Cable & Deadpool #34

Released: November 15, 2006

Publisher: Marvel

Writer: Fabian Nicieza

Pencils: Reilly Brown

Cover: Mark Brooks

 

For the foreseeable future, Reilly Brown will be the regular artist, first debuting on the title back in issue 29 (which we reviewed). His work is good and has a slight manga influence that shows how a little manga can go a long way. Unfortunately, he loses some of his crispness in this issue when he’s showing third-person isometric views (basically the perspective in video games like Diablo 2 and Real-Time Strategy games). But at least he’s thinking story first with those panels and that’s what counts. He’s also had to draw this issue on the heels of the last one and meeting the deadline might also account for the less than pristine work.

 

It was revealed last issue that the U.S. hired Six Pack, Cable’s old mercenary group, to wreck structural havoc on the fictional country of Rumekistan in order to make Cable look bad. Domino has been on the fringes of this book as a government agent opposed to Cable, but is now a member of Six Pack. So is Deadpool and last issue ended with him shooting Cable point blank in the head. Oh, he didn’t die. He is ‘reborn’ even more powerful than before, undoing everything Six Pack did to destroy his country. In the process, his legend among the people only grows and he comes off even more messianic than before, and more manipulative.

 

It’s the first time I’ve seen anyone actually do a good job of building up Cable’s role as the savior he has always claimed to be. Deadpool’s recent denial of Cable and his pretentious airs only makes it all the more credible when Cable comes out on top. It also doesn’t hurt that Nicieza has given the character some much needed emotion, by setting up Six Pack’s involvement as a possibly elaborate plan to get back Domino’s trust and love. Their love was always talked about but never really shown. Oh they bickered like lovers a lot but actually seeing Cable get tender hearted and sentimental for her is the right kind of weakness for him to become a more likable character.

 

The ‘divorce’ between Cable and Deadpool is now even more realized as the title characters are at odds. They could only play master and servant for so long, and props to Nicieza for taking that relationship to its obvious conclusion (i.e. Deadpool’s disillusioned lash out). But now the relationship needs to be redefined, or the book’s existence is itself put into question. Nicieza appears to be heading for a change in Deadpool as the solution, bringing the character more firmly towards the ‘hero’ camp. He’s always had a thief’s honor so giving him a little more heart isn’t too far from the original character’s M.O.

 

Cable & Deadpool has been involved with minor continuity gaffs and Solo’s appearance in Six Pack is only the latest one. Solo is a C-list paramilitary type with the power to teleport who, if I remember correctly, was arrested in Front Line for not registering. Yet here he is fighting among the Six Pack, as a nothing character no less. The biggest gaff before this one was when Zeb Wells had the Runaways fighting Flag-Smasher in Civil War: Runaways & Young Avengers, even though Flag-Smasher had died not a month ago in Cable & Deadpool. Since both stories that had the mistake didn’t involve the characters overtly it never really mattered.

 

This book has interesting politics (one could argue that what Cable is doing for Rumekistan is what the U.S. is trying to do for Afghanistan and Iraq, but the comic’s U.S. is decidedly malevolent), a well-defined Deadpool and Cable with the latter riding the edge between amiable and aloof, pretentious and truly holy, and most importantly, its all working. The book’s making good on its promises to transform the characters into people who actually belong in the same book together. What happens after that’s done though?

 

Rating – 6