After dancing around the margins of the Exiles format for a few months, this issue Tony Bedard tries something different.  He just does the format straight.

So this is one of those issues where the Exiles turn up, they're assigned a random mission, and they head off to do it.  I guess there's been enough variation on the theme to justify simply doing the theme again, but there's only a finite number of ideas.  And, like Winick, Bedard is going for the "global catastrophe" angle.  (Why can't a derailing of the timeline ever be something on a smaller scale?)

This time round, the Earth is infected by Ego the Living Planet, and the Avengers have enlisted the help of Dr Doom to stop it.  But that's going to cause even more problems, so the Exiles have to stop them.  And that's basically it.

It's an okay example of the Exiles formula, but nothing much more than that.  There's a rather heavyhanded ecological subtext (if the Earth were alive it would generate antibodies to fight off loggers...), and the Exiles are in the unenviable role of interchangeable heroes.  You could do this story with anyone on the team - something that's proved a recurring problem with the formula.

Jim Calafiore returns as the semi-regular guest artist.  His work on this issue is patchy.  It's rougher and more angular than usual, and feels a little rushed.  There's an awkward visual gag where a power plant is run by characters who look like Montgomery Burns and Smithers, which doesn't work because the Burns figure then has to deliver three pages of exposition while acting nothing like the Simpsons character.  On the other hand, he does some nice redesigns of the Avengers, including a less uptight Captain America and a more mythological Thor (though the female Iron Man is just anorexically horrible).

This is competent stuff but nothing out of the ordinary.  A couple of throwaway ideas draw attention, but the story itself is standard Exiles fare.

Rating: B

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