Exiles #100 wasn't an anniversary issue, so much as a transition story leading into the upcoming relaunch.  But in this day and age, it's unusual for a new title to make it all the way to issue #100, and so somebody at Marvel has decided to commission a proper tribute.

That would be Exiles: Days of Then and Now.  It's a strange-looking project.  It's written by Mike Raicht, the book's original editor, who went freelance a while back.  As for the art, it's a jam issue, featuring creators who have nothing much to do with Exiles.  The credits list a total of seventeen contributors to this book - and that's after they forgot to mention the letterer.

Rather than writing about the Exiles themselves, Raicht has produced a story which is loosely about the effect they had on the worlds left behind.  Starting out in a reality where the Hulk hijacked the Annihilation Wave and conquered the world, Kid Omega from New X-Men sets off in search of the Exiles, hoping that they'll liberate his world.  He ends up jumping between realities which the team have visited before and meeting some of the locals. 

This is quite a neat idea for an anniversary book.  The Exiles themselves barely appear, but they're a presence in virtually every scene.  It allows Raicht to focus on the earlier versions of the Exiles instead of being tied down to Claremont's recently-revamped line-up.  And it lets us check in to see how these worlds ended up - some better than others.

Oh, and obviously, the episodic format is convenient for a jam issue.  The art style varies wildly, from Carlos Ferreira's relatively polished framing sequence, through to Paul Azaceta's pages, which look like they belong in a Vertigo book.  Some of the segments are a bit rough around the edges, to be honest, but they all get the job done well enough.

Sticking out like a sore thumb is a segment with Spitfire, from a world apparently based on Warren Ellis's newuniversal.  This doesn't seem to have anything much to do with Exiles, and it comes across as a loss of focus.  And when you stop to think about it, the ending is also a bit doubtful; Quire is joined by some of the heroes he meets along the way, but it's hard to imagine this bunch of D-listers making that much difference.

Still, I kind of liked this issue.  It's intended primarily as a look back over the series, and for the most part it works well on that level.  It gives the first hundred issues a little bit of closure, and it makes good use of the parallel-worlds gimmick to have fun with the Marvel Universe characters. 

Taken on its own terms, this is perfectly fine.

Rating: B+

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