Exiles (2001 Series) #48

May 4, 2004

Quick Rating:Very Good
Title: Earn Your Wings Part Three

The Exiles throw down with the Fantastic Four, and finish the first mission of the new era.

Writer: Tony Bedard
Art: Mizuki Sakakibara
Colors: JC
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Mike Marts
Cover Art: Mizuki Sakakibara
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Tony Bedard’s first story arc ends with this issue, and I think this conclusion is the best issue yet. The story begins with your classic “superheroes fight due to a misunderstanding” scenario, but that situation isn’t nearly as forced as it usually is, since the Fantastic Four and Namor don’t know who the Exiles are. During the battle, the Exiles solve the odd, ambiguous mission given to them by Timebroker, and while the solution really isn’t that shocking (one longtime Exiles fan of my acquaintance figured it out two issues ago, and I suspect I would have too if I’d been reading the title earlier), it is a satisfying conclusion. The new makeup of the team is solidified (for now, at least) and you get a sense both of the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next.

Bedard also uses this issue to work in some info that longtime Exiles fans no doubt already knew, but that newcomers could have done with in the first issue – for example, the rule that there are always six members of the team. The newest Exile isn’t happy about joining the team, but then again, few people would be excited about the prospect of being wrenched away from their loved ones and “unstuck in time.”

There is a bit of surprise in what happens to what the Exiles leave behind in the mainstream Marvel universe, but to get any more in-depth about that would be to give out spoilers.

I am quite enjoying Mizuki Sakakibara’s artwork on this book. He can do just about everything – chiseled heroes like Mimic and Namor, beautiful women in Nocturne and Sue Richards and freaks like Beak and Ben Grimm all look very good under his pens. JC’s colors also add a lot to this issue, with brilliant colors in the special effects and not letting the strange skin tones of several characters work against them.

I enjoyed this first story arc, but I’m even more excited about next issue, when the Exiles will go back to bopping around alternate universes, which is what had me interested in the property in the first place. I particularly like the preview of next issue, which shows Morph wrestling with an old favorite character of mine. This seems to be a book that walks a line between lighthearted and somber moments, and Bedard is a writer who can balance that sort of thing with a great science fiction concept. This storyline may have been part of “Reload,” but the real new era, it appears, will begin next month.

Rating: 8/10