Designation: Earth-597 Largely uncollected and unloved, Excalibur was one of the few mainstream Marvel titles that took place in the UK, and attracted superstar talent like Chris Claremont and Alan Moore. Lead by Captain Britain with a rotating supporting cast of ex-X-Men - Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Rachel Summers - Excalibur's adventures took them on countless dimension-hopping trips, like a prototypical version of the later Exiles. During one of these jaunts the team got to experience a timeline they were better off avoiding. That's because Earth-597 is an Earth where the Nazis World War II and so the majority of the universe's superheroes work for the Third Reich. Captain Britain is instead Hauptmann Englande, leader of Lightning Force, who gained his powers due to genetic experiments conducted by Charles Xavier. Nazi Shadowcat's phasing powers allowed her to not only disrupt electronics but also kill people, and Nightcrawler revelled in an Errol Flynn-alike celebrity that allowed him to sleep with any woman he wanted (and regardless if she wanted to). We don't have to sell you on this any more, do we? The brightest heroes of the Marvel Universe serving the Nazis. So, so disturbing. And nary an Indiana Jones to be found.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
