X-amining Cable #-1

"The Devil's Herald!"

July 1997

In a Nutshell

Moira meets Cable in the moments immediately after he arrives in the past.

Writer: James Robinson

Penciler: Ladronn

Inker: Juan Vlasco

Letterer: Richard Starkings & Crowquillcraft

Colorist: Glynis Oliver

Editor: Mark Powers

Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Plot

Moira MacTaggert and her ward Rahne Sinclair race from Muir Island to the town of Stornoway via boat, having received word of trouble in the city. Making landfall, they discover Reverend Craig whipping a mob into a religious frenzy at the site of a strangely dressed man who doesn't speak English. Moira tries to calm everyone down, but her efforts are futile until the stranger uses telepathic abilities to alter the perceptions of the mob. Realizing the man is a mutant, she brings him back to Muir Island. There, she tries to run some tests on him, but the equipment causes his mechanical arm to go wild, triggering an explosion. As Moira is about to be crushed by falling debris, the stranger saves her, using telekinesis to stop the falling debris. He then uses his telepathy to read Moira's mind to learn English - also accidentally learning about her son, Kevin, in the process. Able to finally communicate, he tells Moira he is from the future, and has arrived in this era on a mission. He can't give her any details, other than the fact that he needs to find Charles Xavier. Moira tells him she knows Xavier, and promises to take the stranger to him. Meanwhile, in Switzerland, Apocalypse emerges early from hibernation, having been awakened by the arrival of the stranger in this time. 

Firsts and Other Notables

In telling the story of the first meeting between Moira and Cable (while also depicting for the first time Cable's immediate arrival in the past), this issue pays off one of those cryptic hints that so populated the early years of the Cable, specifically, the revelation in New Mutants #89 that Cable and Moira knew each other. 

In terms of Moira and the HoXPoX retcon, nothing here is really contradicted or given a new perspective as a result of those revelations. 

Stan Lee appears in the opening pages as Cable to introduce the issue. Like with Wolverine #-1, on the first page of this issue, Stan is standing on top of the first page of next issue (though here, the page is drawn by Ladrönn whereas next issue, it's drawn by Randy Green, its penciler). 

Cable's unspoken mission referenced here is presumably his whole "kill Apocalypse in the past to prevent his rise in the future" deal, which Robinson (and then Casey) will foreground moving forward. 

Speaking of Apocalypse, he pops up at the end of the issue, having ironically been awoken from one of his periodic hibernations by the arrival of Cable. The Swiss temple where he does so will be a key location in a story a few issues from now.

Creator Central

Ladrönn (his first name is Jose, but he's credited just as "Ladrönn") makes his series debut with this issue, though it is technically only a fill-in. He'll return in a few months as the book's new regular artist and stick with it for almost two years, a period which is arguably the creative highwater mark of this book and one of the few bright spots amongst the X-books. 

Stan jokes that he doesn't know how "Fabian, Jeph, and Scott" keep Cable's backstory straight; that would be Nicieza, Loeb, and Lobdell, respectively.

A Work in Progress

Angus MacWhirter is the person whose hovercraft the X-Men rented (and destroyed) in X-Men #104, and was later killed and possessed by Proteus in X-Men #119. 

.

You can't have a mob being whipped into a religious fervor in a Scotland-set story without Reverend Craig, Rahne's guardian/tormenter/father.  

Under Ladrönn, Muir Island looks noticeably more high tech than it usually does.

 

Moira has a book by Nathaniel Essex (aka Mister Sinister) on her shelf. 

Cable wipes Rahne's memory of meeting him (according to Stan Lee, at least), making their interaction here consistent with when she later meets him in New Mutants and doesn't recognize him (the kind of continuity detail I have a hard time imagining most writers nowadays would bother with).

  

Um, Actually...

This issue seems to suggest that Rahne's mutant powers haven't manifested yet, but she didn't come to live with Moira until after they did.

Also, narration says she is a future member of X-Force, when in fact, she was a member of X-Factor (and Excalibur) at this time. 

The Cable Guy

Stan Lee makes fun of Cable's giant guns.

 

Artistic Achievements

This is the part of the review where we just marvel at Ladrönn's art. 

Austin's Analysis

Cable #-1 probably isn't the best Flashback Month issue amongst the X-Book issues. But it is without a doubt the best drawn of them. Ladrönn arrives on the scene with a style that is equal parts modern European in its Moebius-esque use of intricate linework and textural depth and classically American in the way it channels the bombastic, larger-than-life figures and layouts of Jack Kirby. It's a fitting style for this issue specifically (and, later, the series in general), in which an almost alien Cable arrives from a decidedly Kirby-esque future into a more mundane "present" day. But even the "mundane" present crackles under Ladrönn's pencils: the bricks in the wall and the cobblestones in the street are highly detailed and richly textured, Muir Island is a high-tech Kirby wonderland that could rival Reed Richard's lab and Reverend Craig is depicted with a wild-eyed fervor in which he seems to be almost literally spewing hellfire. The plot is fairly mundane, and in its way as much a narrative cul-de-sac as the X-Man and X-Factor flashback issues (spared that fate entirely only for the way it's technically paying off a plot point setup years ago). But I'm not really paying any of that much attention, because the art is simply so much fun to look at. 

Next Issue

You know what Emma Frost's backstory needs? Well, according to Generation X #-1 the answer is "Dark Beast." 

Like what you read? Then support us on Patreon & gain access to exclusive reviews of Ms. Marvel, X-Men: The Animated Series, and more!

Become a Patron!