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Cable (2017) (Collected Editions)
Cable, Vol. 3: Past Fears
Cable and Hope are reunited! It was only a couple of years ago that Nathan and his young ward, the prophesied savior of the mutant race, were fleeing from the murderous Bishop across a barren future wasteland. But now Bishop isn't the only one hell-bent on hunting down the daddy/daughter duo - as a strange techno-organic creature wants them dead! As fear consumes Cable, can he fend off both Bishop and a bloodthirsty monster - or will Hope be lost? And what is the creature's connection to Cable? All this, plus a return to the Hellfi re Hunt -and a "reunion" with Cable's Age of Apocalypse half-brother, X-Man! COLLECTING: CABLE 155-159
112 pages, Paperback
First published September 19, 2018
2 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Zac Thompson
210 books64 followersZac Thompson is a writer born and raised on Prince Edward Island, Canada. He's written titles like Marvelous X-Men, Cable, and X-Men: Black for Marvel Comics. Along with indie books such as Her Infernal Descent, Relay, and The Replacer.
In 2019, Zac became the showrunner of the Age of X-Man universe at Marvel Comics. His critically acclaimed miniseries, Come Into Me, was called the best horror comic of 2018 by HorrorDNA. His debut comic series, The Dregs, was called "lowbrow brilliant" by New York Magazine. His novel, Weaponized, was the winner of the 2016 CryptTV horror fiction contest.
In 2019, Zac became the showrunner of the Age of X-Man universe at Marvel Comics. His critically acclaimed miniseries, Come Into Me, was called the best horror comic of 2018 by HorrorDNA. His debut comic series, The Dregs, was called "lowbrow brilliant" by New York Magazine. His novel, Weaponized, was the winner of the 2016 CryptTV horror fiction contest.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
March 31, 2022
This one was so bad ugh I couldn't even finish it.
The story is so complicated like there is a villain named Metus whose hunting Cable down and it attacks hope, his daughter and then we have issues bouncing from the time bishop was hunting them to one with X-Man from the 90s and then even further back in early 90s when X-force became a thing and umm yeah so complicated for a simple story, its super bad and I will not recommend it to anyone. Its the worst X-Men book I have read ugh. I hate it. Skip please.
The story is so complicated like there is a villain named Metus whose hunting Cable down and it attacks hope, his daughter and then we have issues bouncing from the time bishop was hunting them to one with X-Man from the 90s and then even further back in early 90s when X-force became a thing and umm yeah so complicated for a simple story, its super bad and I will not recommend it to anyone. Its the worst X-Men book I have read ugh. I hate it. Skip please.
January 22, 2019
I'm normally not a big fan of Cable; to me he's everything that was wrong with comics in the early '90s wrapped up in one neat package; but I really enjoyed this one.
It takes the reader on a trip through Cable's past (our future... damn you, time travel!) all the while telling a cohesive, exciting and mysterious story. It was also nice to see Cable and Hope back together for awhile.
The art was great, too. Gold stars all 'round for the creative team!
It takes the reader on a trip through Cable's past (our future... damn you, time travel!) all the while telling a cohesive, exciting and mysterious story. It was also nice to see Cable and Hope back together for awhile.
The art was great, too. Gold stars all 'round for the creative team!
May 31, 2020
Finally, a decent story to close out this run of Cable. Nadler and Thompson create a new villain Metus who has apparently plagued Cable throughout time. Each issue flashes back to an untold tale of Cable's past where Metus came along to try and ruin things. It requires knowing Cable's complicated history across several titles to get the full impact.
March 4, 2019
'Metus' has been hunting and torturing Cables for decades... this arc goes back into Cable's history to tell the stories of these meetings and then finally the origin of Metus. Just an OK book which is made a bit better well researched earlier incarnations of Cable from Hope on the run days all the way back to the Askani days. 6 out of 12.
January 22, 2019
I can't say I'm sad to see this run of Cable come to an end. This final volume features all the classic hallmarks of a Cable story: confusing time travel plots, techno viruses, big guns, and Cable kind of being a dick to everyone he knows.
I'm not a huge Cable fan so take my review with a grain of salt, but I enjoyed James Robinson's arc in this run more than the following 2 because it was more of just a simple action story and didn't get bogged down with all the headache inducing time travel storylines. In this volume, half the story takes place in Cable's past (which is actually the far future), in Cable's future (which is actually the present), and Cable's past after he first came to the past (which is his future. It's a pretty generic Cable yarn and it certainly didn't endear me any more to the character.
