What’s Covered?
Cable # 36 - 44, X-Man # 20 - 29
Synopsis
Cable # 37: Techno Organic Virus
Writer - Jeph Loeb
Pencils - Bernard Chang
In the immediate aftermath of Onslaught, Cable is dying as the Techno Organic (TO) virus is raging out of control. Franklin Richards wants his time traveling grandfather, Nathan Richards, to save Cable. Those who care most about Cable look on as they fear for the worst: Domino, Sam, Caliban, Storm.
This story is split in two as on the outside we see Cable laying on the table being worked on with his friends scared. But the other story shows us inside Cable's mind as he has conversations with people from his past. The most important conversation takes place with his son Tyler. Cable believes this to be his ghost and when he tells him it's time to forgive himself (along with a psychic push from Franklin), he pulls himself back together (since Dr. Richards thought he failed) and we see that he'll be alright. Phew!
Cable # 37-39: The Micronaut Saga
Writer - Jeph Loeb
Pencils - Ian Churchill
First of all I just want to mention that I enjoyed this story because I know that the Claremont era X-Men interacted with the Micronauts a ton, but Marvel Unlimited didn't have the rights so I always saw that I was supposed to be reading about them, but never knew who they were. If only Cable could interact with Rom...
Kane (Weapon X) asks Cable to help him find who burned down his theatre (This is a call back to Wolverine # 88 covered here. Kane is still dating Vanessa (Copycat) and Cable is still traveling with Domino (even though he may be getting shipped with Storm). What happens next is predictable, and since I love the early X-Force days, it was a welcome sight. Domino and Vanessa cat fight!
It turns out that a guy named Psycho Man (terrible name) from the Microverse had been manipulating their emotions and came to kidnap Kane so he could use his futuristic arm popping technology to take over his realm. He manages to kidnap someone, but it's actually Vanessa disguised (morphed?) as Kane.
The other three go in a spaceship after her (however I'm very confused where it came from) and run into the 3 remaining Micronauts (I guess there were a lot more when the X-Men met with them): Arcturus Rann, Mari, Bug. After a lot of will they/won't they, they raid Psycho-man, defeat him, and free Vanessa. Domino and Vanessa agree to put their rivalry aside for the time being.
Cable # 40: Enter Abyss
Writer - Todd DeZago
Pencils - Scott Clark
Moira sends Douglock to help Cable and Domino save Renee Majcomb on a mission. Bastion is sending a strike force after Renee and she is helped by her protector, a mutant with the Legacy Virus named Neils. Once we see Neils' powers in action, it's revealed that he's none other than Abyss from the Age of Apocalypse.
Cable # 41: Bishop
Writer - Todd DeZago
Pencils - Scott Clark
Is this really the first time we've gotten the two future-men together? Yea, I think it is. They had some good synergy in X-Cutioner's song, however Wolverine was there too. Now that I think about it, X-Force would have been a better place for Bishop than the X-Men. Ok, I digress...on to the story.
Cable and Bishop find Sinsear in the remains of Graymalkin. Sinsear makes clear that he has forgiven Cable and just wants to escape back to the future where he's from. Eventually there is an explosion and all of time is going to be wiped out. Cable realizes that someone needs to sacrifice themselves to save the universe, but Sinsear steps in before Cable can do it and sacrifices himself. Pretty cool.
At the end, after the universe is saved, Cable asks Storm to tell him about his sister Rachel.
Cable # 42: Marrow
Writer - Todd DeZago
Pencils - Randy Green
Cable and Storm are standing guard at a Lela Cheney concert (promoting mutants) when Callisto and Marrow (who was apparently not killed by Storm during Gene Nation) attack. We learn that the good guys were tipped off by none other than Thornn, the surprisingly better half of the Feral sisterhood. Storm gets claustraphobic in the mosh pit and freaks out with lightning. Callisto is stopped, but not before sharing that she was attacking because she thinks a mutant genocide is coming and mutants need to "rise up and wise up."
Cable # 43: Askani'son
Writer - Todd DeZago
Pencils - Brian Vaughn, Randy Green, Chap Yaep
This is really a dumb flashback (or forward) story about how Cable helped a soldier in his past (our future). That's about all there is to say on this.
Cable # 44: Maddie
Writer - James Robinson
Pencils - Randy Green
After Maddie had been re-introduced in X-Man, it was only a matter of time before she reached out to Cable, her son. While on the Astral Plane, Maddie takes Cable thru her history. She tries to weave a compelling story prior to asking Cable to join her, but he strongly rebukes her.
X-Man # 20 - 29
You get the coverage I am doing for X-Man. That means nothing more than a skim to see what's going on big picture.
20
Fights the Abomination
21
Nate and Threnody tour NY and kiss
22
Nate and Threnody settle down and get an apartment
Selene, Madelyn, and Fitzroy re-create the Hellfire Club with Shaw.
23
Threnody’s loyalty questioned
Bishop and Rogue check on Nate, they tussle
Maddie becomes the Black Rook
24
Nate and SM battle Morbius
25
Maddie was created by Nate. Psionic projections, thinking of his mother in his realm
Nate, Jean, and Maddie meet. Nate chooses Jean
Nate loses his telekinesis
My Connections
At this point, I'm still liking the Cable series. I get the impression that it's not a popular title at this time, so maybe I just really like this character (or characters since I also love Domino), but this is a pleasant read to me still and I have no intention of giving up this comic anytime soon.
Creators
The Micronaut trilogy heralded the end of the Jeph Loeb era. I won't say that I loved the Jeph Loeb era, but I certainly liked it well enough. Both Cable and X-Force continued to be some of my favorite reads, but that's not necessarily saying much since this era as a whole seems largely forgettable to me. I know Jeph Loeb goes on to be a big shot in Marvel TV, so he's had a pretty good career and that made it more fun to see his writing chops in action.
The benefit of reading the physical copies of comics that aren't on Marvel Unlimited is that I get to see the fan mail, in this instance called "The Cable Grams." Todd DeZago was announced as the new writer, however it looks like he was kicked out for Brian Robinson in just a few short issues. Todd DeZago is known by me as the guy who writes the script over other people's plots, so I was surprised to see him as a full time writer, and not surprised when he stopped doing that.
Another entertaining aspect of the Cable Grams is that everyone is freaking out about Cable and Storm because they don't like what that does to his relationship with Domino. Seriously, almost every letter said something about this. I love it. I feel pretty similar. I mean, I like Storm a lot and she's been underused, so to see her with another character I love is cool. But...Domino is also my beloved so...