Cable is the name of multiple comic book titles featuring the character Cable and published by Marvel Comics, beginning with the original Cable comic book series which debuted in 1993.
Publication history In 1992, the character was featured in his first solo series, a two issue miniseries, titled Cable: Blood and Metal, written by Fabian Nicieza, pencilled by John Romita, Jr., and inked by Dan Green, published in October and November of that year.
Volume 1 Shortly after Blood and Metal, Cable was given his own ongoing series titled Cable. The book initially had trouble finding a stable creative team. A writer/penciller team would complete no more than three issues in a row until Jeph Loeb and Ian Churchill began work on issue #20 and finish on #35 (though with a gap between issues #20 and #21 due to the Age of Apocalypse event). Loeb and Churchill provided the first instance of stability, working together on 15 of the 20 issues from #20–39. During their run, they explored characters in Cable's past, his feeling of responsibility toward Nathan Grey, his relationship with Domino and Blaquesmith, and further adventures with Garrison Kane, the Sugar Man, and the Microverse.
Cable #34–35 were part of the "Onslaught" storyline, which was a top vote getter for the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Comic-Book Story for 1997.
The series ran for 107 issues from May 1993 until September 2002 before being relaunched as Soldier X, which lasted 12 more issues until Aug. 2003.
After his solo series ended, he was paired with the mercenary Deadpool in a new ongoing series titled Cable & Deadpool.Cable & Deadpool #1 (May 2004)
Volume 2
In 2008, Marvel Comics released Cable vol. 2, a new ongoing series by Duane Swierczynski and artist Ariel Olivetti. This new series directly follows the events of "Messiah Complex". The series features Cable, and the messianic child's time traveling adventures. The dangers of the future and pursuit by Bishop are balanced with the humor of "Cable the soldier" becoming "Cable the Nanny."Cable vol. 2, #7–8 (Dec. 2008 – Jan. 2009)
According to Duane Swierczynski, although the writer "missed Cable's heyday in the early 1990s," Cable is "[his] kind of antihero—the cryptic, Man with No Name of mutantkind. If [Swierczynski had] quibbles with the Cable of yesteryear, it's that he was just a tad too powerful. [Cable] could port around the world at will, fetch beer from the fridge with the power of his mind, and then crush said beer can against his metallic love handle."X-Men: Future History – The Messiah War Sourcebook (July 2009) When asked whether Nathan Summers was a tragic character in his mind, Swierczynski replied that, "Cable's still a bad ass soldier, make no mistake. But [the mission to protect Hope Summers in X-Men: Messiah War] is breaking him down like he's never been broken down before" and said that "[the readers are] going to see Cable struggling with a new bodily problem, one directly borne out of his experiences in 'Messiah War.'"
In 2009, Cable vol. 2 had a seven-issue crossover with X-Force, X-Force/Cable: Messiah War, which is the second story in a three-part storyline that began in X-Men: Messiah Complex.
Cable was canceled in April 2010 with issue #25 (the final issue being called Deadpool and Cable #25).
Volume 3 A third volume of Cable, written by James Robinson and drawn by Carlos Pacheco, was launched in April 2017 as part of the ResurrXion relaunch. The series ran for five issues before it was renumbered under legacy issue numbering as part of Marvel's Legacy relaunch, starting with #150. Under this legacy numbering, the title was written by Ed Brisson (#150-154) and Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler (#155-159), and drawn by Jon Malin (#150-154) and German Peralta (#155-159).
Volume 4
Cable was relaunched in March 2020 as part of Dawn of X. Written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Phil Noto, the series focuses on the younger version of Cable who is at the center of Krakoa's teenage revolution. The fourth volume concluded after a brief run of 12 issues.
Cast Issues Year Characters #1 2020 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 X of Swords crossover #7 2021
Prints Issue Publication date Writer Artist Colorist Comic Book Roundup rating Estimated sales to North American retailers (first month) Notes #1 March 11, 2020 Gerry Duggan Phil Noto 8.1 by 16 professional critics 52,143 rowspan="4" #2 July 29, 2020 8.1 by 8 professional critics rowspan="3" #3 August 19, 2020 8.4 by 6 professional critics #4 September 2, 2020 7.5 by 5 professional critics #5 October 14, 2020 8.1 by 8 professional critics 32,500–36,000 X of Swords tie-in #6 November 18, 2020 8.0 by 9 professional critics rowspan="2" #7 January 20, 2021 8.5 by 7 professional critics rowspan="1"
Volume 5 The fifth volume was launched in January 2024 as part of the Fall of X relaunch, taking place at the end of the Krakoan Era. The story finds Cable teaming up with his younger self, to survive a war against Neocracy and Orchis. Being written by longtime X-men writer Fabian Nicieza and drawn by Scot Eaton, the volume concluded after 4 issues.
