CABLE #38 - #39, December 1996 - January 1997

Previously…in Cable: After attacking the Weapon X facility in Canada, Psycho-Man targets Kane. He kidnaps Copycat, unaware she’s morphed into Kane. Cable, Domino, and Kane board a strange ship to follow Psycho-Man.

In Perspective

Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Vince Russell w/Hanna & Lee (inkers), Mike Thomas & Graphic Color Works (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letterer)

Summary: Cable, Domino, and Kane arrive in the Microverse and are greeted by the surviving Micronauts -- Commander Rann, Mari, and Bug. Meanwhile, Psycho-Man discovers that Copycat has been impersonating Kane, preventing him from acquiring the future technology in Kane’s body. Cable and the others reach Psycho-Man’s base, but are surprised when his soldiers barely put up a fight. The heroes grow more emotional, culminating in Kane declaring his hatred for Cable when he discovers Copycat, who is in chains.

Miscellaneous Note: The Statement of Ownership has average sales at 149,639 for the year, with the most recent issue selling 152,749 copies.

Review: This is another example of the ‘70s nostalgia that briefly swept Marvel’s offices at the time. The Micronauts are characters from a toy line that enjoyed a decent run as a Marvel series in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Marvel tried regaining the rights in the late ‘90s, even announcing a new title, but it never happened. I’m assuming the characters in this issue are the ones created by Marvel freelancers for the series and not the toy company, although they do call themselves “Micronauts” without a copyright notice for the toy company in the indicia. At any rate, they’re here, they’re retro, and they’re teaming up with Cable for a few issues. Loeb gives Rann and Bug hints of a personality (Mari, the token female, barely speaks), so the Micronauts don’t come across as completely generic. Kane’s character arc of divorcing himself from a violent lifestyle is connected with Rann, who has lost most of his friends while battling Psycho-Man, so at least Loeb is putting some effort into this.

All Things Great and Small

Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), Mike Thomas & Graphic Color Works (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letterer)

Summary: Psycho-Man manipulates Kane’s anger and Cable’s self-doubt, allowing him to take Cable captive. Domino and the Micronauts retreat, soon making their way to Psycho-Man’s lab. The Micronauts use Psycho-Man’s technology to shrink themselves, while Domino locates Copycat. The diminutive Micronauts weaken Psycho-Man, giving Cable time to conjure a telepathic and telekinetic blast. Psycho-Man is crippled when he’s forced to experience the love Kane and Copycat share. The Micronauts send Cable and his friends home. Later, Domino and Copycat reconcile.

Continuity Notes: Copycat claims that she takes on the psychic patterns of the people she impersonates, which is used to explain why Cable never knew she impersonated Domino for a year. It seems like this is thrown in because Loeb was under the impression that Cable was always telepathic, which is a continuity point that often seemed to confuse him.

Creative Differences: The bottom 3/4^th of the final page is clearly not drawn by Ian Churchill (it looks like Mike Wieringo). This is a tacked-on ending that has Moira MacTaggert contacting the mansion, revealing that Renee Majcomb needs help. Since this is Loeb’s final issue, I’m assuming he didn’t write the final few panels that are setting up the next storyline.

Review: Jeph Loeb says goodbye, leaving us with a few hints that his future work won’t exactly delight the critics. This is a story that has the heroes shrinking themselves so they can have an advantage while fighting the villain. What? How exactly does that work? At least Ant-Man has an army of ants he can command. Just a few pages later, Psycho-Man is defeated when he experiences the power of love. The man’s taken down by a Michael Bolton song. What a disgrace. I do like seeing various corners of the Marvel Universe interacting with Cable, and Loeb always had some idea of how to incorporate the assorted characters Nicieza introduced into a supporting cast, so at least some of his strengths are highlighted in his final arc. Loeb’s run was often dull, and occasionally suffered from nonsensical plotting, but he did bring direction to this wildly flailing title. Considering where this book was pre-Loeb, I can actually understand Marvel’s willingness to give him more assignments at the time. At this point, I wouldn’t have pegged him as a future “Worst Writer in Comics,” even with his flaws.

CABLE #37 – November 1996

True Lies
Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), Comicraft (lettering), Mike Thomas & Graphic Color Works (colors)

Summary: G. W. Bridge and a team of SHIELD agents investigate Canada’s Weapon X facility. The employees and patients inside have trashed the building, and all of the records are missing. Meanwhile, Cable and Domino arrive in San Francisco to visit Kane. The theatre Kane has been living in has been destroyed by an anti-mutant mob. Cable’s surprised to see Kane so distressed. Copycat, Kane’s girlfriend, enters. Domino is angry that Kane would become involved with the spy who impersonated her for a year. Tensions rise, and Cable has to stop a fight between Domino and Copycat. The Psycho Man enters, abducting Kane and shrinking down to an imperceptible height to escape. A giant spaceship suddenly appears, asking Cable and Domino to board. Kane emerges, revealing that Psycho Man actually abducted Copycat. He says that they have to board the ship to save her.

Continuity Notes: I’m assuming that the Weapon X facility here isn’t the same one in the Maverick one-shot. That was the original facility that altered Wolverine, and was established as abandoned going back to Wolverine #48.

According to the narrative captions, Copycat’s shapeshifting skills prevent telepaths from detecting her. This would actually make her more powerful than Mystique, which seems silly. Most likely, Loeb added that line because he seems to think that Cable has always been a telepath, and that’s the only way to justify Copycat’s time undercover in early X-Force issues. I’ll again point out that Cable’s telepathic powers didn’t emerge until the “Child’s Play” crossover, which was almost three years into X-Force’s run.

I don't recall Kane ever being described as a mutant, so I'm assuming the anti-mutant mob targeted the theatre because of Copycat.

Review: Like most of the Loeb/Churchill issues from this run, this is competent but not particularly great. There’s not a lot to criticize, since the story gives just enough information to build suspense around Psycho Man’s plan, and the characters are given just enough room to showcase their personalities. Pitting Cable against a traditional Fantastic Four villain has some novelty appeal, and emphasizing that Domino still hates Copycat is a nice use of past continuity. I’ll also give Loeb credit for not stretching out the mystery villain’s big reveal, which is something the titles often had trouble with during this era. It’s still just a setup issue, though, and even if it’s not quite boring, it’s still bland. The story does what it needs to do, but unless you already have a deep investment in all of these characters, it’s hard to care that much. It’s not quite killing time, but it’s not doing anything interesting with the characters, either.

CABLE #35 – September 1996

It Is Always Darkest…
Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Scott Hanna & Art Thibert (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Mike Thomas & Malibu (colors)

Summary: Cable and the Invisible Woman combine their powers to protect the heroes from Onslaught’s psionic assault. Apocalypse suddenly appears, telling Cable that he can separate Franklin Richards from Onslaught if Cable grants him access to the Astral Plane. The Invisible Woman convinces Cable to go along with the plan. Cable and Apocalypse soon travel though the Astral Plane and arrive inside Onslaught’s citadel. Onslaught attacks them with psionic projections of Magneto, Hulk, and Post. While Cable fights them off, Apocalypse approaches Franklin Richards. He reveals that his plan to separate Franklin from Onslaught is to simply kill him. The Invisible Woman, who has been telepathically shielded by Cable, emerges and fights Apocalypse. Onslaught uses his powers to send the trio back to the streets, leaving Franklin in his custody. Apocalypse teleports away, as Cable comforts the Invisible Woman. Inside Onslaught, Franklin is inspired by the heroes’ actions and has his hope renewed.

Creative Differences: Some of Cable’s word balloons on page four have been poorly re-lettered. I don’t know if this was an actual dialogue change or some last minute typo correction, since his dialogue (about being the son of a hero like Franklin) fits in with the conversation he’s having on the rest of the page.

