Cable remains an artistic masterwork, with Phil Noto’s lovely scratchy artwork providing an artistry that only emphasizes the emotion and feeling behind our favorite time-traveling soldier with a sword. The combination of the faded coloring and the light pencilwork, with a sort of Rod Reis-esque sense of roughness accentuates the art, rather than diminishes it. We get the sense, when we read the book, that the book is stronger due to the scratchiness, and that the emotion comes through better in this style, than the hyper-finished work of an Ed Benes or an Ivan Reis.
The story, while hard to discuss in concrete terms without revealing spoilers, is really, genuinely funny. Cable and Esme Cuckoo are an extraordinarily unlikely couple, but play off each other well, and Deadpool, while not a character that typically appeals to me, comes off really well. There’s this palpable sense of grief coming off the Merc With a Mouth, a sense of mourning for his lost friend that comes through despite his jokes and humor.
Esme and Cable, too, are really fascinating as reflections of their parents, both playing off the ideas expected of them by their parents, even if perhaps not consciously. This is a Cable who is, by choice, not the hypercompetent soldier that Cyclops and the elder Cable were; a Cable who isn’t afraid to have fun. Similarly, this is an Esme who, while the same girl who tried to sleep with Xorn and was not at all afraid to try and conquer the world, is more at home, more self-assured, and more confident in who she is.
Gerry Duggan has written a very entertaining comic book, an emotion-filled and funny comic worth purchasing.
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