Exiles #43

Background

Mimic was infected by an alien Brood egg which took him over and twisted him to its will. The Exiles were barely able to stop him, and Sunfire paid the price. With Sunfire dead, the Timebroker has selected his replacement: Blink! But what kind of team has she returned to?

CURRENT EXILES:

BLINK (Clarice Ferguson): Teleportation

MIMIC (Calvin Rankin): Mimics the powers of 5 mutants at a time.

NOCTURNE (TJ Wagner): Hex bolts and body possession.

MORPH: Shape-shifting.

SUNFIRE (Mariko Yashida): DECEASED

SASQUATCH (Dr. Heather Hudson): Super strength and senses.

MAGIK (Illyana Rasputin): Teleportation and magic sword.

Story Details

Blink returns to find Sunfire dead, and Morph, who was very fond of her, angry at Mimic for killing her while under the influence of the Brood. Blink teleports them out of the open and into the Morlock Tunnels of the world they're on, where Morph effectively hands in his resignation. Blink tries to talk to him, but he storms off after some angry threats to Mimic. While Mimic wallows in his guilt, the Exiles realize they have company; Gambit from the alternate Timebroker team of Weapon X. Mimic takes off with Blink after him, then Illyana storms off in the direction of Morph, leaving Heather and TJ with Gambit who offers them less than delectable goodies to eat.

Blink finally finds Mimic, letting off some steam from his frustration with his various powers. Blink tries to console him, but Mimic stays hard on himself, while at the same time being happy she's back. Eventually, he's calmed down and without a new immediate mission, the lovers decide to catch up on some lost time. Elsewhere, Illyana catches up to Morph and explains to him the reason she is like she is was because the Timebroker told her she would slaughter everyone she loved in her home reality. Morph tries to console her, resulting in Illyana putting the moves on him and wondering if she could turn into someone she's always wanted to be with. Morph tells her to slow down and not ruin her first non-psycho moment by being a psycho. They talk, and Morph realizes he can't abandon the team over Mimic. He starts to go back to them, but Illyana just wants a little more alone time together, feeling normal for the first time in a long time.

Meanwhile, Gambit explains since he got the Tallus he's been lying to Weapon X to try and get the missions accomplished so he could return to his beloved Storm. While Hyperion, Ms. Marvel and Spider went nuts, he, Firestar and Hulk (now the male version) did what they needed to do. Hyperion eventually figured it out and blasted Gambit's Tallus arm clean off. That sent Gambit's teammates against Hyperion's, while Gambit retreated to the tunnels for safety; the Tallus now on his other arm. He's been waiting since for a mission, and at that moment it's come through. Of the 12 misplaced people on the world, only 6 will be allowed to move on. The rest must die.

In Times Square, Spider arrives to tell Hyperion his spider-sense has picked up the arrival of the Exiles. Hyperion welcomes the new challenge as he sits on his throne surrounded by the bodies of all the heroes on the world he has killed.

General Comments

A very good issue and a great start to the story. This resolves a lot of the issues set up last time as well as creates an all-new situation that effectively utilizes the Weapon X crew that debuted so long ago. The There was a slight issue with coloring; Gambit's Tallus changes colors between his flashback and the present with the Exiles, and in one panel Illyana is colored like Blink. Also, the issue of Sunfire's body seems to be glossed over. The story moves on without ever indicating what the Exiles did with her. Is she still in the middle of the floor in the tunnel? Did they bury her? We don't know. Everyone storms off in different directions or listens to Gambit's story immediately after they're transported down there. Everything else, from story to art, was excellent.

Overall Rating

3.5 Webs. Some coloring issues and a major piece of the story was not given closure before the rest of it moved on, but otherwise an excellent read.

Footnote

In every issue, Morph takes on some familiar and unusual forms. Here, we'll try to chronicle as many as we can in a section we'll call: MORPH'S MORPHS!

Morph's morphs is taking a break this issue due to a death in the family.