Cable and X-Force

Cable and X-Force was an ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics that began in December 2012, as part of Marvel NOW!^[1] The series finds Cable awakening after Avengers vs. X-Men and on the run with his new team of X-Force from the Uncanny Avengers. The series was replaced by X-Force Volume 4.

Publication history

In mid-September, 2012, Marvel Comics announced that a new title Cable and X-Force would be published in December, headed by the creative team of Dennis Hopeless and Salvador Larroca.^[2] The series harkens back to the early days of the original X-Force: Cable leads a fugitive team consisting of Domino, Colossus, Forge and Doctor Nemesis, against the newly formed Uncanny Avengers, lead by Cable's uncle, Havok. Hope Summers has a penchant for showing up in the series, as she is Cable's de facto daughter - several issues, including #005, give much attention to Hope on her journey to rejoin her father and his new X-Force team.

As part of the "All-New Marvel NOW!" campaign, a new volume of X-Force was launched in February 2014, replacing Cable and X-Force and Uncanny X-Force vol.2. It features a team of Cable, Psylocke, Fantomex and Marrow, written by X-Men: Legacy writer Simon Spurrier.^[3]

Plot Summary

Volume 1

While Cable seeks the help of Dr. Nemesis because of the headaches and visions he has been having. Hope teams up with Domino in order to find Cable, who has been missing since the events of "Messiah Complex". After being reunited with one another, Cable and Hope both share a vision in which a tanker hits the shore in Miami Beach and from which a mysterious mass comes out.

A few days later, Havok finds Cable and his team surrounded by multiple dead bodies. He then tries to confront them about the massacre but instead of explaining himself, Cable uses a teleportation gate and disappears.^[4] After running away from the Avengers, Colossus get into an argument with Cable about the fact that they had to kill the workers in the facility. Some days earlier, Domino saves people from the mysterious mass in Miami Beach by teaming up with Hope. After getting a sample of the mass, as instructed by Doctor Nemesis, she manages to destroy it by using Forge’s antidote. Meanwhile, Cable undergoes brain surgery and it turns out that despite the fact that he woke up; his brain is still swelling which could lead to a potential death. Despite the warnings of his teammates, and especially Domino, Cable goes to deal with a threat he sensed with the help of Colossus.^[5]

Following a vision about a virus called the Girth – which attacks only humans and mutates them into monsters – Cable prepares an attack on the Eat-More main processing facility, which is where he believes the virus originates from. Teresa Payton, an outspoken anti-mutant and Eat-More’s owner, sends her men to capture Forge as he tries to hack Eat-More’s HQ. He later finds out that Teresa lost her daughter during Xorn’s attack on New York which is why she has been so vocal against mutant’s rights; however, she is not the one who created the virus. Forge manages to escape and returns to his team and back at X-Force’s headquarters, Domino takes Hope back to her home through the teleportation gate but the gate unexpectedly breaks down, trapping Domino on the other side. Cable and Dr. Nemesis then go straight to the Eat-More facility in order to destroy the virus but find Colossus fighting Girth mutants when they arrive.^[6]

After dealing with the Girth-mutated workers, the team finds out that they are too late from preventing the food trucks containing the virus from leaving but Domino, who mysteriously returns from Hope’s house, manages to take out the trucks and rejoins the rest of the team. Doctor Nemesis, who had been trying to find a cure to the virus the entire time, realizes that his attempts have backfired because the victims only became even more dangerous. The only option left is to not only destroy the virus but also kill the infected men. Despite Colossus’ fervent protests, Cable orders him to carry out the kill-order. The authorities, including Havok and his Uncanny Avengers, only arrived after all the workers’ mutated bodies morphed back to their regular human forms and were strewn dead across the floor. After destroying the headquarters and using the teleportation gate to run away from Havok and his team, X-Force decides to split up and reunite later on.^[7]

Cable then visits Hope to explain to her that she cannot come with him because it is too dangerous and that all he ever wanted for her was to have a normal life. After leaving to rejoin to the rest of the X-Force, now in Mexico, he has another vision of an upcoming threat; a threat that he and his team are all ready to stop.^[8]

Characters

X-Men

• Cable (Nathan Summers), protagonist of the serie and time-travelling son of the X-Men’s leader Cyclops. Cable (Nathan Christopher Charles Summers) is a powerful telepath and telekinesist who has been infected with a deadly techno-organic virus at a young age. He founded a new X-Force team, destined to face the threats that he saw in his visions.^[9]

• Domino (Neena Thurman), is a skilled mutant mercenary possessing mutant probability-altering powers, powers that she has been using when she was a member of several X-Men teams. Not only is she now the lieutenant of Cable’s X-Force team, she is also his partner, confidante and lover.^[10]

• Colossus (Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin) is a Russian mutant with the ability to transform his body into “organic steel”, which grants him not only stamina and durability but also superhuman strength. He joined Cable’s X-Force team after losing control of his powers as a result of losing the Phoenix Force during the Avengers vs. X-Men arc. In order for him to stabilize his condition, Cable provided him a device that controls his powers.^[11]

• Forge is a mutant with the ability to create any kind of mechanic or electronic system as well as the ability to “see” the mechanic energy. He is also a Cheyenne with natural mystical abilities. He joined the team after creating a cybernetic arm for Cable who in return used his telepathic abilities to cure Forge’s insanity.^[12]

• Doctor Nemesis (James Bradley) is a mutant with the ability to extend his longevity and enhance his immune system but also a highly skilled scientist and physician.^[13]

Supporting Characters

• Hope Summers is the first mutant born after the events of M-Day. She is believed to be the mutant messiah and has the ability to mimic any mutant ability. Because she has been raised by him, she is determined to find Cable and do so with the help of Domino.^[14]

• Havok (Alex Summers) is the X-Men leader’s Scott Summers younger brother and a mutant with the ability to absorb cosmic energy (such as stellar energy, X-rays or gamma radiations) to generate powerful plasma blasts. He is also immune to the heat that his power generates as well as his brother’s Cyclop’s optic blasts. He is the leader of the Uncanny Avengers, a team constituted of X-Men and Avengers and who will hunt down Cable’s team.^[15]
• Tabitha Smith is a mutant with the ability to create yellow bombs of psionic energy that explode upon impact. During the serie, she helps her friend and old teammate Domino to infiltrate a S.W.O.R.D base.^[16]

Roster

Collected Editions

• Cable and X-Force - Volume 1: Wanted (Cable and X-Force #1-5, Marvel Now! Point One X-Force story)
• Cable and X-Force - Volume 2: Dead or Alive (Cable and X-Force #6-9)
• Cable and X-Force - Volume 3: This Won't End Well (Cable and X-Force #10-14)
• Cable and X-Force - Volume 4: Vendettas (Cable and X-Force #15-19, Uncanny X-Force Vol. 2 #16-17)

References