If you're a big Cable fan, there might enough of the Cable hallmarks here to get you excited. The art I thought was quite good, especially in rendering the scenes from Cable's childhood. However, this didn't do much for me at all on the whole.
I'm not a huge Cable fan so take my review with a grain of salt, but I enjoyed James Robinson's arc in this run more than the following 2 because it was more of just a simple action story and didn't get bogged down with all the headache inducing time travel storylines. In this volume, half the story takes place in Cable's past (which is actually the far future), in Cable's future (which is actually the present), and Cable's past after he first came to the past (which is his future. It's a pretty generic Cable yarn and it certainly didn't endear me any more to the character.
If you're a big Cable fan, there might enough of the Cable hallmarks here to get you excited. The art I thought was quite good, especially in rendering the scenes from Cable's childhood. However, this didn't do much for me at all on the whole.
December 30, 2019
Not as fluid as the first two volumes, and really important that you know or have read a lot of past Cable stories (X-Force, various volumes, Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, etc) and understand who Hope is in order to get the full effect. Each story can stand on its own, with a somewhat confusing and underlying plot circulating around a mysterious foe.
I believe this may come into importance in Extermination (reading that next), but in and of itself as a story, it was only mediocre. Artwork was decent, but not stunning.
I believe this may come into importance in Extermination (reading that next), but in and of itself as a story, it was only mediocre. Artwork was decent, but not stunning.
September 14, 2018
3.5/5
It wasn't the best Cable story I've read but it was still the best arc of this run so far. It was an interesting look into Nathan's childhood and how some mistakes still follow so far into the future. It was great to see some interactions between Nate and adult Hope. The art was quite good as well, also an improvement to the previous volume.
It wasn't the best Cable story I've read but it was still the best arc of this run so far. It was an interesting look into Nathan's childhood and how some mistakes still follow so far into the future. It was great to see some interactions between Nate and adult Hope. The art was quite good as well, also an improvement to the previous volume.
January 3, 2019
Each volume of the 2017-2018 run of Cable has been tonally distinct--each arc has very different writers and very different concerns. Thompson and Nadler exploration of Cable's past is a bit too ambitious, but it is a huge improvement over the past two volumes. The first was generic, the second feeling primarily like an early X-force nostalgia bomb. This explores Hope and Cable's relationship as well as Cable's origins with Redd and Slymm and his techno-organic virus and multiple selves and timelines play into the arc. Bishop hunting Cable and Hope with Metus complicating things is a selling point for 'aughts nostalgia, but this is probably the weakest part of this arc. The flash into the early 90s X-force timeline is interesting but feels unnecessary. Metus and the techno-organic virus are appropriate villains for exploring the history. Nate, X-man, Gray is an interesting occurrence in the arc as well as many versions of Cable. The ending is rewarding but rushed--feels a bit Deus ex machina.
July 27, 2019
After two grossly disappointing arcs, "Past Fears" ends the Cable v3 series on a high note.
Mind you, it's retcons all the way down, and it would probably be entirely impenetrable to someone who isn't a long-time Cable, Hope, and X-Force fan. But for anyone who is: this is great fun as it spans a variety of Cable's past adventures, revisiting past friends, lovers, family, and associates. And Thompson gets the details and feel right.
The heart of this is a battle again a newly retconned time-jumping villain called Metus. Much as with the first arc in Cable v3, that story gets a bit repetitive, as Cable once again has a pointless fight against his foe in a different time period in every issue. But with all the historic eras to enjoy and a strong ending, it's good anyway.
(Call it 3.5 stars.)
Mind you, it's retcons all the way down, and it would probably be entirely impenetrable to someone who isn't a long-time Cable, Hope, and X-Force fan. But for anyone who is: this is great fun as it spans a variety of Cable's past adventures, revisiting past friends, lovers, family, and associates. And Thompson gets the details and feel right.
The heart of this is a battle again a newly retconned time-jumping villain called Metus. Much as with the first arc in Cable v3, that story gets a bit repetitive, as Cable once again has a pointless fight against his foe in a different time period in every issue. But with all the historic eras to enjoy and a strong ending, it's good anyway.
(Call it 3.5 stars.)
