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Off My Mind: Why Cable's Return Makes Sense [Spoilers]

Characters quickly returning from the dead cheapens the death but how and why Cable is returning works.

Comic readers do not like comic book deaths. They happen too often and have been occurring more frequently lately. A comic book death should be a big deal. A noble sacrifice should be made that catches readers off guard. When the character inevitably returns, it usually cheapens and lessens the impact of the death and the story that told it.

Cable has lived a hard life in his comic book career. He was infected with the techno-organic virus as an infant and had to be whisked away to the future in order to save his life. He grew up in a war-torn era and soon became a hardened soldier. Eventually he realized his destiny was to protect Hope Summers, the mutant messiah. It was believed that she was the answer to the future. Without her, death and destruction would ensue. When evil forces sought to kill her, Cable did everything in his power to protect her, including the sacrifice of his own life.

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With the first issue of AVENGERS: X-SANCTION, Cable is back and is targeting the Avengers. The first reaction of many is a question over how he came back from the dead. The manner in which Cable makes his return to the Marvel Universe makes perfect sense but may not end the way some might think it will. There will be some spoilers below so be sure to read the first issue and you can check out our review here.

== TEASER ==

It shouldn't be a surprise to see a dead comic book character brought back. Each character is a potential source of revenue for the publishers. Cable has had and starred in many different series. The focus shouldn't be on the fact he died and came back but more so on the stories involving both.

How did Cable come back from the dead? Simple, he was never really dead in the first place. This is something I mentioned back in July. During Second Coming, we just saw an explosion and were left with Cable's metallic arm. There wasn't an actual body. We didn't see what happened on the other side of the time portal. That's where X-SANCTION picks up.

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Cable is still alive but naysayers can't start complaining just yet. There wasn't a magical cure. Cable had to give in to the techno-organic virus. That's still a factor here. In other words, Cable isn't out of the woods just yet. He has a limited time to complete his mission before he dies for good (again, for as much as you can actually stay dead in a comic book).

In the far off future, Cable discovers a horrific fate awaits the world. Something went wrong and the Avengers are to blame. He doesn't have long to live. He could try to find a way to help himself but, as always, the mission comes first. Cable has to journey back to the present in order to save everything (why he returns some time after his death instead of moments after hasn't been revealed just yet).

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What's worth noting is in the preview images for AVENGERS Vs. X-MEN, Cable wasn't included despite X-SANCTION already having been announced. Cable's death in X-FORCE #28 was intended to be a big sacrifice. It still was...sort of. Because of that, he's still dying. Cable is just too stubborn to simply die just yet. He has one more thing he needs to do. It's a race against the clock and the way Cable returns doesn't lessen his death from before. It's just putting it off for a tiny bit longer.

Will Cable survive X-Sanction? Is his time going to run out at the end of the miniseries? You would think that Cable could travel somewhere in time to find a cure for the techno-organic virus. It makes sense that he would rush off immediately to save Hope. What fate is in store for him after X-Sanction remains to be seen. But we all know, comic book deaths don't last forever.

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the_stegman

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Edited By the_stegman  Moderator

so exactly HOW many times has he died and come back now??

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saoakden

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Edited By saoakden

I'm getting the feeling that Cable will die which will end up leading the X-men to fight the Avengers. Cable can't catch a break, poor guy.

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DXmagma

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Edited By DXmagma

I could care less if he's not involved with Deadpool.

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Miss_Garrick

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Edited By Miss_Garrick

Marvel ALWAYS does this. They kill someone, then in the next issue, or a few months later, they bring that person back. When's the last time they killed a character and he/she stayed dead for more than a week?

It's one of the reasons I don't read Marvel anymore.

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Mokey

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Edited By Mokey

@Miss_Garrick:

Jean?

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The_Myth

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Edited By The_Myth

@Miss_Garrick said:

Marvel ALWAYS does this. They kill someone, then in the next issue, or a few months later, they bring that person back. When's the last time they killed a character and he/she stayed dead for more than a week?

It's one of the reasons I don't read Marvel anymore.

Jean Grey, Blink, Nightcawler, Bucky, Uncle Ben, there's a few that have stayed dead for a while, but I know what your saying and it does get old!

