Exiles #4 - Marvel

Ok . . I'm a bit relieved. I thought this issue was much better than the last in this series. That one really came off as sophomoric. This issue . . maybe it's just this story-line, but this issue it feels like we're getting back to normal a bit with this title. Last issue they left the world where Magneto lead the mutants. They beat him, by exposing his true plans and intentions, but . . the Tallus still told them that the world was doomed. That was right before it told them that it was time to leave. So now they've come to this world that's ruled by machines. It appears that at some time Charles and Hank Pym got together and tried to upgrade Cerebro. What they didn't know was that some of the tech the Hank used was infected by Ultron. Over the course of time, the Cerebro/Ultron mix became a separate entity. It took over the Sentinel program, and Machine-man program and then built a neutron bomb to extinguish all life, plant and animal, in North and South America. Now it appears that Cerebro is the absolute ruler, and Ultron, the Vision and the original Machine-man make up some of it's elite guard. Of course they spot our team as soon as it arrives on their planet, and quickly capture them all . . except for Blink. She had gone out for provisions. I get the feeling though, from this story, that maybe all the machines aren't on the same page. Cerebro just wants these pests eliminated, but . . our trio of guards seem to have other plans in mind. And, at the end, when Blink is trying to find her incarcerated friends, she comes across a room where they're working on Polaris. She's spread apart in pieces on a table . . like a robot. But I didn't know Polaris was a robot. Did I miss something in the beginning? That should be an interesting twist. Ok . . I gave Jeff Parker and Casey Jones a pretty hard time with the last posting. I couldn't believe how far one of my favorite titles had fallen. True, they were following up Chris Claremont's stories, but . . still . . it just didn't seem like the same book. Thankfully, we seem back on track this issue. I just hope it lasts. This really is one of my favorite books. At least give it a fighting chance. Please!