Excalibur #104 pg 13 (Koblish art, Felder story) - to Douglock or not to DOUGlock

From the pages of the Burried Secret storyline of Excalibur issue #104 comes this page.

This page features Kitty Pryde, Wolfsbane and Douglock on a journey to Westchester to discover if Douglock is actually the Phalanx convergence of both Doug Ramsey and Warlock or if Doug Ramsey is still “resting in peace” in his grave. The Excalibur team has a hard time believing the entity of Douglock as he tells them that he is not Doug Ramsey, the team (mainly Kitty) needs to know is this is or isn’t one of her best friends back from the dead as his actions and overall likeness appears to be what it was like when Doug and Warlock converged (you can see an example page of early convergence in my New Mutants Annual #2 page). At the end of the issue it is revealed that Doug is still laying dead in his coffin as Kitty phases down to see her old friend still there.

This issue had quite a few hands involved in art and even story (John Arcudi credited for plot, with script by James Felder). The artists involved for pencil work are: Bryan Hitch, Rob Haynes and Scott Koblish; while the inkers were: Paul Neary, Rick Ketchum and Scott Koblish. Scott’s detailing work on the ship and Douglock are very much akin to what Alan Davis was doing back in his earlier work. The 90’s era Wolfsbane is a unique style for her, especially with the really long ponytail. And I always enjoyed seeing Warlock extend or morph his body to unhuman configurations.

It’s fun to have all these characters on the page together as they all represent some deep connections to the real Doug Ramsey. Kitty was a brief love interest with Doug in early New Mutants but quickly became fast friends. Doug ended up dying back in New Mutants #60, by taking a bullet from the villain Ani-Mator that was meant for Wolfsbane, who he was previously in a relationship with. And Warlock/Douglock is Doug’s best friend throughout the ages of various X titles, they are so very deeply connected in body and even in mind. But to answer the usually unanswerable question to Douglock or not to DOUGlock, it appears it’s not DOUG, sorry Kitty.