Sunday Splash Page #185

 

"Walked in Thru the Out Door," in Exiles (vol. 2) #3, by Jeff Parker (writer), Salva Espin (artist, left side), Casey Jones (artist, right side), Anthony Washington (colorist), Jeff Loveness (letterer)

The first volume of Exiles ended at #100, about five issues after I dropped the book. Marvel, being Marvel, immediately relaunched it as New Exiles, still with Claremont as the writer and a shiny new #1 on the cover.

It ended after 19 issues in early 2009. Undaunted, and having learned nothing, Marvel released Exiles two months later, now with Jeff Parker as writer, and a shiny new #1 on the cover.

It ended after 6 issues in fall of 2009. Same month as Agents of Atlas, actually. Not a good month for books written by Jeff Parker, or my pull list. Parker took the approach of seemingly pulling in an entirely new team of Exiles, and Morph was in the role of Timebroker now, handing out missions and explaining the rules. There was a Blink on the team, but she appeared not to know anything more than the others.

The book only had enough time for two missions. The first was for the Exiles to help Wolverine overthrow Magneto, currently ruling a Genosha that is a haven for mutants, but under repeated attacks from the rest of the world. The second, which started seemingly before the first was complete, was to help a world dominated by machine intelligences. I thought I remembered they needed something from the second mission to complete the first, but reading over my old reviews that was just what I thought was gonna happen. Instead, they completed the first mission by taking advantage of Cyclops being a lousy boyfriend. Which is better, frankly. Anything that shits on Scott Summers is A-OK by me.

Parker clearly had a lot of things he planned to tease out over time. Sadly, he didn't get the chance and had to spend most of the sixth issue trying to explain what was going on. It was an exposition heavy issue and not the most engaging, but I appreciate he didn't want to leave us hanging.

After that, Marvel let the Exiles concept lie until Saladin Ahmed and Javier Rodriguez pulled it back out in 2018. Unless you count all of Jonathan Hickman's multiverse Illuminati crap in his Avengers run. But considering the "geniuses" repeatedly failed to actually save any realities, they were the shittiest group of Exiles ever. 

Anyway, the 2018 run lasted 12 issues, which puts Ahmed 4th on the list of most Exiles issues written (behind Bedard, Winick, and Claremont, but ahead of Chuck Austen, Parker, and Calafiore.) I think Marvel may have trained their audience to care too much about "important" comics. A book that mostly dances around the fringes, barely ever interacting with the big guns, would be hard-pressed to get that kind of weight.

Full disclosure, I don't still have any of this series in my collection, and I was gonna just skip it. But I remembered that in Random Back Issues #5 I promised to post that double-page splash when I got to this point. So there you go. You can (as always with the double-page splashes) click on it for a somewhat larger version.

Sunday Splash Page #184

 

"Infinity Danish", in Exiles (vol. 1) #54, by Tony Bedard (writer), Mizuki Sakakibara (artist), JC (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

I think Exiles is the first title I added to my pull list after I started this blog. The second volume of X-Factor would be a close contender, because I reviewed the first issue within the first week this blog existed, but I'd already decided to start buying it before then, I just hadn't been able to get the first issue yet. But given the increasing disappointment I was dealing with Bendis' New Avengers (not to mention Geoff Johns' Teen Titans run), I wanted some team book that was actually interesting.

Granted, I picked the title up during Tony Bedard's overlong "World Tour" arc, where the team chased the House of M reality's version of Proteus around, but at least there was an appearance that something was happening.

Judd Winick's run on the title (covering most of the first 35 issues), is generally regarded as the best stretch of the book about heroes from different realities thrown together to preserve the Multiverse, but by the time I'd started reading it, and could consider hunting down earlier issues, I was well-acquainted with Winick's writing from his work at DC. That work was not exactly a shining endorsement. So Bedard's 44-issue run is the one I'm most familiar with. I've seen the difference between the two described as Winick's being more character-driven, and Bedard's more plot-driven, for whatever that's worth to you.