Collected editions Volume 1 (1993) Title Material collected Publication Date ISBN Cable Classic: Volume 1 New Mutants (vol. 1) #87; Cable: Blood and Metal; Cable (vol. 1) #1–4 March 2008 Paperback: Cable Classic: Volume 2 Cable (vol. 1) #5–14 August 2009 Paperback: Cable Classic: Volume 3 Cable (vol. 1) #15–20, Wolverine (vol. 2) #85 August 2012 Paperback: Cable and X-Force Classic: Volume 1 Cable (vol. 1) #21–28; X-Force (vol. 1) #44–48 May 2013 Paperback: Cable and X-Force: Onslaught Rising Cable (vol. 1) #29-31; X-Force (vol. 1) #49-56, X-Man #14 and X-Force/Cable Annual '95 February 2018Paperback: Cable and X-Force: Onslaught! (TPB)Cable (Vol. 1) #32-39; X-Force (Vol. 1) #57-61; Incredible Hulk (Vol. 1) #444; X-Man #18-19; X-Force/Cable Annual '96March 2019978-1302916190 X-Man: The Man Who Fell to Earth Cable (1993) #29–31; Excalibur (1988) #95 and X-Man #5–14 July 4, 2012 Paperback: X-Men: Prelude to Onslaught Cable (vol. 1) #32–33; X-Men (vol. 2) #50; Uncanny X-Men (vol. 1) #333; X-Man #15–17, April 2010 Paperback: X-Men: The Complete Onslaught Epic Volume 1 Cable (vol. 1) #34; X-Force (vol. 1) #57; X-Men (vol. 2) #53–54; Uncanny X-Men (vol. 1) #334–335; and more. December 2007 Paperback: X-Men: The Complete Onslaught Epic Volume 2 Cable (vol. 1) #35; X-Force (vol. 1) #58; X-Men (vol. 2) #55, Uncanny X-Men (vol. 1) #336; and more. June 2008 Paperback: X-Men: The Complete Onslaught Epic Volume 4 Cable (vol. 1) #36; X-Men (vol. 2) #56–57; Uncanny X-Men (vol. 2) #337; Onslaught: Epilogue and more. January 2009 Paperback: X-Men: Operation Zero Tolerance Cable (vol. 1) #45–47; X-Force (vol. 1) #67–70; X-Men (vol. 2) #65–70; and more. March 2000 Paperback: Cable: The Hellfire Hunt Cable (vol. 1) #-1, 48–58; Cable & Machine Man Annual 1998; Machine Man & Bastion Annual 1998; Wolverine/Cable #1 November 2017Paperback: Deathlok: Rage Against The Machine Cable (vol. 1) #58–62; Uncanny X-Men (vol. 1) #371; X-Men (vol. 2) #91; X-Men Annual 99'; Deathlok (vol. 3) #1-11. February 2015 Paperback: Cable: the Nemesis Contract Cable (vol. 1) #59-70 and Cable (vol. 1) ANNUAL '99 and X-Man #45-47 January 2018Paperback: X-Men Vs. Apocalypse, Volume 1: The Twelve Cable (vol. 1) #75–76; Uncanny X-Men (vol. 1) #376–377; X-Men (vol. 2) #96–97; Wolverine (vol. 2) #146–147 March 2008 Paperback: X-Men Vs. Apocalypse, Volume 2: Ages of Apocalypse Cable (vol. 1) #77; Uncanny X-Men (vol. 1) #378; X-Men (vol. 2) #98; The Search for Cyclops #1–4; and more. September 2008 Paperback: X-Men: Powerless Cable (vol. 1) #78; X-Force (vol. 1) #101; Uncanny X-Men (vol. 1) #379–380; X-Men (vol. 2) #99; and more. August 2010Paperback: Cable: Revolution Cable (vol. 1) #79-96 April 2018 Paperback: X-Men: Dream's End Cable (vol. 1) #87; Uncanny X-Men (vol. 1) #388–390; Bishop: The Last X-Man #16; X-Men (vol. 2) #108–110. December 2004 Paperback: Cable: Shining Path Cable (vol. 1) #97–100 May 2002 Paperback: Cable: The End Cable (vol. 1) #101–107 November 2002 Paperback: Cable: Soldier X Cable (vol. 1) #97-107, Soldier X #1-12 October 2018 Hardcover:
