PETER PARKER, SPIDER-MAN Annual ‘97 - March 1997

Dead Men Walking

Credits:  Glenn Herdling (writer), Glenn Greenberg (story assist), Shawn McManus (artist), John Kalisz (colors), Comicraft (letters)

The Plot:  Spider-Man encounters Ramon, a man drugged to act like a zombie.  The next day at the Daily Bugle, he learns Ramon is Glory Grant’s cousin.  After taking Glory to visit Ramon at Ravencroft, Peter discovers federal agent Shotgun at Glory’s apartment.  Shotgun is investigating Glory, since she was one of the survivors of a cruise ship that recently sank.  Shortly, Spider-Man is caught in a fight between Shotgun and the Zombie, who has arrived from New Orleans.  Glory saves Shotgun’s life, proving her innocence to him.  However, while later investigating the ship’s wreckage with Shotgun, Glory turns on him and leaves him to drown.  Glory, now dressed as Calypso, breaks Ramon out of Ravencroft and summons the Zombie to help her dig up Calypso’s grave.  Spider-Man arrives and allows Calypso to resurrect her body in order to save Glory.  Calypso escapes and Glory returns to normal.  The Zombie leaves after Glory gives him Calypso’s talisman.

The Subplots:  MJ and Peter spend a night watching movies at home.  When MJ falls asleep, he changes into Spider-Man to check on Glory again.  Drugs shipped from Haiti have turned Glory’s cousin into a “zombie.”  Shotgun claims that the latest shipment is on the cruise ship that sank.  While possessed by Calypso, Glory acts on her attraction to Shotgun and seduces him when he spends the night at her apartment.  Later, she’s relieved when Dr. Kafka revives Shotgun after his near-drowning.  Dr. Kafka also administers a cure to Ramon.

*See _________ For Details:  Calypso claims her physical body has been recovering since her death in Web of Spider-Man #109.  Her spirit resided in the Talisman of Damballah, which once controlled the Zombie.  One of Calypso’s agents knew to give the talisman to Glory during her Caribbean vacation because he sensed their mutual hatred of Spider-Man, which is a reference to the conclusion of the Lobos Brothers arc in Web of Spider-Man #55.

I Love the ‘90s:  Peter and MJ check out movies at a video store before their night at home.

Review:  You might recall that “Torment” was based on an idea by Glenn Herdling, who returns this issue to revive Calypso after her utterly pointless death in Terry Kavanagh’s Web of Spider-Man run.  Herdling was also the assistant editor on the titles during the extended Lobos Brothers arc, which ended with Glory Grant perfectly willing to kill Spider-Man for the werewolf mobster she loved.  (Yup.   Check the archives.)  That scene was casually ignored after the story ended, as Glory disappeared into obscurity as soon as Gerry Conway left the books in the early ‘90s.  I have no idea if Conway had any concrete plans on what was next for Glory following her relationship with Eduardo Lobo, but I kind of doubt he intended for her to be possessed by the spirit of Calypso.  

Unfortunately, what we have here is another case of a Daily Bugle cast member defying all odds and somehow getting dragged into a scheme involving one of Spider-Man's established villains.  Never one of Iron Fist's villains, oddly enough.  Glory just so happens to be on a cruise ship that takes in a boat of Haitian refugees, one of which is a servant of Calypso, who is able to discern that Glory has a subconscious hatred of Spider-Man going back to a story that hasn’t been referenced in years.  Simultaneously, the cruise ship is also carrying drugs from Haiti; drugs that will soon turn Glory’s cousin into a zombie back in America.  Those are just too many coincidences to accept in one story, and that’s before we even get to the fact that Ashley Kafka happens to be the doctor treating Ramon.

Now, for some reason, the story goes out of its way to differentiate between the “Zombieastral” (zombies created by chemicals) and “Zombiecadavre” (a resurrected corpse).  Both are used in the story, and neither adds much of anything.  The basic idea of Calypso possessing Glory Grant and using Glory to resurrect her original body has problems, but at least there’s nothing fundamentally convoluted about it.  For some reason, Herdling feels the need to complicate the plot with the old ‘70s Zombie, political strife in Haiti, a new street drug that zombifies people, Glory’s cousin, and, oh yeah, Shotgun.  You might remember Shotgun from practically any Marvel title drawn by John Romita, Jr. in the ‘90s.  (Romita, Jr. was even supposed to do a monthly Shotgun series during the heyday of Big Guns & Attitude, but it never materialized.)  This might just be Shotgun’s first appearance not drawn by Romita.  And the artist turns out to be Shawn McManus of all people, doing a job that’s just as polarizing as his Sensational Spider-Man annual in the previous year.  Initially, I had to wonder why Herdling felt the need to use Shotgun during the story, but eventually decided to shrug my shoulders and go along with it since Shotgun works about as well as any other government agent character.  Then again, Shotgun’s only here due to the inane “zombie drug” plot thread, the one that adds zilch to the plot, so he stands out as another distraction.  

All this said, I have to admit to some affection for this issue.  I love the original Lobos Brothers arc from Web, so any attempt to pick up on a loose thread and follow up on Glory Grant is appreciated.  And as much as “Torment” has become a source of ridicule over the years, it did reestablish Calypso as a real threat, so it’s nice to see the mistake of killing her off rectified.  I’m also impressed that Herdling somehow found a way to drag in two obscure characters from distant corners of the Marvel Universe like Zombie and Shotgun and put them into the same story.  It felt like a story grafted onto another story that didn’t need it at all, but still, that’s a decent quota of forgotten Marvel characters.

WOLVERINE ’95 – September 1995

Lair of the N’Garai

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), J. H. Williams III (penciler), Mark McKenna w/Gray & Palmiotti (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Kevin Somers & Electric Crayon (colors)

Summary

Nightcrawler travels to New York to check on Wolverine, but he refuses to leave the woods outside of the mansion. Wolverine comes across one of the N’Garai’s cairns in the woods and attacks the demon that escaped from it. Wolverine chases the N’Garai through the cairn’s dimensional portal and ends up in the N’Garai’s dimension. After being alerted to activity outside, Nightcrawler comes across the cairn and teleports into the portal. Inside, he encounters Wolverine savagely attacking a group of N’Garai. They nearly kill him, but his enhanced healing factor quickly repairs the wounds. Nightcrawler suspects that Wolverine wants to stay in this dimension and “revel in the carnage”. Wolverine faces Kierrok, the N’Garai’s leader, and is surprisingly able to stand up to him. Kierrok orders the N’Garai to invade Earth, which forces Wolverine to abandon his fight and help Nightcrawler stop the N’Garai escaping through the portal. After Wolverine and Nightcrawler return to Earth, Kierrok reveals that his order was a ruse to force them to leave his dimension. He closes the portal as the rest of the X-Men arrive. Wolverine mentally acknowledges that Nightcrawler was right, and that he isn’t afraid of his killing rage anymore.

Production Note

This is the year Marvel dropped the numbering on their annuals and just named them after the year they were released. I’ve never understood why they did this, since it instantly dates the comic in an obvious way. This is technically the first Wolverine annual, even though Marvel released yearly bookshelf comics with him in previous years.

I Love the ‘90s

Boomer is wearing a Filter t-shirt. Hey Boomer, nice shirt. (I know that’s lame, I’m sorry.)

Review

This is an extremely action-heavy story that gets some mileage out of Wolverine’s new status quo. J. H. Williams’ art is exceptional, handling the superhero elements and the horror elements equally well. The story requires a never-ending barrage of demons for Wolverine to slice through, which suits Williams’ dark style very well. I had mixed feelings about the art when I first saw this issue, since I didn’t usually like artists that play with a lot of shadows, but I can appreciate it more today. There isn’t a lot to the story, but Hama is able to make Nightcrawler’s concern for Wolverine feel genuine, and at least the action does tie in to Wolverine’s ongoing character arc. It’s not an essential chapter in the storyline, but it manages to be more than filler. I like the ending, which basically has Kierrok tricking Wolverine to go away so that he’ll leave him alone. It’s not really played for laughs, but it amuses me.

What the Cat Dragged In

Credits: Christopher Golden (writer), Ben Herrera (penciler), Vince Russell (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Ian Laughlin (colors)

Summary

After Slayback attempts to kidnap him, Maverick turns to Wolverine for help. He knows that Slayback is being hired to abduct Weapon X veterans with healing powers, so that a private research firm can conduct tests on them to find a Legacy Virus cure. Out of respect for their friendship, Wolverine goes along with Maverick to rescue Deadpool, who is being tortured by the amoral scientists. Maverick and Wolverine rescue Deadpool, but he disappears as SHIELD agents raid the lab. Later, Deadpool sends cell samples to Beast, but he concludes that his healing factor won’t cure the virus.

Continuity Note

According to Maverick, both he and Deadpool have a healing factor taken from Wolverine’s DNA template. I think this is the first time Maverick having a healing factor is mentioned. Since Maverick isn’t scarred, this seems to contradict the idea that the process of giving Deadpool a healing factor scarred his skin. However, Deadpool has an extremely accelerated healing factor, which could explain why the process took a heavier toll on him (that’s my No-Prize explanation).

Review

I seem to recall Christopher Golden saying that this was his first job in comics, and that years went by before he got another one. It actually isn’t that bad of a story. It has too much plot for an annual backup, so it comes out pretty rushed, but it’s still marginally entertaining. Golden makes nice use of the ongoing storylines in the various titles by finally acknowledging that the numerous characters with healing powers might be able to cure the Legacy Virus. It turns out to be a dead end, really because Marvel just didn’t want to finish the story yet, but it’s an angle someone should’ve used by this point. Golden also captures Wolverine’s voice rather well, and is able to neatly tie the plot into the ongoing “feral regression” storyline. Wolverine’s closing monologue about the importance of friendship is a little much, but he does capture the character’s strong loyalty to his friends, which is one of the things I really liked about Wolverine growing up. I didn't like Herrera's cartoony, angular art when I first read this issue, but most of it actually holds up pretty well.

CABLE #14 – August 1994

Fear & Loathing Part Three

Credits: Glenn Herdling (writer), Steve Skroce (penciler), Mike Sellers (inker), Marie Javins (colorist), Starkings/Comicraft (lettering)

Summary

D’Spayre fights Belasco for another chance to toy with Cable and Lee Forrester. Belasco defeats him and sends him away. Belasco explains to Cable that the Nexus of All Realities has been expanding at a rapid rate and will soon swallow the Earth. Belasco wants to use Cable to stop the force that’s causing the Nexus’ growth. He explains to Cable that his former servant S’ym and another demon N’astirh tried to sacrifice Cable as a baby in order to create a permanent link between Earth and Limbo. The X-Men stopped them, but now S’ym is using the Nexus to link Earth to Limbo again. Belasco thinks that Cable’s techno-organic body can stop S’ym, who suddenly appears. Cable has a fistfight with S’ym, and telekinetically stabs him in the chest with a piece of wood. He punches out S’ym and he disappears. Belasco tells Cable that S’ym is defeated and returns Cable and Lee to the Everglades.

Continuity Notes

Belasco is the former ruler of Limbo. He was succeeded by his servant S’ym, who was later defeated by his own servant, N’astirh. N’astirh manipulated Cable’s mother Madelyne Pryor into trying to sacrifice him during the “Inferno” storyline.

Creative Differences

There are a couple of re-lettered balloons, but the only one that really stands out is an entire balloon that’s been changed to have Cable stress that Madelyne Pryor was manipulated into being another person during “Inferno”.

Review

Another aspect of ‘80s continuity returns in this issue with the reintroductions of Belasco and S’ym. Belasco was originally a Ka-Zar villain who somehow ended up as a semi-regular villain in the X-books during the ‘80s. S’ym appeared a few times in New Mutants, playing a major role in the “Inferno” crossover before going into obscurity. Since a large part of that storyline involved attempts by demons to sacrifice Cable when he was a baby, it’s not a bad springboard for a new story. How exactly Cable feels about his mother had never been dealt with either, so bringing this stuff up again is a smart move on Herdling’s part. Unfortunately, the story just treats Cable as a generic superhero, without establishing his feelings whatsoever about anything that’s going on. Cable’s fighting a demon that helped to manipulate his mother into sacrificing him as a baby, and he acts as if he’s just stopping a bank robber. There’s no indication that Cable cares anything about what’s going on, and the story doesn’t offer any insights into how this knowledge Cable affects at all.

The ending also doesn’t make sense, and seems to contradict the setup Belasco gives earlier in the story. Belasco needs Cable’s techno-organics to stop S’ym, which I assume is a reference to a previous storyline in New Mutants (S’ym was infected with the T-O virus at some point in the story, although this issue doesn’t bring that up). However, Cable stops S’ym by stabbing him with a piece of wood and then punching him out. What does that have to do with techno-organics? Herdling tries to cover for this with this ridiculous line from Belasco, “for reasons too complicated to go into, you offered…the right touch necessary to defeat him.” So if the ending doesn’t make sense, that means it’s just too complicated for us to understand. I wonder if the original ending involved Cable doing something elaborate with his techno-organic body, and perhaps Marvel decided to back away from giving Cable that power. I don’t know. At any rate, it’s a very disappointing ending to an issue that actually had a promising setup.

CABLE #13 – July 1994

Fear and Loathing Part 2 – A Kiss Before Dying!

Credits: Glenn Herdling (scripter), Steve Skroce (penciler), Sellers/Conrad/Champagne (inkers), Marie Javins (colorist), Starkings/Comicraft (lettering)

Summary

Cable and Lee Forrester escape a hurricane in the Florida Everglades. While running to safety, Cable falls into quicksand. Lee can’t save him, but Cable manages to use his telekinetic powers to lift himself out of the quicksand. That night, they discover a cabin in the swamp. An old man named Desmond offers to take them in, but they’re unnerved by his cryptic comments. A mystery man named Lucas appears at the door, saying that he doesn’t want Desmond to start the game without him. That night, Cable has violent flashbacks to the day his wife died, and Lee sees a vision of her father’s suicide. Cable sees images of every woman who has left him, while Lee has another vision of Magneto murdering Cyclops. When Cable hallucinates himself wearing Stryfe’s armor, he demands to know who the old man is. He reveals himself to be D’Spayre. D’Spayre tries to feed off of Cable and Lee’s grief, but the two kiss one another and anchor themselves in reality. Lucas reappears, telling D’Spayre that his time is up. He takes off his skin and reveals himself as Belasco.

Production Note

For some reason, this issue has a new logo. It’s a pretty bizarre design and only lasts for one issue.

Continuity Notes

Cable is barely able to use his telekinetic powers to lift himself out of the quicksand at this point. He collapses from the effort and needs time to recover.

Creative Differences

A couple of word balloons have obviously been re-lettered (Starkings is using computer fonts at this point, but the corrected balloons are obviously done by hand). One balloon has Lee explicitly saying that her father committed suicide, another has Cable comment that he’s been turned into Stryfe, and both D’Spayre and Belasco have altered balloons referencing D’Spayre’s recent Excalibur appearance.

Review

There’s not a lot to say about this issue, except that Steve Skroce makes his debut as artist. Skroce will stay with Marvel for the next few years, usually working on the X-books. Ever since he worked on the first Matrix movie, his comics work has been extremely sporadic. His work here isn’t very impressive, but I admit that it’s nice see an artist not doing a bad impression of Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, or Todd McFarlane. Skroce’s work almost reminds me of Bart Sears’ earlier art, with a lot of wavy lines and characters that look like they’re about to melt. Some of the pages aren’t bad, but a lot of the work is just ugly. He’ll get better as the years go on, doing decent work on Gambit and Wolverine. I thought he also did an admirable job with Alan Moore’s scripts during their very brief Youngblood run.

Glenn Herdling again finishes another writer’s story (if Lobdell contributed to this one, he’s not credited), by basically turning this issue into a sequel to one of Lee Forrester’s first appearances. That means bringing back D’Spayre just a month or so after he returned from obscurity in Excalibur. Since all of the references to the Excalibur storyline are in re-lettered word balloons, I’m inclined to believe that Herdling had no idea anyone else would be using him when he wrote this script. Pitting tough guy Cable against an enemy he can’t physically beat isn’t a bad idea, and using Lee Forrester as the impetus to bring D’Spayre back works pretty well. It’s an average story, but it moves at a decent pace and doesn’t feel as aimless as many of the previous issues of this series. Herdling portrays Cable as being more lighthearted than usual, making him feel more like a traditional Marvel hero and less like a hard-edged soldier. It makes the issue read kind of odd in a few places, but I’ll give him credit for trying to give Cable a little more personality.

CABLE #12 – June 1994

Fear and Loathing Part 1 – The Quick and the Dead

Credits: Scott Lobdell (plot), Glenn Herdling (script), Mike Miller (penciler), Conrad/Hanna/Sellers (inkers), Starkings/Comicraft (lettering), Marie Javins (colorist)

Summary

Lee Forrester is on the run from Senyaka, who has already killed every other member of her crew. After hitting him with a flare gun and falling into the water, she’s rescued by Cable. Senyaka attacks again, explaining that he wants revenge on Magneto and is killing everyone who was ever close to him. Cable has an opportunity to shoot him, but Senyaka attacks with his psionic coils before Cable pulls the trigger. Lee hits Senyaka from behind, briefly giving them time to run away. Cable tells Lee that they can’t teleport away because Senyaka’s psionic attack knocked out communications with his internal computer, the Professor. The two get closer during the night, when Senyaka suddenly appears. Cable uses his telekinetic powers to drive wooden stakes into Senyaka’s heart, apparently killing him. However, the two are still a hundred miles from civilization with no food or any way to call for help.

Continuity Notes

Lee Forrester was briefly Cyclops’ love interest after Jean Grey died (the first time). Years later, she rescued a wounded Magneto from the ocean and helped him recuperate. Senyaka wants revenge on Magneto after he “killed” him in Uncanny X-Men #304. Senyaka claims that he was barely alive after Magneto’s attack when SHIELD examined his body. When a medical examiner touched him, Senyaka used his powers to drain his psionic energy and escaped.

I Love the ‘90s

Lee Forrester’s journal says that this story takes place on April 5, 1994, which I believe is the day this issue went on sale (it’s also the day Kurt Cobain killed himself).

Review

And, yet another long-forgotten character from the past returns with this issue. It’s hard to believe that it’s a coincidence at this point. Lee Forrester disappeared from the titles around the time Magneto became headmaster of Xavier’s school (I don’t even remember if their brief romance was ended on-panel). She’s brought back in this issue and almost immediately set up as a potential love interest for Cable. Aside from the absurdity of this “average woman” going from Cyclops to Magneto to Cable, there’s also the unpleasant element that Cyclops is Cable’s father. I think the idea was only introduced for the sake of that shock value, because there’s no real reason for these two characters to get involved. I don’t remember any romance between these two characters going anywhere, thankfully.

Lee does serve one interesting purpose in this issue, and it’s a shame that it didn’t happen sooner. After she learns about Magneto’s actions during the “Fatal Attractions” storyline, Lee reacts with the appropriate shock and disgust. Since the character was only familiar with Magneto during his reformed days, it makes sense that she would react this way. It’s too bad this point of view wasn’t brought up during the actual storyline. I think that Herdling might be sympathetic towards the reformed version of Magneto, because he can’t give Cable any reason to justify Magneto’s behavior in that storyline. At least someone finally acknowledged how wildly out of character Magneto was behaving, even if it is months later in an unrelated spinoff.

This actually isn’t that bad of an issue, especially when compared to the earlier issues of the series. It does suffer from some of the same flaws, since the story isn’t really about Cable as a character at all, and the villain is another castoff from the other X-books, but the execution has gotten better. Miller’s fill-in art is competent enough, even though the overacting he gives Lee Forrester towards the end is ridiculous. Senyaka is given a formidable introduction, and he seems like a legitimate threat for most of the story. Casting him as some sort of monster from a horror movie works pretty well. Having him chase after Lee Forrester, of all characters, due to her short relationship with Magneto is a little much, though. There are probably dozens of characters closer to Magneto than Lee, so singling her out is a stretch. Cable is shown to be willing to kill Senyaka “in cold blood”, which seems to be closer to his original characterization and not in line with what Nicieza was doing at the time, but the story does offer some justification for his actions. It’s not a great comic, but it is an improvement over what came before.

UNCANNY X-MEN ANNUAL #18 – 1994

Trust Is a Two-Edged Sword

Credits: Glenn Herdling (writer), Ian Churchill (penciler), Hilary Barta and Bud La Rosa (inkers), Richard Starkings (letterer), Dana Moreshead and Mike Thomas (colorists)

Summary

Caliban has kidnapped Jubilee, hoping to exchange her for Sabretooth. The only X-Man he’ll agree to meet with is Kitty Pryde, who has flown in from Scotland. Professor Xavier hopes that Kitty can talk Caliban into giving Jubilee back. The X-Men need Sabretooth to find Caliban’s specific location in the sewers, so Jean Grey gives him the telepathic “glow” in exchange for going along. While in the sewers, Sabretooth tries to escape but Kitty is able to stop him. They’re soon discovered by Caliban who opens the floodgates in the sewer, hoping that Sabretooth will drown and that Kitty will phase through the wall to safety. Kitty escapes with Sabretooth, but they’re soon attacked by a giant squid. Caliban steps in to save Kitty, but he can’t stop the squid. Sabretooth surprises Kitty by killing it and saving their lives. He then tricks Kitty into accidentally short-circuiting his manacles, but he’s quickly recaptured. Caliban, ashamed of what he has turned into, disappears.

Continuity Notes

In one of his early appearances, Caliban tried to marry Kitty Pryde. He wants revenge on Sabretooth for his role in the Morlock Massacre. After Caliban was remade by Apocalypse, he had a lasting feud with Sabretooth in the earlier issues of X-Factor.

Creative Differences

On page forty-three, Kitty Pryde’s dialogue has been re-lettered to have Kitty consider the possibility that Sabretooth could be reformed.

“Huh?” Moment

Kitty is able to walk through the sewers without a flashlight. She implies that she can see in the dark because her name is “Shadowcat”.

Commercial Break

There’s an ad for “Universal Collectibles Club”, some sort of discount comics service. Buried in the tiny print of their ad is this: “Harlan Ellison, Neil Young, Peter David, God Street Wine and Eddie Vedder call for your complimentary membership and special prize! Ask for Cary!” God Street Wine was apparently a ‘90s jam band I’ve never heard of. Were they as cool as Peter David and Eddie Vedder? Do you think Vedder ever called Cary? Why was Eddie Vedder asked to join but not Kurt Cobain? Maybe Billy Corgan wanted free comics! If you joined the club, you could also get ‘90s classics like Ravage 2009 #1 and Deathmate Prologue for free, and there was no limit on the number of copies of Punisher 2099 #1 and Shadowhawk II #1 you could buy.

Review

This issue didn’t seem so bad to me until the giant squid showed up. It makes sense that people with a grudge against Sabretooth would now be going after the X-Men, and Caliban’s hatred of Sabretooth was the center of a few X-Factor stories, so I don’t have a problem with the premise of the story. Caliban’s given some odd speech patterns for the first half of the issue, but he seems to be more in character by the story’s end. The idea that only Sabretooth can find Caliban doesn’t work when you consider the fact that this story features two telepaths. I’m not sure why the story goes in that direction since Sabretooth was Calbian’s ransom demand in the first place, so he already had a reason to go into the sewers. I understand why Herdling introduced a separate menace for Caliban and Sabretooth to fight towards the end of the story…but an inexplicable giant squid hiding in the sewers? Really? This is a Marvel comic, there could have at least been an explanation that it was the result of an abandoned AIM project or something.

This is the first issue during this era to have someone seriously consider the idea that Sabretooth might reform. The dialogue comes in a re-lettered balloon, so I don’t know if Herdling intended for this idea to be raised or if it was added by editorial. It’s possible that Marvel was still considering having him actually join the team at this point, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the idea were put out in there in the comics to see how people responded. Or maybe Herdling intended for that scene to be red herring before Sabretooth’s final escape attempt. Throwing in that last escape attempt with only three pages left doesn’t work because there’s not enough room to go anywhere with it. Even Jubilee points out how implausible it was for Kitty to be able to repair Sabretooth’s manacles so quickly. I didn’t notice a lot of these flaws as a kid and seem to remember liking this story. I will say that Herdling handles Kitty, Jubilee, and Sabretooth’s characterizations pretty well, even if the plot doesn’t entirely work.

CABLE #11 – May 1994

The Killing Field Part 3 – Divide & Conquer

Credits: Glenn Herdling (writer), M. C. Wyman (penciler), Farmer/Barta/Lowe/Conrad/LaRosa/Hanna/Rodier (inkers), Richard Starkings (letterer), Marie Javins (colorist)

Summary

Cable escapes from the Acolytes by turning off the lights in Magneto’s former base. He learns that only he can control the alien headquarters because it is techno-organic, like half of his body. The Acolytes planned on recruiting him, hoping that he would be able to use Magneto’s arctic base to their advantage. The Acolytes try to escape Earth before Omega Red’s death spores are released, but Cable uses his control over the base to stop them. Amelia Voght teleports Cable away, explaining to him that the Acolytes have gone behind her back by forcing Omega Red to stay on Earth and poison the planet. In her original plan, he really was supposed to reach space. She tries to stop Omega Red while Cable fights Colossus. Cable uses his telepathic and telekinetic powers to force Colossus back to human form and saves Voght from Omega Red. The Acolyte Katu uses his power on Omega Red and the two implode.

Continuity Note

Magneto’s arctic base is revealed to be some form of techno-organic alien. How he ended up with it isn’t explained.

Review

The Omega Red/Acolytes arc finally ends, losing Fabian Nicieza along the way. Glenn Herdling is given the unenviable job of finishing up another writer’s storyline that wasn’t very good in the first place. He does a decent job of going through the motions until the very end, when one of the Acolytes (not even introduced in this issue), uses his vaguely defined powers to end the story in a couple of panels. This isn’t an especially plot-heavy issue, so there should have been more than enough room for a better conclusion. M. C. Wyman has seven inkers in this issue, giving the entire issue an inconsistent, rushed look. Eleven issues in and Cable is still a disappointment. I was deep into completism at this point.

CABLE #10 – April 1994

The Killing Field Part II – Like Lambs to the Slaughter

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (plot), Glenn Herdling (script), M. C. Wyman (penciler), Conrad & Milgrom (inkers), Chris Eliopoulos (letterer), Marie Javins (colorist)

Summary

Omega Red attacks the Tyuratam Space Center to get information on how to cure his Death Spore Virus. After he leaves with a disc, Cable and the Acolytes arrive. They discern that in order to cure himself, Omega Red must undergo a procedure that can only be conducted in the vacuum of space, and that he plans on getting there by teleporting from Magneto’s arctic base to the Acolytes’ headquarters in space. Cable and the Acolytes search Magneto’s arctic headquarters and find that Omega Red is already there, unconscious and badly beaten. Cable figures out that the Acolytes are double-crossing him, when Colossus suddenly appears with more of the Acolytes.

Continuity Notes

The Acolytes imply that Magneto’s arctic base is actually a living alien.

The Acolyte Katu describes the day Russian troops invaded his home in the Siberian tundra with Omega Red, killing his family and maiming him because his mutant ability was disrupting satellite transmissions.

I Love the ‘90s

There’s an ad for “Wolverine Blues”, an actual album from the band Entombed. Marvel even packaged a free Wolverine comic with the CD, and let their label use a painting of Wolverine in the ad and video. The ad copy reads, “Wake up and smell the ‘90s!” So...the ‘90s smelled like Wolverine? What do we smell like today?

Review

Fabian Nicieza already has one foot out of the door as the Omega Red storyline continues. Glenn Herdling does an adequate scripting job that gives the characters plausible dialogue, but doesn’t really give them much of a personality. The first part of this story at least tied into Cable’s familial connections to the other X-characters, but he could’ve been replaced by any generic X-character in this issue. I’m not one of those people who think that every story featuring a character has to tie in to their “big picture” theme (like Spider-Man learning a lesson about responsibility in every story, for example), but having a story that veers from a character’s core concept usually only works if the character has a strong personality. The original “ends justify the means” Cable was annoying, but he at least had personality. The more sympathetic interpretation of the character just comes across as a generic superhero in this issue. He’s also not given anything interesting to do, as he just follows Omega Red around and listens to an Acolyte tell a story. I will say that the art has improved since the last issue, and there’s nothing particularly terrible about the story, there’s just an overall blandness to it all.