Review: It’s another issue of large panels and big action scenes that don’t really accomplish anything. I like Churchill’s interpretation of Apocalypse, and it seems like his art is improving overall during this run of issues, so at least it’s not bad to look at. The story doesn’t stand up to a lot of scrutiny, as it’s unclear which scenes are supposed to be in the Astral Plane, and which are supposed to be in reality. It’s possible that the entire fight with Onslaught takes place on the Astral Plane, but that seems unlikely as a transition caption clearly states that Onslaught is in the real world, one page before Cable and Apocalypse arrive. Plus, the word balloons drop the special effect used for telepathic communication once they enter Onslaught’s citadel. It’s possible that Loeb intended that Cable and Apocalypse used the Astral Plane to teleport from the streets to the inside of the citadel, but that would contradict every other appearance of the Astral Plane that I’m aware of. (When X-Man pulled Xavier’s physical body out of the Astral Plane, it was stated that only X-Man was powerful enough to do this. It was also treated as a huge deal, while this issue doesn’t portray their journey as anything special.) I finally realized what Loeb was probably trying to convey – that Onslaught sensed their mental presence and pulled them out of the Astral Plane into reality. If Onslaught is supposed to be as powerful as X-Man, that would at least work with past continuity, and it’s preferable to making the Astral Plane a quick teleportation gimmick for telepaths. Whichever is the case, the ambiguity is annoying.

Overlooking the shaky plot, Loeb does create a few decent character moments. Forcing Cable to team up with Apocalypse, his most hated enemy (now that Marvel’s forgotten about Stryfe) is an obvious way to go, but the interaction between the characters is fun. In one surprising scene, Apocalypse even offers to rid Cable of the techno-organic virus after Cable brags that it’s making him stronger. We also see Apocalypse’s reaction to Franklin Richards, which is something that would’ve happened years earlier, if the X-franchise hadn’t been so segregated from the rest of the Marvel Universe for so long. Apocalypse wants to kill him not only to depower Onslaught, but also to prevent him from disrupting his own plans. If Apocalypse was willing to infect Cable with a deadly virus as an infant, it makes sense that he would also view Franklin as a threat. I barely remember anything from most of the Onslaught crossover issues, but I do remember enjoying the reconnection of the Marvel Universe, even if it didn’t last.

CABLE #34 – August 1996

Loose Cannons
Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Mike Thomas & Malibu (colors)

Summary: Cable regains consciousness and senses the approach of another enemy. Soon, he’s confronted by the Hulk, who is under Onslaught’s mental command. The two battle, as Cable tries to psionically undo Onslaught’s brainwashing. Probing the Hulk’s mind causes his body to revert to its grey form, but Onslaught’s influence remains. The Hulk drops a building on Cable, but Storm arrives and stops him from finishing Cable off. Storm attempts CPR on Cable, and eventually revives him with a small bolt of lightning. Cable attempts one last telepathic assault on the Hulk, which only manages to revert him to his mindless, savage form. As Ozymandias records the events, Apocalypse declares that Cable’s death will lead to the dawn of his era.

Review: This is an all-action issue that doesn’t really impact the Onslaught crossover or any of Cable’s ongoing storylines. It’s not explicitly stated in the issue, but I assume the idea is that Cable’s telepathic powers are one of the few threats to Onslaught, so he’s responded by sending the Hulk after him. That’s a reasonable setup, but it makes me wonder why Onslaught doesn’t just brainwash all of the Marvel superheroes and just get them out of his way. This is Churchill’s strongest issue so far, as the giant images and big fights suit his exaggerated style. Some of his human faces still need work (his likeness of what I assume is actor Andre Braugher is rather distracting), but he handles the action very well and I like his interpretation of the various Hulk incarnations. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of large panels and splash pages throughout the issue, which just emphasize how thin the plot is. One ongoing subplot is incrementally advanced, as Loeb uses the old “one potential love interest has to perform mouth-to-mouth on another” cliché with Storm and Cable. The narrative captions ask if Storm feels “something more” than respect for Cable during the scene, while Loeb implies that Storm reminds Cable of his late wife. I’m not sure why Marvel went in this direction, outside of the fact that Storm was rarely given anything to do during this period, and perhaps Loeb wanted a spoiler in the Cable/Domino relationship. It never went anywhere, so reading this in retrospect is just a reminder of another dropped storyline. Overall, this is a big dumb action issue, but it’s okay as far as those things go.

LINK: Mike Sterling recently pulled this issue out, perhaps at random, and gave it a review.

CABLE #33 – July 1996

Never Is a Very Short Time
Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Mike Thomas & Malibu (colors)

Summary: Cable visits Beast regarding his inability to control his techno-organic virus, but he can’t give him any immediate answers. He talks to Storm, who wants him to telepathically search her mind for any information regarding her encounter with Onslaught’s herald, Post. Cable can’t pick up any specific memories, but feels a familiar “telepathic echo” in her memories. Domino interrupts, telling Cable about the explosion of Blaquesmith’s frigate. Cable travels to Maryland to investigate. While searching the ship, he feels the same presence from Storm’s memory is nearby. He flashes back to his past as a mercenary, when he teamed up with G. W. Bridge to rescue his friend, Tremain, from one of the Mandarin’s experiments. With Tremain near death, Cable was forced to give him a blood transfusion, not knowing how his techno-organic virus would affect him. In the present, Cable is suddenly attacked by Post, who he now knows is Tremain. During the course of the fight, Cable begins to deduce Onslaught’s identity. Post can’t bring himself to finish Cable, but he leaves him to die.

Production Notes: Rick Leonardi is also credited as an artist, but all of the pages look like Ian Churchill to me (the GCD lists this as a mistake). This is also the month that the paper quality is reduced across the X-line (even though most of the X-titles’ newsstand editions dropped the slick paper a year earlier) and the Bullpen Bulletins returns to replace the mutant-specific X-Facts page.

Continuity Notes: Mandarin, or at least a hologram of him, is experimenting on Tremain so that he can learn the secrets behind the mutant X-gene. As far as I can tell, this is Tremain’s first appearance. For some reason, I seemed to recall that this issue established that Post was actually one of Cable’s fellow future soldiers, Tetherblood, and not an entirely new character, but I was wrong.

This story takes place explicitly after the Storm miniseries, yet she still has her old hairstyle and uniform. This isn’t the only time that happens during this era.

Cable deduces Onslaught's identity by thinking of who would put him in a weakened condition, remove Blaquesmith from the picture, and know about Tremain. Cable never outright says who Onslaught is, though, as that revelation is being saved for this month's X-Men.

The Dark Beast, who is still impersonating the Beast, is thrilled to have a copy of Cable’s DNA and a techno-organic virus sample. I don’t think this went anywhere.

During the flashback, Cable uses his telepathic powers to talk to Tremain. Since this takes place years before X-Force was formed, this seems to contradict the ending of the “Child’s Play” crossover (New Warriors #46), which had Cable shocked to learn that he could use telepathy. I assume that by this point Marvel had decided that Cable always had his telepathy. One No-Prize solution to the New Warriors issue could be that Cable was just shocked to learn that he could still use telepathy, considering that most of his telekinesis had to be used to keep his techno-organic virus in check. However, that doesn’t exactly work, since Cable would’ve still had the virus in the flashback, and his telepathic skills clearly aren’t being inhibited.

