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Exiles (2001) (Collected Editions)
Exiles, Vol. 16: Starting Over
The team comes back from a mission that couldn't have turned out more bizarre, but this time Heather's missing and the Crystal Palace is void of any signs of life. Where did the Exiles' trusted arm-chair general disappear to? Why is the Palace empty? What new doom awaits them in the next dysfunctional dimension? Welcome new penciler Clayton (Uncanny X-Men) Henry and cover artist Tomm (Agents of Atlas) Coker as they join X-Men legend Chris Claremont on a story that will change the team forever. Collects Exiles #95-100.
144 pages, Paperback
First published February 27, 2008
50 people want to read
About the author
Chris Claremont
3,281 books894 followersChris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.
Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.
Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.
Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.
Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 20, 2020
Well, this is the final volume of Exiles before it was rebranded as 'New Exiles'. I honestly don't know why they do this sort of thing; does bunding the word 'New' in front of the title really have new readers flocking to a book in droves? Ah, maybe it does; people are notoriously gullible.
I wish I could say the original series went out on a high, but this tale is OK at best. Chris Claremont introduces some new team members who are largely personality-free blank slates at the moment; hopefully they'll be fleshed out a bit more in coming volumes. He also jettisons three founding members of the team, including Nocturne, which surprised me as she was his chosen character to use to talk about his stroke. Maybe he'd said all he wanted to say about it by this point.
I wish I could say the original series went out on a high, but this tale is OK at best. Chris Claremont introduces some new team members who are largely personality-free blank slates at the moment; hopefully they'll be fleshed out a bit more in coming volumes. He also jettisons three founding members of the team, including Nocturne, which surprised me as she was his chosen character to use to talk about his stroke. Maybe he'd said all he wanted to say about it by this point.
September 16, 2018
Wow. Amazing. I know this series was rarely amazing, but it was certainly at least fun sometimes. It's sad that it has to end on such a terribly emotionless note. And this is one of the worst-written comics I have ever read: it has every "classic" bit of poor writing conceivable, along with some entirely new ways of messing things up.
Here's a quick list of all the things that are terrible. (Sometimes, when things are sooooo terrible, I just have to make a list to help myself cope.)
Wow, now that I actually listed a lot of the problems, this really IS one of the worst ever! I really wanted to finish the series, even after it went downhill. But, to readers everywhere: DON'T! Stop as soon as it starts downhill! The ending will ruin everything ever!
Here's a quick list of all the things that are terrible. (Sometimes, when things are sooooo terrible, I just have to make a list to help myself cope.)
Wow, now that I actually listed a lot of the problems, this really IS one of the worst ever! I really wanted to finish the series, even after it went downhill. But, to readers everywhere: DON'T! Stop as soon as it starts downhill! The ending will ruin everything ever!
February 28, 2016
Reprints Exiles (1) #95-100 and Exiles: Days of Then and Now #1 (August 2007-March 2008). The Exiles return to the Crystal Palace to find Heather gone and the palace deserted. The Exiles set out on a new adventure to a world where Victor Von Doom is leader of the Four Fantastics and Reed Richards is known as the Mole Man. The Exiles are scattered about time again and realize they must find their way back to the Crystal Palace, or it could be their last adventure.
Written by Chris Claremont, Exiles 16: Starting Over brings to a conclusion the first volume of Marvel’s Exiles series. Following Exiles 15: Enemy of the Stars, the collection serves as a direct tie in to the limited series X-Men: Die by the Sword by Claremont and also contains the stand alone issue Exiles: Days of Then and Now which is written by Exiles’ first editor Mike Raicht. The collection is also included in Exiles: Ultimate Collection Volume 6.
I like Chris Claremont, and I like the idea of the Exiles, but like many volumes of Exiles, I find this last entry a bit tedious. The first part of the story bring the “World Tour” home for a wrap-up adventure. The adventure however just doesn’t seem to flow. I kept looking back to see if I was missing portions of the story.
Much of what makes the Exiles work is the personalities and many of the characters are just lost in this volume. It needs to be about Blink, Sabretooth, Longshot, Morph, Psylocke, and Spider-Man 2099…especially if you are wrapping up a one hundred issue series. The characters deserve more than this.
Part of the problem with this series is that it is a tie in series. The Exiles and New Excalibur come together in X-Men: Die by the Sword #1-5 and some of this collection has ties to it. The 100th issue of Exiles is almost illogical. I didn’t read X-Men: Die by the Sword, and I had to look up what occurred on the series to understand what happened at the end of the long running series.
