Exiles #6 - Marvel

Well . . this is it. The final issue. And if we're not certain . . Morph even says so on the opening page. It doesn't get much more official than that. The only thing we don't know is . . why? I'm guessing it's the poor showing during this recent incarnation, but . . that's probably just another excuse. I can't image that it would be that hard to find a writer and artist to take it over. Anyways, I always liked this book. It was interesting looking in on other universes to see how they were different from the established Marvel Universe. Since nothing they encountered was ever set in stone . . anything was possible. Plus, since Blink is stuck here helping the Tallus . . I'm guessing that we'll never see her in the Marvel Universe again. That stinks! This issue basically gives us a history and explanation of this whole process . . who's behind it and why. Right now . . the panoptichron is controlled by Kang. A female version. But . . they also give themselves an out at the same time. "From being connected to the panoptichron, the multiverse is a potentially infinite series of loops. While we can stake out a section of the larger loop and defend it to keep people like ourselves in existence . . we still change the structure in another direction. And when you change a later point in a circle, you change the beginning point as well. At one point, the Timebroker as the collective consciousness was true. And later, so were the bugs, and the couple. But after a while we'll change enough realities that Kang won't be the guiding force. It'll be something else. The nature of it is . . it all keeps changing. Just like the rest of life . . you can only deal with what you're given at the moment." And then the current team jumps into action to save Moonboy. So . . it's my understanding that the Exiles aren't really 'done'. They'll still be operating out of the crystal palace, and recruiting and training new team members. We just won't have a way to see their adventures. Unless, I'm sure, we get enough people asking for them again. The seeds of the first incarnation came about in, around 1991. That's was around the time when Marvel bought out the Ultraverse from Malibu Comics. There was an Exile comic there that was quickly revamped to include the Juggernaut and a couple other Marvel characters. That ran for about a year, and then in 2001 it was made into the idea that we have here . . by Judd Winick and Mike McKone. Blink and Morph have been involved since issue #1. In fact, the first team included Blink, Morph, Mimic, Thunderbird, Magnus and Nocturne. That's also where the Nocturne in the Marvel Universe came from. She got hurt, they came to the Marvel Universe for her to recuperate . . she ended up staying. Anyways, my point is . . it's an established part of the Marvel Universe now. We don't have very many Age of Apocalypse characters left. Now we're losing another one. So if there's any other followers of this book that are upset about it's cancellation . . go to the Marvel message boards and make your voices heard. This was a great title, with great characters. And it still has a lot of potential. Now . . it just doesn't have an outlet for that.

Exiles #5 - Marvel

This was a decent story. It was interesting, and it presented some neat ideas. But . . it was extremely long winded. Long story short, Vision, M-51 and Ultron are all working to undermine Cerebro. Somewhere along the line Cerebro got into it's processors visions of conquest. He wanted to take over the world, and eliminate all organic life in favor of robotic life-forms. So it launched a neutron attack which wiped out all biological life forms. However, before that happened, Hank Pym realized what Cerebro was going to do and downloaded his own mind into computer neural nets. With the Visions help they then went to the android factories and reconfigured the machine-men robots there to 'receive and contain massive energy stores'. When the population was wiped out, their synaptic charges were downloaded into the machine-men for later retrieval. With the arrival of the Exiles, they can continue their plans and attack Cerebro's central core. If any machine tried to attack it, they would be over-ridden by Cerebro. The android trinity had already worked to shut-down all pathways out of the core, the just needed some biological cannon-fodder. It's a good thing the Exiles showed up when they did. Anyways, they complete their mission, so now the android factories can be recommissioned to build LMD's and they can download everybody's psych into one. Actually . . it was a pretty simple story, but . . most of the issue was spent on explaining what was happening and why. And, on top of that, the team wants to go back to the world of their first mission and finish what they started there. Basically they have to drive a wedge between the Xavier gang and the Brotherhood types. If they can do that, they can still save this world. But to tell you the truth . . I don't really care. I'm sorry but I just don't think that this book is up to the standard that was previously set by Chris Claremont. When Jeff Parker took over, I'm not sure if he was aiming for a younger audience, or just trying to create a more light hearted story. But either way . . it didn't work. I'm also not thrilled with Casey Jones' pencils. Although . . they are ok, but not fantastic. The best part about this whole book is the Dave Bullock cover. Now . . I don't know if this is good news or bad news, but . . next issue is billed as the last issue. Was this a mini-series, or was it just cancelled? I'm looking around but I can't find any news items anywhere. Plus, I don't know if it's done for good, or if it's just getting a new creative direction. The last page left me with a ton of questions. Does anybody know anything that I don't? I guess I'll just have to wait for the next issue, and hopefully they'll give us some more answers. Maybe!