As was normal for the title, Bedard kept the roster in flux. By the end of his run, only two of the characters up there are still on the roster (plus someone who thinks they're one of the people up there.) Most of the characters die, but a few are actually able to return to their home realities and pick up where they left off. Bedard also does a surprise reveal on the true identity of the mysterious "Timebroker" who moves the Exiles to and fro. In theory, it gives them more control over what they're doing, but in practice, they're still scrambling to pick up pieces.

While the "World Tour" story does drag on forever, in general, I think Bedard is pretty effective as shorter two or three issue missions that still feed into the larger arc of what he's doing. And he seemed to have fun with the concept. Like the issue above, in which the Exiles. . . buy a cheese danish. Or the one where the beings in charge keep recruiting teams of different Wolverines to try and save a reality. Or the one where Tony Stark, Hank Pym, Curt Conners, and Howard Trask are part of a super-science kaiju-fighting team, with Red Ronin as their Power Rangers style battle mech. I mean, Red Ronin vs. Fin Fang Foom, that's fun stuff. And Bedard seems to enjoy coming up with clever or unorthodox solutions. He manages to make Beak from Grant Morrison's X-Men run a useful character, no small thing.

At the start of his run, Sakakibara and J. Calafiore are the primary artists, which is an interesting pairing. Not really terribly similar in styles, since Calafiore has a very Sal Buscema-like approach, where everyone is sort of blocky, with extremely square jaws and shoulders, and sharp chins. Sakakibara's work looks quite a bit smoother, and I'd say the design elements for layouts are a bit more creative. Nothing staggering or mind-blowing, just a little more inventive. Eventually, Paul Pelletier takes Sakakibara's place. His work is more expressive than either, with more of an Ed McGuinness energy to it. Everyone has the big superhero physiques, but done up prettier than in Calafiore's work. I think Pelletier eventually left this book to work on Dwayne McDuffie's Fantastic Four run, which we'll get to in a few weeks.

Bedard left the book after the "team Wolverine" two-parter, handing writing chores off to Chris Claremont. Claremont, having just left Uncanny X-Men (replaced by Ed Brubaker coming off his X-Men:Deadly Genesis mini-series) immediately added Psylocke to the team. Because of course he did. I feel like he also added Vampire Storm later. I gave Claremont one arc, five issues, and then dropped the book. It felt like he was leaving out key bits of the story. Maybe that was for important reveals later, but it felt like plot holes at the time.

Random back Issue #5 - Exiles #3

No matter the universe, everyone can unite via their enjoyment of Havok getting beaten up. Especially because Panther doesn't even look like he hit him particularly hard.

This isn't from the Judd Winick-written Exiles that ran for 100 issues, but the 2009 attempted reboot with Jeff Parker as the writer. Morph has stepped into the role of the Timebroker (or the little bugs that used the Crystal Palace) and Blink is wearing the Tallus again, but pretending she's as new to all this as the rest of the team.

For their first mission, the team was sent to an Earth where Magneto runs Genosha, with the former X-Men and the various villainous mutants united under his banner. The Exiles are supposed to help Wolverine overthrow Magneto, except by the time they arrive, Sabretooth and a bunch of X-Men are parading Logan's corpse through the main plaza.

The team tries to infiltrate a celebration party, taking advantage of the fact two of their team members are Magneto's kids in their respective universes, but all the telepaths around made that a non-starter. Most of this issue is the team escaping confinement and trying to get Magneto's helmet off so the telepaths can see what dark secret he's hiding. No, not that he's a Kid Rock fan.

If this had been written on the Internet, I'm pretty sure Mags would be arranging Moira's death so he could have Charles all to himself. Or they'd just be polyamorous, which might have solved all the problems. I kind of love the idea of Magneto being petty enough to let Charles die at the hands of giant murderbots because he wants Moira.

It's enough to get the X-Men cheesed at Magneto, but the Tallus says calamity hasn't been averted, even as it opens a door to another reality and the Exiles bolt, over Blink's protests. There's a nice double-page splash I will absolutely use for Sunday Splash Page whenever I make it this far - rough guess, fall of 2021 - where Salva Espin draws the half of them leaving, and Casey Jones, who draws the next story, draws the half of them arriving in the next universe. Where they'll have to face a artificial intelligence trio of Ultron, Vision, and Machine Man, plus the incomparable might of Security Camera Lizard!

