What’s Covered?
Cable V1 # 23 - 28 (July '95 - Feb '96)
Synopsis
Cable # 23 - 25 (Askani)
Writer - Jeph Loeb
Pencils - Ian Churchill (23 & 25), Sal Larocha (24)
This mini Jenskot/Askani arc has two stories going on at once, which eventually converge. This arc is definitely intended to set up the Askani'son miniseries, which I actually covered a while back when I tried to cover the full Cable story all at once in 116: Cable’s Origin. Cable starts talking to Storm about his son, Tyler, as he gets a cryptic postcard from him. I'm not sure if this is setting up a future Tyler story that I haven't read yet, or if it's just to remind us that he has a son before we go back into Cable's past (which is our future) to meet Tyler's mom. Did you follow that?
Cable seeks out an old ally, Blaquesmith. I guess this is technically his first appearance, but I know about him because I read all of the Askani stories in advance (which I regret). I know that he is actually from the future too, but we don't learn that yet. We also see Blaquesmith community with the Askani Mother, which I know to be Rachel because I read ahead. Blaquesmith is hinting at Cable's larger destiny as the Askani'son and encourages him to travel to Tyler's Sanctuary.
Tyler isn't home, but Tyler's mother, Jenskot, is...and don't forget that she was killed. This is apparently a younger version of the character, before they got married, who went back in time to find an older version of Cable to help save a younger version of Cable and fight Stryfe in the past, which is actually the future. Did you follow that? Cable goes with her, but Jenskot brings Domino with for no other reason than to drum up some love triangle drama.
Speaking of Domino, let's talk about what she's been up to prior to being pulled into the future (or the past.) Dom heard stories of a beast murdering people in a remote city, and this turns out to be good old Grizzly. Grizzly is out of control and we learn that he was murdering people due to being mind controlled (or something) by Tyler. Grizzly is out of control, but aware enough to know that he needs to be put down. He attacks Domino and forces her to kill him. This is actually a big deal because Grizzly has been around for a long time and is very close with Domino, and even Cable, however the emotional beats get cut short as she is ripped into the future (Cable's past).
C and D are taken to a time when Apocalypse is dead, young Cable is sick, and Stryfe is rallying his forces to take over the world. Cable is reluctant to help, but he of course does. There ends up being a traitor in the midst and he is killed. The main story is actually pretty straight forward, but the thrilling part is the relationship between Cable, Domino, and Jenskot. Jenskot, by the way, is an amalgamation of Jean and Scott, which I can't believe I didn't catch before but is also kind of dumb.
Domino and Cable have recently admitted their feelings for each other and are pretty much a couple now. With Jenskot showing up, it could be real easy for Domino to get jealous and moody, but that doesn't happen. Instead, Domino understands that Cable used to be married to her (it's made clear that she knows the whole story) and she shows empathy for Cable knowing how difficult this must be, giving him space. Cable really is struggling because he loved her very much, but he knows he can't warn her of what will happen and is truly conflicted because of Domino. To be honest, this really elevated Domino for me as a character (someone who was already in my top ten) because she handled this very well, which also means that Jeph Loeb was a competent writer.
Cable # 26 - 28 (Genosha)
Writer - Jeph Loeb
Pencils - Rob Haynes and Randy Green (
Is there a character worse than the Sugar Man? Christ!
This 3 issue arc takes place in Genosha with the star(s) of the series Cable and Domino showing up to help. We learn that Philip Moreau and Jenny Ransome have gone from civilians to hardened warriors (catch my sarcasm?) as the leader of a rebellion composed of both humans and mutates (formerly enslaved Genoshan mutants.) We learn that Mr. Sinister is secretly helping the rebels because it's the 90's and Sinister is secretly involved with everything for no reason (catch my sarcasm?)
The rebels fight with Pipeline and the Magistrates (plus Cable and Domino) for the freedom of Genosha. This group stumbles across the fricken Sugar Man, who traveled from the Age of Apocalypse to our reality twenty years ago and is the true mastermind behind the Genoshan mutate process (dumb!) This arc ends with Sugar Man blowing up his secret base of operations, kidnapping Philip, and escaping. Dumb!
My Connections
As an editorial note, I need to stop reading things out of order. I don't do it often, but sometimes I like to group things by topic. Like I read the Classic X-Men versions of Uncanny for my first read through, but it wasn't until years later (in publication) that I understood why they even added in those stories. Like there was extra content about Jean and the Phoenix being a different being. That's obviously retconning since the story was changed in the late 80's. This is another example. I've already read about Blaquesmith, Rachel, and Jenskot so some of those introductions here carry less weight and would have been made my original re-read of Askani'son better. Oh well, now I'll try to do that.
I also want to talk about Grizzly's death. It didn't sit right with me. I know that he isn't a huge character (no pun intended), but he's made a lot of appearances as Domino's bestie. The fact that he died, and that she had to kill him no less, is a pretty big deal! Like, why did he need to die? Was it really only worthy of being the side story in 2 issues!? Maybe I'll keep reading the Cable series and find that it continues to haunt her, which would change my opinion here, but until that happens (which it didn't happen in the Genosha story), I'll be a little salty. I do love Domino though.
My Rating - 2/10
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