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!

Exiles #3 - Marvel

Ok, I have to say . . so far this series isn't doing very much to impress me. Which really has me upset because I've liked the last 2 so much. In this series, our cast of characters really are exiles. The Time-broker, now portrayed as Morph, plucked these people out of their time-lines just as they were about to be killed. Whether it would've happened or not doesn't matter because on their worlds, they're believed to be dead. Making them real Exiles. I think that's a neat idea. From there? . . from there it all goes downhill for me. Their first mission is into a world where all the mutants are united, living in Genosha, and constantly under attack from the rest of the non-mutant world. Their mission is to help Wolverine overthrow their leader, Magneto . . obviously . . who is going to lead the entire world to it's destruction. However, as soon as they arrive they find Logan's headless body being paraded all of Genosha like a ripe trophy. Anyways, long story short . . they end up having to convince Jean and Emma to look into Blink's mind because she has the knowledge that they're all being denied . . courtesy of the Tallus. After doing so, they remove Magneto's psi-scan blocking helmet to verify her story. It appears that while not killing Charles himself, he did basically enable it by not saving him when he could have. So then all the mutants turn on him. And the Tallus tells Blink that it's time for them to go . . they're supposed to abort their mission. Which Blink doesn't understand because it also tells her that this world is still on it's collision course. Boom . . halfway through the issue and that story is done . . they've landed on another world. It was a very unresolved and anti-climatic story. Kind of frustrating, actually. The last 5 pages of the issue are spent showing us the desert that they've landed in . . the city in the middle of it . . and a glimpse of it's leaders, apparently the Vision, Ultron and Machine-man. The next story-line is titled, 'Machineworld'. Jeff Parker is writing this new series. So far . . I don't like the job that he's doing with it. Which is also upsetting because I liked all of his work on X-Men: First Class. I thought he did a great job there, with a lot of these same characters. Here though, the stories just don't seem very well thought out. I know. It's only issue #3 and maybe there's a bigger plan here. So far . . I'm not to impressed. I hope it turns around soon. Casey Jones does the art. It's ok, but it's not really my style. I've been with this series ever since the Ultraverse. I can't believe I don't like it now. Please, please . . give me something to work with here.

Exiles #2 - Marvel

I hate to say it, but . . I wasn't as thrilled about this issue as I have been previous ones. I don't know. The team just didn't seem very organized, and they weren't really working together very well. I know they're a new team, and really they just got put together. But, even coming from various worlds, they've all been on teams before. The only one that's really a 'solo' character is Forge. Their first mission is to go to this world where all the mutants live on Genosha, and Magneto is their king. They're constantly under attack from the outside world, but Magneto and his royal family are always doing whatever they can to protect them. So . . they are loved. However, our Exiles are supposed to help Wolverine overthrow Magneto's rule. The problem is, as soon as they arrive, they find themselves watching a parade. On the float with the royal family is Wolverine's body, stretched out like the maidens on the front of the Viking ships. His head is detached and on a pike. Obviously their assigned mission is going to be a little tough. So, they decide to do a little reconnaissance. Polaris and the Scarlet Witch are part of the royal family, so . . they figure if they can take their place, they can mingle with the natives, as it were, and try to gather some information. They don't have someone to replace Jean with, so . . I'm not really sure how they think they're going to be able to pull this off. Sure they may look like them, but . . everyone has their own distinctive personality and quirks. These people are always combat ready, so . . I'm sure they are constantly on vigil, even for attacks from shape-shifters. So they're going to notice when someone isn't acting normal. They have to be prepared in order to survive. It isn't long before they're all captured by Scott, Bobby, Jean and Warren. "It's an interrogation. We take a dim view of people from other dimensions coming to sabotage our world." I'm really not trying to rag on the story. Jeff Parker wrote it, and I've loved his work on X-Men: First Class. But he does write that one a little more sophomoric than the regular X-titles. In that case it's fine. Actually, if I was used to it here, it would probably be fine also. But . . I wasn't expecting it. This book usually falls outside of any X-Men continuity or story-lines, but . . it still has that serious X-edge to it. Well . . except for Morph. But again . . you expect that. Maybe it's just because Jeff is following Chris Claremont. I don't know. Overall, it just didn't feel right to me. Which is really hard for me to say, because this is one of my favorite books. Salva Espin is doing the art on this series. Again, it's ok, but . . it's all just a little to teen-agery for me. I'm really hoping this isn't the direction of the new series.

