The "ReLoad" of the entire X-MEN line is going to cause a lot of people to make some decisions whether to stay with certain titles or not. At the same time, it'll give a bunch of newer readers a set of "jumping-on" points (or so Marvel hopes) that will revitalize the line as a whole. I don't know about the rest of the line just yet, but speaking as someone who had never read an issue of EXILES before this particular "jumping-on" point, I'd have to say that giving Tony Bedard the reins may be one of the more successful moves the X-editors have made.
It's a tough concept to pull off, especially when it reads to the newbie like Marvel's version of SLIDERS with a few bells and whistles added on. But keeping references to the catastrophic events of previous issues down to nothing throws us all into the deep end literally, as the team begin the book in the ocean and it allows Bedard to remake the book as he sees fit. Sending the Exiles to a world we're already familiar with, implying that said world needs to be changed in some major fashion, also puts the entire concept into question, and suddenly characters that long-time readers are used to thinking of as "heroes" have the uncomfortable possibility of turning, albeit briefly, into "villains." There's a lot more going for the story than this, of course, not the least of which is the introduction of the new Exile, a blue-skinned Atlantean named...Namora. (Three guesses who she might be an alternate version of, and the first two don't count.) You also don't have to be a long-time reader to imagine how someone with that kind of attitude towards things will respond to working with this team and it sets up some startling possibilities for future issues.
Speaking of startling, there's Mizuki Sakakibara's artwork. While I may never have picked up an issue of EXILES before this, despite scripting by the likes of Judd Winick and so forth, I did come close a few times, and it was always down to the striking cover art. The stuff inside never did much for me. Now what's outside is inside, as Sakakibara has been "promoted" from cover artist to regular artist, and the difference is...well, startling, really. Sakakibara's work has a crispness of line and clarity of layout that fools you into thinking it's simpler than it is. It's just as busy and action-filled as any other mainstream comics art out there, but it hasn't the effect of overwhelming the eye that such art normally does. Kudos to the colorist, too it's not often you get a book this brightly colored that can convey dark thematic undertones at the same time.
So, whatever else the "ReLoad" event gives us, it's given us yet another X-related book worth watching for each month and if anyone needs a definition of what constitutes a good "jumping-on" point for a series, they should be given this issue. Now, if you'll just excuse me, I have to go and lay down for a while to get over the shock of adding yet another X-book to my folder...
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