CABLE & X-FORCE Written by Dennis Hopeless Art by Salvador Larocca & Frank D'Armata Marvel Comics
INFORMATION:
X-Force has had many incarnations since it formed back in the early 90s. It was originally the evolution of the New Mutants to a full fledged military team, lead by Cable. As time went on, Cannonball had become leader for a team. Siryn had taken a stint as leader alongside Sunspot. Pete Wisdom had taken over X-Force for a short time as Warpath was able to fly for a while. Then things changed with a brand new roster that became a fan favorite by Mike Allred. That team became the X-Statix and X-Force disbanded for a time.
Wolverine had reformed X-Force as the leading tracking and assassination team for mutants, dealing with Black Ops. After his first roster was "disbanded" by Cyclops, Wolverine and Archangel formed a new Uncanny X-Force ... which just recently ended. Now ... X-Force is about to split into 2. And Cable is back.
FLIPPING THROUGH:
The book starts at an interesting point where the team is formed ... and found with a LOT of unarmed dead bodies by Havok and the Uncanny Avengers. Yep ... Cable is stopped by his uncle Alex. And it does not look good. While Alex tries to get Nate to give him the 411 on what's going on, Captain America wants to arrest them fast ... and gets shut down by Alex for it. Cable and his team doesn't go and then we look to see how that team is formed.
Plus, we get to see what Hope's been up to since the end of Avengers vs X-Men. Plus, you find out that Cable is having a hard time adjusting to not having the techno-organic virus after so long (since X-Factor #68 to be exact). And while Colossus is the only person we don't really see get thrown into the mix ... we do see that this team is definitely going to be smarter with both Forge and Doctor Nemesis on it.
ART:
The style that Larocca's art has evolved to is beautiful and wonderous to look at. Here ... it seems that he's starting to fuse his current style with some of his older sensibilities. And it looks GREAT. People are really detailed and specific. Emotions and action are wonderfully rendered. D'Armata's colors really help set the tone and mood alongside Larocca's pencils & inks.
The character's have a slightly darker pitch to them than they did when Larocca's was on Iron Man. Yet, it works every well here. The extra detail helps distinguish age in Larocca's work which is definitely welcome.
WRITING:
This is my first exposure to Hopeless's writing. And I will admit, I am impressed. He has the character voices down pat. From Domino, to Alex, to Forge to Cable to Dr. Nemesis ... Hopeless has really done a great job showing us these characters in a true light. I loved how Cable decided to watch his daughter from afar ... which definitely fits Cable's M.O. and personality.
Domino was still Domino and I loved it. The pacing in the issue was good but felt a bit ...incomplete. While I like how the issue ended, it felt like there should have been more to this issue up to that point. Hopeless utilized what he had very well. But I just felt that there was a scene missing. Not necessarily Colossus but something else.
Otherwise, the issue definitely built itself up as a great start for this new X-Force.
OVERALL IMPRESSION:
Hopeless, Larocca & D'Armata bring a fresh new look with some old familiars with Cable & X-Force. Outside of the law again but their formation comes from necessity it seems. We have some great designs. An interesting group of characters. A familiar looking threat. And some great plot lines starting up for this first issue. Besides that feeling I have of something missing, this was a great, solid issue.
A lot has happened in the course of the last two months and more and more news spilled out of Marvel about the titles that will be a part of Marvel Now. The relaunch of Marvel is shaping up to have some interesting choices for Marvel. While we already confirmed a slew of new # 1s from Marvel Now that include the following:
Uncanny Avengers by Rick Remender & John Cassidy All New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis & Stuart Immonen Thor: The God of Thunder by Jason Aaron & Esad Ribic Indestructible Hulk by Mark Waid & Leinil Yu Avengers by Jonathan Hickman & Jerome Opena New Avengers by Jonathan Hickman & Steve Epting Captain America by Rick Remender & John Romita Jr Deadpool by Gerry Duggan, Brian Poshen & Tony Moore Iron Man by Kieron Gillen & Greg Land Fantastic Four by Matt Fraction & Mark Bagley FF by Matt Fraction & Mike Allred
X-Men Legacy by Simon Spurrier & Tan Eng Huat
Since then, there have been new titles and other titles with new directions. So, let's go into all the new stuff.