Exiles #1 - Marvel

It's finally back. Well . . . relatively speaking. This book really didn't miss a beat. It's only been 4 weeks between this issue and the last of the New Exiles series. But . . it's back. This time the book is written by Jeff Parker and drawn by Salva Espin. I'm not exactly sure why they had to make the change, but . . they did. And, with the new change comes a new line-up. For this issue it appears that are team is going to consist of Polaris, Blink, the Scarlet Witch, Forge, Beast and the Black Panther. At least that's the team we have for now. You know with this book, things could change in an instant, and . . they often do. Something I've noticed already is that Blink doesn't remember being on this team before. And, Morph is still here. Although I don't know that he really is. It may be that the Time-broker has assumed his image to better relate to these characters. I'm sure we'll find out more about that in the future. Also, each of these characters were plucked out of their realities fractions of seconds before they were supposed to die. As far as their world's are concerned, they didn't make it. Morph, Time-broker, has offered to show them how their world's continued after they 'died' . . at some point. Most of the issue is spent explaining to the new guys what they do . . how and why. If you've followed the series, you know all of this. But, I guess it's good for the new readers. Anyways, by the end they're already sent off on their first mission. They've come to a world where Wolverine is battling Magneto. All the Tallus has told them is that they're supposed to help Wolverine overthrow Magneto. To which point, they've been dropped off in Africa . . close to Genosha. As they approach the city, they see a parade going on. All of the X-Men appear on a high-tech float with Magneto . . they seem to be celebrating a win. Logan's body is attached to the front, like a mascot. And his head is on a pike. It's going to be hard to help him beat Magneto like this. So, I thought this was an interesting beginning to a new chapter in this series. This has been one of my favorites for quite a while and I'm glad that it's continuing. But I think we need a battle cry. Any suggestions?

New Exiles #18 - Marvel

Well this is is. The final issue of this series. Again! Although, actually, I think this time it's simply because of the creative change. Well, that and the line-up is going to be changing to, but . . that happens all the time in this book. Chris Claremont and Tim Seeley are the current creative force behind this title. But, when it comes back, it'll be Jeff Parker and Salvador Espin. And, to start out the series, the new line-up will be Beast, the Witch, Panther, Forge, Polaris and surprisingly . . Blink. Yay! I'm glad she's back. Actually it'll be really sad to see Morph go though. Especially, now that we know he's back to normal. But, I think, the book should be pretty upbeat with Jeff writing it. That is if he writes it anything like the X-Men: First Class books. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. It should be out in a couple of weeks. Anyways, with this book . . . I know it sounds strange but, it didn't really seem like an ending. At first it did, because Rogue and Morph want to stay behind on this world they'd been visiting the last couple of issues, and Sage has become one with the Palace. So I imagine she's going to have to be in the new series. But then the group goes on 6 or 7 missions . . they're recapped briefly on each page, and they pick up a new recruit along the way, Valeria Richards. I'm kind of confused actually. I'm wondering how they're going to explain the cross-over to the new team, when it doesn't seem like the old team is really done. Now I'm really wondering what the next issue is going to be like. Anyways, the important thing to me is that the book will keep going. I've been with it since the beginning . . over in Ultraverse, remember them? . . and the thing I like the most about this book is that it constantly changes and, really, almost anything goes. Thanks for the run on the book Chris. I guess it's time for someone else to give it a shot.

New Exiles #17 - Marvel

This issue begins wrapping up a lot of the various story-lines that we have running about out there. Unfortunately, next issue is the last in this series. However, it'll be beginning anew the following month under the tutelage of Jeff Parker and Salvador Espin. I have no idea what to expect, but . . that's pretty much always the case with this book. It seems that Chris Claremont is doing with this title what he did with Excalibur. This'll be it's third incarnation in as many years. That's what happened with Excalibur. It was going along fine and then . . it was cancelled. Shortly after Chris relaunched it but then . . M-Day happened. So it went on hiatus for awhile. Then, a year and a half or so later it was relaunched. Until . . it crossed over with this series. The 2 kind of merged, both were cancelled, but only this one became resurrected. Now . . it's about to be revamped again. I'm not sure what the purpose of all of this is, but it's made for some interesting reading. Psylocke almost takes out Slaymaster. She has the shot, but she can't make the killing blow. Sabretooth doesn't have such compassion, but before he can snap his neck . . Slaymaster teleports out of his clutches. Last issue Cat took out Empress Hydra, but it took a lot out of her also. This issue . . it appears that she passes. Rogue, along with Morph, Mystiq and Gambit are trying to defend the rightful heir to the Shi'ar throne, Nerimani, from her evil sister Lilandra. And, in the back-up Sage and Diana Fox fight for control of her conscious. They're in some psychic plane fighting against Merlyn, Roma's father, who also wants to control what's in Sage's head. This issue they come to the realization that in order to truly reach their potential, and get past all this conflict, they're going to have to merge . . to become one. When they do, they become more of an entity like Roma . . and easily finish off Merlyn. But, it may have cost them their humanity. I'm sure we'll finish off these story-lines entirely next issue. And set the stage for the new series. One good thing about the relaunch . . . Blink is back. Tim Seeley does the art in this issue, with Vincente Cifuentes doing the Sage part of the story. Tim's art has come a long way, and I think this guy has a lot of potential. Part of me is sad that this series is ending . . yet again. But, on the other hand, Jeff did a pretty good job with X-Men: First Class, so . . it'll be interesting to see what he does here. "The king is dead! Long live the king!"

