Wednesday Review 4/27/2005 - Exiles #63

In the 1980s (the time I was introduced to comics) one of Marvel's most popular titles was "What If?". Generally, this title explored the ramifications on a certain character if things had gone differently - say, Uncle Ben hadn't died (in the case of Spider-Man), or if Captain America had not been revived in modern times?

This title died out, was revived, and has recently returned in a series of one-shots a few months ago. Often, the thrust of most of tales was that no matter how bad things seemed for the heroes in the "regular" continuity, they could have been much worse. Uncle Ben living meant that Spider-Man became a selfish movie star, Captain America not thawing out in modern times meant a racist imposter of Cap became president of the USA, etc.

Now, remember the TV show Sliders? People hopping around from world to world, trying to find the way home to their home reality? OR Quantum Leap, where Dr. Samuel Beckett leaped around history, fixing problems in the timeline?

This comic combines all three concepts, and it's a great ride. If you have tried this comic out, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, this is actually a good issue to start with, as a lot about the mysterious origins of the "Exiles" team is revealed.

Basically, the team (whose line-up changes often - one great thing about this series is that ANYONE can die at any given time. In Spider-Man comics, no matter how much danger he is in, we know Spidey will never die, or if he does, he'll be alive before the end of the story arc. The format of this series allows for actual suspense) - where was I? Oh, yeah - the team. The team is sent to various realities by a being called "the Timebroker" and gives them missions to "repair" broken timelines in various alternate realities. Sometimes the mission are simplistic (a funny recent issue dealt with them buying a danish in order to save the world) to the heroic (defeat a tyrannical ruler) to the seemingly evil (kill all the remaining superheroes on this world).

Lately, the missions from the Timebroker have been more and more bizarre and evil, but on one world the Exiles find a machine that allows them to access the reality that the Timebroker emanates from. They head there, only to find out Hyperion (Marvel's version of Superman - and this version is evil), someone they thought dead, is there and wants to kill them all.

So they spend most of this issue running. At one point, Hyperion does go into "monologing" (as it was called in The Incredibles), but the script here gives him a valid reason for doing so (rather than the "that's what bad guys do" convention of the genre) that adds to his characterization and reveals a lot about the origins of the Exiles team in the first place.

Not that I buy the explanation Hyperion gives - it leaves too many questions unanswered. But this issue ends on a cool cliffhanger that promises more action next issue.

This comic is a great ride. Superheroes, alternate realities, and a real sense of danger - give it a try if you haven't yet. If you have and didn't like it, I pity you. ;-)