Story: Judd Winick
Pencils: Jim Calafiore
Inks: Mark McKenna
Colors: JC
Letters: Sharpefont’s Paul Tutrone

Synopsis & Review by Blink51185. Thanks!:
Synopsis: In the world the Exiles are in, the Legacy virus had reached Bubonic Plague proportions. Thousands had died, including even the most latently mutated humans. When Doug Ramsey, aka Cypher, contracted the virus, his alien techno-organic friend, Warlock tried to save him. He bonded himself to Cypher, hoping to expel the virus from his system. Instead, the virus mutated into a highly contagious (though non-lethal) techno-organic virus that could be contracted by mutant and human alike. The infected resemble Douglock, and only desire to become the dominant lifeform on earth.

When some kids in Las Vegas go outside of the Disrupters keeping the Vi-Locks away, they are immediately jumped by them. A few kds become infected, but luckily the Exiles show up and manage to save them. Blink is knocked out however, and cannot port the team to safety. Morph transforms into a crazy Chinese-dragon looking thing (very cool), and the non-fliers ride him to safety. As the team walks through the deserted streets of Las Vegas, Spider-Woman watches them from a distance. She uses zip lines to take the infected kids from the Exiles, and then an unidentified person activates an electrical stinger that knocks out the Exiles, and they are taken to a containment center.

Spider-Woman and Hank Pym conduct a scan on the Exiles, and are very relieved to see that they are 100% clean from the virus. Pym explains that it was a precaution containing the Exiles like that, and the team describes their situation to him and Spider-Woman. Pym is worried, despite the few mutants and super beings in the Avengers Compound, that the Primes (Vi-Lock leaders) could wipe out Las Vegas at any time they desired. He shows them the kids that the Exiles rescued. Though a cure has never been found, he has been able to stave off the full conversion to a Vi-Lock. Blink asks if the original Doug Ramsey's blood would provide a cure, and Pym answers its probable, but it is unlikely Cypher still lives. Blink knows that he is alive, though, because the Tallus says he's in the place called the Mainframe. Pym's hopes are dashed when he hears this because the Mainframe is the Vi-Lock's headquarters. And also, as the last page shows, it is where nearly every hero and villain we know in the Marvel Universe that has been infected resides.

Review: I enjoyed this issue a lot, but looking back, I can't determine why. There was a mediocre fight scene in the beginning and very little characterization, but I love Winick's method of storytelling. I think I was just happy to see Cypher in the beginning. I miss the New Mutants. And with all the Ultimates I've been reading, and considering I don't read Avengers, it was fun to see a Hank Pym that wasn't a jerk.

The setup of this story is very similar to the Lizard and Mojo issues, with the first few pages describing the world before the Exiles ever stepped into it. Very effective and it makes for a more interesting read. Also, Morph's transformation into a dragon was spectacular. Shapeshifting is one of the most used, and yet one of the most unexplored, powers in comic books, and its nice to see Morph changing into something that serves a person and looks cool while doing it. And there's no person I'd rather have replacing Mike McKone than Jim Calafiore. He keeps consistent with the feel of the book, which is still a fun comic, not laden with the issues that are apparent in titles like New X-Men at the moment. Exiles reminds of me the X-Men when I first started reading them, and is one of the best comics on the shelves now.