Exiles #1

Wow, I really liked this! I shouldn't be surprised, since I liked the original Exiles until Chris Claremont took over, I really like Jeff Parker's writing, and I like Beast, Forge, Black Panther, and Scarlet Witch. It should have been clear, but I remain pleasantly surprised. The book opens as we see the moments just before the death of the core cast (those above plus Polaris, we don't see Blink's past). The best of these is the new Black Panther, who seems a lot more casual than the one we know, and he had a robot lion friend, which is genius! The saved characters are now exiles outside normal space who have to work to fix worlds that are threatening the space-time continuum. Nothing new here, but our guide is: Morph from the previous Exiles is leading the new team, or at least sending them along on their first mission. I liked seeing the team run through the "what are your powers" bit as they get settled, and how Blink is the guiding hand for the team. Blink also is the only member to not get sick from their teleportation, since she has all her experience with the previous team to get her used to the sick-inducing teleporting. The Exiles' first mission will be to help Wolverine take out Magneto, only this world's Magneto is protected by both the Brotherhood and the X-Men, and Wolverine is dead. Might be a little tough!

The Exiles concept is a strong one, and Parker seems like he already has a good handle on it. The starting lineup is quite good, and we know Parker knows the ins and outs of the whole Marvel U, so I'm confident we're going to see some neat re-imagined worlds. I'm in for the trade.

Salva Espin's art is fine, if a touch too cartoony for me. I thought his design for Scarlet Witch in particular looked young and kidd-y, but his take on Forge is a lot of fun. The slimmer build for Black Panther is an interesting choice too.

Good