February 12, 2019
I kind of get what they are going for in these books now, but I am not sure it works. This one throws you into various points of Cable's life, telling you which X-Force comic of Cable comics from the '90s or '00s it is referencing before each story. Then we get the rest of the story from back then and see someone who has plagued Nate his whole life, and my memory is a little fuzzy on my '90s -Force so maybe this person was always around? The reveal and resolution of the plaguing someone is great, but up until then, you get the experience of being a time traveller, thrown into a new situation every book and you need to get your bearings quickly and continue on with the adventure. That is the part I am not sure works, but it was an admirable attempt and is threaded together well.
June 24, 2019
This is an interesting journey through all the various incarnations of Cable we've seen. The antagonist is essentially a metaphor for the fear and self-recrimination we all carry and, if Cable can overcome it, he'll be free from much more than just a comic book bad guy.
December 17, 2018
Continuing the great x-read of 2017/18...
So this one is a freaking HUGE improvement over the first couple of volumes of the series. It relies pretty heavily on nostalgia but does so in a pretty interesting way and I loved seeing the different eras of Cable's life again. (Oh and look - another writer remembered that Hope is still alive...)
The story ends in a pretty predictable manner, but the journey is much better than we have seen with this book so far. Definitely better than I expected.
So this one is a freaking HUGE improvement over the first couple of volumes of the series. It relies pretty heavily on nostalgia but does so in a pretty interesting way and I loved seeing the different eras of Cable's life again. (Oh and look - another writer remembered that Hope is still alive...)
The story ends in a pretty predictable manner, but the journey is much better than we have seen with this book so far. Definitely better than I expected.
December 7, 2018
3.5 Stars.
Hope Summers re-enters Cable's life but trouble, like usual for those two, isn't far behind. This enemy comes in the form of a very creepy techno-organic form, which causes Cable's disease to run rampant, and gives Cable an almost paralyzing fear. Who or what is this secret? After Cable regrettingly absorbs this monster back into his arm, we get to see the backstory of how this monster came to be.
Metus, this horrible techno-organic terror, shows up many times throughout Cable's history (raising Hope, growing up as a boy, training missions with the original X-Force, his time learning and growing with Redd and Slym, etc) and always seems like he wants to make Cable suffer as much as possible. Cable keeps telling those around him that Metus is his problem and not to worry, and no matter how many times they probe him for secrets, he never gives in. Only when Hope is with him, and her life is truly threatened, does Cable reveal the origins of this beast.
Growing up as both a mutant and a diseased kid (having the Techno-Organic Virus) was never easy for Nathan. He did have a dedicated group of friends, but most of them barely liked him. One kid was the exception: Metus. Coming up on Cable lost in a psychic/panic attack, desiring to help, the virus triggers hard and Nathan's TO arm reaches out for Metus, infecting him as well. The aftereffects are so disfiguring that his family kicks him out and Metus lives outcast and homeless, vowing revenge on Cable for destroying his life, following him closely throughout many of his adventures.
Back to the present day story, Cable's acknowledgement of his past mistake allows him (with the help of Hope's telekinesis) to reabsorb the TO virus part of Metus, and regurgitate the human part. Still appearing as young as he was when that horrible day happened, Metus is dropped off at the Xavier Mansion and Cable can continue his life, holding onto the full effect of the virus he was infected with so long ago, and having no shadowy fear monster following him.
So far, this Cable run has been good, but not crazy awesome. Still worth a read to me though. Recommend.
Hope Summers re-enters Cable's life but trouble, like usual for those two, isn't far behind. This enemy comes in the form of a very creepy techno-organic form, which causes Cable's disease to run rampant, and gives Cable an almost paralyzing fear. Who or what is this secret? After Cable regrettingly absorbs this monster back into his arm, we get to see the backstory of how this monster came to be.
Metus, this horrible techno-organic terror, shows up many times throughout Cable's history (raising Hope, growing up as a boy, training missions with the original X-Force, his time learning and growing with Redd and Slym, etc) and always seems like he wants to make Cable suffer as much as possible. Cable keeps telling those around him that Metus is his problem and not to worry, and no matter how many times they probe him for secrets, he never gives in. Only when Hope is with him, and her life is truly threatened, does Cable reveal the origins of this beast.
Growing up as both a mutant and a diseased kid (having the Techno-Organic Virus) was never easy for Nathan. He did have a dedicated group of friends, but most of them barely liked him. One kid was the exception: Metus. Coming up on Cable lost in a psychic/panic attack, desiring to help, the virus triggers hard and Nathan's TO arm reaches out for Metus, infecting him as well. The aftereffects are so disfiguring that his family kicks him out and Metus lives outcast and homeless, vowing revenge on Cable for destroying his life, following him closely throughout many of his adventures.