New Exiles Annual #1 - Marvel

Finally! We finally address this whole situation between Morph and Proteus. However, when Proteus took over Morph's body, I had assumed that was because Morph was dead. I mean, they did have to put that gizmo on his head to reprogram him so that basically he would think that he was Morph . . body and soul. But, as it turns out, Morph's personality . . or soul, as it were, seems to be just as resilient as his body. So over the last few months, while we thought that pieces of Proteus' personality were leaking out, actually . . . I think that Morph's personality was becoming more dominant. The slips in speech and behavior, I think, were Proteus' was of trying to reassert himself. Because, actually, when it comes down to it, Proteus didn't even know who he was. Not completely. Anyways, in order to defeat this mad-god thing, Morph and Proteus had to come to an understanding, and mutual agreement, in order to make themselves strong enough to beat this self-imposed tyrant. I'm starting to think though that everyone on the Exiles team seems to have a personality disorder of some type . . . Sage, Rogue and now Morph. Actually, Cat has a personality disorder also, but . . she seems to be able to control hers. But still . . . that's half the team that needs intensive therapy. Or at least some really good medication. I really wish Valeria would've joined the team though. It would been nice to have someone around with the Richards' smarts. I've been an Exile fan since day one. It's been a great series, and I love a series where change is the norm. However, since Chris Claremont's come on board . . I think this series is incredible. I love Chris' long weaving story-lines and plot-threads. Especially with a team like this where things can't always be black & white. Also, on this annual, we get Tom Grummett back at the pencilling chores. I love his work and he's fantastic with these characters. By the way, I'm not sure who this David Williams character is that did the cover, but . . it's amazing. Are we going to see some more of his work?

New Exiles #16 - Marvel

This book is one of my favorites because . . there are just some great characters here. This new Kitty Pryde . . the way she can switch into other dimensional representations of herself . . I just think it's an incredibly unique, and original, perspective on her character. Plus, given her powers, it really makes perfect sense. She comes from a world where she's been fighting for survival her whole life. She's had a lot of practice. So, she's like a Wolverine level combatant. In fact last issue . . she took Wolverine out . . actually, James. He was Madame HYDRA's . . . Susan Storm . . bodyguard, consort, whatever. So she's especially pissed at Kitty. Kitty's getting a little help from Mystiq. But it's Gambit, Namor, who gives her a little distraction and she catches Susan off guard. As she phases through her she removes what looks to be . . . her aorta. But everybody is fighting this issue. Susan and Kitty are going at it. Also Lilandra and Nerimani are going at it . . over the entitlement to the Shi'ar throne. Morph is mixed up in that little tempest. And Rogue is battling . . well, I don't really know what her name is. But she's fighting up at the Iron Mountain. She gets help from one of the aliens that lives there . . one of the Sons of Iron, and somehow loses her costume in the process. So she borrows his armor. When she flies away she looks like War-Machine. There's still 2 more issues in this story-line so next issue we should be able to find out what Sabretooth and Psylocke have been up to. The lead story was done by Chris Claremont and Tim Seeley. Personally, I think Tim's doing a great job. In the backup, we see that Sage is still fighting for control of her mind. She's been in a struggle with Diana Fox, her other identity, ever since that caper with Albion. But now, thanks to Roma downloading the entirety of the Omniverse into her mind, she's also fighting it's first protector, Roma's father, Merlyn. It looks like Merlyn, as the common enemy, may be the factor that brings her 2 personalities back together. I hope so, so we can get past this. Sage is a great character, but . . she's been stuck in her head the last couple of months. The art on this part was done by Vincenc Villagrasa. I liked Tim's work better. Anyways, this is a great book. If you aren't reading it . . you should.

