Posted in: Comics | Tagged: cable, marvel, x-men, X-ual Healing - The Weekly X-Men Recap Column

X-ual Healing: Cable #157, Continuity Porn Even a New Reader Can Enjoy

Sworn to sell comics for Marvel executives who feared and hated the fact that Fox owned their movie rights, The Uncanny X-Men suffered great indignities, but with a corporate merger on the way, the X-Men can finally get back to doing what they do best: being objectively the best franchise in comics.

Each week, armed with the joy, heartbreak, and frustration of 30+ years of reading X-Men comics, we read every new X-book that comes out, recap the events, provide the historical context so you can read it on Marvel Unlimited, and wonder when Marvel will let Chris Claremont write something again.

It's the way X-Men comics were meant to be read! It's the column that can only be known as…

For more about the column, check out the reboot issue here.

CABLE #157
Lonnie Nadler & Zac Thompson (W) • GERMAN PERALTA (A)
Cover by Daniel Warren Johnson
Variant Cover by Chris Burnham
Past Fears Part 3
• CABLE RETURNS TO THE HELLFIRE HUNT!
• But will he be able to find sanctuary from a techno-organic villain from the far future?
• And will it have anything to do with these other Cables from different timelines?
• All this…plus, the return of Cable's half brother, X-MAN!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Cable #157 opens at Cable's safehouse in Hell's Kitchen "a few years ago," and a caption tells us the story takes place after Cable (1993 series) #54. Cable meditation is interrupted by a crash landing from Nate Grey, X-Man, a version of Cable without the techno-organic virus. Cable's inner monologue explains Nate's presence before Cable is interrupted by Blaquesmith, Cable's mentor/manservant from the future, who brings up his own past objections to Cable about associating with Nate Grey from Cable #30. Cable ignores Blacquesmith and wakes Nate up, with a warning…

Sure enough, Metus, the techno-organic monster that's been chasing Cable for the past several issues morphs out of some nearby electronics and tries to kill them. A scuffle ensues, with Metus expressing his hatred and desire for Cable to suffer before Nate blasts Metus. Cable grabs him, and they timeslide by two. At the end of time, in a safehouse where Cables from various alternate timelines congregate, our Cable and Nate Grey arrive and meet three other Cables.

Are these specific past Cables we should be familiar with? Perhaps our dear readers can fill us in in the comment section because this one stumped us. After some brief X-pository dialogue about everyone's genetic code, biosignatures, and psionic abilities, the group agrees to let Nate probe their minds telepathically, treating him to memories from the era of The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix when the titular mutants took a time vacation to raise Cable in the future. Nate thinks one of them must be the monster. They all agree to stay in the safehouse until they determine where the monster is and deal with it. They all hand in their time machines.

The Cables wait out the Metus, and typical horror movie hijinks occur. One Cable is moody and goes off on his own, to be found murdered by the others, nothing left but a tiny piece of his arm that wasn't infected with the techno-organic virus. Cable reveals to Nate that his virus acts up when the monster is around, and also that Metus is the monster's name. A flashback to Cable's childhood shows the virus flare up when some boys push Cable off a cliff as a childish prank. Eventually, the Cables are all snapping at each other due to safehouse fever and also because Cables are pretty cranky by nature, so our Cable devises a plan. Metus doesn't have telekinetic powers, so they'll all lift a chair to prove they're not Metus. Simple!

Everyone passes, confusing the group momentarily until Metus morphs out of a wall and consumes another of the Cables. In the ensuing battle, the final Cable is also consumed, leaving just our Cable and Nate Grey. Metus seems to be getting stronger with each extra-dimensional Cable it consumes. Nate tries to finish it off, wounding it, but Cable jumps in the way.

Nate asks Cable what he's hiding. Cable doesn't say, but Nate figures it out. Cable created this situation somehow. Unfortunately, that's about all we get as far as details. Cable and Nate timeslide away and this story will be continued next issue, in which we're promised Cable will reunite with the classic version of X-Force.

The Bottom Line

This comic is not for those seeking a one-and-done story, as it's proudly steeped in continuity. However, it's also filled with lots of captions referring readers to old issues if they want to learn more. This is what every comic ought to be doing, encouraging the reader to explore deeper into the rich history of the X-Men, a rewarding experience which Marvel's Unlimited service makes accessible to everyone. Inspiring that collector's fever in new readers is a great way to turn them into lifelong fans. This book aims to do that. We think it's great!

Further Reading

Cable #30 and Cable #54 from the 1993 series (Cable's first ongoing) are mentioned in the captions, and yes, you can find both on Marvel Unlimited.

You can find Nate Grey's first appearance in X-Man #1 on Marvel Unlimited.

Read more X-ual Healing here:

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