Back to the present day story, Cable's acknowledgement of his past mistake allows him (with the help of Hope's telekinesis) to reabsorb the TO virus part of Metus, and regurgitate the human part. Still appearing as young as he was when that horrible day happened, Metus is dropped off at the Xavier Mansion and Cable can continue his life, holding onto the full effect of the virus he was infected with so long ago, and having no shadowy fear monster following him.
So far, this Cable run has been good, but not crazy awesome. Still worth a read to me though. Recommend.
June 1, 2020
I absolutely loved the sections with Hope. A wonderful trip back to one of my favorite series ever, and with excellent art. Great coloring, and a very believable young Hope (not every artist can draw children well). I loved the small moments, like Cable teaching her to shoot and this exchange, not long after young Hope was asking when her mutant powers would kick in:
H: Nathan, look! We should search for supplies!
C: Good eye. You read my mind.
H: I did? Are those my powers?
C: No, no. It's just a thing people say.
The rest of the book was enjoyable too. Going throughout Cable's history, establishing the "Metus" villain has haunted him his whole life was cool. In the end though, I didn't fully understand what it was. It seems like Cable accidentally infected a friend of his with T-O virus, and that became this monster. But Cable had seen the monster a couple times before that happened. Was it just in his head then? Was it the virus messing with him? I guess that's what it is, but I wish it was spelled out a bit more. Also, the resolution was super fast. That might explain the lack of clarity. That being said, I overall really liked the book, and the Hope sections made it essential to me.
H: Nathan, look! We should search for supplies!
C: Good eye. You read my mind.
H: I did? Are those my powers?
C: No, no. It's just a thing people say.
The rest of the book was enjoyable too. Going throughout Cable's history, establishing the "Metus" villain has haunted him his whole life was cool. In the end though, I didn't fully understand what it was. It seems like Cable accidentally infected a friend of his with T-O virus, and that became this monster. But Cable had seen the monster a couple times before that happened. Was it just in his head then? Was it the virus messing with him? I guess that's what it is, but I wish it was spelled out a bit more. Also, the resolution was super fast. That might explain the lack of clarity. That being said, I overall really liked the book, and the Hope sections made it essential to me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2025
This is a very dull Lore Drop to introduce a new character that hasn't really been used since, and is unlikely to be used again in the future.
We skip across time with Cable and Hope again (see also the entire run of Cable: The Last Hope, Vol. 1) to understand and defeat Cable's lifelong nemesis...who we've never seen or heard mentioned before: Metus. Boring name for a cipher (not like Doug Ramsey) villain.
Hope showing up at the new X-Men academy could have been interesting, but she's immediately thrusted into this dull action arc with Cable. There's no cool characterization, no sense that the villain is going to be more important to Cable's rogue (not like Anna Marie)'s gallery than Apocalypse, Sinister, Stryfe, or the legions (not like David Haller) of other Cable villains who are more fleshed out than Metus.
There's no reason to read this unless you're obsessed with Cable's tragic backstory, which is already loaded to the gills with dead sort-of-children, time traveling to save his daughter, time traveling to save his parents, time traveling to save himself, having various lovers and friends die, and *gesticulates wildly at every superhero cliche*.
We skip across time with Cable and Hope again (see also the entire run of Cable: The Last Hope, Vol. 1) to understand and defeat Cable's lifelong nemesis...who we've never seen or heard mentioned before: Metus. Boring name for a cipher (not like Doug Ramsey) villain.
Hope showing up at the new X-Men academy could have been interesting, but she's immediately thrusted into this dull action arc with Cable. There's no cool characterization, no sense that the villain is going to be more important to Cable's rogue (not like Anna Marie)'s gallery than Apocalypse, Sinister, Stryfe, or the legions (not like David Haller) of other Cable villains who are more fleshed out than Metus.
There's no reason to read this unless you're obsessed with Cable's tragic backstory, which is already loaded to the gills with dead sort-of-children, time traveling to save his daughter, time traveling to save his parents, time traveling to save himself, having various lovers and friends die, and *gesticulates wildly at every superhero cliche*.
