Judd Winick and Mike McKone have guaranteed themselves the
benifit of the doubt from me on any projects they choose to work
on in the future.
General Information
Title: Exiles Vol. 3: Out Of Time
Author: Judd Winick
Illustrator(s): Mick McKone and Jim Calafiore
Original Publication Date: 2003 reprint of material first published
in
2002.
ISBN: 0-7851-1085-2
Cover Price: $17.99 US, $29.00 Can
Buy from: Amazon.com
or Amazon.ca
Premise
The Exiles have to deal with an Atlantean invasion, a team
hijacking,
and an unsavory group mission with Weapon X. It collects Exiles
issues 12-19.
High Point
“You’ve got options, woman. Work with me!”
Low Point
Longshot’s appearance. If that doesn’t turn out to be relevant
later
on, it’ll seem pretty lame.
The Scores
Winick has taken the “What If?” and “Elseworlds” idea and made
a
series with a recurring cast of characters that you can come to
care
about. The premise also lets him take things further than the
“one
step removed” type of stories the other series had, built on the
premise that only one fundamental change happened between
that
Universe and this one. This allows for some wild variations,
essentially creating a new universe with each story arc. That’s
worth
an originality score of 5 out of 6, when you also look
at
what he’s doing with some of these heroes.
The artwork by McKone is excellent. The artwork by
Calafiore
is only good. I give it 5 out of 6.
The story is pretty free; the missions are only two or
three
issues, which keeps the pace up, while the non-chronological
sequence
of the issues allows Winick to pace out the ups and downs in
ways that
are more focussed than the traditional chronological sequence.
Instead of spreading someone’s greif over five issues, the
scenes that
relate to it can be told in a single issue that ties it all together
far more coherently. It also means that this should be an easier
title for new readers to jump on to than most comics out there
today.
It’s very well crafted, and well told. Winick also loves to use
devices that simply cannot be reproduced outside the comic
medium
which work really, really well. I give it 6 out of 6.
The characterization develops again, particularly for
Mimic
and Morph. We learn a bit about Nocturne, too, now that we’ve
seen
her when she isn’t the perpetually happy person she’s been in the
past. The non-linear stories help emphasize the character work
as
well. I give it 5 out of 6.
The emotional response this produces is fairly high.
The
alternate realities pose some interesting ideas, as do their
questionable missions. Morph’s humour seems more on target
this time,
particularly in the scene that was chosen as the High Point. The
proven risk that any of these characters can be leaving the group
at
any time helps keep the emotional involvement up, since the
characters
won’t necessarily come through things in one piece. I give it 5
out
of 6.
The flow works surprisingly well for a non-linear story
that
skips large portions. The action sequences also work very well,
allowing for unusual panel arrangements without scattering the
panels
into weird orders. I give it 6 out of 6.
Overall, it’s a great volume in a good comic. This
title is
right behind Ultimate Spider-Man in my list of
favourites
right now. I can’t wait to get caught up in September so I can
switch
to the monthly issues. I give this volume 5 out of 6.
In total, Exiles Vol. 3: Out Of Time receives 37 out
of 42.