Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Cable #9
Marvel Comics
Swierczynski & Olivetti
Cable prepares the messiah child to fight, but while in the middle of a battle. Meanwhile, Bishop gets real nasty and shows his ugly side. It’s a good issue with some interesting twists at the end. It’s a comic that does a good job of building up the character of Cable and deconstructing Bishop into a believable villain.
The issue begins with Cable narrating to his “daughter” about the meeting of his wife, Hope. It helps to establish how she broke down the tough guy Cable and made him become open to love. This makes Cable’s decision to run on his wife when she’s captured that much harder. Cable hatches a plan. It goes wrong on the human-bugs and he has to fight the old fashioned way. Eventually Cable is faced with a tough choice. He can’t defeat all the bugs and he is pretty sure they aren’t in cahoots with Bishop, so does he just run with the kid and leave the town to die? What if they were connected to Bishop?
Bishop, meanwhile, reveals some of his plan to Cyclops. He picked out some grizzly ways to destroy some continents, but he’s seemed to have saved the best (meaning worst) for North America. Bishop has really left the reservation here. He claims to love the X-Men and yet, he is sure doesn’t show it. Most people that love their friends great them with a hug or a hand shake, but Bishop greets them with a virus.
The issue is at its best with the establishment of the messiah kid’s role in all of this. Cable has her filling a role, despite her young age, in her own safety. It’s pretty much on the job soldier training. In the process, we see that Cable isn’t just soft with love, but he also has integrity, honor and intelligence. He isn’t just going to go through life with the kid strapped to his chest. I found the messiah kid and Cable developments to be the highlight of the issue.
The artwork has its high points. The man-bugs are constructed in a manner that makes them menacing, even if their dialogue makes you laugh. However, as a whole I’m not a huge fan of the art style. The colors seem too dull, with the exception of Hope and the kid to a lesser extent. I can say on the positive side that the foreshadowing scenes of death and destruction were particularly eye catching.
The issue is good and is helping to make this series a very good read month in and out. I’m surprised at Bishop’s actions, but it will be interesting to see how the X-Men respond to him. It’s a good story with two interesting plots.
4 out of 5 geek goggles
