Exiles #2

“Long Live the King! – Part One”

Cover Price: $2.99
Bargain Price: $0.50
Cover Date: July 2009

Fact: Jeff Parker is writing some really fun comics and this all too brief revival of The Exiles is just another example of that. Second fact: you guys, this Salva Espin guy is pretty great. His art is clean and kinetic and his design sense is great (I particularly love his Morlock-like Beast). His art is also also refreshing in that it’s just left of center for the average super-hero book. In fact, the whole book is a little like that, which is probably why it was cancelled with issue six. Still, we’ll just have to chalk the whole thing up to another creative, unconventional team book, like SWORD, Atlas, and Captain Britain and MI-13, cancelled before it’s time. I just think it’s a shame that even books with only, let’s face it, marginally original characters cannot thrive in the current market place. It’s a shame, too, because this is easily the most enjoyable take on The Exiles yet, in no small part because Parker really gets the appeal of seeing not just alternate universes, but alternate takes on our favorite characters in the form of the Exiles themselves. You see Parker has an unmatched ear for characterization and dialogue, allowing him to use those off kilter characterizations to set up a number of entertaining and believable personality clashes. Also, Polaris makes Forge punch himself in the face and who doesn’t want to see that?