Review: This is another issue dedicated to building up Onslaught, so there’s not an awful lot I can say that the previous reviews haven’t covered. Like many of the other stories leading in to the crossover, it’s not particularly enjoyable in its own right, and without a big payoff during the Onslaught event, it seems even weaker upon reflection. The big revelation in this issue is that the mysterious Post is actually Tremain, who is yet another undefined character from Cable’s past. Loeb effectively gets the idea across that we’re supposed to care because Cable does, but revealing that one mystery character is actually a new mystery character we knew nothing about just feels cheap. The flashback’s characterization of Cable as an idealist who thinks one man can make a difference seems at odds with the cold-blooded Cable from the earlier issues of X-Force and the other flashbacks to his mercenary days. Instead of making a statement about Cable’s character, it feels like something out of an ‘80s action movie. Churchill’s art manages to handle the big fight scenes pretty well, so at least there’s some energy brought into the rather bland issue. The final splash page of a broken Cable, who’s realized Onslaught’s identity but is unable to warn the X-Men, does help to build up tension for the upcoming storyline, even if the rest of the issue is a weak promo for the crossover.

CABLE #32 – June 1996

Venting
Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill (breakdowns), Scott Hanna (finishes), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Mike Thomas & Graphic Color Works (colors)

Summary: After leaving Tyler’s funeral in Kentucky, Cable and Domino return to Camp Hayden to investigate the Sentinel research facility that was penetrated by Onslaught. They encounter hundreds of Nimrod prototypes while Domino tries to talk to Cable about his son’s death. She wonders if Wolverine had no choice but to kill Tyler (a.k.a. Genesis), just as she was forced to kill Grizzly. Cable, who has resorted to using armory after his battle with X-Man drained his powers, refuses to discuss his feelings. They find a computer chip from the surveillance videos that they hope will reveal when Onslaught infiltrated the base, but it’s been magnetized. Cable finally gives in to his anger and begins shooting up the base, declaring that he’ll stop Onslaught before he can harm any innocents like Tyler. They leave the base, as Post watches. Elsewhere, a voice tells Blaquesmith that he can’t allow him to help Cable in the coming days. Blaquesmith’s ship suddenly explodes.

Continuity Notes: According to the narrative captions, Cannonball offered Cable a burial place for Tyler near his home in Kentucky (Wolverine killed him in issue #100 of his series). Cable refers to Tyler as an “innocent” because he was brainwashed by Stryfe and never recovered. Whether or not Tyler is Cable’s biological son is still vague. Domino questions why Cable won’t talk about his death, “even though you promised his mother -- Jenskot -- you’d look after the boy?” I don't think this is the first time it’s been hinted that Tyler was his stepson, or adopted son.

It’s inferred again that Onslaught was the one who broke into Blaquesmith’s home and stole his files on Cable. And I’ll again point out that this makes no sense given the later revelation of Onslaught’s identity, and that the culprit was heavily implied to be the X-Cutioner at the time.

Review: I guess if Cable’s son was going to be killed off in Wolverine, it should’ve been brought up in Cable, too. Instead of devoting a quiet issue to mourning Tyler’s loss, Loeb creates an issue-long fight scene that basically gives Cable and Domino something to do as Cable acts gruff and distant. That’s probably a more appropriate route to take, as Tyler has always been nothing more than a ranting lunatic, so giving him a memorial issue would’ve been a hard sell. Loeb does a capable job with Cable and Domino’s characterizations, even if he’s already done this type of story with the characters before. Connecting Wolverine’s slaying of Tyler to Domino’s forced execution of Grizzly isn’t a bad idea, and it makes the inclusion of a Wolverine storyline feel more organic. Cable’s catharsis at the end of the issue is very predictable and doesn’t exactly convey the emotions it’s supposed to (partly because the art doesn’t even show what he’s supposed to be shooting at). The weak ending emphasizes how much of a time-killer the issue really is. I like the fact that there’s an attempt to show the impact of Tyler’s death on Cable, but there’s really nothing else going on in the issue. It’s another case of the Onslaught storyline becoming an excuse for vaguely defined missions that end quickly and don’t actually answer any questions. The art is presumably a rush job, as Scott Hanna moves from inker to finisher. Rather than going for a sketchy, unfinished look, he buries the entire issue in black. Since Cable and Domino are supposed to be breaking into a secret government facility at night, it’s at least appropriate for the story, and it seems to mesh pretty well with Churchill’s artwork.

CABLE #31 – May 1996

…There is a Reaction!
Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Mike Thomas & Graphic Color Works (colors)

Summary: Blaquesmith charges up his walking stick and prepares to kill X-Man. X-Man responds to the blast with a force of psionic energy, which weakens him and causes Blaquesmith to disappear. During the fight, psi-sensitives around the world, such as Holocaust, Psylocke, Phoenix, and Xavier have violent reactions to X-Man’s release of energy. Cable tries to reason with X-Man, but he refuses to give up. When Cable pushes X-Man’s powers to their limit, he falls unconscious. Blaquesmith reappears from his time-shift and tries again to convince Cable to kill him. Cable refuses and draws upon his last reserves of power to talk to X-Man telepathically. X-Man finally trusts him and allows Cable to repair the mental damage he sustained in the battle. Blaquesmith takes Cable away, as his techno-organic virus begins to grow again. Cable, who deduced that Blaquesmith’s method to kill X-Man was also his failsafe to kill him if he ever grew too powerful, tells him that too many dark secrets have emerged. Meanwhile, Post receives telepathic orders from Onslaught to kill Cable.

Review: Well, it’s another issue that relies on X-Man behaving irrationally to work, but it does at least have some redeeming elements. Revealing that Blaquesmith was more than a mentor to Cable, he was also supposed to be his assassin if things went wrong, is interesting. Realistically, if these characters were as powerful as the stories claim, there likely would be a terminal failsafe in place. The conflict between Cable and Blaquesmith works pretty well, as Cable sees himself in X-Man and Blaquesmith just sees a dangerous time anomaly that must be stopped. This is actually a case where X-Man’s psychotic behavior can work in the story’s favor, as Blaquesmith does have a legitimate argument to make. X-Man is apparently unable to respond to reason, and he presents a threat to the entire planet, so killing him could be just as a defensible as killing a rabid dog. Unfortunately, Blaquesmith disappears for most of the issue, leaving us with more scenes of X-Man’s powers exploding while he pointlessly fights Cable, so the argument doesn’t get enough play. So if you didn’t get enough large panels and splash pages of Cable and X-Man fighting in the last two chapters, I guess you’re in luck.

Mapping the Mission
Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Eric Battle (penciler), Art Thibert (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: Blaquesmith continues to recap Cable’s history, explaining his conflicts with Stryfe and Tyler. He concludes by detailing his fight with X-Man, which might’ve placed Cable’s life in jeopardy.

Continuity Notes: Blaquesmith now says that he knows who stole his data on Cable in issue #21. He also says that he has a “disturbing conclusion as to his machinations, which we have all fallen prey to”. It seems like the thief is being retconned into being Onslaught, even though issue #21 heavily implied it was the X-Cutioner. This raises the same question X-Men #50 did…why would Onslaught go through all of this trouble to get information he already has access to?

Review: This is the second part of the back-up origin story. Oddly enough, it spends as much time recapping the main story in this issue as it does anything else. It also segues into more vague hints about an upcoming menace, which means it’s easily dismissed as more Onslaught nonsense.

CABLE #30 – April 1996

For Every Action…
Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Mike Thomas & Malibu’s Hues (colors)

Summary: Eight hundred years in the past, a time-displaced Dane Whitman (the Avengers’ Black Knight), takes a group of crusaders to a “wicked” tomb in the Swiss Alps. In the present, Exodus returns to the tomb to recuperate. Nearby, Cable flies overhead, searching for X-Man. He’s suddenly assaulted with X-Man’s memories. Below, X-Man and Threnody travel through the snowstorm. X-Man is suddenly overcome with memories of Cable’s childhood. Cable follows their trail, and discovers that Blaquesmith has been secretly following him. X-Man leads Threnody inside Cable’s Swiss cabin, claiming that he feels psychically drawn to it. Cable enters, and tries to explain to X-Man that coexisting so close together is hurting both of them. Suspicious, X-Man lashes out against him. He sees Cable’s face and realizes that they are the same person, but he refuses to stop his attack. Blaquesmith enters, and the presence of another telepath makes X-Man even angrier. When Cable tries to calm him down, X-Man’s powers explode, destroying the cabin. Later, as X-Man awakens in the snow, he’s greeted by Exodus.