The stand-alone issue Exiles: Days of Then and Now however is fun. In the story, Blink takes the guise of the Time Broker to set another new Exile team in formation due to the fact the Exiles were gone on the World Tour when the world needed them. It is a fun little jaunt with once again fun characters…I wish that the previous stories had been a bit more like this. It isn’t perfect, but more in the spirit of the Exiles.
Exiles was a frustrating series. I read the entire series, but can’t say it was every anything but an average series. The reason that this is frustrating is that it could have been so much better. Exiles 16: Starting Over is a weak entry in a series with a number of weak entries. Exiles 16: Starting Over ends with this volume of Exiles but a new series New Exiles 1: New Life, New Gambit.
Written by Chris Claremont, Exiles 16: Starting Over brings to a conclusion the first volume of Marvel’s Exiles series. Following Exiles 15: Enemy of the Stars, the collection serves as a direct tie in to the limited series X-Men: Die by the Sword by Claremont and also contains the stand alone issue Exiles: Days of Then and Now which is written by Exiles’ first editor Mike Raicht. The collection is also included in Exiles: Ultimate Collection Volume 6.
I like Chris Claremont, and I like the idea of the Exiles, but like many volumes of Exiles, I find this last entry a bit tedious. The first part of the story bring the “World Tour” home for a wrap-up adventure. The adventure however just doesn’t seem to flow. I kept looking back to see if I was missing portions of the story.
Much of what makes the Exiles work is the personalities and many of the characters are just lost in this volume. It needs to be about Blink, Sabretooth, Longshot, Morph, Psylocke, and Spider-Man 2099…especially if you are wrapping up a one hundred issue series. The characters deserve more than this.
Part of the problem with this series is that it is a tie in series. The Exiles and New Excalibur come together in X-Men: Die by the Sword #1-5 and some of this collection has ties to it. The 100th issue of Exiles is almost illogical. I didn’t read X-Men: Die by the Sword, and I had to look up what occurred on the series to understand what happened at the end of the long running series.
The stand-alone issue Exiles: Days of Then and Now however is fun. In the story, Blink takes the guise of the Time Broker to set another new Exile team in formation due to the fact the Exiles were gone on the World Tour when the world needed them. It is a fun little jaunt with once again fun characters…I wish that the previous stories had been a bit more like this. It isn’t perfect, but more in the spirit of the Exiles.
Exiles was a frustrating series. I read the entire series, but can’t say it was every anything but an average series. The reason that this is frustrating is that it could have been so much better. Exiles 16: Starting Over is a weak entry in a series with a number of weak entries. Exiles 16: Starting Over ends with this volume of Exiles but a new series New Exiles 1: New Life, New Gambit.
November 12, 2012
Ever read 100 issues of a comic you didn't like very much?
That's not completely fair. While always very exposition-heavy, and frequently a little disjointed, Exiles could often be a fun romp. True, it was rarely the What If-like alternate universe exploration I wanted it to be and more a "Here's a world where the Fantastic Four are different!" (It was kind of like the TV show Sliders in that way.) But I grew to like the characters. It's bittersweet saying goodbye to them here, especially because it's such a blah ending. And because Claremont does a fairly lousy job in the last arc leading up to that.
That's not completely fair. While always very exposition-heavy, and frequently a little disjointed, Exiles could often be a fun romp. True, it was rarely the What If-like alternate universe exploration I wanted it to be and more a "Here's a world where the Fantastic Four are different!" (It was kind of like the TV show Sliders in that way.) But I grew to like the characters. It's bittersweet saying goodbye to them here, especially because it's such a blah ending. And because Claremont does a fairly lousy job in the last arc leading up to that.
June 15, 2021
This was okay but the series didn't exactly go out on a high note. There's a mixed up Fantastic Four Universe where things end badly and the Exiles all get scattered in space and time. They meet back up and some decide to try to make a normal life and a few stick with the Exiles team, which I'm assuming leads into the "New Exiles" series.
As a series, I would give it four stars overall. Most of the volumes were good and most of the art was decent. While it did have rough spots, for the most part this was one of the more entertaining X-titles.
As a series, I would give it four stars overall. Most of the volumes were good and most of the art was decent. While it did have rough spots, for the most part this was one of the more entertaining X-titles.
