Comic Review: Exiles #70

Writer: Tony Bedard

Penciler: Paul Pelletier

Inkers: Rick Magyar w/ Hennessy & Meikis

Colorist: Wil Quintana

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

Distributed: Marvel (November 2005)

Ripped from their separate realities the Exiles, Blink, Sabretooth, Mimic, Morph, Beak, and Heather Hudson, now travel from reality to reality partaking in near impossible missions to save each reality from certain destruction.

During the start of the Exiles' adventures they were just tossed around from reality to reality on a whim. Now though they have managed to take control of Crystal Palace; an observatory outside of time and space that allows the Exiles to move amongst the different realities at their choosing.

First stop Beak's reality, Earth #616...

Home is not as Beak had left it. When ripped from Earth #616 beak had a wife and children. Now that he's returned home he has discovered things are no longer as they were. His wife Angel has no memory of him and is acting very weird, and his children have never been born. The roles amongst humans and mutants have also been reversed; mutants are now the norm and humans or "sapiens" are second class citizens scrimping by and fighting for survival.

On this world, Magneto is King and commands the governments of the world. The usual diabolical Sentinels are only used to protect all citizens in this reality; not their usual hunt those who aren't the norm and destroy.

When we join the Exiles, Beak is wallowing in self pity that Angel no longer remembers him. Mimic tries to comfort him but only manages to upset Sabretooth. While Mimic and Sabretooth argue and pull the rest of the team's attention away from Beak, Beak catches a glimpse of Angel through a crowd of sapiens and takes off after her. However things don't go as planned for Beak when Angel swoops down out of nowhere and kidnaps him. Morph sees and points out the abduction to the rest of the team, but before they can follow a female human appears and stops them from pursuing, claiming she has information they need.

After leading the Exiles to a sapien center the female finally reveals herself to the Exiles; her name, Moira MacTaggert.

Moira explains of her son Kevin and his rare mutation that caused her to watch her son decay in front of her eyes. Moira tried to reverse the mutant gene in her son, but King Magneto stopped her for her "cure" could potentially be the undoing of mutant kind. Moira fled and is now the most wanted sapien on planet; her son Kevin also escaped the Sentinels sent to bring in Moira, and he himself has now found a way to aid his mutation problem...

Going by the name MutantX, Kevin, will now seek out other mutants and take over their bodies, draining them until they are useless and then moving on to the next. MutantX's current host body, yep you guessed it, it's Angel.

The discussion with Moira is interrupted however when several Sentinels come barging into the center from below. After a brief battle the Exiles come out on top. And now decide they need to find Beak quickly and stop MutantX before he chooses to feast on the body of their friend.

The issue ends with the Exiles finding their way into a warped reality and coming face to face with MutantX in Angel's body; all the while Beak hangs upside down and unconscious.

If you're a fan of different types of X-Men comics then Exiles is one you should check out. The characters are ones you will be mostly familiar with or at least have heard of, though the only thing in this case is to remember that the Exiles are from different realities and traveling through different realities, so don't expect them to be just like the versions in your favorite X-Men comics.

Exiles #70 had a great story, was paced well with action and information, and crisp artwork to boot. This one should find it's way to your reading list. (Note: issue #70 is part 2 of 3, so you may want to pick up #69 and #71 as well).

-GJ