New Exiles #14 & #15 - Marvel

I'm going to try something new here. I really am trying to stay caught up on all of these titles, and be current. Right now, I'm about 3 weeks behind. But, I really do have a lot going on when I'm not sitting in front of this computer. That's not an excuse . . this is my choice to pursue this . . it's my hobby . . my passion. Anyways, in an attempt to get a little closer to the current weeks books, I'm going to try combining multiple issues together when I have the same titles waiting in my stack. I think, sometimes it'll work, and sometimes . . maybe not so well. But we'll see. If it'll get me more current, that'll be better all around. Plus this should only be a temporary measure until I am caught up. I'll start with this one and we'll see how it goes. This story-arc is done by Chris Claremont and Tim Seeley. The back-up story, also written by Chris, is drawn by Vincenc Villagrasa. Both stories were pretty good. Sage is noticeably absent from the lead story, but the back-up describes why, and the trials that she's facing of her own back at the palace. The first thing I notice, reading 2 issues in a row like this, is the time the waste in beginning of each story catching the reader back up from the last issue. I understand their reason, and concern, but reading multiple issues . . it's seems redundant. But I don't think it'll ever change. In the lead story, the team . . Morph, Rogue, Psylocke, Mystiq, Gambit and even Cat . . have gone to this world to protect a runaway Queen. It turns out that Nerimani is actually a Shi'ar Queen. She's been gone for so long that she was hoping that they would've given up pursuing her, or forgotten about her. But, the Shi'ar are nothing if not relentless. And as long as an heir to the throne exists out there, and could disrupt their political climate, you can bet that they're not going to let an unknown quantity like that exist out of their control. But this world has protectors of it's own . . the Sons of Iron and the Daughters of the Dragon. They're trying to protect Nerimani themselves, but they're not really a match for the Shi'ar Death Commandos. During the ensuing battle they find themselves in combat with an elite Shi'ar force also. It consists of Krait, Hypernova, Colony, Devo, Black Cloak and Warshot. They are Warren Worthington, Moira Kinross, Samantha Summers, Scott Summers, Charles Xavier and Alex Summers. Definitely an evil version of the X-Men. And, by the end of the second issue, we find that the Shi'ar are also in league with Madame Hydra . . you know, Susan Storm . . which apparently is how they're able to travel across dimension. Madame Hydra is especially pissed at Cat. "Little Cat, you killed my beloved Wolverine. I didn't think such a thing was possible. I especially didn't think a child such as you could inspire such an expression of fear on his face. So part of me is very impressed. But I have to think . . . the creature capable of such a thing will one day likely come for me." In the back-up stories, Sage is fighting with her evil counter-persona, Amanda Fox. Basically they're wrestling for control. The problem they have is that they're both part of the same person. So they're perfectly matched. There appears to be no solution. But then the other entities which fill Sage's mind . . thanks to Roma . . decide to make their presence known. By the end of the story we learn that they're acting under the leadership of Merlyn, Roma's father. He's guiding them and is trying to crush Sage, body and soul. Through her he wants to gain control of the Crystal Palace and then . . the Omniverse. So it looks like either Sage and Diana are going to have to cooperate, or they'll both fall to Merlyn's villainy. On the lead stories I actually enjoyed Tim's art. It's not perfect yet, but . . it shows a whole lot of potential. And there are moments of brilliance. Vincenc's art on the back-up story was almost as impressive. They're definitely of different styles, but Vincenc also shows a lot of potential. I think he has a little more work than Tim, but . . you can definitely see the promise. I do still however miss Tom Grummett's work. I assume he'll be back after this story-arc. Anyways, this is still one of my favorite books. And, it was nice reading 2 issues in a row. Of course they were part of the same story-line also. That helped.

New Exiles #13 - Marvel

As you know, I'm a huge fan of this book. I'm thrilled to death that Tom Grummett is back this issue. The pages look incredible. However, I do have to give props for the cover. Alex Garner does the art, and it is incredible. I assume he's a relatively new talent. But this cover was great. Anyways on with the story . . . this issue gives us a little more insight into Cat and Betsy. Betsy seems to have her inner-demons calmed down for the meantime . . . Ogun and Lady Mandarin . . but, you never know when they'll be popping up again. With Cat, we find out part of the reason that she seems to be changing images so much . . "I'm not locked into any single dimension. I may look 'normal' . . . but I'm actually cascading from one incarnation of myself to another. Used to be too quick to see, or matter. Here though . . the process . . the result . . is becoming tangible." But on some level, her and Sage, through this revelation, seem to have bonded a bit. After all they both kind of share and experience . . . millions of minds, or faces, streaming through their heads at all times. Although Sage still seems to have one main problem . . . Diana Fox. I thought this was another fantastic issue by Chris Claremont and Tom. Sure it was a development issue . . . moving the characters further along their given destinies, but . . I still thought it was a good issue. We got a lot more insight this issue. And, it sets up our next adventure in which Sabretooth is putting Morph in charge of. That should be interesting.