Continuity Notes: Exodus is presumably recovering from his fight with Holocaust, from X-Men #42 and #43. According to the narration, the tomb is where “a portion of the power that created him remains.” I’ve heard some people claim before that placing the Black Knight eight hundred years ago is a continuity error, but I’m not familiar enough with his character to really know. Uncanny X-Men #307 revealed that Black Knight recognized Exodus from somewhere, so at least some of this story must’ve been worked out in advance.

Review: If X-Man hadn’t already reached the point of self-parody as a character, surely this issue would’ve put him over the top. Like every other X-Man story, we see him reacting irrationally and lashing out in anger at people who aren’t threatening him, as the story climaxes with his powers exploding. Didn’t anyone at Marvel notice that the same thing happens in every X-Man story? I guess this one is supposed to be a bigger deal since he’s meeting his counterpart from this reality, but that certainly doesn’t make the story less predictable. It’s almost as if Jeph Loeb had an X-Man drinking game worked out in his head, and he felt an obligation to make sure all of the standard X-Man plot elements made it into each story. Adding Exodus and Black Knight does at least create the potential for something interesting to happen later, but so far it’s all setup. The rest of the story consists of a lot of large images of Cable and X-Man wandering in the snow, which strangely enough limits the amount of space that’s used for the later fight scene between the pair. X-Man’s powers exploding just get a large panel, instead of the standard full splash page, which is surely a shame. This isn't very engaging on its own merits, but the knowledge that X-Man is behaving in exactly the same irrational manner he always does almost makes it comically bad.

Mapping the Mission

Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Eric Battle (penciler), Art Thibert (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: Blaquesmith recaps Cable’s life, from the time of his birth to his childhood in the future, to his return to this timeline as a mercenary.

Review: This is just a partial recap of Cable’s origin (at three pages, it actually pushes this issue’s page count to twenty-three pages). The art’s atrocious, but I did appreciate this backup at the time since I had lost track of the various aspects of Cable’s heavily retconned past when this issue was released. It’s interesting that even a backup story that tries to piece together Cable’s past has no explanation for why exactly he was working as a mercenary before he mentored the New Mutants. The idea that Cable came to this time to train the new External, Cannonball, is also skipped over, which amuses me.

CABLE #29 – March 1996

Man in the Mirror

Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Mike Thomas & Graphic Color Works (colors)

Summary


Blaquesmith arrives at the mansion to discuss the problem of Nate Grey, X-Man. He comes across Sunspot and is shocked to learn that he speaks Askani and is immune to his psychic influence. Cable tells him to ignore Sunspot and come inside. Blaquesmith meets with Cable, Storm, Moira MacTaggert, Cyclops, Phoenix, and Professor Xavier and tells them that X-Man is unprepared to deal with his psionic power. Moira reveals that the psionic energy he generates rivals that of the original Phoenix. Shocked, the group agrees that something must be done. After Cable yells at Blaquesmith for keeping X-Man's existence a secret from him, Blaquesmith freezes everyone else and erases their memory of the meeting. He tells Cable that he has to go on his mission without them. Cable grabs some weapons, and then refuses to take Blaquesmith on the ship with him. He yells at Blaquesmith for altering their memories and leaves on his reluctant mission.

Continuity Notes

In the opening of the issue, Cable wonders, "I wonder if (X-Force) knew what I have to do…if they would ever follow me again." I don't know if this is a reference to Cable's vaguely defined mission involving X-Man that's later revealed (which is unlikely) or something else.

Blaquesmith tells Cable that "we've altered memories before", which would seem to contradict Nicieza's earlier stories that had Cable shocked to learn that he has telepathic powers. I guess "we" could mean the Askani in general, though. Or maybe Cable was surprised that he still had any telepathic abilities after dealing with the techno-organic virus for so long.

Production Note

This is yet another comic that's only nineteen pages. The remaining three pages are taken up by a two-page letters column and a Cable/X-Man pinup that looks like a rejected cover.

We Get Letters

One letter writer cleverly points out that since all of Cable's friends saw Stryfe without his mask in Cable #25, someone should've told him years ago (before he came to this time) that they have the same face. The editors don't respond to his objection.

Review

Here's a modern classic – an entire issue dedicated to characters standing around, talking about X-Man. I guess the X-Man roundtable discussion doesn't take up that much space on its own, but the rest of the issue involves characters either arriving for the meeting or discussing the implications of the meeting. I have no idea why all of these characters are meeting anyway, since Blaquesmith apparently has no interest in actually involving the X-Men with the situation. If he really wanted Cable to go on a mission to stop X-Man, why didn't he just personally ask him? The story reads as if someone wanted an explanation of who X-Man is in Cable before their crossover began, and somehow it turned into the entire issue. I almost wonder if Loeb had an entirely different story in mind that got cut at the last minute, so instead we ended up with this. I guess it is fairly successful in conveying how much of a threat X-Man could be, and realistically the X-Men would of course have meetings like this, but the end result is an extremely thin issue.

CABLE #27 – January 1996

Rebels

Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill & Ben Herrera (pencilers), Scott Hanna & Al Milgrom (inkers), Comicraft (lettering), Mike Thomas (colors)

Summary

Cable and the Genoshan rebels fight back against the Magistrates. Realizing that they’re being overpowered, Pipeline teleports the other Magistrates away. Before Pipeline can go, Cable knocks him out. When he comes to, Cable uses his telepathic powers to force Pipeline over to the rebels’ side. Using information given to them by Essex, Philip Moreau and Jenny Ransome travel with Cable, Domino, and Pipeline to the Ridgeback Mountains. While exploring the mountains, they find the entrance to a man-made passage. They’re shocked to discover a technologically advanced Mutate processing station. Pipeline claims that something like this should’ve been monitored by the Magistrates, but this area was off-limits to them. Nearby, the Sugar Man watches, ready for a fight.

Miscellaneous Note

According to the Statement of Ownership, average sales for the year were 161,714 copies with the most recent issue selling 179,815. Looks like actually having a consistent creative team helped sales.

Review

Not a lot happens in this issue, since it mainly just resolves the previous issue’s cliffhanger and moves the characters to the next location. It’s the middle chapter of a storyline, so this type of thing isn’t that unusual. Parts of it certainly feel padded, though, as Sugar Man gets one page with giant panels boasting about how evil he is in the middle of the issue, and then gets two more pages to do the exact same thing at the end. The fight scene is also filled with a lot of giant panels and posing, which doesn’t leave a lot of room for any actual action. Churchill, to his credit, is still growing as an artist and is able to do the flashy ‘90s style without a lot of the sheer ugliness that usually accompanied it. Like I’ve said before, it hasn’t aged that well but I can understand why I liked it at the time.

Loeb does have Cable do something the other X-telepaths rarely do, which is take over someone’s mind. The fact that Cable is still willing to cross lines that other characters probably wouldn’t is a nice avenue to explore, but it’s treated almost like an afterthought here. In fact, as small as it is, it’s one of the very few things in the story that makes Cable stand out from any other hero. There’s also a very brief reference to Cable’s past as a soldier, which should tie in to a story about a civil war, but it doesn’t go anywhere either. Like a lot of the earlier issues of this series, it’s starting to feel as if Cable’s been plunked into a story that wouldn’t be any different if any other X-character was the hero.

