, Excalibur, le cercle de Dragon (Excalibur, the circle of Dragon), was released in March 2008. A second volume was published in October 2009 called Excalibur, la prophétie de Merlin (Excalibur, The prophecy of Merlin).

On 25 May and 25 July 2009 "Excalibur" was revived in Germany under the English language title Excalbur: the Celtic Rock Opera. It was performed in English with a German narration. It was performed before 19,000 people at Castle Kaltenberg. Following this surprising success, "Excalibur" toured throughout Germany and 100,000 spectators attended the Celtic rock opera, reuniting nearly 160 musicians and almost as many technicians. A new tour began in January 2011 across Europe.

The final part of the trilogy, Excalibur III The Origins (Excalibur III: The Origins), was released in 2012.

Anne de Bretagne

In 2008 Alan Simon created the rock opera Anne de Bretagne. This work of 31 tracks tells the life story of Anne of Brittany, following the historical events that made her the last Duchess of independent Brittany and twice crowned queen of France. It was performed by Nilda Fernandez, Tri Yann, Barclay James Harvest, Fairport Convention, Pat O'May, Cécile Corbel (as Anne herself), Laurent Tixier, James Wood and an ensemble of 200 musicians.

The Chateau des Ducs de Bretagne in Nantes hosted the premiere of Anne de Bretagne on 29–30 June 2009 to 6000 people. The live performance was released as a CD and DVD.

Recent activity
Excalibur performed a fourth arena tour in Germany and Switzerland 1-16 December 2016.

The 4th Excalibur album, Excalibur the Dark Age of the Dragon was released on 10 November 2017.

As part of the science fiction festival "Les Utopiales" in Nantes on 3 November 2017, Simon created a symphonic electro-rock ballet entitled "Big Bang", about the beginning of the universe, with John Helliwell (known for his work in Supertramp) on saxophone. A studio album is due 23 March 2018.

A new version of his folk rock opera "Tristan & Yseult" is running at the Minsk National Theater in Belarus from 1 December 2017 and into 2018.

Discography

As sole composer 
 1994: Le Petit Arthur (Conte musical)
 1996: Les Enfants du Futur (Conte musical)
 1999: Excalibur I, La Légende des Celtes (Folk Rock opera)
 2000: Excalibur, Le Concert Mythique (live version, oct. 1999)
 2003: GAIA
 2007: Excalibur II, L'Anneau des Celtes
 2009: Anne de Bretagne (Folk Rock opera)
  15 March 2010 : "DVD Anne de Bretagne live au chateau des ducs"
  15 October 2010: "Triple CD Live "Anne de Bretagne au chateau des ducs"
 2012: Excalibur III, The Origins
 2014: Tristan & Yseult
 2017: Excalibur IV, The Dark Age Of The Dragon
 2018: Big Bang
 2018: Chouans
 2021: Excalibur V

Collaborations 
 2000 : Open The Door by Roger Hodgson
 2004 : UMOJA musical about apartheid (song I have a Dream)
 2005 : Crème Anglaise by John Helliwell

Filmography 
 2004 : O Genghis, narrated by Jean Reno (French version) and Omar Sharif (English version).
 2006: Mon frère, le Loup, unrealised scenario.
 2009:  by ; Alan Simon composed the song "L'enfant Roy"
 2010: Christopher Ross by Max Sender; Alan Simon composed "Peace on earth"

Writings 
 2003: GAIA, Carnets secrets de la planète bleue
 2008: Excalibur le cercle du dragon (vol. 1)
 2010: Excalibur la prophétie de Merlin (vol. 2)

References

External links 
 Alan Simon's official Web site (Flash required)
 Discogs entry on Alan Simon
 
 

French composers
French male composers
Living people
1964 births
Cadence Jazz Records artists
Musicians from Nantes