Time For An Upgrade: The New Mutants Get An All-New Line-Up 'Cable' #150

As any Marvel fan will know, we're gearing up for 'Marvel Legacy', the comic book company's latest relaunch. It seems to be banking on nostalgia more than anything else, with a range of lenticular covers that pay homage to classic comics, the promise of a lot of resurrections, and a return to 'legacy' numbering.

Fan reaction has been mixed; the lenticular covers in particular are reminiscent of the mistakes made by comic book companies back in the '90s, which led to the near-collapse of the entire comic book industry. We're now learning more about the actual books, though, and some of them do show real promise. Take, for example, Cable #150, in which the time-traveler assembles an all-new team of New Mutants.

An Unusual Lineup

Cable #150 will see Ed Brisson and Jon Malin take over the book. Brisson seems to be viewed as a rising star in Marvel's ranks, and this is the second X-Men book he's taking over with #MarvelLegacy (the other is Old Man Logan). His take on Cable is particularly interesting; he views the character as a man torn between good and evil, hero and soldier, past and future. As he notes:

"The thing that I find most interesting about Cable is that he’s a man without a place. He doesn’t have anywhere to hang his hat — be it a literal home or even a specific year. He was born in our present, then promptly shot 2,000 years into the future.[...] What that does to his identity, to his own sense of who he is, is something that I’d like to explore as we get into the series. What’s it like to be a man without a place, without real roots, constantly fighting to maintain the lives of those who do."

Cable #150 will see this mutant warhorse step into the past, on the trail of a time-traveler who's committed a murder in New Orleans. He's assembled a crack team with very specific skill-sets, characters who come from different times and even realities. Alert fans will recognize a number of popular and much-loved characters:

• Blink, a teleporting mutant who played a major role in the 1990s' 'Age of Apocalypse' event. Marvel subsequently pulled her out of that timeline into the reality-jumping Exiles, and it's been a while since we've seen her in action.
• Armor, created by Joss Whedon in his popular Astonishing X-Men run. This young Japanese mutant has the power to generate a powerful bioplasmic energy field, but sadly hasn't seen much character development in recent years.
• The classic X-23, clearly lifted from the period before she became the current All-New Wolverine. The character was played by Dafne Keen in Logan, and has proved to be a total hit.
• Shatterstar and Longshot, two characters whose costumes date them as being from the '90s. Both are skilled extradimensional warriors who are tied to the reality known as the Mojoverse.
• Doop is a strange extradimensional creature with ties back to the Cold War. He's something of an acquired taste, with a strong fan-following — and other fans who can't stand him!

It's sure to be a smart move, with #X23 and the #NewMutants brand both boosted than to Fox movies right now. What's more, Blink and Armor are effectively the definition of "fan favorite" among #XMen fans, associated with popular and beloved arcs. The interesting thing is that we, as readers, will have more of an idea what some of these heroes can do than they do — and Cable will potentially know even more. As a time-traveler, he's worked with them 10, 20, maybe even 50 years into their future. This could easily give Cable #150 — and the following arc — a unique style.

As editor Mark Paniccia notes, "Cable's a cop, and time's his beat." The challenge here is that he's got to deal with a dangerous threat without changing the timeline too much himself in the process. These are characters fans know and love, and X-Men fans love to talk continuity. It's going to be interesting to see how #Marvel pulls this one off!

(Source: PreviewsWorld)