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lorex

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Edited By lorex

Cable has had a very hard life compared to almost all Marvel characters. Think about it as a baby he was infected with lethal virus and the only way to save him was to send him into the far future. There he was raised in a world at war against Apocalypse. As an adult his his son Tyler is turned against him by hs clone Stryfe becoming Genesis. Over the years he has been both hero and villian sacrificing himself in the end to save his daughter. I hope he is not being brought back just to stir up trouble only to be killed or disappear again.

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goldenkey

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Edited By goldenkey

Prof. X had the techno organic virus in X-Cutioner Song and it was cured. Why can't they cure Cable the same way. Beast actually knows HOW to do it.

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ThanosIsMad

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Edited By ThanosIsMad

@goldenkey said:

Prof. X had the techno organic virus in X-Cutioner Song and it was cured. Why can't they cure Cable the same way. Beast actually knows HOW to do it.

A simple excuse of "Cable's infection is too progressed to cure" or "it's too entwined with his DNA to fix".

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Godlovesusall

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Edited By Godlovesusall

I briefly remember Cable from the X-Men tv series.

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LordRequiem

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Edited By LordRequiem

So does his techno-organic arm reform or something? I liked Cable's and Nightcrawler's deaths in Second Coming, i think they were handled well and although Cable's may have been a little predictable it was undoubtedly the right thing to do, in order to portray his commitment to the cause, Kurt's similarly so.

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shrmntnk62

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Edited By shrmntnk62

I would really love for someoen to just cure that techno virus (again) once and for all. Can't Dr. Nemesis cook up somethign. Or may have Elixer give him a healing high five? Cable has always been one of my favorite charecters and while I'm still not please that he came back so soon because it does feel cheap, I do like the way it's being handled so far. I really want to see Hope and Cyclops get get to see that Cable is still alive and at the very least maybe say goodbye.

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zmanm407

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Edited By zmanm407

I just wanna know how his arm came back

he pops into the future, no arm

back in the present, arm?

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ulrich200

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Edited By ulrich200

Say what you say about how cheap death has become in Marvel, I still appreciate it when awesome characters don't stay dead for long.

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Sammo21

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Edited By Sammo21

@Miss_Garrick: yeah, cause DC never does that...

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dondasch

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Edited By dondasch

The House of Ideas strikes again ! Derp !!

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kingspawn

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Edited By kingspawn

thank goodness. i'm glad he made it as perfect time. at least he is still not dead. then,he come back on 2 times,now

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MetropolisKid41

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Edited By MetropolisKid41

I was very pleased with the issue, great article, I'm really thinking he's going to die at the end (this time actually die) but probably come back in 2013.

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Miss_Garrick

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Edited By Miss_Garrick

@Mokey: Okay, I give you that. It is kinda good that Jean is still dead this time around.

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DATNIGGA

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Edited By DATNIGGA

@zmanm407: the techno organic virus heals itself there was a time in second coming when lady death strike shredded cables arm but later it was back to normal

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Miss_Garrick

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Edited By Miss_Garrick

@Sammo21: You're right, but in cases like Hal Jordan and Barry Allen, DC waits more than five years minimum to bring them back, and it feels like they worked at giving a good reason. Marvel, to me, seemed like the main reason for bringing characters back was "just cause".

This is just what I think.

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SevanGrim

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Edited By SevanGrim

im calling that he dies in the fight against the Avengers because of his disease, and the X-men jump the gun (cuz thats what is always needed for a hero vs hero fight).

dont really care either way. I really do love how Marvel only brings in Falcon to make him the bitch in this situation. Seriously, the bird was more of a impact in this issue than the black man,

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master_wright

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Edited By master_wright

I'm really excited for this hope this isn't just cheap ploy to get X-Men off Avenger teams cause it's thin and weak if it is.

I'm a comic book reader and I really don't care about character death. If a character is truly a great character they will come back. If you really believe just cause years pass between deaths doesn't cheapen a characters sacrifice, you don't think maybe you're splitting hairs? Besides that I'd rather have a character die than be robbed of their presence by some bull$#!* reboot that panders to a handful of people and completely leaves the rest of the readers with absolutly nothing any day of the week

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kennybaese

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Edited By kennybaese

Cable has died and come back so many times at this point, that it's hard to take any of his "sacrifices" or whatever seriously. He'll always come back, that's what he does. They should just make it a part of his character at this point. Make him immortal or something, he practically is anyway.

I don't know, I guess I've just never been a huge fan of the character (he's a bit too... 90's I guess) except probably the first third or so of Cable and Deadpool. I get why people like him, but meh.