I picked that image because of the lizard, but now I'm fixated on why Forge thinks Magneto doesn't like the desert. Because there's nothing made out of metal? I'd imagine there are plenty of rocks with metallic elements in them all over the place. I guess wearing a bucket on your head might be unpleasant under the noon sun. . .

[Longbox #5, 14th comic. Exiles (vol. 2) #3, by Jeff Parker (writer), Salva Espin and Casey Jones (artists), Anthony Washington (colorist), Simon Bowland (letterer)]

That Solves That Pull List Question

Thanks be to all the responses to the corn question (and Sally, I was actually going to describe the across method as being like a typewriter, so you weren't the only one dating yourself).

I read that Exiles is ending at issue #6, which is kind of a bummer*. Granted, #6 was going to be the issue where I decided whether to keep buying the book or not, but I don't think it's ever much fun when the choice gets taken out of my hands***. Plus, I think once we had some answers to what was up with Morph, or why things weren't happening as Blink expected, the book might have settled into a groove, and that would have helped. At least they're giving him a chance to wrap things up a bit.

I wonder, and Mr. Parker mentions it as well, whether this relates to a point I raised two months ago. I was talking about how they canceled Moon Knight, but it looked as though they'd be starting again within a few months****, and I wondered if they shouldn't let Moonie sit a while longer. I wonder if that was the case with Exiles, considering it started two months after New Exiles ended because it was selling poorly?

Would setting the Exiles aside for a couple years have helped? I don't know. If direct market sales are any indication, most fans are drawn towards the books they think "matter", and it seems like Exiles would be a hard sell on those terms these days. The only reality most fans seem to care about these days is the 616, and I don't know if I can see the chart-topping books selling the seriousness of the situation the Exiles would be preventing*****. Besides, it would kind of go against the purpose of the book if every issue involved the 616-universe, so they'd eventually have to go elsewhere, and maybe the fans would stick, and maybe they wouldn't.

Then again, the book doesn't have to be in the Top 10, slugging it out with the Adventures of Norman Osborn's 357th Dark Team. It would just need some way to hold on at roughly where Nova is, though maybe Nova isn't the best example, since it does get periodic sales boosts from event tie-ins.

* Though I'm pleased to see Agents of Atlas is safe for the time being**.

** Between the two, I'd rather have Agents of Atlas.

*** Even if there are times it would really have been for the best. Like if they'd canceled Uncanny X-Men a year into Chuck Austen's run, so I wouldn't have been able to stupidly keep buying the title until a couple of issues into Claremont's return.

**** Turns out they are.

***** More likely, the Exiles would be unfortunate enough to land in Hulk, and be treated as Red Hulk's latest set of tomato cans. Red Hulk: Quite possibly the only character I could do without more than the Sentry.

It's So Obvious When I Think About

In my reviews of April 25 comics, I was surprised that Psylocke could use her telekinesis to make herself invisible. I'd never seen her do that before, so it caught me a little off-guard. At the time, I pretty much accepted Kelvin's reasoning behind the feat (because Claremont says so), but it was recently, quite out of the blue, I realized how it could be argued Psylocke makes it work. 

Invisible Woman can do more than just make herself invisible. She can also project energy in various ways. As shields, platforms, bolts of force designed to injure an opponent, as a way to catch something, etc. In short, telekinesis. She's not as refined with it as the TKers on the X-teams, but that's probably because a) she doesn't think of her powers that way, and b) she's already pretty kickass as it is. Giving her even finer control over those powers would make her nigh-unstoppable.

Psylocke's a telekinetic as well, she can do all those other things Sue can to certain extents, why couldn't she use telekinesis to make herself invisible as well? So that's that. Another mystery solved! I'm always on duty!

Crosstime Crossover

I'd like to see an Exiles/New Excalibur crossover. Two books written by Chris Claremont. Both off in their own little corners of the Marvel Universe. One team that hops from reality to reality fixing problems created by those pesky bugs. The other team had a recent time travel excursion, and is lead by a guy that's no stranger to alternate realities himself.

