I’m a simple guy who likes simple things from time to time. Sure, I enjoy Secret Empire, but I love a good self contained story too. James Robinson and Carlos Pacheco offered up a simpler style of story focusing on Cable hopping through time to find some revenge. There’s no political angle, no family drama to navigate, just a man with a gun and a temper.
So what’s it about?
Why does this book matter?
Seeing as how Cable has always time travelled it’s nice to see him in a new type of time travel story. It’s also fun to see a sci-fi character like Cable take on cowboys and old school ronin. This allows the creators to show him duke it out with some rather colorful historical warriors, but also show how tough he really is.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Like the first issue, this issue moves at a brisk pace and offers up some historical action. Opening with the villain–we presume–we see the guy is harboring the weapons of the last issue and a killer instinct that needs to be put down. This quickly shifts to the “now” of the story where we left off last issue. The fight sequence is entertaining and flows nicely into the next scene. And then it’s over. It’s very quick, but there isn’t a page that’s boring, long winded, or pointless. Just good healthy action adventure.
So this would explain those crop designs.
It’s clear Pacheco is playing around with vertically long panels with many used to explore space in an unusual way, especially with how recent comics are drawn. It’s less cinematic, but it explores the visual space in a different way readers aren’t familiar with. He uses wide panels too, which look pretty great like one where the ronin lurk in shadow, and each panel no matter its shape is well composed. The digital effect Pacheco is using on the swords are also quite nice. They give the weapons a futuristic look, but aren’t overtly so.
The most important element of time travel stories is the setting and clothing and Pacheco does a good job in this area too. You’ll believe Cable is in ancient Japan and later in ancient…well I’m not going to give it away!
Anyone know who this dude is?
It can’t be perfect can it?
Okay, the comic does move really fast. Probably too fast, especially given the cover price for comics these days. I have no doubt this will read excellently collected and probably even better due to the fact that this comic is started and finished before you know it. There isn’t a lot of dialogue and sometimes pages can be sparse with the panels too.
Is It Good?
A quick issue to say the least, but it’s a lot of fun. How Cable didn’t get an adventure like this sooner is beyond me. Cable mixes history, sci-fi and action very well.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