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mattydeNero

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Edited By mattydeNero

I am all for this. My only problem was that the book read WAY too fast. With Loeb, a reader usually gets a little bit of depth as opposed to Millar. Unfortunately, this read like a Millar-penned #1 issue of a book. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to read as much.

As far as Cable goes, I grew up with the guy. I loved Cable as a kid and am glad that Marvel decided that he should be what ignites the next big event for both the X-Men and Avengers respectfully, but also for Marvel as a whole.

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HexThis

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Edited By HexThis

I love how the mere notion of bringing back someone like Jean or Gwen Stacy is a major point of contention but then completely illogical resurrections with these big tough guys are oddly more acceptable. Now it's Cable and before that even... Bucky- the idea Cap was in a block of ice was a little testy but then Bucky coincidentally suffering the same fate? I mean, come on. There's a so much more leniency when it comes to the more gritty action-hero Vin Diesel types as if it is somehow any more believable when they come back....ya know, because they're just so damn tough, right? Sheer willpower apparently is all you need. Same with Wolverine and Deadpool who now die routinely.

I don't mind resurrections because otherwise my beloved Tabitha Smith would still be dead but there's nothing I hate more than one that's on a poorly conceived premise. The Phoenix dying and coming back at least makes some kind of sense as that's what Phoenixes DO. Wolverine being reduced to a skeleton and growing back cell by cell with everything intact is just dumb.

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The Velvet Rabbit

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@Sammo21: both Vic Sage and Ted Kord never came back. neither did Don Hall. Jean Paul Valley stayed dead (albeit due to low popularity). Hal Jordan at least stayed dead for quite some time, so bringing him back actually was a bit of a surprise. I give Marvel credit for keeping Gwen Stacy dead so long, and their attempts to keep 616 Nightcrawler from coming back so hastily proves that they're growing, but they've still got a bit of a ways to go. I don't think 616 continuity should mimic Ultimate continuity in its' 'dead REALLY means dead' rule, but bringing a character back from the dead should carry as much levity as killing him in the first place did. DC is all kinds of mess with continuity (and I mean ALL KINDS OF MESS), but Marvel seems to have the market cornered on the 'Jean Grey' Effect. personally, though, I'm just glad he's back because he had such a great father-daughter dynamic with Hope, and having Cable there hopefully means she won't get pigeonholed in with Wolverine like every other young female mutant.

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PhoenixoftheTides

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@walkingcarpet said:

Cable has died and come back so many times at this point, that it's hard to take any of his "sacrifices" or whatever seriously. He'll always come back, that's what he does. They should just make it a part of his character at this point. Make him immortal or something, he practically is anyway.

I don't know, I guess I've just never been a huge fan of the character (he's a bit too... 90's I guess) except probably the first third or so of Cable and Deadpool. I get why people like him, but meh.

I completely agree. He's a derelict from a time when the bigger the shoulder pad you wore indicated how serious you were.

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Sammo21

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Edited By Sammo21

I think what we are going to see is that Cable never died really. Maybe we should just start classifying this differently? Cap never really died...Batman never really died...Superman never really died, etc. Ted Kord? Really dead. Hal Jordan? Really died. Apparent death and death and two different things. Technically, Bucky did die but he was brought back. Cable just got kicked out of this time stream or something, right?

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Notathug78

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Edited By Notathug78

@The Stegman: Has Cable every truly been dead? But face a comic death of a major character is always been temporary.

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frogjitsu

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Edited By frogjitsu

@Grim said:

im calling that he dies in the fight against the Avengers because of his disease, and the X-men jump the gun (cuz thats what is always needed for a hero vs hero fight).

dont really care either way. I really do love how Marvel only brings in Falcon to make him the bitch in this situation. Seriously, the bird was more of a impact in this issue than the black man,

Really, why was Falcon even in this? When was the last time he was even seen, let alone rejoining the Avengers?

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mrzero1982pt2

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Edited By mrzero1982pt2

mike is going to have to finally disagree with you guys comic vine. cable's death alongside nightcrawler during second coming were two of the best written deaths ever. when nightcrawler died, i couldnt read the book for the entire weekend. when cable died, i was just astounded, but many thought his death was for GOOD. again, marvel has proven in comics no one is dead forever, and these folks have not been dead for two years! they went and got the AoA nightcrawler now, and now cable is back "but could die" because of the T-O virus. are you serious? the only reason jean is still dead is because no one has found a way to write her back in. grant morrison was smart with that one, but well, she, or the phoenix is coming back after six years. ugh.