The trick is that I don't want it to be any big event, just a little meeting that leads to a good old fashioned misunderstanding battle, and an eventual team-up against something. The roadblock to the misunderstanding part is each team currently having one of the Braddock siblings, but maybe Captain Britain could get lost in Crosstime someplace, and that leads Excalibur (searching for him) into a run-in with the Exiles (possibly aware of his presence in other realities, which would almost certainly get Psylocke fired up to help him).

Claremont's already had Roma, a force for order I think, pop up in both books (albeit once in flashback). One could argue that the Exiles, with their missions to "save" realities, whether the inhabitants of the reality they're messing with want it or not, could be an unwitting instrument of Chaos, especially with Proteus on the team (even if he doesn't realize it yet), and Captain Britain probably represents Order, so there's a potential for some sparks there.

It's just something that might be fun to see, if given a proper build-up in the titles. Two teams that happen to converge on the same place at the same time, and go from there. Doesn't have to be part of something company wide, maybe more on the scale of the Avengers-Defenders War. Or maybe even the upcoming Justice League/Justice Society hoo-hah, though I bet that's going to cast significant ripples over the DCU.

Bubbles, Captions, And Point Of View

I don't really have a clever way to intro this, so I'll just say I wanted to look at certain things I noticed in the comics Claremont has written since his return last month, because there were some differences and I was thinking about what they meant.

Going back to last month we've got Exiles #90, and the thing I noticed there was the number of caption/exposition boxes, a seemingly sharp increase from Tony Bedard's more voice balloon-driven writing. If anything, the number of caption boxes increased even more markedly in this week's Exiles #91, but the critical difference was in the point of view. In #90, the caption boxes are written from the third person, whereas in #91, they reflect Psylocke's thoughts. I think the difference is due to Claremont being new to the book in #90. It's his first issue, and so he's writing from the perspective of an outsider looking in at this team, trying to get to know the characters, and grow accustomed to them. If the stories of the Claremont fans are true (that they buy any title he writes, and leave when he stops), then it's possible he's making sure that they're brought up to speed as well.

By #91, we apparently aren't outsiders anymore, and so the narrative boxes switch to the first-person perspective of Betsy Braddock, as she attempts to get used to the new situation she's been thrown into. It's a considerable difference in introductions. We were introduced to the Exiles' lives as Morph/Proteus kills the entire team and conquers reality, but we were still safe and sound behind the fourth wall. In contrast, Psylocke's been abruptly dropped into the middle of everything, and confronted immediately with someone she has an unpleasant past with, and so we get to see her greater disorientation, and gradual (ongoing) acclimation to her new life. In seeing how she reacts to them, and how the Exiles react to her, we get to know a little bit more about the team than by passively watching them interact with each other in #90.

Proving my transitions are as poor as my intros and conclusions, I'd like to shift gears to New Excalibur #16 for a bit. The primary thing I wanted to talk about here was that Claremont actually used thought balloons. First off, always nice to see someone dusting off those classics. Secondly, I think's it's a nice touch to use those for the end of the story as Nocturne wakes up in the hospital. Sure, Claremont could have used the caption boxes to depict Nocturne's thoughts, as he did with Psylocke, but using the balloons is more natural in a way. The little bubbles leading from the character to the thought more firmly connect the dialogue to the character. It reinforces in your mind that this character, the one lying in a hospital bed, is the one thinking these thoughts. That she isn't certain where she is, or why she can't move her right leg. That despite her confusion, she's still putting sentences together properly in her mind, that she's able to think things through logically and coherently. Which makes it all the more jarring when her attempt to speak aloud (second to last page) comes out so garbled, barely understandable. We can tell that she knows what to say, and how to put it together, but that she just can't get it out properly. That gives the whole scene an added bit of severity, makes it more "real" for the reader.

Looking at these shifts, I'm curious to see what Claremont does with the point of view and inner dialogue expression in his future issues.

