Written by Chris Claremont
Art by Tom Grummett; Vicente Cifuentes; & Wil Quintana
Cover Art by Alex Garner
SUMMARY:
Published by Marvel Comics for October 2008, it’s the third chapter of the four-part “Soul Awakening.” Per the first-page summary, six mutants from other parallel universes (Rogue of Earth-1009; Mystiq of Earth-797; Gambit of Earth-6706; Morph of Earth-1081; Psylocke and Sage of Earth-616; and Morph of Earth-1081) are trapped on an unnamed Earth where Atlantis, Great Britain, and France dominate the planet. Led by the world’s Emma Frost, its teenage X-Men are the covert ‘Force-X.’
Rogue single-handedly dispatches the inexperienced Force-X in a scrimmage. The French Navy seeks to take control of the Isle of Manhattan and capture the elusive British Queen. Trying to dodge the French invaders, Sage & Morph act as the Queen’s bodyguards. In Japan, Psylocke hones her combat skills with her devil mask-clad mentor to become Lady Mandarin. Force-X may be too late to save the Queen from a forced surrender. At the Exiles headquarters (The Crystal Palace), Sabretooth of Earth-295 and Cat (Kitty Pryde of some lost Earth) ponder the Omniverse’s potential destruction.
REVIEW:
New Exiles # 9 depicts a neat alternate world of what the X-Men could be (no matter the confusion of tracking all the variant characters from one another). Despite writer Chris Claremont’s considerable talents, the problem is the lack of anything compelling enough to entice readers into seeking out this full storyline.
Issue # 9 alone is frankly a muddled read, especially for casual fans, as the various sub-plots impair one’s ability to build interest in any particular set of characters. If anything, the comic’s high-caliber artwork (i.e. Psylocke’s stellar cover image) surpasses the confusing events seen on Claremont’s French-British-Atlantean parallel world.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
There’s a single-page “Tallus About It!” letters-and-answers column, which includes a cover real for New Exiles # 10.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 5 Stars
