CABLE #3 – July 1993

Twenty Questions

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Lim/Smith/Janson/Peterson/Gammill/Churchill/Ryan (pencils), Palmer/Janson/Candelario/Milgrom/Wiacek (inks), Chris Eliopoulos (lettering), Marie Javins (colors)

Summary

Cable and Kane drink beer and talk inside Cable’s time displacement core. Cable tells Kane that he’s going to succeed where Stryfe failed and kill Cyclops and Jean Grey. G. W. Bridge breaks into Cable’s home in the Swiss Alps and talks to Cable’s computer program, the Professor. He learns that not only is Cable a time traveler, but that he’s also alive. Sinsear continues his search for Tolliver in Sarajevo. Cable powers his time machine with his own power supply and teleports with Kane to his home. They meet G. W. Bridge, who attempts to make peace by revealing X-Force’s location.

Continuity Notes

Kane claims that he was thirteen when he joined Hammer and G. W. Bridge after his parents died.

Cable says that he believes that he is Stryfe’s clone, citing Stryfe’s powerful telekinetic power and lack of mechanical parts.

The Professor tells Bridge that much of Graymalkin is still in space. The explosion was actually the detonation of the “plasma field”; Graymalkin itself is now cloaked again.

Review

Three issues into the series and Cable is already without an artist, resorting to a jam issue. To be fair, most of the artwork is at least competent, but the multiple art styles are distracting. The majority of this issue is devoted to exposition, as Cable’s supporting cast is let in on his various secrets. As a testament to how confusing this series can be, when Cable announced that he was going to kill his parents, I didn’t even notice at first. I had to pause and remember that Cable doesn’t hate his parents, that’s Stryfe. This is a not-so-subtle hint that Stryfe is, at the very least, influencing Cable at this point. Since so much in this series is shrouded in mystery, it’s hard to pick up on what’s supposed to be incongruous and what’s just poorly explained. In terms of advancing the plot, hardly anything happens. Bridge breaks into Cable’s home for unknown reasons, Cable and Kane meet him there, and Sinsear continues to look for Tolliver. I can understand why Nicieza felt the need to have the characters talk through Cable’s backstory, but most of this issue feels like it’s killing time.