It's All About The Balance

Exiles #87 introduced us to a Galactus with a slightly different role. Rather than a Devourer, he's a Life-Giver, restoring planets rendered lifeless by some blight that afflicts the universe. That notion has left me wondering just what that blight may be. It has to be some sort of active entity, because if it was something written into the natural laws of the universe - something that causes things to move to entropy or decay faster - then the universe would never have lasted long enough to form planets in the first place. So what's behind it all?

The obvious answer seems to be that whatever causes planets to have life in the Marvel-616 Universe, causes them to die in Marvel-552. Except I don't remember there being a force credited with that, which doesn't make sense. All the cosmic forces at Marvel (and probably DC, I just don't know about them) have counterparts. Mistress Love and Sire Hate. Lord Order, Master Chaos. Eternity and Infinity. The In-Betweener balances itself. Given their penchant for meddling, you could argue the Celestials are the opposite of the non-involved Watchers. And I recall someone arguing that Galactus was a necessary force in the universe (I want to say Reed Richards, but I'm not certain), that Big G serves a needed role. That being the case, there must be something that counters him.

Maybe the Celestials are the counter, because they tamper with life in ways which can improve their odds of survival? In that event, you could argue The Stranger was the Watchers' opposite number, seeing as he was always traveling around, grabbing people and things here and there, always mucking about.

If the Celestials are the life-givers in 616, and the "blight" in 552, that would explain why Galactus seems to be fighting a losing battle (given the statement that planets die faster than he can revive them). There are lots of Celestials, and only one Galactus. Outnumbered, therefore, overworked.

I Got One Year Before It Blows Up In Your Face

I do have one quick thing related to Civil War #2. Does anyone know where the Reality Gem from the Infinity Gauntlet is? I know Galactus tried to use them to cure him of his need to eat planet's life forces, - which backfired, natch - but I haven't heard anything of them since then. I ask because I think by the time Civil War is over, we're going to need something powerful to fix the damage it did. And House of M. And The Other. And Disassembled. So we should probably look into finding it, in preparation for that. Movin' on.

Quick survey. Who here thinks that when fighting a being with the ability to alter reality, that is running around in your friend's body, that brainwashing that entity into believing they are the person who's body they've stolen is an acceptable response? Anyone? Come on, speak up!

Nobody, huh? Yeah, that's what I thought. Well, that was the Exiles solution to the Proteus problem, as Kevin now thinks he is Morph, which should work just fine, as long as the Exiles all treat him like Morph. Great, because I'm sure that Blink can act totally normal around the person who killed her lover, just like she would around Morph. This has the potential to go so badly haywire for them, but I don't think it'll get the chance.

I think that roughly the time Proteus remembers who he really is, Doom 2099 is going to arrive on the scene. He was intrigued in the technology that enabled Alchemax to open dimensional portals, he's going to get it, and use it. He may not be after Proteus initially, but when the Exiles get sent to stop him, he'll probably recognize Proteus' energy signature, and steal that power for himself. His suit's metal, he could easily either capture Proteus and then just siphon off his power as he needs it, or figure some way to kill Proteus, and just absorb the power into himself. But that's for another time. Back to the actual issue.

I've been wondering if this was the way the story was originally meant to turn out. I know Claremont was going to take over the book and Psylocke would join the squad. And Jamie Braddock had made her resistant to the powers of reality-alterers like Proteus, so I figured she'd finish him off. But Claremont's had some health issues, so I'm wondering if they scrapped that plan.

Which makes me wonder if it affects the Loeb/Liefeld Onslaught Reborn project. I kind of figured his return would be connected to the fate of Counter-Earth. So Proteus succeeds in destroying that world, the Exiles get some of the people to Actual-Earth, Proteus shows up, Psylocke kills him, but the destruction of Counter-Earth somehow triggers Onslaught's reformation.

Of course, his return could be connected to next week's New Avengers. After all, "Michael" should have both Xavier and Magneto's powers, and they landed in Genosha where Magneto is, so. . .

Wait and see, I guess.

