Customer Reviews

Exiles Vol. 1: Down the Rabbit Hole (Astonishing X-Men)

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EXILES brings together six X-Men from different realities and sets them loose on missions to correct time-lines in still other realities. Mission: Impossible with mutants with a twist of "Marvel What-If". A mysterious being known only as the Time-Broker gathers Blink (born in the Age of Apocalypse), Nocturne (daughter of Nightcrawler and the Scarlet Witch), Thunderbird (another incarnation of John Proudstar), Magnus (son of Magneto and Rogue), Mimic (another incarnation of Calvin Rankin), and Morph (who comes with pratfall humor and is an incarnation of a character inspired by the X-Men cartoon series) and reveals their assignments. If they have any hope of returning to their different time-lines and altering the terrible events that took place there, they must straighten out various other time-lines first. Two different time-lines are presented in this graphic novel. In the first, the Exiles take on the most powerful evil mutant in the world: Charles Xavier. And in the second mission, they have to destroy Dark Phoenix instead of helping rescue Jean Grey.

Judd Winick was on MTV's "The Real World" and a good friend of Pedro Zamora, who later died of AIDS complications. Winick took up the lecture circuit regarding AIDS as he'd agreed to do for Zamora, and later did a book about the friendship called PEDRO AND ME. While on the show, Winick also launched a weekly comic strip, NUTS & BOLTS, and a later spin-off, FRUMPY THE CLOWN. He did ROAD TRIP, an Eisner nomination, and THE ADVENTURES OF BARRY WEEN, BOY GENIUS. Working with DC Comics, he has been writing the GREEN LANTERN monthly title, a ten-issue backup in Detective Comics, JOSIE MAC, and has upcoming projects for Vertigo and a Green Lantern/Green Arrow crossover. Mike McKone has worked on several X-Men titles, VEXT with Keith Giffen, SUPERMAN, MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER, HULK, PUNISHER, THOR, SPIDER-MAN, JUSTICE LEAGUE, and many others.

EXILES gathers the first four issues of the monthly comic series into a graphic novel that stands well on its own. The story is familiar to many fans of comics and science fiction, and it's interesting to see the different way worlds and characters could have gone. Winick's handling of Morph, the team funnyman and pratfall king, stays just this side of going over the top. The two worlds revealed in the graphic novel are interesting. Featuring Charles Xavier, the founder of the X-Men, was a given, and the rewriting of the Dark Phoenix saga wasn't too surprising. Where the book really succeeds, though, is in Mike McKone's art, especially with long-time pal and partner Mark McKenna laying in the inks with Cannon and Jimmy Palmiotti. The panels explode off the page in color, vibrancy, and immediacy. Another nice touch is that no one in this series appears to be safe. One of the main characters is killed halfway through the graphic novel, only to be replaced almost instantly with another twisted version of someone near and dear to the X-universe. The potential of the series is great and can bring about the same sense of wonder that powered the WHAT IF series.

Given the overall framework of the comic series, these first two stories lack a little. They're not overly original and despite the premise, there isn't enough real tension or development of character. Of course, Winick is trying to introduce his characters and the concept at the same time, and even kills off one of the major players. There is also a tad bit of long-windedness from time to time that covers over the beautiful artwork.

Regular readers of Marvel's X-books will definitely want to take a look at this spin on their characters and their worlds, and Mike McKone's artwork is absolutely worth collecting for any comics fan.

As a long time X-Men fan, I was excited about the recent relaunches of the X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, and X-Force. While two of those books proved to be really good reads, none matched the total package that Winnick and McCone brought to the table. And if you are like me and missed the first four issues, this handy, cheap package is a brilliant introduction.

For long-time fans of the X-Men this book is a no-brainer. The plot is a mix of Avengers Forever and Quantum Leap. X-Men are plucked from different realities and times and brought together to "fix" different realities that used to only happen in What If? comics. None of the heroes know who has chosen them. They are only guided by a mysterious entity called the Tallus.

The cast list is a fun diverse group of X-Men. Blink, from the Ages of Apocalypse storyline a few years back leads the team. Mimic is very different from the one in the normal Marvel U. Morph is definitely the comic relief probably in his best written appearance since the old cartoon. The daughter of Nightcrawler and the Scarlet Witch, Nocturne, is probably my favorite character. There are many more characters, but telling you all about them will ruin half the fun of discovering them on your own.

If you are a newcomer, don't worry. There is not a lot of back continuity to be concerned about since all of the worlds and characters do not follow normal Marvel continuity. It's kind of fun to see even the characters having a hard time dealing with that.

Overall, I would say buy this book. You will be happy you did.

This collects the first four issues of the Marvel Comics "Exiles" series co-created by writer Judd Winick and artist Mike McKone. This alternate reality X-Men-centered title started in 2002 and ran for 100 issues before it was renamed "New Exiles". It has since been rebooted in 2009 with another new team and new #1 issue.
The original team consists of: Blink, Mimic, Magnus, Thunderbird, Nocturne and Morph, all from different universes besides our own within the Marvel Multiverse. Each member has been seemingly randomly transported into a new dimension, where they learn they must bounce between different worlds, solving problems and preventing destruction, all the while moving closer to returning to their own respective realities. The team must complete missions based on clues from a mystical Tallus, or else they face being squeezed out of existence. They face an alternate version of Professor X and witness an alternate Trial of The Phoenix. Like the 1970s restart of the X-Men, the plot features the death of an original team member.
The newly released Exiles Ultimate Collection TPB Volume 1 collects the first nineteen issues and is currently priced at $23 for 280 pages, offering a much better value for fans of this series than this slim TPB.