First, we have confirmation of the new New Avengers line up: Iron Man, Black Bolt, Mr. Fantastic & Black Panther.So, we say goodbye to the Luke Cage New Avengers team.
Next up, Journey Into Mystery will shift over from Kid Loki being the star to Lady Sif herself. Writer Kathryn Immonen takes over the title to give us a very different and ... violent Sif.
Another title that is changing it's star is Hulk. Hulk will become Red She Hulk as of this November. Betty Banner will take charge as she takes on the mission of taking down any super powered being with writer Jeff Parker.
Then there are some majorily different titles coming in. The first is Avengers Arena. A bunch of younger, teen characters with ties to the Avengers are all stuck in Arcade's Murderworld and have to do their best to survive it ... and possibly kill each other in the process. X-23, Reptyl, Darkhawk, Nico of the Runaways and more are apart of this brand new ongoing. And yes ... Battle Royale and Hunger Games inspired title. Yah ... Marvel killing lots of teens.Avengers Arena is written by Dennis Hopeless and art by Kev Walker.
Next up, Cable and X-Force has a second X-Force team coming together. Cable gathers Domino, Colossus, Forge & Dr. Nemesis together but are immediately outlaws in the eyes of the Uncanny Avengers. Find out what Dennis Hopeless and Salvador Larocca have in store for this team.
Finally, the other big title that is starting from Marvel Now is a brand new Thunderbolts title. Not to be confused with Jeff Walker's Dark Avengers book. Daniel Way pens a brand new Thunderbolts book with artist Steve Dillon. The book features a brand new line up of Elektra, Deadpool, Venom, Punisher and lead by Red Hulk. This team is put together by Ross (Red Hulk) himself to take down enemies he deems fit to take down. Thunderbolts, like Cable and X-Force will debut this December.
This new relaunch is shaping up to being distinctly different from DC's new 52.
Welcome to News Edition 10. And now we get into it will new comic book news.
CABLE RETURNS . . . TO SANCTION THE AVENGERS?!
A while back, Marvel announced that writers Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness were working on a project, tentatively titled at the time 'Cable Reborn.' Yet .. . there has been more details and a title change. Cable returns to Marvel but not right back to the X-titles. No . . . Cable returns in Avengers: X-Sanction. Yes, Loeb and McGuiness come back after their stunning Hulk run with this new miniseries in which Cable returns from the future. His goal . . . well, it seemingly unclear but it looks as if Cable is gonna take out the Avengers. And as Loeb puts it, this has ties to 'Messiah Complex' and 'Second Coming', where Nathan has done his best to protect his daughter, Hope Summers.
Jeph Loeb offered:
how Cable survived 'Messiah Complex' and 'Second Coming' -- and I do consider those one big arc -- if there had been even a hint that the Avengers had something to do with Hope's future, he would... do something to them. . . .What you really want to know is that this man's daughter is in danger, and he will do anything to protect her -- that's all you need to know"
Tom Brevoort added:
Cable knows he's going to do battle with the Avengers, so he comes loaded for bear.
As Marvel stated, Cable will only have 24 hours to take out the Avengers in order to seemingly to protect Hope Summers This historic confrontation will have some interesting reactions . . . especially futurist Tony Stark, whose had very little interaction with Cable. Will Cable meet with his deadly mission and what will his daughter and the Avengers think? Loeb & Brevoort also stated that this mini series will set up things for the Marvel Universe for 2012. Avengers: X-Sanction will hit stores this December.
KRUL OFF GREEN ARROW PLUS MORE CREATIVE SHUFFLE
JT Krul this past Monday announced that he is stepping off Green Arrow. As of issue 4, legendary writer/artist Keith Giffen (who is also co writing & drawing OMAC) will join GA artist Dan Jurgens as writers for Green Arrow. The decision was made this monday as Sunday night, Krul had stated that he had a tough choice in his tweeter; which he reiterated later on his facebook:
Hey everyone! Effective as of issue #4, I will no longer be writing Green Arrow. As many of you know, Oliver Queen is one of my favorite characters in the DC Universe, so this decision was not easy to make. Getting the chance to do the fall of Green Arrow and my run during Brightest Day was a dream come true, and I was excited to bring a new yet familiar take on Green Arrow in the new 52. But, I’ve been writing him for a few years now and an opportunity came up that I really wanted to tackle. I had to make a choice. In a way, my decision to leave is more a testament to how incredibly thrilled I am about Captain Atom. I don’t think I’ve been more excited about a project. Working with Freddie Williams is amazing and I really think it’s among my best work at DC to date. It was a tough call – like picking a favorite child.
