Loon Review: Exiles #1 and 2

[brentlambert]

Exiles # 1 by Mitch Crane

THE GOOD: I liked this issue’s length and the fact it was a done-in-one tale. A series like Exiles can easily lend itself to longer arcs, but I appreciate that Mitch kept it down to a single issue. This story was very easy to read and had a narrative flow that was just about right. It wasn’t a skeleton story filled with just dialogue. Will never understand how some try to pass off minimalism as laziness. But it did contain a good bit of description, which lent flavor to the issue. Also, Mitch avoided a common mistake and spent less time on the alternate world and more time on the characters making up the Exiles. Sometimes it is too easy to get lost into the world that you’re creating and forget that the Exiles are supposed to be the main star. Blink’s reaction to Morph and his present state really made the ball connect with the bat for me. It made sense and I was glad that Mitch took the time to really discuss the emotional ramifications of that.

THE BAD: The Earth explored in this issue could have been something more out there. Human/mutant conflicts on alternate worlds have been rocked to death. Not saying a world like that shouldn’t be explored, but its not what should have been started off with. Though I did like the fact that different characters were used. The Elixir cameo was cool.

OVERALL: I liked this first issue more than I thought I would have and it comes from Mitch taking the time to really dig into the heads of the Exiles instead of expounding upon the coolness of the alternate world that they’re visiting. Having Access in the mix didn’t hurt either.

Exiles # 2 by Mitch Crane

THE GOOD: Again, I enjoyed how the heads of these characters are explored. But for me, I appreciated that Mitch took the time to do a world that was a little bit different. The twist with Hank Pym in this issue was really clever and it had been hinted at from the start. So good job on the foreshadowing there. I would have liked to have seen Miguel get a little more focus as I’m sure this would have been right up his alley. I am glad though that there hasn’t been some massive squad change and Mitch is using the same characters that the cut-off provided him with. This makes any future team changes a lot more legitimate to me.

THE BAD: I wish the bad guy would not have been dispatched so quickly. And the Avengers team of this world was pretty small. What happened to the other guys?

OVERALL: I still am enjoying the series and I’m surprised because I did not go into this title expecting to like it to any great degree. Mitch has managed to surprise me and I look forward to future issues.

[mitchcrane]

Thansk for teh Reviews Brent. I'm really happy someone is reading my title I hope you enjoy the third one, though I have no idea when its going up. I have up to issue 5 submitted at the moment.

I'm glad you like teh done in one thing. To be honest, since my writing ebbs and flows, i try to do done in ones ratehr than arcs because I don't want to leave people waiting ages for the next issues lol.

As for the small cast of Avenegrs in issue two, I don't want to have two many characters and steal the limelight from the Exiles. Most of the Avenegrs were either killed (Jan got eaten by an amoeba hehe) or weren't present at the mansion when shrunk.

[brentlambert]

Jun 25, 2009 19:55:54 GMT -5 mitchcrane said:

Thansk for teh Reviews Brent. I'm really happy someone is reading my title I hope you enjoy the third one, though I have no idea when its going up. I have up to issue 5 submitted at the moment.

I'm glad you like teh done in one thing. To be honest, since my writing ebbs and flows, i try to do done in ones ratehr than arcs because I don't want to leave people waiting ages for the next issues lol.

As for the small cast of Avenegrs in issue two, I don't want to have two many characters and steal the limelight from the Exiles. Most of the Avenegrs were either killed (Jan got eaten by an amoeba hehe) or weren't present at the mansion when shrunk.

I agree with not letting the main cast of Exiles getting overshadowed. Would it be possible to see more obscure characters throughout the series as it progresses forward? Seeing a world where The Jackal or someone like The Horde showed up would be interesting. Anything outside of the normal big characters that keep popping up.

[mitchcrane]

Jun 27, 2009 17:05:04 GMT -5 brentlambert said:

Jun 25, 2009 19:55:54 GMT -5 mitchcrane said:

Thansk for teh Reviews Brent. I'm really happy someone is reading my title I hope you enjoy the third one, though I have no idea when its going up. I have up to issue 5 submitted at the moment.

I'm glad you like teh done in one thing. To be honest, since my writing ebbs and flows, i try to do done in ones ratehr than arcs because I don't want to leave people waiting ages for the next issues lol.

As for the small cast of Avenegrs in issue two, I don't want to have two many characters and steal the limelight from the Exiles. Most of the Avenegrs were either killed (Jan got eaten by an amoeba hehe) or weren't present at the mansion when shrunk.

I agree with not letting the main cast of Exiles getting overshadowed. Would it be possible to see more obscure characters throughout the series as it progresses forward? Seeing a world where The Jackal or someone like The Horde showed up would be interesting. Anything outside of the normal big characters that keep popping up.

check out issue three, which happens to be out now. That'll satisfy your desires.

[Derrick]

Certainly nobody can say that #2 of EXILES didn't have enough action in it. I like how Mitch can handle a large number of characters in a fight scene and not have them get lost. Fight scenes are a common complaint among fan fiction writers as they're unsure of their ability to write them convincingly but Mitch doesn't seem to have that particular fear. He just throws himself and his characters into the fray with enthusiasm. And it works. Whatever else didn't work for me with EXILES #2 I certainly can't fault the fight scenes.

My problem comes from the character of Morph who I gather is a huge favorite with fans of the series (Marvel version). There's a scene in this issue where Morph himself wonders why he bothers making jokes and changing himself into various TV characters since none of his teammates gets the joke. I have to wonder the same thing. It's fun once in a while to make private jokes that only you get but after awhile it gets tired laughing at your own jokes. Or maybe not. Most people think they're funnier than they actually and maybe Morph is the same. But his bit of introspection about his friends not getting his jokes was an interesting bit of characterization and demonstrated again to me that Mitch has a good handle on the characterization of his cast even if I myself don't get it. I suspect a lot of the character's inner turmoil comes from this character Proteus that Morph is now bonded/joined with. Hopefully future issues will explain this bonding/joining more fully.

The scene where The Exiles and the Avengers of Earth #3208 meet up played out way too quickly for me. The Exiles simply say they're a new team and Captain America takes their word for it just like that? I admit that given the circumstances of the situation I'm probably being way too picky but it just seemed too rushed to me as if Mitch wanted to get back to the punchy-punchy-run-run as soon as possible

But just like #1, #2 is an issue built for fans of the series who know these characters inside out and what they're all about. Mitch doesn't stop his story to explain who's who's or what's what and that's his prerogative. Every writer has his right to tell his story in his own way. But I'm beginning to feel like the guy at the party who's listening to what are undoubtedly very funny jokes and is watching everybody laughing and wondering why he's the only one not getting it.