It’s been a while since host Nathaniel Wayne last endured the overmuscled future Deadpool movie costar: Cable. Let’s see if time and distance has made him softer on the big guy.
Listen to Episode 42: Cable – Blood & Metal #1&2.
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90's Comics Retrial 
Looking forward to this one.
Cable is one of my guilty pleasure characters, where I’ve enjoyed most of the comics he’s been in, despite knowing how bad some of them are
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Ohhhhhhhhhhh there are two metal arms merging there… I couldn’t tell. So even JRJR couldn’t save the 90s.
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Pingback: Episode 42: Cable – Blood & Metal – Age of Apocalypse and Other Maligned Events
Skipped commenting the past few months because,
a) I struggle to find things to say about Spider-Man in general, much less coverage of another issue from the same run by the same talent from a narrow span of time involving a threat that bores me
b) I’m saving any further Shadowhawk commentary for our Spawnometer podcast episode covering that mini-series, in anticipation of a Spider-Man-like struggle to discuss that character
But Cable? I can talk a bit about that dude. I tried to like him because I enjoyed Rob Liefeld’s work on New Mutants, but it never took. In retrospect, I realize what happened was that I started losing interest in the X-titles around Fall of the Mutants, fueled by my having had greater access to Post-Crisis renaissance DC. I was drawn back to the X-titles through a combination of moving back to Marvel-favoring Houston and the new generation of hot artists making me excited for their fresh takes on veteran and up-n-coming mutant characters. Following the Image Exodus (or in truth upon realizing those guys couldn’t write even before they left Marvel) the apathy returned, but was briefly staved off by favored old guard like John Romita Junior and intriguing newbies like Greg Capullo replacing them.
The company men who took over from Claremont– Nicieza and Lobdell, had their good qualities, but were clearly overwhelmed by the publisher’s demands. For instance, was “Blood and Metal” seriously conceived as a two issue, double length mini-series? Or was it an abortive series launch? Or a stopgap to maintain Cable’s visibility while he was M.I.A. ahead of his return in the actual ongoing series? I dunno, just like I could remember f-all about this story’s plot a quarter century on.
This marked another major transition in my reading habits. When I was very young and very poor, I couldn’t afford to waste money on books I didn’t enjoy, and I read each comic I had so much the pages fell apart. By 1992, I made just enough money to buy way too many comics that I often knew sucked going in to maintain runs and other moronic motivations like that. Despite not really liking Cable, and being on the verge of dropping the entire X-family of titles, I maintained this dysfunctional relationship. I suspect this was down to a misplaced hope for better days, and as a raw exercise of power in my ability to do so as my choice rather than continuing to be a victim of circumstance or newsstand distribution. Plus, I wanted to see JRJR draw Rob Liefeld characters for no more than two issues. It was fun for me for just that length. I paid $5 to do that one friggin’ time, sat on them for a few years, and then trade them in.
Some random closing thoughts on this thing: A Chekhov’s Gun of comic books is that any mechanical parts introduced in the first act will be blown to pieces by the third act. Recall that Reaper got his meat hand cut off in something like his second appearance by Shatterstar. A cybernetic hand was introduced here, so of course Cable blows that off and it gets replaced by a baby scythe (just like the Avengers villain Grim Reaper. All the better to be derivative, my dear.) See too that this appears to be the origin of Kaine’s missing arms, but that element is so poorly handled and the specific issue resolved so soon after the revelation that it negates any potential impact. As always, there is one minor black dude who suffers a tragic fate and isn’t even magically restored by the end of the story like the white dude who gets all the screen time despite being charisma-impaired and adding no value to the tale. Finally, we’re given the impression that Cable can and should be redeemed for his past misdeeds by future technology, without any regard to the psychological injuries suffered by Kaine and Hammer across years of living with their disabilities. Doesn’t that make Cable sort of a Bill Cosby type? It isn’t rape if they’re asleep the whole time, so it’s not like they felt anything or had any “legitimate” violence perpetrated against them?
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First, I should admit back in the day I was a big fan of Cable in the New Mutants issues. I was completely sucked into the mystery and mystique of the character. I still remember when they hinted Cable might be Ahab in an annual. I’ve even written here before how I figured out Cable’s true identity after reading X-FORCE #1.
Well, this CABLE #1 comic helped to cure me of my love of Cable. I recall this comic being nearly unreadable (even back then). Hearing Nathaniel’s skull split open during the recording of this episode was pure joy to me! Not just because Nathaniel is evil and horrible to me, but because I felt the same frustration. I think this episode wins some kind of award for biggest hissy-fit thrown on an episode so far!
Loved it! Keep up the great work!
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