The Good
Cable helps Forge and Dr Nemesis steal a S.W.O.R.D. spaceship, and Cyclops confronts him. Domino tries to break Colossus out of the Raft. Domino and Boom Boom deal with an alien in a S.W.O.R.D. containment prison.
I really enjoyed the opening to this issue. We finally get to see Cyclops and Cable interact. It's brief and we jump into the scene of Nemesis and Forge in the spacecraft, but it still works. I really like the banter between the characters here. Writer Dennis Hopeless does very well with these tete-a-tete conversations throughout the issue. I enjoy how he tackles the dialogue.
It's a brief moment, but I love the consistency of Colossus. I love the fact his powers are turning off and on randomly, all around his body.
The highlight of the issue is the artwork of Salvador Larroca with the colors of Frank D'Armata. Visually, these guys are great at telling a story through art, and they compliment each other incredibly well. It's currently some of the best art in comics. It's eye catching and the page layouts and composition are always dynamic.
This is one of my favorite covers of the week. Salvador Larroca and Frank D'Armata do an amazing job here. It's simple, but it makes a big point, and while it's really just different shades of red, the color work here is super sweet.
The Bad
What I really wanted to see, in this issue, was Cable and Cyclops chatting it up, and we get that, but only five pages of that. On top of all of that, the pages are spread out across the issue.
While all on their own, these individual stories within the book are pretty fun, but they don't fit together. It feels like just a mish-mash here. As soon as one of the smaller stories starts to pick up pace, you're thrusted into another scene. The pacing here is a bit of a mess. Even on the opening page, where they recap what is happening, this feels like a book that not only doesn't know where it's going but it's trying to cram way too much into a story.
The team is doing what they're doing in order to prevent the world from being destroyed, which Cable envisioned. However, as the events of this issue took place, I really didn't feel like anything was at stake. There is no real sense of danger here.
The Verdict
CABLE AND X-FORCE has a lot of promise. There's a lot of cool elements to this story, and I like most of these characters. The art team here is great, and I really enjoyed the dialogue and banter between most of the characters.
The problem is that the overall story falls flat. I never felt anything was at stake and all these stories feel so disjointed. I really want this book to work, and while there is a lot of good here, there's just as much that frankly isn't working.
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