Oversized hardcovers TitleMaterial collectedPublication DateISBNX-Force Omnibus – Vol. 1New Mutants #98–100, Annual #7; X-Men Annual #15; X-Factor Annual #6; X-Force #1–15; Spider-Man #16; Cable: Blood & Metal #1–2; material from New Warriors Annual #1, X-Force Annual #1February 2013X-Men: X-Cutioner's SongX-Force #16–18; Uncanny X-Men #294–296; X-Factor #84–86; and X-Men (vol. 2) #14–16May 1994Deadpool and X-Force OmnibusX-Force #19-31, Annual #2; Cable (vol. 1) #1–8; Deadpool: The Circle Chase #1-4; Deadpool (vol. 1) #1-4; New Warriors (vol. 1) #31; Nomad #20November 2017Cable and X-Force OmnibusX-Force #32-43, Annual #3; Cable #9-20; New Warriors #45-46; X-Factor #106; Excalibur #82, Wolverine #85July 2019X-Men/Avengers: OnslaughtCable #32-36; X-Force #55, 57-58; Uncanny X-Men #333-337; X-Man #15-19; X-Men #53-57; X-Men Annual '96; X-Men Unlimited #11; Onslaught: X-Men; Onslaught: Marvel Universe; Onslaught: Epilogue; Avengers #401-402; Fantastic Four #415; Incredible Hulk #444-445; Wolverine #104-105; X-Factor #125-126; Amazing Spider-Man #415; Green Goblin #12; Spider-Man #72; Iron Man #332; Punisher #11; Thor #502; X-Men: Road to Onslaught #1; material from Excalibur #100, Fantastic Four #416March 2022X-Men: Operation Zero ToleranceX-Force #67–70, Generation X #26–31, X-Men #65–70, Uncanny X-Men #346, Wolverine #115–118, Cable #45–47, X-Man #30August 2012X-Men vs. Apocalypse: The Twelve OmnibusUncanny X-Men #371-380 and Annual '99; X-Men (vol. 2) #91-99 and Annual '99 (#94, A-story only); X-Men Unlimited #24-26 (#24, A-story only); Astonishing X-Men (vol. 2) #1-3; Wolverine (vol. 2) #145–149; Gambit #8-9; Cable #71-78; X-Man #59-60; X-51 #8; X-Force #101; X-Men Yearbook 1999February 2020Cable: Soldier XCable (vol. 1) #97-107, Soldier X #1-12October 2018Hardcover:
Volume 2 (2008) Title Material collected Publication Date ISBN Cable: The Last Hope, Volume 1 Cable (vol. 2) #1–12; King-Sized Cable; X-Men: The Life and Times of Lucas Bishop #1-3; X-Men: Future History - The Messiah War Sourcebook April 2018 (softcover) Cable: The Last Hope, Volume 2 Cable (vol. 2) #13-24; Deadpool & Cable #25; X-Force/Cable: Messiah War #1; X-Force (vol.3) #14-16; X-Men: Hope #1 December 2018 (softcover) Cable, Volume 1: Messiah War Cable (vol. 2) #1–5 January 2009 (hardcover); (softcover) Cable, Volume 2: Waiting for the End of the World Cable (vol. 2) #6–10; King-Sized Cable June 2009 (hardcover); (softcover) X-Force/Cable: Messiah War Cable (vol. 2) #11–15; Messiah War one-shot; X-Force (vol. 3) #14–16; X-Men: The Times and Life of Lucas Bishop #1–3; X-Men: Future History – The Messiah War Sourcebook August 2009 (hardcover); (softcover) Cable, Volume 3: Stranded Cable (vol. 2) #16–20 February 2010 (hardcover); (softcover) Cable, Volume 4: Homecoming Cable (vol. 2) #21–25; X-Men: Hope #1 November 2010 (hardcover); (softcover) Avengers: X-Sanction Avengers: X-Sanction #1–4 December 2012Paperback:
Volume 3 (2017) Title Material collected Publication Date ISBN Cable, Volume 1: Conquest Cable (vol. 3) #1–5 December 18, 2017Paperback: Cable, Volume 2: The Newer Mutants Cable #150–154April 24, 2018Paperback: Cable, Volume 3: Past Fears Cable #155–159September 19, 2018Paperback:
Volume 4 (2020) Title Material collected Format Publication date ISBN Cable by Gerry Duggan – Vol. 1 Cable (vol. 4) #1–4 Trade paperback November 24, 2020 Cable by Gerry Duggan – Vol. 2Cable (vol. 4) #7–12Trade paperbackOctober 12, 2021Cable by Gerry Duggan (Hardcover)Cable (vol. 4) #1-4, 7-12Oversized HardcoverApril 2022
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