New Exiles #12 - Marvel

We finally learn some more about this Cat from an unknown universe. She has an adventure with Creed, proving that she's a pretty scrappy fighter, and part of her story comes out . . . though mostly through flash-backs and dreams. When they finally return to the Crystal Palace, Creed doesn't really know any more about her than he did . . other than she went toe to toe against James Howlett. Last issue, after checking back in at the palace, Creed decided to go after the dimension hopping group of terrorists himself . . Empress Hydra, Howlett, Venger and Slaymaster. Apparently Cat came along for the ride, hiding in Creed frame, and he never knew it. That is until she made him discorporeal and saved his life. Anyways, through the story, we find out that this Cat, although recruited by Xavier, actually ended up in Emma's school and quickly became one of the core agents in the Hellfire Club's Strike Force. Which is where she learned to fight . . and to fight nasty. After eluding the group for a while, Cat gets Creed out of the way so she can take on Howlett. Long story short . . she ends up, literally, declawing him. She's got a mean streak to her. I think Chris Claremont is doing a fantastic job with this book. I love everything about it. I also enjoy the addition of Gambit. And we have yet to see what exactly Mystiq is capable of. Tom Grummett wasn't on this issue, unfortunately, but Paco Diaz Luque fills in on the art chores. He did a pretty decent job. I a big fan of Tom's, so I love the look that he gives this book. But, as a fill-in, Paco's stuff looks pretty good. I'm glad this book has remained strong. Whodathunk an Ultraverse title would've lasted this long?

New Exiles #11 - Marvel

Okay, remember the Empress Hydra from that one dimension where she was actually Susan Storm? Well, her and her comrades are starting to cause trouble across the Omniverse now. She's got a renegade Wolverine, Slaymaster and Venger working for her now. And they've been in the process of cutting a swath across the various dimensions. The only problem is, from the Crystal Cathedral, any dimension can be monitored. Betsy has already been on edge since she found out that the Slaymaster is gunning for her. So Creed has been trying to catch up with him on his hunt for all the various Psylockes. He finds their handy-work on a planet shortly after their attack. On that world Creed was married to Betsy and then had a few children. When the group came they killed everybody trying to get to Betsy. Creed finds this planet shortly after they leave, but close enough to follow their trail. He then goes back to the Palace to talk to Kitty about the whole thing but Kitty's busy trying to figure out why the Omniverse is dying. She and Creed have a bit of a tiff, but Creed still leaves her a recording telling her everything that's been happening, with the evil group, training Betsy, and his quest to avenge their most recent victims. He catches up to them on a world that appears to have no doppelgangers of themselves. My guess is that it's their resting spot between jumps. That's where Creed decides to confront them. But he's sorely at a disadvantage and they almost take him out. At the end it appears that Kitty has come to help him as he seems to phase into the ground barely avoiding Wolverine's attack. Chris Claremont, as usual, writes this story. It's got Chris' usual twists and turns in it. Plus Chris is the master of having multiple story-lines going on at the same time. However, the artwork in this issue is by Paco Diaz Luque. It's ok. But I really line Tom Grummett's artwork on this series. Paco's stuff is actually pretty good, but . . it just didn't have the same feel to it as Tom's. Overall though I still enjoyed the book. This is, and has been, one of my favorites for quite a while now. I like the unpredictability of it. It doesn't have to follow the usual Marvel rules of engagement, so when it comes down to it . . anything can happen. Just like life.

New Exiles #10 - Marvel

This issue finally wraps up the current story-line. More or less. Psylocke has broken free from the influence of Ogun . . who was actually getting her incredible power under his influence so that he could help the French. Meanwhile, After attempting to reprogram Sage, Purge finds out that she's not that easy to take down. Especially considering that she has an entire other personality living inside her head. They have a pretty heated battle, but Sage is still trying to hang on to her soul so she makes it pretty rough on both of them. And Rogue's team, with the help of Emma Frost's Force-X, actually do quite a bit of damage to the French Armada. Something interesting happens during the battle though. One of the 'werewolf' type creatures attacks Rogue and rips her sleeve. When that happens we see this intricate tattoo that she has all up and down her arm. But it seems like she doesn't want anyone to know that it's there, let alone what it is or why. So I think that's something that's going to pop up in the future when Chris starts putting together her story, and the planet she came from. It's all a mystery right now. But not as much a mystery as Cat's origins. So, more or less, this pretty much wraps up this story-line. And our team came out on top again . . without any losses. But, they still don't know what Cat's discovered back at the Crystal Palace . . the Omniverse is slowly dying. I've said this before, but I think Chris Claremont is the perfect writer for this story. We all know how good he is at the team books, and he seems to have a real passion for this one. I also thoroughly enjoy Tom Grummett's artwork every issue. This book has continued to be everything that I hoped it would be.

