The worst part of “Exiles” #12 is the last page where it ends. It was a fun issue and I was sad for it to be over, but it was also the last issue of the series and that’s a damn shame. If the joy that was Spiderverse taught us anything, it’s that dimension bending, incongruous superhero team-ups are the best. “Exiles” #12 wasn’t the best issue in this run, but “Exiles” was one of the best series Marvel was putting out on the stands.
Written by Saladin AhmedCover by David Nakayama
Illustrated by Javier Rodriguez
Inked by Alvaro Lopez
Colored by Muntsa Vincente
Lettered by VC’s Joe Caramanga
THE CALL OF THE MULTIVERSE! It’s the Exiles’ final showdown against those bug-eyed creeps the Watchers! But they’ve underestimated their foe — and the mistake may prove deadly. In a whirl of mishaps and might-have-beens, the champion Blink must keep her wits and rescue her lost companions. What lies ahead for Blink and her team of Multiversal misfits?
First: the premise. Combining a team of misfits that shouldn’t get along but eventually form a family is the oldest Marvel trick in the book. Seriously, it was the premise of “Fantastic Four” #1 in 1962, and ushered in the Marvel Age of Comics. But has any team been as different as the Exiles? Saladin Ahmed not only made a teleporting mutant, time-traveling kid villain, drunken viking, African cowboy, cartoon badass, and the rest of the gang compelling to read, he put their dynamics at the center of the book. It’s easy for a story to declare that the cast has become a family, “Exiles” really makes you feel it.
Next: the art. Remember how fun it was to see Spider Ham and Spidey Noir interact with the rest of the characters in that excellent cartoon movie? Javier Rodriguez gets that across on every page. He unites the disparate worlds of all the characters into one unified visual style, but keeps finding opportunities to showcase their uniqueness. It’s a delicate give and take, but Rodriguez focuses on what works in a comic (and what works in this comic) and sells the silliness for all it’s worth.
Also: the form. “Exiles” is a trippy series, and #12 does some weird stuff with layouts. It’s nothing you’ve never seen before, unless you’re new to comics. But the tricks are well-executed and land with maximum impact. One sequence forces the Exiles into nightmare scenario where the panels are all within their own tortured silhouettes. (The gag on the Wolvie page made me laugh out loud in public). There’s a villain with powers that mimic comic panels and some gentle fourth-wall breaking when the heroes escape their rectangular prisons. A particularly emotional page makes good use out of a 30 panel grid. I haven’t seen one of those in a while.
None of these things are easy, but for pros like Rodriguez, inker Alvaro Lopez, and colorist Muntsa Vicente, they may as well be. There’s no way of knowing what the creative process looked like behind the scenes, but I’m also pretty impressed with Ahmed who has made the transition from prose to comics with rare panache. “Exiles” is his showiest book since “Black Bolt” ended, and I could read his team-ups with art pros all day, every day.
Finally: the continuity. The original run of “Exiles” was a hundred issues long from 2001-2008. That’s a crazy long run by today’s standards. A lot happened in that run, and a lot of it effects the team in this iteration. More than that, the book draws on things like the status of the Watchers, and the original now-mystical Nick Fury. There are only a couple of Marvel books using past continuity this well, and most of them are by Al Ewing. Past events inform the present, but are presented in an accessible and exciting way. This is the kind of comic that makes me want to track down back issues.
I’ve been lucky enough to read a lot of great comics lately, and I think the dividing line between good and great is that great comics are able to push the form. Great comics either do something you’ve never seen before or pull a technique off so well, you can never go back to seeing it in the same way. The “Exiles” series achieved this by showcasing the different art styles of the team members. This issue however, does not really do that. This is more like a greatest hits album than a daring, mind-blowing new single. And that’s cool right? Sometimes you come just to hear the hits.
As such, “Exiles” is a series I would recommend above almost anything else Marvel has published in the last 12 months. It’s definitely Ahmed’s best superhero work, fun, accessible, daring, and a little bit cheeky. It also has career best work from Rodriguez and many other artists who stepped in. “Exiles” #12 is sad, because it ends that series. But it ends on a similar note to the 11 other (fabulous) issues that proceeded it, rather than crescendo up to new heights.
Final Verdict: 8.8 – This series deserved another 90 issues at least.
