Cable and X-Force #1

Cable is back with a few worrying ailments, but that’s not really going to stop him from kicking some serious butt, and he’s got a kickin’ team to go with him, not to mention a powerful daughter who’s pretty much just saved the world.

Writer: Dennis Hopeless | Artist: Salvador Larroca & Frank D’Armata

Cover: Larroca & D’Armata | Publisher: Marvel

Maybe it’s a bias because Cable is pretty much one of the cooler characters out there, with his tech from the future and overall bad-ass attitude, and we know from Marvel Point One that Cable’s had his eye on Forge to help him with his loss of his techno-organic virus.  And Cable’s reaction to the new arm Forge has scrounged up for him is just so Cable, with the light banter, and mildy approving huff of laughter that there’s no doubts currently about Hopeless and what he’s going to be able to achieve with Cable.

Forge is another one of those cool characters who’s been through a lot, and has just had his bout of crazy (also seen in Point One) and he’s here working hard towards some form of redemption, but it’s Forge and he creates really awesome things, Cable seems to agree on this. The dynamic between these two is great so far, funny but not over done with their banter, and the trust that they have with each other is already apparent.

Essentially what X-Force is a collection of favourite overall “badass” characters. Their boundaries of morals are particularly grey, which leaves them to be able to do some pretty interesting things. With this being a first issue sort of giving us a little bit of intro to where Hopeless might lead us, there’s no action yet (well, not until the last page, but that’s how they get you to buy the next issue coming out next week) and it primarily focuses on introducing the characters and their dynamics to each other.  Domino has a fairly impressive entrance and the only thing off about it was the AR (if you’re into the AR app that goes along with most of the Marvel Now! titles) segment in which you can actually hear the phone conversation between Domino and Boom Boom and their voices are just off enough to throw off the reading flow of the comic. Normally the AR app adds some interesting or funny things to the comic, but for this issue, it kind of takes away from just how cool it really is.  So ignoring the AR extra, Domino reminds us that she’s good at what she does. And let’s not forget about Dr. Nemesis. I think Cable sums it up nicely with “weird-science super-genius brain doctor”.  There’s not much with Colossus yet, so there’s no definitive verdict yet on how Hopeless will handle him, but if it’s anything like what he’s done so far with the team, it looks promising.

Also, the reunion with Hope and Cable is sweet and touching, and those who can’t at least appreciate it don’t have a heart (not necessarily, but Cable is a cool dad, and Hope is a cool daughter and these two have really great moments together).

It’s a strong intro issue and has already left us with the first piece of conflict (but was good enough to save it until the very end), ready to pick up the next issue. Ultimately a great read for any Cable fan (and who doesn’t like Cable?).