New Exiles #9 - Marvel

This book has 3 great things going for it. First of all is the incredible cast of characters. This book has gone through a lot of transitions . . . essentially, that's the nature of the book. But, I think, right now it has the strongest cast of characters that it's had throughout it's entire run. We have Sabretooth, Psylocke, Rogue, Mystiq, Cat (there's a lot of mystery to this one), Morph, Sage and Gambit . . from an Earth where he's actually Namor and Susan Storm's son. Next, and I don't feel the order is necessarily in importance . . but, next we have the incredible scripts of Chris Claremont. Chris came on board shortly before the end of the first run, and he's been going all out ever since. The only thing I'm sad about is that Excalibur isn't around anymore. Chris was writing that one, but when this book was relaunched they did the mini that kind of melded the 2 books together. Well, as far as the multiverse / omniverse thing goes. And the end of that series, Sage basically absorbed all of Saturyn's knowledge of the omniverse, so now she's it's protector. I guess that's the best way to describe it. And last, but not least, is the incredible talent of Tom Grummett. This guy is seriously under-rated as an artist. I really think that he is the glue that has been holding this book together for the last 20 or so issues. Yes there's been a couple of fill-ins, but essentially it's been all Tom. He's done a fantastic job of creating the unique image of these characters. I look forward to his action scenes every issue. Right now in the story our team is on this Earth where there's basically 3 powers . . the English, the French and the Atlanteans . . the last of which rules over all because of their technology and modern warfare equipment. That's really why our team is there . . to protect the Queen. But, we also have a subplot going in that Psylocke has been found by Ogun . . this Earth's Betsy Braddock's sensei. But his Betsy was taken from him by Slaymaster, so he's intent on turning Betsy into Lady Mandarin . . the protector of the Chinese Empire. Then we also have Cat, back at the Crystal Palace, trying to figure out why there seems to be universe after universe disappearing. So, as you can see, this title is definitely not short in the action department. And, as I've said before, I like this book much for the same reason that I like the Ultimate Universe so much . . . anything can happen, and often it does.

New Exiles #8 - Marvel

In typical Chris Claremont fashion, he has us going in a couple of different directions on this issue. First we have Betsy out there, trying to figure out what's been going on inside of her mind, and worried about the Slaymaster catching up to her eventually. She's even more startled when she awakens from a nightmare to find out that she has the lightning bolt tattooed across her face again. But it all has to do with Ogun. Apparently when they came to this world, Ogun's apprentice, Mandarin, had been killed by the Slaymaster shortly before their arrival. Well, somehow, her spirit has come to reside in Betsy which is how she came to Ogun's attention. Now Ogun is willing to teach her what he know's for her help in avenged his pupil. Meanwhile, Remy is out in the ocean trying to stop the approaching French fleet. Somehow, in doing so, he has gained the favor of the Great Ancient Masters of the Ocean. And through them, the respect and help of Queen Fen. We also have the part where Morph and Sage are trying to protect the Queen of England. To do so, they've gone to see Emma Frost at X-Force Academy. And finally back at the Crystal Palace, Kitty is worried because she's been watching the Omniverse die, one universe at a time. But really it shouldn't be happening this fast. She receives some cryptic clues from Heather, who apparently is equally as tied in with the Omniverse. I'm not sure where Creed or Mystiq were this issue, but I'm sure we'll catch up with them in the next. This is a great series and it's made even better under Chris' piloting. I've enjoyed this one for a long time, but it's been getting better every issue. Hopefully, Tom Grummett is back on board for the duration.