Random Comic Thoughts from this Week's titles

Blech. I need a better name for this than that mess. Maybe it should fall under "Things I think About". Oh well. Just some questions and random impressions from the week, now that I got that whole "mutant" thing out of my system:

1) I'm worried Starfire won't survive Infinite Crisis. I glanced through what I think was the most recent Outsiders. Her sister, who I take it doesn't like her any better in the comic than she does in the cartoon, is there, extra powerful and looking unfriendly. I hope I'm wrong, because I would really like to see Starfire in Teen Titans when One Year Later kicks off. Nightwing doesn't seem to be in a bad place (at least if IC is to be believed) and that was the whole reason she left the Titans, to keep an eye on him. I guess I'm just paranoid. I start thinking Batgirl might be OK, so now I'm thinking "Which other character I like is DC gonna take instead?"

2) If Cassandra Cain is a living member of the Birds of Prey at the start of OYL, I will buy the title regardless of quality. Come on Didio, I'm not asking for her to still be Batgirl (though I ask why she couldn't be), just that she still be alive. Work with me here!

As for books I actually bought:

Robin #146: What was with those sores on Conner's body? I can't figure his body would start devouring itself in select circular patterns here and there, though it is better for him than his body eating his own heart.

Robin mentioned a program he made that determines how difficult a place is to break into, on a scale of 10. There were 3 tens: The JLA Watchtower (oops, never mind), something in Washington D.C., and something that moves, and was in Coast City at that moment. What is the thing that keeps moving?

Ultimate Spider-Man #89: Is there a reason to have S.H.I.E.L.D. except as cannon fodder? I mean, they are constantly getting shown up. If it isn't six of Spidey's enemies escaping from a prison designed to hold them, it's Norman Osborn managing to hide Harry's "abilities" from the lab guys. Or it's Magneto escaping, or anything that's happening in The Ultimates. I know I said it when I reviewed this book, but I do not feel confident in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ability to stop Gah'Lak'Tus.

Exiles #76: Should I be expecting the Dr. Doom of 2099 to catch up to and absorb Proteus' abilities at some point? Doom stole the Beyonder's power, and compared to that Proteus is like a firecracker.

New Avengers #15: Would Jameson really have broken his word like that? Saying he will ease off Spidey for exclusive access, then turning around and broadcasting that arrangement to the world.

I mean he lied to CAPTAIN AMERICA! Isn't that considered treason?

Also, doesn't this mean Joe Robertson quit? He told JJJ, 'Say yes or I quit.' Jonah ended up going back on the deal, so I guess Robbie has some people offering him jobs now. Good, now let's see the Bugle fall apart, and Jonah have to crawl to get Robbie back.

And really, why can't Warbird be on the Avengers? I mean, besides Cap, Iron Man, and I would say Spidey, none of the others have proven themselves as much as her. That includes Luke and Jessica, and I'm really glad they're on the team.

Spider-Man and the Black Cat #6: One more time, why did Kevin Smith add rape into Felicia's origin? I would say that when a book is as late as this one has been that your goal should be to take what Chris has described as the Geoff Johns approach: comfort food. Don't go for the home run, just give the fans what they want. Some fighting, the hero wins, his friend is safe, maybe she gets to do some ass-kicking too. Just a simple superhero story. Do NOT add elements of rape to a story that didn't need it!

Wolverine #38: I'm sorry, was there anything to this issue?

Amazing Spider-Man #528: What was the point of Peter being sick? The first four issues of The Other, they made a big deal about how Peter was sick, and there was nothing anyone could do, in the realm of science of magic, to fix it. He was weaker than normal, and then Morlun attacked, and skin was shed, and Spider-creatures showed up, and it just got dropped.

From a biological standpoint it made sense for Morlun to attack when Peter wasn't at 100%. That's how it works in nature, predators attack the weaker individuals. The young that aren't full-grown, or the old, or the sick, or the injured. But there wasn't any need for that in this story. Morlun showed the first time around he was fully capable of kicking Spidey's ass even if Peter is at full strength. Peter won that fight on a gamble that paid off. The sickness was unnecessary. This one has been bugging me for awhile.

If you have answers to any of these, please help the world (meaning me) to understand.