The first TPB of the Exiles, simply awesome. The characters Morph, Mimic, Thunderbird, TJ (Nightcrawler's daughter),Blink, and Magnus (Magneto's son) are "plucked" from there universes and dropped in a mysterious point. Where they are all informed that they have been "mixed up" in time. And they have to travel across various universes and times to set themselves and other things back to normal. In theses other universes many strange things happend bad guys are good visa versa. Very nice to have prior Marvel knowledge when reading this. It has good dialouge and I think Morph is absolutely hilarious, even if he is over the top. I really, highly recommend this TPB. And all the other ones in the series. I have read Vol 2 also review comming soon.

5 STARS!

This comic and I crossed paths in quite an interesting manner. A friend who knew that I enjoyed Marvel characters who were a little off the beaten path such as Mimic and Thunderbird. A shot while later I was reading this first TPB with an intense vigor and wanted more.

The concept itself is pure brilliance. Think Sliders meets Quantum Leap meets the X-Men universe with awesome results. The characters are well drawn and even better to watch develop. Even in this 1st issue events that occur change characters forever. Not only are the characters great but the worlds the Exiles visit are just as brilliant and full of detail. Wonderful story lines and amazing character development really hold this comic together.

If you enjoyed What-If or any alternate universe in any comic book series i would suggest reading at least this first volume and getting your feet wet. You may very well get sucked into a sweeping story and colorful characters, both metaphorically and literally, and find yourself as addicted as myself.

Buy it and see how it all begins. Of course, it will make you dislike the Claremont stuff even more!

This series caught my attention when it first came out, considering I was a big fan of the Age of Apocolypse story arc and that it had Blink and Morph on the cover. Different Morph, but no matter! There a a variety of situations that this group gets into which involves missions to fix whatever problem there may be in whatever reality they may be in. Which can vary from major (Kill the Pheonix) to minor (buy a cheese danish). You'd be suprised how much can spiral out a pastry problem. The original team consists of Mimic - previously a minor character in the main reality (616), Blink - From the Age of Apocolypse reality, due to fan reaction most likely, Nocturne - Daughter of Scarlet Witch and Nightcrawler, Morph - A prominent hero and member of the Xmen and the Avengers in his reality, who will also just make you laugh with everything said, T-Bird - John Proudstar, thunderbird, who died on his first mission with the X-men in the 616 reality, but from his was captured by Apocolypse and turned into one of the Horsemen, and Magnus - the daughter of Magneto and Rogue, with gifts and curses from both of his parents, along with incredible power. If you have an at least decent knowledge of past events in the Marvel history, you would probably appreciate this title. I found it amazing when they got a mission in a reality that I only knew about from reading one issue ten or fifteen years ago. Pretty obscure! I like all the little references and cameos from the depths of the Marvel history and universe. Humurous and intense,it draws you in and you care what happens to the characters just like any other title that may be a bit more mainstream. Buy it, read it, love it. This review is meant not just for this volume, but this goes for the whole series run.

I have read the whole series. This is the first graphic novel in the series. It starts you off with a fun rollercoaster ride with reality saving Marvel characters. The stories through out the series are well developed and are a fun read. They remain true with their continuity and sub-plots through out the storylines. And it gets complex. Enjoy. :)

P.s. If you can remember the "What If" series that Marvel had out a very very long time ago. This series adds a 3rd degree to it, it accomlishes that same answer to a lot of those "what if's" and then gives it an ongoing reality. What If's like what would happen if the Brood survived or if the legacy virus mutated or this villain took over or if this person wasn't exposed to gamma rays . . . or whatever . . . and then it answers those questions and keeps those stories alive and mixes in all the other realities to create a whole universe of ongoing answered what if questions with their own specific and weird reality. :)

Marvel's X-Men franchise has launched many spinoffs and various comic book lines but, in my opinion, none have been as unique as Exiles.

This trade collects the first 4 issues of Exiles (the first two story arcs) and was written by Judd Winnick who stayed to write a good portion of the next 35ish issues.

The basic premise of the series is that the team is a collection of hereos from alternate Earths (in the Marvel universe, mainstream Marvel takes place in the "616" universe) and they travel to different alternate realities with missions to complete. I was drawn to this series because of the characters, specifically Blink and Mimic. Blink earned a following from her exploits in an X-men crossover called "The Age of Apocolypse" that was written in the 90's while Mimic has been in a few X-men comics but never explored much after that.

In addition to the having a very interesting cast of characters, the writing for Exiles is what set itself apart from the other comics out there. I feel as though it is/was fresh when compared to some of the other X-titles and other comics in general. The art isn't Jim Lee or any of the other top artists but the various artists do an excellent job of creating colorful, distinct, and different worlds and characters.

A word of warning however... While the first few trade paperbacks of Exiles are very good, some of the later collections are not quite as entertaining as the writing quality falters a bit when Austen takes over.

Exiles is a highly original series. It is sort of a Quantum Leap X-Men. You get various X-Men from different realities/dimensions or what have you. They come together to fix something that has gone wrong in different dimensions (just like Quantum Leap). The charactes are original and interesting as are the stories. I love the art. All in all, this is really good.