December 6, 2019
It should have ended a volume or two ago, kinda ends with a whimper sadly
August 9, 2025
Updated Review from 2025 X-Reread:
The core of this book: The Exiles being split up and pitted against each other in a world where Dr Doom is the leader of the Fantastic Four, who's made society an emotionless utopia, is okay. The premise is interesting and some of the characterization is thought out but Claremont also throws characters into immediate relationships that he wants the reader to imagine are deep emotional bonds, even though the characters have shared two panels and have been together for less than a week.
There is also the issue of Claremont clearing the decks of Heather Hudson and the bugs in the Crystal Palace and replacing them with...gods?...holograms, but not The Timebroker...for some reason? It never makes any sense. He also awakens a character whose return has been hinted at for a while. They show up in a battle, spout misogyny, and that's it, Claremont is done with them so we don't see them again.
It really feels like Claremont was halfway through an issue when editorial told him the title was cancelled and he haphazardly threw together an ending. It's embarrassingly bad. It highlights all of his flaws as a writer and none of his strengths.
There is absolutely no reason to ever read this.
***
Original 2018 Review:
I'm not quite sure how to review this book. The pacing is completely off, events happen to push the story along, but they happen without logic, reason or explanation. Pages are filled with narration boxes explaining things that you can see in the picture but they don't deal with characters seemingly random appearances and disappearances. Sabretooth, in The Year Of Charles Xavier, 2008 says "That was fun. NOT!", as though he were in an episode of an 80s sitcom that was cancelled before it ever aired.
The core idea of the first storyarc in this volume: The Four Fantastic of Doom, Hulk, The Invisible Woman, and The Human Torch vs. She-Hulk and Reed Richards The Moleman is fun. Alas, it's constantly interrupted by ... a ... set of gods? ... picnicing with Psylocke ..? who then ... claim to have run the Crystal Palace ... and then ... dissapear from the book. And then a version of Shadowcat shows up. And Thunderbird is alive again. Why? ... ummm ...
While I don't think this is the worst Claremont book of the 21st century. Possibly, it's not even in the bottom five. It is an unreadable mess that I can't, in good faith, recommend to anyone. Especially not people who previously enjoyed this series.
The core of this book: The Exiles being split up and pitted against each other in a world where Dr Doom is the leader of the Fantastic Four, who's made society an emotionless utopia, is okay. The premise is interesting and some of the characterization is thought out but Claremont also throws characters into immediate relationships that he wants the reader to imagine are deep emotional bonds, even though the characters have shared two panels and have been together for less than a week.
There is also the issue of Claremont clearing the decks of Heather Hudson and the bugs in the Crystal Palace and replacing them with...gods?...holograms, but not The Timebroker...for some reason? It never makes any sense. He also awakens a character whose return has been hinted at for a while. They show up in a battle, spout misogyny, and that's it, Claremont is done with them so we don't see them again.
It really feels like Claremont was halfway through an issue when editorial told him the title was cancelled and he haphazardly threw together an ending. It's embarrassingly bad. It highlights all of his flaws as a writer and none of his strengths.
There is absolutely no reason to ever read this.
***
Original 2018 Review:
I'm not quite sure how to review this book. The pacing is completely off, events happen to push the story along, but they happen without logic, reason or explanation. Pages are filled with narration boxes explaining things that you can see in the picture but they don't deal with characters seemingly random appearances and disappearances. Sabretooth, in The Year Of Charles Xavier, 2008 says "That was fun. NOT!", as though he were in an episode of an 80s sitcom that was cancelled before it ever aired.
The core idea of the first storyarc in this volume: The Four Fantastic of Doom, Hulk, The Invisible Woman, and The Human Torch vs. She-Hulk and Reed Richards The Moleman is fun. Alas, it's constantly interrupted by ... a ... set of gods? ... picnicing with Psylocke ..? who then ... claim to have run the Crystal Palace ... and then ... dissapear from the book. And then a version of Shadowcat shows up. And Thunderbird is alive again. Why? ... ummm ...
While I don't think this is the worst Claremont book of the 21st century. Possibly, it's not even in the bottom five. It is an unreadable mess that I can't, in good faith, recommend to anyone. Especially not people who previously enjoyed this series.
February 23, 2018
Continuing the great x-read of 2017/18...