CABLE #25 – November 1995

“What Was…What Is…”

Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill w/Joel Thomas (pencilers), Scott Hanna w/Ryan, Wiacek, LaRosa, Vey, & Carani (inkers), Mike Thomas & Malibu’s Hues (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering)

Summary

Domino joins Cable and Jenskot in the future as they hide out from Stryfe’s soldiers. They sneak though Stryfe’s camp on their way back to the Clan Chosen’s base. Meanwhile, Stryfe interrogates the captured Tetherblood, who refuses to reveal the connection between Nathan Dayspring and the glowing orb Stryfe has obtained. At Clan Chosen’s camp, Cable meets Korless, a member he doesn’t remember. Cable checks on his younger self, the comatose Nathan Dayspring. He’s unable to enter his mind because Nathan is psychically guarding himself against Stryfe. Cable psionically reaches out to the Professor, whose consciousness is contained inside the glowing orb Stryfe is holding. He’s convinced that only the Professor can save Nathan. Domino asks Blaquesmith why she was sent along with Cable, but all he knows is that she must have a key role in this battle. Domino wonders if her role is to kill the younger Stryfe before he can cause Cable so much pain. She heads back to Stryfe’s base and prepares to assassinate him, but is stopped by Cable, who is afraid of disrupting this timeline. Along with the Clan Chosen, they break into Stryfe’s camp and search for the Professor. Once Cable locates him, he’s ambushed by Korless. Korless admits to Cable that he wants Stryfe to succeed so that he can have a place in the new world order. The Professor teleports Cable’s team away, leaving Stryfe to kill Korless for failing him. Soon, Blaquesmith helps to integrate the Professor’s consciousness into Nathan, which saves his life. Cable says goodbye to Jenskot, and is then sent back to the past with Domino by Blaquesmith. The following day, Nathan recovers and wins the next battle against Stryfe.

Continuity Notes

The Clan Chosen is the name of Cable’s team of resistance fighters in the future. Its members include Cable’s best friend, Tetherblood, and his future wife, Jenskot. Korless, Stryfe’s sleeper agent inside the Clan, makes the odd statement that the “High Lord” has already fallen. If this is supposed to be a reference to Apocalypse, that doesn’t fit all of the stories that show him as a continued threat in Cable’s future.

The Professor is supposed to be Ship from the earlier issues of X-Factor. Apparently, there's another story that explains how he ended up as a glowing orb (probably the Askani'son mini I never read).

Gimmicks

This issue has a double-gatefold prismatic foil cover. I have the newsstand copy, which doesn’t have any enhancements.

Approved By the Comics Code Authority

Domino’s costume leaves her right leg bare, which Churchill has taken as an invitation to also leave her right butt cheek exposed. The colorist colors it blue, bringing us another Editorial Swimwear moment.

Review

It’s not uncommon for anniversary issues to do stories where the main character travels through time and meets a younger version of himself, or has another chance to see loved ones who have died, etc. Since Cable is already a time traveler, the theme is a more natural fit for him than it would be for someone like Batman, but the end result it still weak. This is another story about the timeline Cable grew up in, and it’s just as dull as the ones that preceded it. Since the height of Cable’s popularity occurred before it was even revealed that he was a time traveler, I have to wonder if he’s just better off without any of these excursions into his past. I’ve yet to read a story that makes me care about Cable’s future, mainly because no one he knows there has a personality, and nothing about this timeline stands out amongst the hundreds of other dystopian futures we’ve already seen. I guess there’s a novelty to setting the story in an era of Cable’s past that hadn’t been revealed yet, and seeing the return of the once-major villain Stryfe, but I had already lost interest in all of this material by the time this story was published.

Loeb does try to do something with Domino’s conflicting feelings about being sent on this mission, but nothing really comes from it. He actually has the character question why she’s even been sent to the future, has the sage Blaquesmith tell her it must be for a reason, and then never actually reveals what it is. She doesn’t kill Stryfe, which she suspected her purpose might be, or help Cable recover the Professor in any significant way, so it’s hard to see why Loeb even brought up this thread. Domino’s willingness to kill Stryfe and let Cable have happiness here with Jenskot, even if it means she might never see him again or even erase their history together, is a decent conflict, even if it’s only a small part of the story. Loeb also introduces a lot of the time travel paradoxes that usually show up in these stories by giving the characters the typical dilemmas about altering the past, or giving characters knowledge of the future, without doing anything new with any of them. And since Cable’s original goal in returning to our timeline was to prevent his from happening, it’s strange that he’s so concerned about not changing anything now. All of these worries seem moot anyway since Marvel had so firmly established by this point that time travel only creates alternate realities in their universe. Nicieza even had Cable himself acknowledge that his original plan of changing his future probably wouldn’t work during his X-Force run. I guess you could make the argument that only the past is immutable, and that time traveling to the future involves different rules, but that would require this issue to actually delve into questions much more interesting than the ones Loeb wants to address.

CABLE #23 – September 1995

Family Secrets

Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill & Tim Sale (pencilers), Scott Hanna w/Mark Buckingham & Tim Sale (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Mike Thomas & Digital Chameleon (colors)

Summary

Unable to sleep, Cable tries an Askani meditation technique. Storm walks in to talk to him about Akkaba, the town his son, Genesis, slaughtered earlier. According to Storm, a darkness is approaching. Cable reveals to her that he recently received a mysterious postcard that might have been sent by Genesis. On Storm’s advice, he shows it to Professor Xavier. Due to a disturbance in the Astral Plane, Xavier is unable to psionically search for Genesis. Cable visits Blaquesmith for help, and he suggests searching Genesis’ former base since he’s monitored activity there. After he leaves, Blaquesmith meditates and speaks to Mother Askani, who tells him that Cable’s trials are only beginning. Meanwhile, Domino continues to search for the “bigfoot killer” in the Rockies. She enters a remote cabin and discovers several dead bodies in the attic. Her former teammate Grizzly approaches her from behind, saying that only one of them can survive. Cable returns to Genesis’ former headquarters, where he sees a female body lying out in the open. When he approaches her, he realizes that it’s his wife, Jenskot.

Continuity Notes

Loeb reveals some information during the various dialogue exchanges in this issue. Cable tells Storm that the Askani order is more of a philosophy or way of life than a religion. Xavier says that he still hasn’t heard from Rene Majcomb, who was supposed to contact him after the previous issue. Cable tells Blaquesmith, “Despite what happened in the past, I do trust you” and that he didn’t ask to be the “chosen one”. Blaquesmith knows that Tyler has changed his name to Genesis, although Cable isn’t sure how he could’ve known that. According to a narrative caption, Domino has few memories of her childhood and doesn’t know why.

Approved By The Comics Code Authority

Jenskot appears to be nude from a distance, but when Cable approaches her, her body’s colored green. Since the artist didn’t draw any lines indicating clothes, this is an obvious (and extreme) case of editorial swimwear.

Review

This issue mainly consists of conversation scenes, allowing Cable to interact with a few characters while slowly setting up a new Genesis storyline. Loeb has a decent enough grasp on the characterizations and is able to set up the new storyline gradually without making the issue feel too padded. He continues to move Cable further away from his initial characterization by having him do things like meditate and respectfully turn to other people for help. Loeb ties this in with the apprehension he has about his son (I’m assuming that’s why he can’t sleep, even if it’s not outright stated), which isn’t a bad angle to take. You could argue that Marvel’s taking the edge off the character and not really replacing it with anything, but I think Cable’s a more tolerable character at this point. The art alternates between Ian Churchill and Tim Sale, two artists with very different styles, but they’re at least given two separate story threads to draw. I liked Churchill’s work as a teen, and even if the ‘90s elements haven’t aged well, he does seem to be improving as an artist with this issue. Sale’s art is appropriate for the darker Domino story, and he certainly pulls of the eerie two-page spread of corpses in Grizzly’s attic. There’s not a lot in this issue to find fault with, even if this run still isn’t very memorable to me.