May 28, 2019
Este último volume da última coleção de histórias solo do Cable é praticamente uma homenagem à cronologia do soldado-mutante-que-desenvolveu-um-vírus-tecnorgânico e que tem um cronologia pra lá de complicada. Isso porque Cable não foi desenvolvido para ser um messias mutante, mas sim um soldado com braço cibernético, obra de Rob Liefeld. Tanto que, quando ele surgiu, não tinha nem poderes mutantes. Esse encadernado faz uma homenagem à diversas fases de Cable, começando por sua fase com Esperança Summers e as batalhas com Bishop, passando por seus encontros com sua contraparte da Era do Apocalipse, Nate Grey, o X-Man, a sua criação no futuro por uma versão de Ciclope e Jean Grey, finalizando com uma volta aos tempos da primeira formação da X-Force, equipe que criou e comandou. A narrativa é mais bem sucedida pela homenagem à cronologia de Cable do que pela história em si, que acaba ficando confusa - como sua cronologia - em diversos momentos. Mas pelo jeito com Nathan Summers, o Cable, é necessário um pouco de confusão narrativa, senão não seria as suas histórias, não é mesmo?!
November 28, 2019
This is by far the best of the three volumes in this short Cable series. It is probably the best Cable-focused thing I've read (though I've only read what's been written in the last 5-10 years so I'm hardly an expert). Each issue is a one shot about Cable in a different time or setting while Metus haunts him and everyone Cable has known. Cable is a leader and is very serious but beyond that, he doesn't have a lot of personality so to have something that he truly fears and that has influenced key parts of his life was sorely needed. I think this story would be a great read for both old fans of Cable who know every character and setting portrayed here but it is not a bad introduction to the character either. It doesn't hurt that the art is really great throughout the various locales. I'd love to see more Cable stories of this quality as I really enjoyed reading Past Fears.
July 28, 2020
This caps off a pretty inconsistent run of Cable books, and is itself, a bit spotty. It does address a bunch of different eras of Cable, by way of a retcon story running through most of it. A lot of it doesn't make a great deal of sense until the end, but did give you a bit of a Cable highlight reel, which was fairly nice, and made me realize I have a lot more history with Cable than I really thought I did, since I knew most of the stories they referenced. Some of those ways they jammed this story into those stories didn't really work for me, because they didn't suit those stories but for the most part, they were okay, and the story wasn't one I hated or way too intrusive, so I could deal with that, and enjoy this for what it was. Of course, a lot has changed for Cable now, so I don't know how much this story will be referenced, but we will have to see.
June 28, 2023
This volume of Cable was really made for me. Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler did a great job of making a story seem important while at the same time nostalgic. Metus was a solid foe and made perfect sense. Far from perfect with a plot hole or two but an intriguing boogeyman for Cable. We got a good reunion for Hope and her dad and it was done well. The looks at different periods in Cable's past were solid. German Peralta handled the art and handled it extremely well. Metus looked both terrifying and sad. Overall, a very good story for X-Men fans and fans of their history.
February 20, 2019
I like that in this volume I got to see more of Cable's other powers like the telekinesis. I also like that it showed a lot of his past and how difficult it was growing up in a world under the control of apocalypse. This volume has a lot more of what the first volume didn't have. So I would recommend this for a read.
May 16, 2019
Cable’s latest series finally gives as a good story! Following Cable and a new villain hunting him through time, we get to see Cable at different points in his history, from running with Hope, to hanging with Blaquesmith, to founding X-Force, to his youth with Redd and Slym. It was pretty great (but seriously, when the heck was Bishop forgiven for hunting a little girl across time?!).
July 5, 2021
It’s a shame this series didn’t get good until it was ending. Still, this is a pretty solid story spanning Cable’s history and doing some good character work with him and Hope. It would have been great if the whole series had been at this level.
February 10, 2022
This was a really solid story about love and connection. And also yet another trip down X-Men memory lane in this era. It's a lot of the same style of stories all at once. But hey, this one was better than the others so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
October 25, 2018
I thought I would really enjoy the real deep cuts as this story crisscrossed Cable's history, but it just fell a little short for me.
August 6, 2019
There's a villain stalking Cable through time, which isn't surprising when you get down to the revelation in the last chapter. A nice ride through his past.
February 18, 2020
This was a weird, inconsistent series. This volume worked even though it probably shouldn’t have and I’m always surprised how much I’m invested in the father/daughter relationship between Hope and Cable.
January 25, 2023
Prelude to Extermination. Nice story and art.
September 3, 2025
set in the messiah era. a flashback run.
techno organic virus is chasing cable sbd hope as well as Bishop when he had only one arm.
techno organic virus is chasing cable sbd hope as well as Bishop when he had only one arm.
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