Cable: Where Do I Start?

I’m looking for an old man, have you seen him? Part flesh, part robot. Has a scar over one eye, and his other one kind of twinkles? Oh yeah, he usually carries around a gun and copious amounts of ammo in cargo pouches.

If you don’t know by now, the man I’m talking about is Cable. Third generation mutant and soldier from the future, he’s a unique twist on the X-Men mythos. He’s come in and out of Marvel Comics, instigating the creation of the original X-Force, raising the first mutant since M-Day, and single-handedly taken on the Avengers in one-on-one combat. He’s recently revealed to be part of Nick Fury Jr.’s new initiative in the forthcoming “Marvel NOW!” era, and while everyone has an opinion of him, not many readers actually know him.

Basically, Cable is the son of Cyclops and a clone of Jean Grey who was whisked away to the future in order to save him from a deadly virus. In the future, he’s healed and trained to stop Apocalypse once and for all. After he stops Apocalypse in his future time, the man now known as Cable time travels back to his boyhood time to rally with other mutants to stop Apocalypse in modern times and protect mutantkind as a whole. Created by Rob Liefeld, Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson, Cable has earned derision by some for being the poster boy of early 90s comics excess — half-cyborg, militaristic and toting guns and co-created by Rob Liefeld. But through the years he’s evolved into becoming a more rounded hero and complementary part of the X-Men fabric of the Marvel universe.

It’s hard to get a handle on a time traveler who in the current Marvel universe is older than his father, but we’ve pulled together five storylines and collections that will give you a strike file that Cable’s doppelganger Stryfe would be jealous of.

Cable Classic, Vol. 1: This great little tome collects Cable’s first adult appearance from New Mutants #87 with his first solo series, Cable: Blood & Metal.It shows Cable’s first major jump back to modern day and his initial recruitment to mount an opposition to Stryfe and the Mutant Liberation Front. The Cable: Blood & Metal series is a great but overlooked little gem, featuring a younger John Romita Jr. drawing in a bulkier style than what’s he’s known for now. In this one, we see Cable traipsing back and forth between the 40th century and now, and how he got on the bad side of his last group, Six Pack.

X-Men: X-Cutioner’s Song: This series opens with a bang when Cable attempts to assassinate Professor X. That brings all sides of mutantkind to the forefront, quick to judge but unaware that Cable was framed — framed by his devious doppleganger Stryfe. To make matters worse, Apocalypse kidnaps Cyclops and Jean Grey, leaving all of the X-Men on high alert and Cable the easy one to blame.

Cable, Vol. 1: The Shining Path: Although story-wise this collection might not be a major touchstone for Cable, it’s unique for being so vastly different that what’s come before or since. Writer David Tischman and artist Igor Kordey turn Cable from a doom-saying soldier for the future into a more pulpy and worldly action hero in the vein of Doc Savage, but with a multicultural bent. Instead of facing off mutant threats, Cable entered the trenches and fighting thinly veiled real life threats. The series went on for a few more issues before being redubbed Soldier X, going further on this route with Cable being confronted with the futility of one man’s actions against more systemic corruption in backwoods European countryside. Definitely a different kind of comic book super soldier, and one that is still alarmingly fresh and poignant some 10+ years after its publication.

The Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix: If you’re looking for a Year One-esque approach to Cable, this would be it. This unique story shows Cyclops and Jean Grey being time-shifted into the future to raise the infant Cable while keeping their true identities secret. Expertly drawn by a young Gene Ha, this storyline shows Cable as a young boy and into early adolescence, living in a harsh futuristic world.

X-Force: A Force To Be Reckoned With: When Cable first appeared on the scene, he was turning the studious New Mutants into a more militaristic force to be prepared for the harsh future coming towards them. Running contrary to Professor Xavier’s more peaceful agenda, the New Mutants evolved to become X-Force with Cable taking point. These issues really show Cable as a master manipulator and leader, preparing the kids for a future he’d grown up living his entire life.