CABLE #22 – August 1995

Sanctuary

Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Scott Hanna (inker), Mike Thomas (colorist), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary

Geneticist Renee Majcomb attempts to escape Genosha’s civil war by sneaking into America. At Kennedy Airport, Domino and Cable arrive to say goodbye to Rictor. Renee soon arrives at the same airport, with Genoshan agents Hawkshaw and Pipeline following her. Rictor and Shatterstar enter the airport and witness a demonstration against the mutants arriving from Genosha. Rictor is surprised to see Cable is at the airport and willing to say goodbye to him. They shake hands and make peace with each other. As Shatterstar leaves with Cable and Domino, they run into a mob scene. Cable uses his telepathy to discover that Hawkshaw and Pipeline are agitating the crowd to cover up their abduction of Renee Majcomb. Cable prevents Pipeline from teleporting Renee away, but Shatterstar is shot in the stomach by Hawkshaw. Cable quickly uses his telekinetic powers to knock him unconscious. As Domino and Cable leave to get Shatterstar medical treatment, Renee tells Cable to let Xavier know she’ll be contacting him soon. That night, Cable’s angered to learn Hawkshaw and Pipeline have claimed diplomatic immunity. After he goes to bed, Domino is distressed to see news footage of a paw print made by a killer “Bigfoot”.

Continuity Notes

Renee Majcomb is a human scientist who first appeared in X-Men #26 as part of the “Bipartisan Rebel Batallion”, a group of humans and Mutates who tried to stop the violence in Genosha.

Review

It’s another issue of Cable that falls under the category of “readable, but not particularly good”. I still remember almost nothing about this run, so I can’t say if the Genosha storyline that begins here has any payoff (I vaguely recall that it ties into Cable returning to his future in issue #25, but I could be wrong). Loeb does do a decent job of continuing Nicieza’s portrayal of a repentant Cable trying to make amends with his students, and his handle on the Cable/Domino relationship isn’t bad. Portraying Shatterstar as a devastated puppy dog after losing Rictor is way over the top though, especially when you consider that in Nicieza’s issues they were really just “buds”. (Whether or not they’re supposed to be gay is still debatable, since the narration compares Shatterstar’s feelings to the ones Cable felt on the battlefield after losing his friends). In one scene Cable saves an anti-mutant human from the Genoshan agents, which you would think would be a tired cliché at this point, but it’s something that rarely happens during this era. It’s an extremely obvious thing to do, but since no one else was doing it at the time, I can’t fault Loeb for going there. Unfortunately, like a lot of Loeb’s work here, the scene’s scripted in such a bland, predictable way it doesn’t have much of an impact. Ian Churchill debuts as the regular artist in this issue, turning in more subdued work than his previous issues. A lot of the scratchy, pointless lines have disappeared, so it’s aged better than his earlier work. Like the writing, the art doesn’t thrill me, but it is at least an improvement over his previous issues.

X-MEN CHRONICLES #2 – June 1995

Shattered Dreams

Credits: Howard Mackie (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Hanna/Vey/Moncuse/Wiacek (inkers), Matt Webb & Digital Chameleon (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering)

Summary

In response to Magneto’s decision to leave Jean Grey behind on a previous mission, Weapon X announces that he’s leaving the X-Men with Jean. As they walk away, Jean telepathically tells Magneto that she’s leaving because Weapon X needs her more than the team does. She also tells Magneto that she forgives him for his decision, and that he should forgive himself. Meanwhile, Holocaust sends McCoy’s newest creation, Wolverine, to kill the person closest to Magneto. While on a mission to stop a group of human bandits in Denver, Rogue notices that the loss of Weapon X and Jean is weighing on Magneto. Wolverine uses his powers to strengthen the human bandits, enabling one of them to stab Magneto. When he witnesses the team’s reaction to Magneto’s injury, Wolverine determines that Gambit and Rogue are closer to him than even Quicksilver, his own son.

Later, inside the X-Men’s headquarters, Gambit tries to get closer to Rogue, but doesn’t understand why she’s rejecting him. While Magneto recovers, Rogue discusses her new role as second-in-command with Quicksilver. Later, after a training session, Magneto tests using his bio-magnetic shield to touch Rogue. When Gambit watches him touch Rogue’s face, he violently turns against Magneto. Rogue slaps him in response. Meanwhile, Wolverine uses his tracking powers to trail the X-Men to their home in New Mexico. A group of his men attack the team, as Wolverine blindsides Magneto. When Wolverine has both Gambit and Magneto against a brick wall, Rogue chooses to save Magneto and leave Gambit behind. Wolverine knocks the wall on top of Gambit as the team arrives as backup. After Wolverine defeats the rest of the X-Men, Gambit reemerges, charging a giant rock and attaching it to Wolverine’s belt. The explosion sends him flying away. Gambit tells Rogue that he’s not angry with her for loving Magneto, and then walks away from the team.

Continuity Notes

The character named Wolverine here obviously isn’t supposed to be the X-Man. If he’s intended to be based on an existed character, I can’t make out who it’s supposed to be.

It’s established here that Storm and Quicksilver are in a relationship, which is supposed to tie in with their arc in Amazing X-Men, but doesn’t really fit. Amazing X-Men takes place years after this prequel story, and the second issue of that series only showed the two in the beginning stages of a potential romance.

Review

The first issue of this series wasn’t particularly great, but it had a simple premise that it innocuously pulled off. This issue is much more ambitious, as it tries to work in Weapon X’s departure from the X-Men, the development of Rogue and Magneto’s relationship, Gambit’s feud with Magneto, and his subsequent exit from the team. Most of these developments require scenes with strong characterization in order to work, something Mackie’s generic scripting really can’t pull off. It feels like the characters are just going through the motions, reciting their feelings in stilted, repetitive dialogue that’s never able to draw you into the story. The situations they’re placed in are also too forced and obvious to be taken seriously. Gambit’s reaction to Magneto using his powers to help Rogue is ridiculous, and Rogue’s later decision to save Magneto instead of Gambit evokes the laughable ending of X-Men Unlimited #4. Once again, Rogue seems to have forgotten that she has two arms, so she saves the one character the plot tells her to save. Gambit sudden decision that he can’t be angry at Rogue for loving Magneto, just minutes after he erupted into a jealous rage over her, and after he witnessed her saving Magneto’s life over his, is also ludicrous. He also comes to this life-altering conclusion over the course of three panels on the final page, which makes you wonder why so much of the story was wasted on the X-Men fighting generic goons, training, and then fighting more generic goons. Gambit’s quickie disposal of Wolverine, after it’s already been established that he easily defeated all of the other X-Men, is another rushed, awkward scene that undermines the drama Mackie was trying to build.

After Wolverine showed up as “Weapon X” in the new reality, it’s not surprising that his original name would be given to another character, but it’s such an obvious decision it almost doesn’t seem worth doing. The new Wolverine doesn’t have a personality outside of “generically evil”, and his design looks like a leftover Liefeld sketch for one of the Externals, or some other early X-Force villain. Churchill’s art showcases his typical exaggerated poses and excessive crosshatching, while his storytelling drops the ball on a few important scenes. It’s not Churchill’s fault that Rogue’s decision to save Magneto and leave Gambit behind doesn’t make sense in the first place, but the way he stages the scene doesn’t convey any of the intended drama. Rogue’s supposed to be anguishing over Magneto’s weakened condition, while the art just provides a tiny drawing of him in the distance. Wolverine is supposed to be a terrifying threat to Gambit and Magneto, but he’s drawn in a static pose at an awkward angle, so he looks anything but intimidating. It’s really just a dull looking page that doesn’t come close to selling the (admittedly dumb) scene, which is supposed to be the climax of the entire story. Even if Churchill were able to pull off the script, though, it wouldn’t have been enough to save such a weak story. Mackie probably would’ve been better off telling the “hidden stories” behind Magneto’s decision to leave Jean behind, Sabretooth joining the team, or Nemesis’ transformation into Holocaust. Those stories would at least avoid the soap opera elements this issue can’t deliver.