New Exiles #7 - Marvel

This remains to be one of my favorite X-Men titles. But right now we're in the process of the story where Chris Claremont is building up a lot of hanging story-lines that won't come in to play until much later. That's how he builds his stories, and keeps things interconnected across dozens of issues. The end result is fabulous. But, sometimes in the middle it leaves you with a lot more questions than answers. However, the story keeps moving, so you just kind of forget about them until they pop up later on . . a few issue down the road. Or sometimes, years down the road. Like I said, it's effective. It definitely works for Chris. I'm thrilled to see Tom Grummett back on the art chores this issue. Thinking back, from some of Tom's previous series, he is the kind of artist that he'll take and issue off every 8 to 10 issues or so. That's his usual MO. My guess is we'll have another fill-in issue after this story-arc, or maybe the one after. But it's nothing to get alarmed about. I'm sure Tom will be on this series for the long-run. I think, somehow, we got a couple of pages out of order on this issue. We see Rogue and Mystiq rescuing the King of England, an 8 to 10 year old child, but then the story goes back to the set-up for this mission. I understand the set-up, but, by doing it this way we see that they do actually rescue him, and we find out who one of the villains are, or rather the mole inside the King's court, ahead of time. It kind of makes the story a bit anti-climactic. Sure they probably wanted to start out the issue with a little action, but I think they tipped their hand a little to early on this one. We also see that Betsy's nemesis, the Slaymaster, is somehow involved in all of this. And, Kat is somehow hooked in to the systems of the Crystal Palace a lot more than she should be. Enough so that she's putting a pattern together. " . . the Omniverse is dying! The stars are blinking out. It's happening in real time . . right before my eyes! Entire dimensions are ceasing to exist. All of creation . . is coming to an end!?" My guess is . . all the knowledge that Sage absorbed from Saturyn is going to have to come in to play. Which means she's going to have to deal with the identity issues that she's been having. It looks like the next storyline's going to be focused on Betsy, Kat and Sage. By the way . . . I love this series.

New Exiles #6 - Marvel

Jason Castro does the art again this issue. Thomas Grummett . . where art thou? Anyways, I was mildly impressed with Jason's style last issue. It showed promise, but it was inconsistent. I'll have to say the same for this issue. However, this issue . . there were fewer panels that really reached out and grabbed me. There were a few moments of brilliance, but overall . . I really think he pales in comparison to Tom's work. Sorry, but that's my opinion. Also the story this issue, I thought, was a little confusing. Well . . maybe not so much confusing as not really having a point to it. Last issue Cat, Sage and Morph were dragged into this medieval world. Or so they thought. When they first get here its all princes and dragons and such. But as they're here longer, they find out there's planes, cell-phones, and even a sprawling metropolis on the other side of the mountain. However, there's still something screwy with the magic here. Cat, it seems, keeps changing forms. My guess is that they're the various interpretations of her across the omniverse. We don't really know, or find out anything. Also, Sage seems to be struggling harder with her alternate personality here. But it does seem, at one time, that during her struggle, Cat also sees her blond haired nemesis. We don't really know for sure. And Morph? Well . . he's just Morph . . or Proteus . . or whatever. But then . . just as the story really gets going . . they're pulled back to the Crystal Palace. When they get there, Sabretooth, Psylocke, Rogue, Mystiq and Gambit are all already back from their mission. Creed was wondering where they all gallivanted off to. But in the end, all they're really worried about is what their next mission is going to be. As an afterward, we see lady Hydra, in the recently visited medieval Earth, recruiting Venger. He's the brute-for-hire that the Queen hired to take out her son's lover, the Dragon. Apparently the whole point of the trip to this world was to introduce us to this character. He's almost a Wolverine type variation. Almost . . but not quite. It's my guess that we haven't seen the last of this Earth . . wherever it is. I thoroughly enjoy Chris Claremont's writing prowess. However, this particular issue leaves us with more questions than answers. And I'm begging, for all our sakes, please get Tom Grummett back on this book. Please!

New Exiles #5 - Marvel

This issue seemed a bit . . confusing. It's almost like Chris was trying to shove to much in to one issue. Also, we're only on issue #5 and already we have a fill-in artist. Roberto Castro does the art for this issue. It's actually ok. But I do miss Tom Grummett. Well . . except for those panels with a nearly undressed Sage. Meowww!! She's pretty hot. Anyways, we're seeing what happened shortly before the rest of the team returned home. Morph, Sage and Cat have the Palace pretty much to themselves, while the rest of the team were off on their recruiting mission. Sage is fighting with inner demons . . literally. Morph is just confused, and Cat . . Cat is the enigma. Nobody's really been able to get a read on her. And when Morph and Cat are in the observation room, there's some kind of anomaly that appears and it ends up sucking them down a whole . . much like Alice down the rabbit hole. Sage hears them screaming, as their falling in, and manages to make it from her bathtub to the warp just in time. Well . . except for being able to get dressed . . she gets there just in time. I'm not sure if it's this world, or what, but their abilities seem to be changing. Cat seems to be able to access any version of herself across the entire multiverse. It's a little overwhelming for Sage and Morph, but it seems she can alter her appearance at will. After landing, she starts out looking like a cartoon princess, and then later changes to an Indian Shaman. Also, for some reason, Sage can access her telepathic powers here. But, for her, that's not necessarily a good thing. At least it's not something that she wanted to do. Also the team doesn't really know why, or how, it was called here. None of them are wearing the Tallus. Well, if nothing else, maybe the 3 of them will get along better after this mission, or, if nothing else, they'll just have a better understanding and appreciation for each other. Because, right now, we really have no idea what's up.