Cable and X-Force #1: A Roundabout Review

Cable and X-force #1: A Roundabout Review

I am pretty sure with my first X-Force book I was sitting down eating my Lucky Charms while debating which book should stay bagged and which one should be opened. When the team first emerged from the pages of The New Mutants I didn't know what to expect, but I did know my favorite book was cancelled and I wasn't happy about it.  Since then there have been different variations of the team, most recently one led by Wolverine.  

Liefeld created the first mutant assault team, their primary goal then was to destroy the M.L F., led by Stryfe.  I’m not sure if they succeeded, I was forced to stop collecting certain titles, and X-Force was one of them.  Marvel is continuing their "Marvel Now" campaign wanting their readers to “Join the Revolution”. Titles such as Iron Man, Indestructible Hulk, and All-New X-Men are now joined by Dennis Hopeless' version in what could be titled "the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants”.

Let’s get the format out of the way. For the cover price of $3.99 I am glad it has only two ads, both on the back cover.  This does not include the eight in house ads mentioning their upcoming releases. However, if bringing back more ads would cut the price of the book by a dollar I would be for it.  Since a price reduction looks to be a huge improbability I would like to see the bar code be realigned slightly, you now somewhere on the rear cover. There is a full twenty pages of artwork including a two page spread on pages two and three.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Those same two pages have four of the team side by side after a pointless four panel first page. Colossus tears through a wall, Domino carries a smoking pistol, and the fourth has Dr. Nemesis kneeling over a body. All are better than the third panel wasting space with Cable's feet.

We skip ahead to a “few days earlier” via a “Wayne’s World” flashback on page seven. Hope talks to a therapist while Cable ease drops outside whatever mysterious building she is in.  And, with all the hoopla that Captain America had in taking her someplace safe before the Phoenix Force arrived you find out he enrolled her in High School.

Forge makes an appearance being the weapon's maker he is. How he didn't build a company to rival Stark Enterprises I don't know.  Other than being there to play Doctor for Nate’s prosthesis, what is their history together? How did they join each other and why are they hiding out in an airplane grave yard? Note the whole comic book looks like if takes place at night. The team’s lighter colored clothing looks symbolic of the good guys wear white. Domino's outfit, normally a black on black ensemble looks gray. Was this intentional? Is this the art style of Salvadore Larroca and Frank O'armata or did the printer mess up? As I’m reading the book, more and more questions come to mind.

How did Colossus join the team? The last we saw him he wanted his little Snowflake killed. Now, he is a member of a team wanted for um, well, I really have no idea. How did Domino change right in front of an elevator with no one noticing? Once again I'm thrown into #1 with no idea what's going on. After reading the Avengers I am eager to read #2 even with the plot holes. With X-Force, after it’s over the story doesn't even catch up to the beginning. Domino takes on A.I.M. And somehow Hope Summers knows exactly where she is. Cable recruits Dr. Nemesis, who has no problem joining Cable after having a gun pointed at him. And do you know how Colossus gets recruited? Well, I don’t either.

I don't mind the tearful reunion between Hope and Cable, nor Nathan's "every damn day" comment, which actually works for the character, but the team doesn't feel like a team. Why are they together? It took thirteen issues for Cable to form X-Force the first time in the pages of The New Mutants. It was a slow build up with action along the way. The future members had to be groomed or recruited. I'd rather the book continue forward rather than be setup with answers later. The question this time isn't about getting this book graded by CGC or if I plan to read the book over but, will I really wait around for issue two? 

Thanks for Reading