Exiles: Ultimate Collection, Book 2

Exiles (2001) (Collected Editions) #4-6

by Judd Winnick, Chuck Austen, Jim Calafiore (Contributor)

They are the Exiles, reality-hopping nomads forced to repair the broken chain of time. In each new universe, they must complete a critical mission before moving on. If they cannot rescue these realities, they may never return home. In this volume, the Exiles find themselves in a violent wasteland ravaged by plague.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, X Men, Superheroes, Fiction, Science Fiction

448 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2009

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

The freedom for the creators of this work to roam different realities lead to such great characters like a Vampire King Captain America, a psychotic serial killing Spider-Man, a gay Mary Jane Watson spider-woman, a black female Sasquatch, an Ice-Girl, a gay Mariko Yashida as Sunfire, the list is endless, and on top of that there are some great stories, and even entire arcs on the 'bad team' Weapon X. This is a genuine classic, inclusive and diverse Marvel from the Noughties... which was actually well written AND sold well. 8 out of 12 fabulous Four Stars :)

2018 read

[Ekenedilichukwu Ikegwuani · Rating 4 out of 5]

the storytelling is top notch as always. and the art is really good. the amount of thought that goes into creating every alternate reality really shines through

[Jason Tanner · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, the Chuck Austen issues were hot garbage, but that was probably overdetermined. The rest of the book swung between "fine" and "pretty good."

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Legacy (20-22). This V-Locks story has a really scary menace and several surprising turning points. The only thing holding it back is amateurish artwork [6.5/10].

With an Iron First (23-25). Fortunately the next story is a huge upswing, probably thanks to Winnick really doing something original. The view of Weapon X is great, as is their amorality, and the self-sacrifice implicit in the story [8/10].

Moses & Illyana (26-27). This is the story where Austen joins for a short run and immediately proves that he isn’t the writer that Winnick is. There’s actually some stuff to love in this story: the questions about the Time Broker, the dilemma faced by the Exiles, and the look at Illyana. However, the writing is somewhat awkward [6/10].

Earth-616 (28-30). Austen’s other story is unfortunately a train wreck. For one thing, it’s a big punch-em-up with very little to hold your interest. Beyond that, it makes almost no sense. There’s a good Havoc and a bad Havoc and they’re fighting to be the Havoc of all dimensions or something. Then there are some super werewolves which come from nowhere and making even less sense than anything else … I know some of this is connected to other X-comics at the time, but there’s so little context here that it’s unreadable. The only thing of value is the increasing malevolence of the Time Broker(s?). [3/10]

Avengers Forever (31-32). This is a great reminder of how superior Winnick’s writing is. It’s got great characterization, terrific funny, and a few different surprises. All around a lot of fun. (I liked it a little less when I initially read it, just after a bunch of Marvel Zombies; I liked it more this time after reading it right after Austen’s two arcs.) [8/10].

Singletons (33-34).The Heather/Wolverine [7/10] and Mariko/Mary [8/10] stories are both really nice character pieces that show the strengths of the Exiels comic once more.

Thing & Brood (35-37). The three-parter Thing/Brood story that ends things is just a boring set of fistfights. It’s a disappointing way for Winnick to go out, and even the shock ending doesn’t have the resonance it should [5/10].

X-Men Unlimited #41. An OK side story with some weird-scary that’s fun [6/10].

Overall, pretty good Winnick (in general), but a disappointing mid-run by Austen.

[Lissibith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, so I thought the first volume of this was a little hard to read - not in a bad way, but in an emotional punch way. But then I got to rereading this one and... holy goodness, I had no idea.

It's hardly the only superhero series where bad things are constantly happening, but it seems more visceral in this one for some reason, and I tend to blame that on getting very attached to the characters in a remarkably short amount of time.

An interesting thing that happens in this one is that... well, in the first ultimate collection, we got to meet another team doing as much hopping and "righting" as the Exiles, though in their own way. And this time, we actually get a brief story, uncomfortable in a good way, from their tam's point of view.

Now, this is the second time I've read this book, but the first time was a number of years ago. I've since widened my knowledge of the Marvel universe, and that makes it both better and worse. If I were the sort of person subject to making a big "Nooooo" I would have done so a few times during this book.

The art continues to be lovely, a bit cartoony but in a way that adds to rather than distracts from the story, and the colors are wonderfully vibrant.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without spoiling anything, I think I want to sort out some thoughts about this series as a whole. As of a minute ago, I just finished issue 89 of the 100 issue Exiles run. I personally started reading it in the 2006 or so when they started a long arc travelling across some familiar alternate universes. Since then, I've slowly been purchasing back issues an arc or so at a time and have finally filled in my run up to where I jumped off. I feel like these Judd Winick years are probably the strongest years in the title and that his skill with character really shines through. Jim Calafiore really did the lion's share of the art duties through the whole series giving a consistent visual style. A few of the characters really stuck around, too, which I was pleasantly surprised by. When I first jumped on I got the impression that the cast was more revolving with people jumping in and out as the story deemed fit, but there were very few cast changes in the first half of the series.

[Holden Attradies · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this as much as the first ultimate collection, but it was a little more all over the place with its stories. I think I need to come back after a few months and give it another good read and write a more in depth review. For now I just want to saw I REALLY liked the addition of Illyania's character, it kind of mixed things up in the group and I have a soft spot for the viscous pretty girl characters. I also felt a little shocked by Sunfire's death/Blink's return at the end. Since it's pretty much the very last thing that happens it will be interesting to see how it turns out, but my first impulse was to think of it as a way of killing off a maybe unpopular character and bringing back a VERY popular one (although that very would could be a massive misreading).

[Michael Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best things about this series is that it's constantly changing. The story arcs are usually pretty short, only two to three issues. After that you get a new setting, a new world, a new mission, new characters. It keeps things moving at a fair clip.