Cable #2: It’s a Hard Rock Life

Picking up where the explosive first issue ended, Cable #2 – written by Fabian Nicieza with art by Scot Eaton and Lan Medina, colors by Java Tartagila, and letters from VC’s Joe Sabino – leaves no stone left unturned. Cable and Kid Cable find themselves face to stone with the lead scientist of Parvenu Industries – Dr. Paul Pierre Duval aka Greg Gargoyle. With Kid Cable acting as dead weight (because he’s literally turned to stone), Cable does battle with Gargoyle, immune to his stone powers thanks to his techno-organic virus. As the fight progresses, it is revealed Gargoyle’s research will be used to turn all life on Earth into one species: Homo Unitus or the Neocracy.

Throughout the fight, Nicieza proves he understands how to successfully write Cable as he seamlessly weaves the character’s mission-driven nature with occasional comical quips, mainly through captions. Nicieza also demonstrates his ability to write stories that resonate as he touches on the complex nature of the time-displaced duo. With Cable working with a version of his younger self, we see the character reflect on how he has matured and handles conflict differently. This moment, though short in the middle of all the action, allowed for my introspection as I contemplated what lessons I might learn by working with a younger alternate version of myself. Nicieza deserves major applause for managing to bring heart to a mini-series full of guns, mercenaries, and evil scientists.

With the Gargoyle’s research destroyed, the mutant mercenaries head to Florida where Parvenu has started experimentation on living beings. We get a couple of panels that expand upon the relationship between the Cables, which offers some lightheartedness to balance this back-to-back action sequence issue. Sadly, Kid Cable gets little page time in this issue, spending half of the issue as a statue. I do look forward to more Kid Cable and seeing their dynamic progress in future issues, especially since these panels were fun and added some character development.

In Florida, Cable and Kid Cable visit the home of Jonathan Chambers, a mutant author and spiritual guru. They find Chambers barely alive, with his powers being used to create global energy. Scot Eaton and Lan Medina illustrate the horrors of Chambers’ situation through stunning panels that add to the intensity of the story. Through just a couple of pages, new readers get a sense of the changes Chambers has gone through in his captivity. Eaton and Medina are expanding upon Nicieza’s impeccable writing with visuals that are engaging and beautiful.

Upon finding Chambers, Cable learns that Parvenu is hoarding DNA of energy-based superhumans to create the Neocracy. However, this revelation doesn’t last long as the Cables are thrust into action as a new threat appears- Amanda Mueller. The buildup of the Neocracy and Parvenu as villains in this mini-series is starting to pay off as we see how much of a threat they are. The self-containment of this mini-series, though helpful for casual readers picking up the comic, makes the stakes feel low when the Fall of X storyline is dealing with a major threat like Orchis. However, with Muller looking like something out of a horror comic and the research of Parvenu starting, the stakes are feeling more appropriate in this Fall of X tie-in. The ending of the issue also hints at more page time for Kid Cable in the next issue as Mueller targets him with an army of family – uh I mean- familiar faces.