Writer: Judd Winick Artists: Mike McKone (p), John Holdredge & Livesay (I)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Plot: The book opens by showing us the mission that the Exiles have to perform on this latest world is to help Doctor Doom in his battle with the armies of a cheesed off Namor. To this end we see the Exiles split up, with most of the team heading off to battle Namor & his troops, while Mimic heads to Castle Doom to destroy a device that will make the air on the surface unbreathable to anyone who is non-Atlantean. As Mimic heads off on his mission we see him flashback to how he came to be one of the more popular heroes on his Earth. We see that much like in regular Marvel continuity Mimic started out as a villain, but he soon found his way onto the X-Men. Once he settled into the team we see Mimic soon emerged as the group's leader, and we also discover that unlike regular continuity, mutants were never really hated on Mimic's Earth, so the X-Men soon became a popular team with the general public. We then rejoin Mimic in the present day as he makes his way inside Castle Doom where he finds a swarm of attack robots waiting.
Comments: This issue is primarily devoted to developing Mimic, as after the opening six pages lay out the situation on this new world, the rest of the issue is squarely centered around Calvin Montgomery Rankin. With nine pages devoted to the story of how he became one of the most beloved heroes on his world, and the rest focused on his entry into the heavily guarded Castle Doom, this issue is very much a Mimic issue. Truth be told this isn't a bad thing, as before this issue he wasn't exactly topping the list of my favorite member of the group. In fact he resided right near the bottom of the list. This issue bumped him up a couple notches by making his back-story a bit different from the one the rest of the team have, as he comes from a seemingly perfect world, where mutants & humans get along famously, and Mimic was one of this world's premier heroes. This issue also offers up some nice insight into Mimic's relationship with Blink, as we see he views her as more of a port in the storm, than someone who he's ready to settle down with. The issue also does a pretty nice job playing up his smug nature without making him unlikeable.
Okay part of this rant may stem from the simple fact that I'm a raving Doctor Doom fan, and as such when he's a guest-star in a book I fully expect the spotlight to shine on Victor Von Doom. I mean one look at the cover to this month's issue & the little fanboy rose up to remind me that Doctor Doom is the greatest villain ever created, and that even if this one an alternate reality version of the character, Judd Winick wouldn't be silly enough to alter the perfect villain too much. So I enter this issue and what do I find? Well on the good side Dr. Doom looks to be his regular loveable self, and presumably this version likes to use the term "whelp" to address others. On the bad side Judd Winick might as well have dragged in a cardboard cutout of Doctor Doom, as he's featured in a grand total of three panels, and doesn't utter a single word. I realize that this is the Exiles' title, and as such I shouldn't expect the guest hero/villain to be front & center, but in my book there something wrong with a writer who gets a chance to play with Doctor Doom, and he decides to ignore this glorious opportunity.
If you ask me Mike McKone has himself the dream assignment for a comic book artist. I mean here's a book where you get to play with pretty much the entire Marvel Universe, and what's more you get to redesign the look of all these familiar characters. What's more while Judd Winick hasn't called for too many fantastic settings, this arc does open with a pretty impressive display of Namor's army, and Mimic also gets to prowl around the corridors of Castle Doom in the closing pages. The art also does a nice job with the scene where Mimic encounters Charles Xavier, as the hostile attitude of Mimic is nicely counterbalanced by Xavier's seeming lack of any emotion whatsoever. The art also captures Mimic's rise to fame quite nicely, with the panel sequence where he's shown as a member of both the old & new, all different X-Men being the highlight. The double page shot where he's confronted by the legion of robot attackers is also an impressive piece of art, though I do have to question the final page where Mimic pops out his bone claws as he's about to engage a group of robots most likely constructed out of hardened steel.
Final Word: Doctor Doom fans are sure to be disappointed by this issue as Judd Winick uses the character as little more than background decoration in this issue. However this issue does do a very solid job developing Mimic into an interesting character, as we not only get a detailed account of his life before he became a member of the Exiles, but we also get a bit of insight about how he feels about his new role, with his thoughts on his relationship with Blink being particularly surprising. In fact the idea that he was taken from a world where everything was seemingly perfect does make his commitment to the Exiles somewhat suspect, as one is left with the sense that if he was offered the chance to leave & go back to his home Earth, he would welcome it with open arms, even if it meant leaving Blink behind. The crisis that the Exiles are up against in this issue is also a nice exciting idea, and here's hoping next issue focuses a bit more on the action elements of this plot.