The Age of Apocalypse: The Chosen – April 1995

Untitled

Credits: Ian Churchill, Salvador Larroca, Steve Skroce, Val Semeiks, Tom Lyle, Tim Sale (pencilers), Scott Hanna, Sergio Melia, Bob Wiacek, Karl Kessel, Terry Austin, James Pascoe, Dan Panosian, Tim Sale (inkers), Ashley Underwood (colorist). NOTE: No writer or letterer is credited.

Summary

A Madri priest sneaks into Apocalypse’s private chambers and reviews his files in order to learn if the Madri are labeled “Chosen” or “Forgotten”. After reviewing several of Apocalypse’s files, he’s relieved to see the Madri listed as “Chosen”. Their designation suddenly changes to “Forgotten”, as Apocalypse enters. He kills the Madri priest for displeasing him.

Production Notes

According to the “X-Facts” hype page that later ran in the June issues, Howard Mackie is credited as the writer (which makes sense, as he’s the only writer to spell “Weapon X” with a hyphen, and that’s the way it’s spelled here). Why exactly the June hype page is promoting a book that was two months old is beyond me, though. The lettering on the framing sequence isn’t credited either, but it looks like Comicraft’s computer fonts.

Continuity Notes

According to Apocalypse’s files, Jean Grey was abandoned by the X-Men during a mission and taken into his custody. He claims that she was “well on the way to becoming one of the mutant ruling class” when Weapon X went against Magneto’s orders and rescued her. He speculates that she didn’t want to be saved, a thought that Weapon X also considers briefly in Weapon X #2.

Apocalypse claims that Sabretooth once served him, until he showed compassion for humans. “Bloody and broken”, he later asked Apocalypse for forgiveness (I assume these are references to X-Men Chronicles #1, although we didn’t see what happened to Sabretooth after Wolverine severed his spine in that issue). Apocalypse hypothesizes that his symbiotic connection to Wild Child dulls his bloodlust.

Review

This is a rather flagrant cashgrab, similar to the Stryfe one-shot that came out at the end of the “X-Cutioner’s Song” crossover. The cover price is bumped up over fifty cents, with no justification outside of a wraparound cover. That only eliminates the back cover ad, while the interiors have the same number of ads as any other monthly comic. I think Marvel began automatically charging higher prices for one-shots and miniseries regardless of content during this time, which always struck me as a brazen rip-off. The ‘90s sales boom had already peaked at this point, but I guess some people at Marvel still thought they could get away with this stuff. If this were an Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe style book with comprehensive profiles on a large selection of characters, I wouldn’t mind it at all. It’s obvious that the creators went through a lot of effort to create new backstories for dozens of characters, so I could understand publishing a comprehensive manual that details all of the changes. Instead, we get a pin-up book that just has a few lines of copy on the bottom of each page. With the exception of the two entries listed above, no new information is revealed, and the amount of story included is unquestionably nominal. I could charitably view this as an attempt to establish the new continuity in one place for readers who didn’t follow the entire X-line, but it doesn’t present enough material to do that well, either.

CABLE #20 – February 1995

An Hour of Last Things

Credits: Jeph Loeb (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Larosa/Barta/Carani (inkers), Starkings/Comicraft (lettering), Mike Thomas (colorist)

Summary

Cable’s consciousness returns from his journey to the past. Gambit’s angry that Cable’s message to the other X-Men hasn’t changed anything. Lilandra sends a warning that the M’Kraan Crystal is consuming galaxies and is heading towards Earth within an hour. Knowing their time together will soon end, the X-Men comfort one another. Cable reveals his feelings for Domino, who initially dismisses them as a joke, but eventually kisses him. Cyclops and Phoenix decide to tell Cable that they raised him in the future as Slym and Redd, but he already knows. Professor Xavier tells the X-Men that he’s proud of all of them, as the Crystallization Wave consumes the Earth.

Continuity Note

This issue doesn’t reference Cable’s time travel ability. Instead, the Shi’ar technology is given credit for sending Cable’s consciousness to the past (whether or not Cable’s body or just his consciousness was sent back in time wasn’t clear in the last chapter).

Review

Somehow, one of the quiet, talkative issues of X-Men ended up in Cable. Considering the structure of the crossover, there was really nothing for Cable’s title to do this month. Cable’s already visited the past in the last part of the crossover, and since the mandated ending of all of the X-books this month had the Crystallization Wave consuming everything, there’s really no room for Cable to do anything. This could’ve been a nice opportunity for Cable to interact with his parents, but hardly anything comes from their brief scene together. Most of the interactions in the issue seem shallow and overly sentimental. The characterizations just don’t feel real, and the issue is made redundant anyway by the “end of the world” scenes in this month’s X-Men. This issue marks Ian Churchill’s debut as artist, a role he’ll keep for the next few years on the title. All of the exaggerated poses and countless scratchy lines haven’t aged well, but I liked it a lot at the time.

DEADPOOL #1-#4

DEADPOOL #1 – August 1994

If Looks Could Kill!

Credits: Mark Waid (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Jason Minor (inks), Starkings/Comicraft (lettering), Dana Moreshead & Mike Thomas (colors)

Summary

Juggernaut breaks Black Tom out of a prison hospital, taking Dr. Killebrew, the specialist sent to treat Tom, with him. Weeks later, Deadpool is drinking in a bar when a group of armed men attacks him. Deadpool’s healing powers don’t respond as fast as usual, but he’s still able to defend himself until the mercenaries use a freezing device against him. Banshee suddenly appears, using his sonic powers to free Deadpool. They team up against the mercenaries, but Banshee lets one of them go free. Siryn enters and stops the fleeing mercenary, unaware of her father’s plan to trail him and find Black Tom. Deadpool explains to the pair that Black Tom must want him dead after their previous run-in. Siryn agrees to stay with Deadpool while Banshee contacts his Interpol sources. One of the armed men re-appears and has a sword fight with Deadpool. Deadpool guts the man, but not before his own hand is cut off. Deadpool expects his hand to grow back, but instead he passes out.

Continuity Notes

This issue establishes that Banshee and Deadpool have a history together. Deadpool says that Banshee owes him for the “Farouk affair”. This is also the first time Deadpool and Siryn meet, which sets up an unrequited romance that continued in X-Force and the Deadpool regular series.

Approved By The Comics Code Authority

Deadpool stabs someone through the stomach, and then realizes that his hand has been chopped off.

I Love the ‘90s

Deadpool remarks that he’s “too much Nancy, not enough Tonya”. Other outdated pop culture references in this issue include references to L. A. Law’s cancelation, the David Copperfield/Claudia Schiffer romance, and Phil Donahue’s old talk show.

Review

I guess the first Deadpool mini was pretty successful, since he gets a second shot before even Gambit or Sabretooth do. This is an early Marvel job from Mark Waid (maybe his first ever?), even though he was already building his profile at DC. Deadpool doesn’t seem like an ideal fit for a Silver Age revivalist like Waid, but his ability to write non-stop, snappy dialogue suits the character, and it’s probably a major reason why he was chosen for the job. The plot is mainly just setting up the story while leaving room open for some action scenes. The dialogue is usually clever, but I wouldn’t say any of it is laugh-out-loud funny. Ian Churchill continues with his McFarlane-influenced style, which alternates between “tolerable” and “boy, that’s some screwed up anatomy”.

