Cable #20

Cable #20
Writing: Jeph Loeb
Art: Ian Churchill

What Went Down: Legion Quest Interlude: This issue is a break in the Legion Quest story that takes place over the course of the end of Part 3 and the entirety of Part 4. We start off with Cyclops trying to wake Cable up after his time travel adventure in Uncanny #321. Cable wakes up and lashes out at Cyclops with his telekinesis. Xavier uses his powers to recap the events of #321 for the rest of the Blue Team, since Cable is confused about what happened. Everyone takes some comfort in the fact that the Gold Team is still alive, but Gambit becomes frustrated with the fact that Cable was their last hope, and nothing appears to have changed. Cable gets in Gambit’s face, causing Rogue and Domino to get in each other’s faces. Cyclops breaks up the arguments with a stern chastising.

Lilandra contacts the X-Men and bemuses their fate. Meanwhile Beast wonders whether he has wasted his life studying when he could’ve been living. Archangel and Beast comfort each other. Rogue tries to calm Gambit down, but he gets mad at her. Cable tries to profess his romantic feelings to Domino, but she mistakes it as an attempt to lighten the mood. Also Jean and Cyclops think about all the people they won’t be able to say goodbye to. Then they cheer up Xavier, who is wondering whether his efforts have been worth it.

Cyclops and Jean Grey decide to tell Cable that they were the people that raised him when he was a child in The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix. Cable surprises them by revealing that he already knew. Then Domino comes over and the two share a private moment and a kiss. The issue ends with Xavier thanking his X-Men and professing how proud he is of them. Then the world is engulfed with crystal and ends.

How It Was: First off, there are a number of details that don’t quite match up with the finale in X-Men #41. Archangel’s costume is the wrong color, and Gambit and Rogue don’t kiss at the end. It’s not that these nitpicks ruin the issue, but paying attention to them would have made this comic feel more like a part of the larger Legion Quest story, and it wouldn’t pull nitpicky readers, such as myself, out of the story.

As for the rest of the story, it is quite enjoyable. Basically, all of the characters have to come to terms with the fact that they are going to cease to exist in about an hour, so this becomes a quiet, contemplative issue. Since most of the X-Men did that already in the finale of the story, the majority of these moments revolve around Cable, since it is his book. Also, Beast didn’t really get a chance to express his thoughts in X-Men, so that gets to happen here.

Overall, it’s nothing to write home about, but it does have some logical emotional high points that would need to be hit before the end of the world. I like that Cyclops and Jean reveal that they raised Cable, and it is nice to see him finally admit his love for Domino. The fights at the beginning of the issue feel like a forced attempt to introduce conflict into the story, but other than that there is a nice tone of sentiment and love that courses through the whole issue. It’s nothing radical or revolutionary, it’s just giving Cable the end he would have deserved given this situation. Sure it’s a little mushy, but given the Age of Apocalypse’s dark, hopeless tone, this is a welcome lead-in to that story.

B

X-Men #40

X-Men #40
Writing: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Andy Kubert

What Went Down: Legion Quest Part 2: This issue starts with an excellent misdirect that involves Xavier sitting in a wheelchair, but revealing that the scene is actually a flashback due to the fact that he can still walk. Xavier and Magneto, going by Magnus, are working together in a hospital in Israel; this is early in their relationship, so neither has revealed his powers to the other. Magneto is working as an orderly; after his conversation with Charles, he goes off to visit one of his newest patients, an amnesiac who happens to be Legion—the main villain of this storyline.

Back in the present, Archangel and Rogue are flying around looking for any sign of the Gold Team; Archangel is very upset because Psylocke was with the group, and he has just started a relationship with her. With Professor X’s help, Archangel is able to find Jean half-buried in the sand. After she regains consciousness, Jean tells the Blue Team what occurred, and tells them that she has no idea what happened to them.

Back in the past, Psylocke, Iceman, Bishop, and Storm are drinking coffee at an Israeli café. We learn that these X-Men have all come down with a case of plot-convenient amnesia; they remember their names and powers, but not who they are or what they need to do.

In an interlude, we find that Sabretooth has been left alone in his cell in the mansion; I wonder how he was being fed. Anyways, he is trying to escape, but he gets shocked by the wires he’s messing with. We also find out that Wolverine has stopped by to keep an eye on the villain.

Back at the hospital in the past, Magneto contemplates the relationship Charles has with his patient Gabrielle Haller. He chalks it up to jealousy over the loss of his own love Magda. While being assisted out of bed, one of Legion’s latent powers activates and allows him to read Magneto’s mind. David sees visions of the Holocaust as well as the death of Magneto’s daughter. Magneto flips out and runs away.

In downtown Israel, Psylocke passes Xavier and recognizes him psychically. Magnus runs up to Xavier and asks for his help with his patient. When both men return to the hospital, they find their patient on fire and having a psychic seizure.

In the here-and-now, the X-Men have contacted Cable and Domino to assist them in finding the time lost Gold Team. The Israeli army is not happy to see Cable because he is wanted in a number of countries, but Cable tries to explain that his clone Stryfe is responsible for all of the crimes. The debate is interrupted by a hologram of Lilandra warning the X-Men about the danger to reality. When asked how Lilandra knows about all of this, we see that she has been visited by not one, but numerous Watchers.

How It Was: This issue breaks the story into three separate threads: the interesting Xavier/Magneto flashbacks, the boring amnesiac Gold Team flashbacks, and the Blue Team standing around in the present with nothing to do. Even though he’s catatonic in regular continuity, it’s really awesome to have Magneto’s presence in the book again, especially with this take on him. His friendship with Charles is really the central theme behind both this story and the next one, and it is portrayed elegantly. This is a treat to see Magneto and Xavier both so optimistic and I also like seeing Magneto on the edge of deciding what kind of person he wants to become.

However, as good as the stuff with Xavier and Magneto is, I really dislike the Gold Team having amnesia. First of all, it slows down the story for two issues and serves as an unnecessary obstacle. Plus, we saw last issue that there were no side effects to time travel when Storm did it with Legion. Sure there is some muttering in the present about how their minds were probably taxed by the effort, but it feels like it only exists so the Blue Team and Cable have something to work on in this story.

As for the Blue Team, well they aren’t going to have a lot to do for the rest of this story. This sounds kind of boring, but really it works as an excuse to have the characters contemplate their own mortality and reflect on the choices they’ve made in their lives. Most of that comes later though; in this issue the goal is really to find Jean and then get Cable into the mix. I feel like the ending with all of the Watchers is kind of neat, although I can understand how a number of fans could see it as contrived; the Watcher is usually stuffed into big storylines to add an extra sense of gravity, but in a story where the world literally ends, I think that it’s appropriate.

The art is really good, again. Andy Kubert has definitely come into his own as an artist on this series. Unfortunately he doesn’t have a lot to draw except for a number of characters standing around and talking. The payoff of Legion’s powers activating is very cool, with Legion rolling around on fire and the flames portraying images of the present in them, but this sequence is seemingly forgotten next issue with no real explanation. Overall a much slower issue than the last one, but it’s great to be reminded of the foundational relationship between Magneto and Professor X that has driven the book for so many years.

B-