EXILES #75
Reviewed by: James Hatton
Writer: Tony Bedard
Penciler: Jim Calafiore
Inker: Mark McKenna
Colorist: Tom Chu
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Mike Marts
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Many many years ago, there were a multitude of universes in the Marvel canon. There was the New Universe. There was the 2099 Universe. Now, they have continued that trend with the Ultimate-Verse… but in Exiles, they are viewing all of these forgotten troves of characters and storylines and having our world jumpers run around and run amuck with Proteus.
What happens when Tony Bedard shows that he likes to hide away in his fake fantasy worlds… you know… like us.
STORY!
Now it goes without saying that I know absolutely zilch about the 2099 universe other than when my friend Erik tells me how great Ghost Rider 2099 was. I know zilch. Bedard could have come out and said that all of the Avengers were new computer simulacrums of old Avengers, and I would have bought it. He could have said that Doom 2099 was just a little girl who had powers of fauna. He didn’t. He stuck to what I can only assume are the general concepts of Spider-Man 2099 and Hulk 2099.
Then he let Proteus inside the Hulk.
The power in his storytelling here is that he is constantly giving you just enough knowledge to go on. I don’t really need to know how Stark-Fujiwara began or what it means, although I like the concept. I’m sure there are 2099 fans out there who were wetting themselves over it.
This story is an ends to a great means… to never forget what came before us, as well as to revisit great (and not so great) times in Marvel’s history and let a new generation of people see the twisted little minds that have come before them.
Is it good though? Yes, it is. It’s not as good as the New Universe story started off, but the tension of seeing Proteus try and get to the unstoppable, unmovable, big green machine of the Hulk is tangible. You feel a need coming off of the Exiles to stop him after the death of Mimic and it makes the entire book feel tense in the right ways.
ART!
It seems to be that I get the Exiles reviews that are the middle issues for whatever ‘BIG ART TEAM’ – and these middle issues are always covered by two guys I know and love in this industry, Jim Calafiore and Mark McKenna.
These two guys have been working on and off this book for years now, and when we switch back to them it always feels that their fingerprint has been on the Exiles history since the beginning… because it has. Jim knows how to throw a big panel in there to give you the epic scope of someone like Hulk or Spider-Man, as well as constantly make Morph look like the wisecracking sidekick that he should be.
OVERALL!
So 2099 now… and beyond that, we will have to see. Bedard can’t hold onto the Proteus story forever, but what we’ve seen so far has been excellent, and while I’m fairly certain we have one or two worlds to visit before it ends, I’ve enjoyed every step of the way so far.