DEADPOOL #2 – September 1994

Luck of the Irish

Credits: Mark Waid (writer), Ian Churchill & Lee Weeks (pencilers), Minor/McLeod/LaRosa (inkers), Starkings/Comicraft (lettering), Dana Moreshead & Mike Thomas (colors)

Summary

Banshee flashes back to his first meeting with Deadpool. Banshee and fellow Interpol agent Daniel Peyer attempt to arrest a mobster named Almadovar, but Deadpool suddenly appears and kills him. Deadpool tells Banshee that Almadover was about to shoot him, so Banshee owes him his life. In the present, Banshee meets with Peyer, asking for any information Interpol has on Black Tom. Peyer still believes that Deadpool’s interference ruined his career at Interpol. Meanwhile, Black Tom is distressed to learn that Siryn has gotten involved. He orders his men to remove Siryn from the battle and make sure she isn’t harmed. Convinced that Deadpool is the key to curing him of his viral condition, Tom sends Juggernaut to kidnap him. Back in New York, Deadpool wakes up to discover that his hand still hasn’t regenerated. He concentrates and forces his hand to finally grow back. Tom’s men reappear and try to take Siryn away from the battle before Juggernaut arrives, but Deadpool stops them. When Juggernaut does appear, Siryn and Deadpool try to stop him by leading him to a knife manufacturing plant, where they drop blades and molten liquid on him. Their plan doesn’t work, and as they run from Juggernaut, they’re confronted by Peyer and dozens of armed men.

Continuity Note

The flashback establishes that one of Almadovar’s gangland rivals out to kill him is Amahl Farouk. Farouk was an identity of the Shadow King for years. This is presumably the “Farouk affair” referenced last issue, but since Farouk isn’t directly involved with any of this, Almadovar is, it’s odd that Deadpool would have called it that. Maybe Amahl Farouk was originally supposed to play a larger role and someone changed their mind in-between issues.

Review

The plot doesn’t advance an awful lot, but it’s still pretty enjoyable. Just like the first Deadpool miniseries, the story sidesteps Deadpool’s role as a criminal by casting him as the target of another villain. The first mini didn’t introduce the idea that Deadpool might be capable of reforming until the final issue, and so far this series hasn’t gotten into that area at all. Waid has a firm handle on the main characters, and does a nice job with Black Tom’s relationships with Siryn and Juggernaut. He also emphasizes Banshee’s concern for Tom, which is consistent with his previous appearances. Keeping the characterizations and relationships consistent helps to make this feel more like an actual story and not just a shameless exploitation of the X-brand. Lee Weeks draws the opening flashback, and I’m embarrassed to admit that I preferred Churchill to Weeks when I first bought this comic. In my defense, Weeks’ rendition of Deadpool in the splash page really isn’t up to his usual standards (although the rest of his work is fine).

DEADPOOL #3 – October 1994

Deadpool Sandwich

Credits: Mark Waid (writer), Ian Churchill & Ken Lashley (pencilers), Bud LaRosa (inker), Starkings/Comicraft (lettering), Dana Moreshead & Mike Thomas (colors)

Summary

Daniel Peyer and his men are disrupted by a rampaging Juggernaut. Deadpool and Siryn escape to the rafters, but Juggernaut finds them. As he advances towards Deadpool, he explains that Black Tom needs Deadpool to cure him of the viral infection that is turning his body into wood. When Siryn hears this, she considers letting Juggernaut take Deadpool, but finally decides to save him. Inside Peyer’s office, Banshee discovers that Peyer already had the info he needed and that he’s left to get revenge on Deadpool. Siryn and Deadpool talk and grow closer while Deadpool tries to recover from his wounds. Peyer returns with his men and continues the fight. Banshee saves Peyer after Deadpool knocks him off a rooftop, and then leaves to find Black Tom. After hesitating, Deadpool finally agrees to join Siryn and follow Banshee. Meanwhile, one of Black Tom’s men brings him Deadpool’s severed hand. Dr. Killebrew explains his plan to graft Deadpool’s regenerative cells to Tom’s degenerative limbs in order to stop the infection. Tom cuts off his own hand and forces the doctor to attach Deadpool’s.

Creative Differences

The scene towards the end where Banshee saves Peyer and Deadpool agrees to follow Siryn is obviously not computer lettered, and it isn't in Starkings’ personal style either. I don’t know if this was the result of an editorial rewrite or some problems with Comicraft (the only noticeable disconnect would be Banshee given Deadpool’s unique balloon style for one panel).

Review

For the first time, the mini briefly introduces the idea that Deadpool might be able to change. Siryn tells him that he’s “not the rogue” people make him out to be, based on the way he’s looked out for her. This is a bit of a stretch, considering that she’s held her own so far and is actually the one protecting Deadpool at this point. Plus, she’s witnessed him kill several people so far, which presumably wouldn’t endear himself to her that much. There’s really no implication that she’s actually attracted to him, but even building a friendship out of this seems forced to me. At any rate, this isn’t much different from the other issues. Lots of fighting and running around with a couple of amusing wisecracks.

DEADPOOL #4 – November 1994

Mano @ Mano

Credits: Mark Waid (writer), Ian Churchill & Ken Lashley (pencilers), Bud LaRosa & Tom Wegryzn with Philip Moy & W.C. Carani (inkers), Starkings/Comicraft (lettering), Dana Moreshead & Mike Thomas (colors)

Summary

Deadpool, Banshee, and Siryn track Black Tom to his secret headquarters. After splitting up, Tom attacks Banshee and Siryn, while Deadpool finds Dr. Killebrew. Deadpool recognizes the doctor because Killebrew was the man responsible for developing his regenerative process. He demands that Killebrew fix his waning healing factor, but has to leave him in order to save Siryn and Banshee from Black Tom. After Deadpool leads Tom to the roof, Daniel Peyer suddenly appears. Deadpool encourages Peyer to leave him alone and go after Black Tom, which leads to Tom blasting Peyer in the face. Juggernaut then arrives and attacks Deadpool. During the fight, Deadpool loses his mask, causing him to act erratically. Siryn destroys the roof under Juggernaut and returns the mask to Deadpool. Black Tom confronts Killebrew about the operation, which has left him near death. Deadpool has an opportunity to kill Tom, but doesn’t take it. He convinces Juggernaut to stop the fight so that Killebrew can save Tom’s life. Killebrew sets up a device to stabilize Tom’s condition while Banshee returns him to jail. Deadpool escapes with Killebrew, who promises to restore his healing factor. Deadpool says goodbye to Siryn, as an injured Daniel Peyer watches and plans his revenge.

I Love the ‘90s

Deadpool tells Siryn that they’re “a regular Michael and Lisa Marie”.

Review

Unfortunately, this is the weakest issue of the miniseries. The Juggernaut chases are getting tedious by now, and new plot elements like Black Tom’s reaction to the surgery aren’t very clear (what exactly is supposed to be wrong with him?). Why exactly Deadpool’s healing power has gone away isn’t explained either. Daniel Peyer returns for no real reason, even though he doesn’t have anything to add to the story at this point. Peyer’s really an underdeveloped character, and setting him up as a recurring villain at the end just doesn’t work. The rest of the story isn’t that bad, though. Waid tries to humanize Deadpool by revealing that he’s extremely afraid of having his face being exposed. This is an element later writers totally ignored; his regular series even had Deadpool out in public wearing only baseball hats. Subsequent stories have also shown that he’s perfectly willing to expose his face just to gross someone out. I actually prefer Waid’s idea, since giving Deadpool a realistic insecurity helps to make him more relatable. In the final pages, Deadpool decides to spare Black Tom’s life, which is portrayed as some sort of major turning point in his life. The scene doesn’t work that badly, but it’s hard to read it and not think about the inconsistent ways Deadpool’s conscious will be played in the coming years. Overall, it’s an enjoyable mini, held back by inconsistent artwork and a disappointing climax.