Written by: Duane Swierczynski
Art by: Ariel Olivetti
Company: Marvel
The first installment of virtually any episodic form of popular culture (comics, TV, etc.), especially when the series has some hype behind it, is almost guaranteed to be a disappointment. First, it’s always almost impossible to live up to your own hype, especially when that hype has been generated before you come into existence. Secondly, there are rules concerning what must be done in the first installment: the cast of characters has to be established, recent developments have to be rehashed, the setting has to be clearly laid out — and oh yeah, eventually we have to get around to actually moving the main storyline forward.
But even with that caveat, this issue was disappointing. The “cast of characters” here is exactly two: one of which is a newborn. So, do I really need Nathan Dayspring Askani’Son Summers Cable Soldier X to spend half of this book making sure I know that he’s “a soldier”?
So, the story: Cable arrives in New Jersey in 2043, carrying the new mutant baby (the focus of the recent “Messiah Complex” storyline in the x-books), who’s been crying a lot recently, in a special carrier on the front of his outfit. He has some trouble with a few locals, stops in to get a bite to eat and some milk for the baby, and runs into someone from his past, with a reveal on the last page.
And… that’s it. No, I’m not kidding.
There is literally an entire world of material here available, so it’s entirely possible that this title will find it’s groove soon. While I appreciate a good dramatic full-page painted scene as much as anyone, this book better seriously pick up the pace pronto.
Rating: 4 out of 10