I can’t talk about my new project just yet, but it perfectly exemplifies what DC is all about with the New 52 – taking the best characters in comics and presenting them in new and exciting ways. The ability to think outside the box, take chances, and tell different kinds of stories is why it’s a great time to be writing for DC Comics.
For sure, I’ll miss Oliver Queen – and working with the likes of Dan Jurgens, George Perez, David Baron, and Dave Wilkins – but I’m sure the Emerald Archer will be in good hands for more globe-trotting, James Bond, high adventures.
And, at the very least, I got to include my version of the boxing-glove arrow.
jt
So JT will continue on with Captain Atom and a new DC project that they have yet to reveal. Then there has been some interesting changes as John Rozum, just last week, was announced to be leaving Static Shock. He said that he was willing to leave and that there was no bad blood between him and DC. So . . . another secret DC project, perhaps? (if it is . . . please GOD, let DC bring back Xombi). There were rumors of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning were leaving Resurrection Man but those proved to be false. Then there were also rumors of Eddy Barrows & Kyle Higgins leaving Nightwing; which come out to be untrue.There are artist filling in for others or taking over for the 4th month of the relaunch; such as Mike Choi doing the majority of the art alongside Diogenes Nieves in Demon Knights #4 or Victor Ibenez filling in for Yanick Paquette for Swamp Thing for issue #4. Yet . . . there are other books that will have other artists and we are not sure it is just fill ins or permanent changes. We will follow up with this story as time passes. Overall though, DC seems to be keeping their word on make sure their books are timely and that they keep the creative teams fresh. And there is the recent announcement of the new The RAY miniseries with art by fan favorite Jamal Igle but more on that next week.
IMAGE TRANSLATES THE LAST BATTLE FOR AMERICAN READERS
The popular graphic novel, The Last Battle will finally be hitting American shores this December. Image Comics has translated the graphic novel into English and prep it for it's American release. The Last Battle depicts the war between the armies of the barbaric Gaul and Ceasar himself. Written by Tito Faraci, he gave some insight on how The Last Battle came to be:
"The 'peplum' or 'sword and sandals' genre was very popular in Italy, mostly in the seventies," said Faraci. "As a child my imagination was formed by the gladiators, centurions, slaves, rebels and charming maidservants of those films. As a student, I studied, learning how the ancient world truly was... and found it fascinating. In THE LAST BATTLE, I tried to transmit the 'peplum' emotions of my youth with a correct, trustworthy historical approach."
Rich with Celtic and Roman history, the book displays the struggle and whether Calius Rodius, favored General to Ceasar, wants to keep this long road of blood and destruction. The 80 paged graphic novel, the Last Battle, written by Tito Faraci with art by Dan Brereton will hit stores in December for $7.99.
THIS WEEKS VIDEO OF AWESOME
Every week we will now show one video related to comics in someway. Last week, we showed a trailer of the new Vescil comic from Image. This week . . . journey into the dark with . . .
SUBMISSIONS, WE WANT THEM!!!
We are looking for people's opinions. We are looking for Your opinions for any and all of the books of the DC Comics Relaunch number #1s, the new Ultimate Spiderman, X-Men Regenesis and recent rise in indy books. We want your feed back. Just give us a paragraph to a page of your own views on any of theses and we will post them in up coming specials here at Comic Book Clash.
Plus, if you are looking to sell comics or want to promote your art and/or writing, feel free to email us and get posted. Email your submissions to francisco.k.rodriguez@gmail.com and we will give post your submissions on our specials or next news edition.
Thank you for interactiving with us here at CBC and J1 Studios.
CBC Chief Frankie "Seraph" Rodriguez
J1 STUDIOS ARE LOOKING FOR ARTISTS
We here at J1 Studios are looking for artists to work on several comic book projects. We are looking for artists who have experience with comic book layout formats and can draw (obviously). For more information, give us an email at j1studios1@gmail.com or francisco.k.rodriguez@gmail.com.
That is all for this week. See you next week everyone and remember . . . keep clashing!