When I started this endeavor last year, I was pleased whenever I saw Claremont's name attached to something.
At this point in the game, though, I cringe every time I see it on a cover.
While this volume is slightly better than the last (primarily due to the non-Claremont story at the tail end), it still continues Claremont's absolute destruction of a series that I really enjoyed before he got his hands on it. Dropped plotlines, character assassinations, dead characters inexplicably back without explanation, ridiculous new directions... This one has it all, folks.
Oh, and half of the story is in another volume. Plodding through that one now.
Such a sad sendoff for one of the better teams in the X-universe. I would definitely recommend just dropping the series before Claremont takes over if you start reading it. You'll get the same amount of resolution but not have all of the characters ruined for you.
When I started this endeavor last year, I was pleased whenever I saw Claremont's name attached to something.
At this point in the game, though, I cringe every time I see it on a cover.
While this volume is slightly better than the last (primarily due to the non-Claremont story at the tail end), it still continues Claremont's absolute destruction of a series that I really enjoyed before he got his hands on it. Dropped plotlines, character assassinations, dead characters inexplicably back without explanation, ridiculous new directions... This one has it all, folks.
Oh, and half of the story is in another volume. Plodding through that one now.
Such a sad sendoff for one of the better teams in the X-universe. I would definitely recommend just dropping the series before Claremont takes over if you start reading it. You'll get the same amount of resolution but not have all of the characters ruined for you.
March 25, 2022
What a sad way to end this series.
I remember when I read the original Blink mini-seroes and then heard about Exiles. It instantly became an auto-buy for me and even though at some point I dropped it (like I did all my individual comics for a while) I have such fond memories of it.
I guess I stopped before it could disappoint me.
This ended confusing, convoluted and so far from its original premise that its a different comic. So yeah if no one minds I'm...going to consign this series to the place in my heart where many of my teen series of fondness reside. And never revisit it.
I remember when I read the original Blink mini-seroes and then heard about Exiles. It instantly became an auto-buy for me and even though at some point I dropped it (like I did all my individual comics for a while) I have such fond memories of it.
I guess I stopped before it could disappoint me.
This ended confusing, convoluted and so far from its original premise that its a different comic. So yeah if no one minds I'm...going to consign this series to the place in my heart where many of my teen series of fondness reside. And never revisit it.
September 17, 2015
i recommend this book to people who like comic. i like this book because its the combination of all superhero team and how the team gather their lose teammate.
February 4, 2018
Almost infuriatingly bad.
To have much of any kind of clue as to what they were talking about in issue #100, I'm guessing I needed to read the miniseries or crossover or whatever was advertised at the end of issue #99.
But this is a volume and a semi-coherent story is expected.
None was found.
Such a disappointing end to a series that started off so very strong.
To have much of any kind of clue as to what they were talking about in issue #100, I'm guessing I needed to read the miniseries or crossover or whatever was advertised at the end of issue #99.
But this is a volume and a semi-coherent story is expected.
None was found.
Such a disappointing end to a series that started off so very strong.
June 30, 2020
Not a good ending
I loved most of the exile series but the ending was quite underwhelming. I know they were preparing for the next storyline new exiles, but they missed out so much and never gave the original character a good farewell.
Overall still glad read this series in its entirety but the ending has left me a bit dissatisfied
I loved most of the exile series but the ending was quite underwhelming. I know they were preparing for the next storyline new exiles, but they missed out so much and never gave the original character a good farewell.
Overall still glad read this series in its entirety but the ending has left me a bit dissatisfied
December 6, 2019
That was a disappointing ending.
May 28, 2021
Felt like issues were missing between issues.
December 18, 2017
This really sets up the new Exiles series.
July 31, 2011
The Exiles come to an end, with many original cast members leaving, some new ones appearing, and a relaunch around the corner. Claremont again uses the F4 in his stories, and fails to understand the nuances between his characters and their actions. The final story, a one-shot issue, proves to be a great coda to the end of an era.
February 19, 2017
It's been a while since I read an Exiles book, and reading this makes me want to go back through the back issues. The plot at times seems to gloss over some events, like new members joining the team, and there seems to be a lack of much real character development. Not a must read, but as a fan of earlier Exiles stories, I enjoyed this one.
December 19, 2011
Ok, not as good as previous volumes. Victor Doom has taken over a world that the exiles land in. Feels quite disjointed. There are some nice endings for characters though.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews