“Cable” #3 continues the titles reputation as a surprisingly delightful addition to the Dawn of X line up. Beware spoilers!
Written by Gerry Duggan
Illustrated by Phil Noto
Lettered by VC’s Joe SabinoREUNITED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME! Deadpool considers Cable one of his oldest and best friends. Cable hasn’t met Deadpool, yet. He’s in for a treat.
Not many would have expected in the line up of “Dawn of X” for “Cable” focused on the Teen Cable to be one of the quieter standouts of the line, but Gerry Duggan, Phil Noto, and Joe Sabino deliver on making this a title as fun as the concept of Teen Cable should be. “Cable” #3 sees the teenage titular character reunite with the old friend of his older self, Deadpool. While the presentation of the book is incredibly fun, and there are a number of gags that work really well, “Cable” #3 falls just short of being more than a well-done chapter in the longer story the team is telling.
One of the most impressive aspects of this title which is shown off in “Cable” #3 is how well Duggan balances the pacing in his scripts, despite this ostensibly being a more humor driven book. In many lesser comics, authors feel the need to one-up a gag in every panel and the book feels like an improv scene that someone needs to wipe, but “Cable” #3 really gives the sense that Duggan is approaching the book the same way he would his slightly more grounded “Marauders”. Plot-wise, “Cable” #3 has very clear and distinct beats, Cable fights with the space-knights, he needs to get his time machine from his older self’s body which is with De, and we revisit what happened to the stolen baby in “Cable” #2. We also get a couple of panels to check in with Emma Frost and Esme’s relationship. All of these story beats flow well and the Order of X cult reveal even manages to survive the tone jump. The simplicity of the events in the issue are both a blessing and a curse. It helps that a plot involving space knights, time-travel, and a cult is kept simple enough follow, there a lack of density which results in “Cable” #3 feeling like a really quick read.
The meeting of Teen Cable and Deadpool as promised on the cover is an exciting hook for this issue but in execution, it feels just a little flat. The solicit text implies that this is the first meeting between the two, but it comes off unclear in the dialogue and not really followed up with any meaningful confrontation. Again it’s Kid Cable and Deadpool so I’m not expecting a deeply emotional interaction but there feels like there should have been more conflict to warrant the meeting getting the cover treatment. Deadpool’s involvement is not completely superfluous as the gag of Old Cable’s corpse being kept in a glass pool table is a good reveal and Duggan’s use of Tom Mueller’s data page format for Cable’s letter to Deadpool next to Deadpool’s overly fanciful letter is a really good gag.
When talking about the presentation of “Cable” #3 it can’t be overstated just how much fun Phil Noto’s art is. Noto’s interiors are always a treat and this book is no different. So much of the tone and the pacing of the humor of the book is thanks to Noto’s page layouts and use of motion. Cable’s fight with the space knights is very dynamic and a movement focused. I am curious as to where Joe Rabino begins and Noto ends with regards to the use of sound effects because the blending of the sound effects and motion adds so much in terms of excitement to the action scenes in the book. Noto also conveys setting extremely well with his colors. The cold blues denote the mountain fight just as well as the warm reds and browns do Deadpool’s Staten Island throne room. Some could critique Noto’s similarity in faces amongst characters, in an issue of only a handful of unmasked human faces, it’s far from being a detriment to the book. Noto’s characters are all well-acted and serve the story.
Ultimately there’s not much more to say about “Cable” #3. Duggan, Noto, and Rabino present a pretty quick issue that’s another chapter in a longer story being told. Duggan balances story threads in a way that he piques interest in what comes next. There’s definitely a feeling of wanting this issue to be a bit more in terms in terms of the meeting promised on the cover and solicits but “Cable” #3 manages to be a more or less satisfying piece of what has so far been a fun story that leaves off on a pretty compelling cliffhanger. Phil Noto definitely makes even a less than exciting issue very fun to read.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – “Cable” #3 is another fun issue in this series, but the hyped meeting of Teen Cable and Deadpool feels a little lackluster.