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fitchy101

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Edited By fitchy101

@The Myth said:

@Miss_Garrick said:

Marvel ALWAYS does this. They kill someone, then in the next issue, or a few months later, they bring that person back. When's the last time they killed a character and he/she stayed dead for more than a week?

It's one of the reasons I don't read Marvel anymore.

Jean Grey, Blink, Nightcawler, Bucky, Uncle Ben, there's a few that have stayed dead for a while, but I know what your saying and it does get old!

AoA Nightcrawler is gonna be in X-force so he's kinda back. But I stopped reading most of Marvels stuff cos of this.

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EugeneSaxe

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Edited By EugeneSaxe

It only makes sense because it's easier to write Cable than have someone else in that spot. It's always easier rerunning the same thing than coming up with a new character/idea.

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jcbart

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Edited By jcbart

I don't give a damn if it makes his death cheap. This is awesome and they will have been planning this event when writing Second Coming anyway so it doesn't even count officially.

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Chris2KLee

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Edited By Chris2KLee

$10 says weird alien dude is playing Cable, and he is just too dumb to see it.

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DMC

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Edited By DMC

Hmm....too bad Cable didn't take a pit stop at the "In Time" timeline and buy more time ^_^.

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RedheadedAtrocitus

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Alright this makes sense then for why Cable is still around and does make it more interesting now that he is likely dying rather than actually dead. Maybe he survives, but my gut instinct tells me he won't.

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moywar700

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Edited By moywar700

just give cable back a regular arm.

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Hakudoushinumbernine

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@Mokey:

very much so

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The Impersonator

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Edited By The Impersonator

Hmmmm. Interesting.

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AmazingSpidey_707

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Why are people getting mad saying that its annoying how much times he came back? I never actually read second coming but in this article it says he never actually was showed dead. So why is this getting people mad if he never actually died? They probably already was going to "bring him back to life" once he "died" in X-FORCE #28. I don't know maybe I'm missing something because again I never read the issue where he died.

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DanialCarroll

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Edited By DanialCarroll

So will Cable eventually become a robot? Is that how the Techno-Organic Virus works?

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notlupus

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Edited By notlupus

@goldenkey said:

Prof. X had the techno organic virus in X-Cutioner Song and it was cured. Why can't they cure Cable the same way. Beast actually knows HOW to do it.

if you remember, it took Apocalypse to cure Xavier and Nathan was infected way before Xavier by Apocalypse no less to procure the perfect host. Even Apocalypse does not have a full understanding of the Celestial technology he uses.

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Rabbit_May_Cry

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Edited By Rabbit_May_Cry

I'm kinda thinkin' that this is goin' to tie into Deadpool's death. In some weird way Deadpool might find a way to momentarily get himself killed, so that he could body-slide Cable back to life for good.

But maybe that's just me.

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clemj

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Edited By clemj

@Rabbit_May_Cry: good idea you're not alone

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Soulstealer

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Edited By Soulstealer

@fitchy101 said:

@The Myth said:

@Miss_Garrick said:

Marvel ALWAYS does this. They kill someone, then in the next issue, or a few months later, they bring that person back. When's the last time they killed a character and he/she stayed dead for more than a week?

It's one of the reasons I don't read Marvel anymore.

Jean Grey, Blink, Nightcawler, Bucky, Uncle Ben, there's a few that have stayed dead for a while, but I know what your saying and it does get old!

AoA Nightcrawler is gonna be in X-force so he's kinda back. But I stopped reading most of Marvels stuff cos of this.

Also Blink is alive. lol XD

Black Queen for the win.

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Bobphantom

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Edited By Bobphantom

Are they going for a record? How many times Cable can die versus how many times Jean Grey can die?

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Eyz

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Edited By Eyz

I dig the way Cable looks all "techno-virus-y" now :P

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SevanGrim

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Edited By SevanGrim

@frogjitsu said:

@Grim said:

im calling that he dies in the fight against the Avengers because of his disease, and the X-men jump the gun (cuz thats what is always needed for a hero vs hero fight).

dont really care either way. I really do love how Marvel only brings in Falcon to make him the bitch in this situation. Seriously, the bird was more of a impact in this issue than the black man,

Really, why was Falcon even in this? When was the last time he was even seen, let alone rejoining the Avengers?

thats what i asked myself while i was reading it. ... And then he gt shot in the back and it all made sense.

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