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Speculator Corner: Excalibur #86 or Electric Angel for First Pete Wisdom Appearance?

Published Thu, 29 Mar 2018 10:30:17 -0500

Last updated Tue, 04 Oct 2022 12:17:03 -0500

It looks as if will be American-but-now-living-in-Britain Rob Delaney, co-creator of Catastrophe, will be playing Pete Wisdom in the upcoming Deadpool 2 movie.

Pete Wisdom was a Warren Ellis creation who first appeared in Marvel's Excalibur #86. A member of secret service Black Air from Essex, he was first a liaison, then a member, of the British mutant superhero team, blessed with the power to throw blades of explosive energy from his fingertips. His superhero costume is his suit and tie. Or, what might otherwise be called,

His first cover appearance was on Excalibur #88.

He got involved with Kitty Pryde, become her second of three Peters, giving us a Pryde And Wisdom mini-series and then joining X-Force. He now looks to be appearing as part of that team in the new movie.

As a result, Excalibur #86 has been getting a little speculator attention. 18 copies have sold in the last week, being hoovered off eBay at cover price, where the previous sale was months ago. Paying from 99 cents to $5, it seems clear that speculators and getting ready for a push on this. Copies now being listed (but not sold) for up to $10.

Excalibur #88 however was last sold on its own on eBay back in January, signed by artist Ken Lashley, for 74 cents. There must be room for growth there.

However it is not Pete Wisdom's first appearance in comics. A decade before, Ellis and Ben Dilworth created a pitch comic called Electric Angel for British publishers Trident Comics. It didn't go anywhere as the publisher folded but Ellis published it as an ashcan, featuring Pete Wisdom, as a young Essex man with powers involving electricity, closer to his later creation for Stormwatch and The Authority, Jenny Sparks.

Warren Ellis is from Essex, everyone.

No copies of the ashcan exist online, nor can I find any record of them having been sold on eBay. Might this new prominence of the character see that change?

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