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Cable & Deadpool (Collected Editions)
Cable & Deadpool, Volume 3: The Human Race
With Cable recuperating on his island haven of Providence, who else can investigate when there is "A Murder in Paradise?" You know who. Say it. Go ahead. Picture it: Deadpool, as a detective, interrogating the most brilliant pacifists on Earth. Monk and Columbo have nothing to fear. Plus: Deadpool is brainwashed by the mysterious group known as the Black Box to become a mindless assassin (which, honestly, didn't take much washing). So Deadpool does what comes naturally to him - the opposite of what's expected But hey, where's Cable? And what are Cannonball and Siryn doing in the book?
Collecting: Cable/Deadpool 13-18
Collecting: Cable/Deadpool 13-18
144 pages, Paperback
First published November 16, 2005
10 people are currently reading
393 people want to read
About the author
Fabian Nicieza
2,020 books425 followersFabian Nicieza is a writer and editor who is best known as the co-creator of DEADPOOL and for his work on Marvel titles such as X-Men, X-Force, New Warriors, and Robin.
His first novel, the Edgar Award-nominated SUBURBAN DICKS, a sarcastic murder mystery, is on sale now from Putnam Books.
The Dicks will return in THE SELF-MADE WIDOW, coming June 21st.
His first novel, the Edgar Award-nominated SUBURBAN DICKS, a sarcastic murder mystery, is on sale now from Putnam Books.
The Dicks will return in THE SELF-MADE WIDOW, coming June 21st.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
September 18, 2016
Well this was bizarre. But I really enjoyed it. Cable and Deadpool are some very complex characters.
There were some sexual comments and more language than the last one. But it wasn't too bad.
There were some sexual comments and more language than the last one. But it wasn't too bad.
August 10, 2008
The third volume of the Cable & Deadpool saga begins with Cable recooperating from the partial lobotomy, loss of most of his powers, and his "resurrection". Providence continues to thrive and the world's governments have backed off, giving Cable a chance now that he poses less of a threat. Everything appears to be going to plan until Providence encounters it's first murder: that of world-reknowned terrorist Haji Bin Barat. Life for our main characters only gets worse from there.
This volume (containing issues #13-18) had some interesting potential. While The Burnt Offering primarily revolved around Cable and his conflict with the world, this installment gives Deadpool a chance to shine as the main character. Seeing as how we learn of Cable's disappearance during a battle with the Skornn in the first couple pages of issue #15, Deadpool takes the stage for the majority. Deadpool proves through the course of this book that, despite the fact he's a cold-hearted killer with a Looney Tunes mentality, he could still carry his own series if given the chance. Though I'd still prefer the Cable & Deadpool series because I love the interactions between the two.
While the book didn't really fail to entertain, I felt it was the weakest installment so far in the line. I don't know if it was just a story I had a hard time getting into or the inclusion of Siryn and Cannonball (from X-Force, which I've never been huge on) as Deadpool's travelling companions. One aspect I loved was dropping in on some of Marvel's alternate universes (such as the age of Apocolypse and House of M). So, in the end, The Human Race was kind of a mixed bag with more hits than misses.
This volume (containing issues #13-18) had some interesting potential. While The Burnt Offering primarily revolved around Cable and his conflict with the world, this installment gives Deadpool a chance to shine as the main character. Seeing as how we learn of Cable's disappearance during a battle with the Skornn in the first couple pages of issue #15, Deadpool takes the stage for the majority. Deadpool proves through the course of this book that, despite the fact he's a cold-hearted killer with a Looney Tunes mentality, he could still carry his own series if given the chance. Though I'd still prefer the Cable & Deadpool series because I love the interactions between the two.
While the book didn't really fail to entertain, I felt it was the weakest installment so far in the line. I don't know if it was just a story I had a hard time getting into or the inclusion of Siryn and Cannonball (from X-Force, which I've never been huge on) as Deadpool's travelling companions. One aspect I loved was dropping in on some of Marvel's alternate universes (such as the age of Apocolypse and House of M). So, in the end, The Human Race was kind of a mixed bag with more hits than misses.
April 30, 2024
The weakest volume in the series so far, possibly because it's a bit more fun and silly with a focus on Deadpool for most of this arc.
October 5, 2018
1) Cable & Deadpool, Vol. 1: If Looks Could Kill ★★★
2) Cable & Deadpool, Vol. 2: The Burnt Offering ★★★
content warnings: violence, gore
representation: pansexual main character
The first two issues of this were so great, and then the subsequent four were really average. The Wade Wilson, Private Investigator, aspects were so interesting, and then it turned into a story about chasing Cable throughout dimensions and that was a lot less interesting. Or at least should have been an entirely separate thing because it didn't really fit with the overall storyline, which was about the Black Box.
I don't know what it is with these comics, but it's like they're physically incapable of focusing on Cable as opposed to Deadpool. I don't know if it's because he's more popular or what, but so far all three volumes have felt less like "Cable & Deadpool" and more like "Deadpool feat. Cable".
I think I just need to accept that this series is always going to have a solid three-stars from me.
2) Cable & Deadpool, Vol. 2: The Burnt Offering ★★★
content warnings: violence, gore
representation: pansexual main character
The first two issues of this were so great, and then the subsequent four were really average. The Wade Wilson, Private Investigator, aspects were so interesting, and then it turned into a story about chasing Cable throughout dimensions and that was a lot less interesting. Or at least should have been an entirely separate thing because it didn't really fit with the overall storyline, which was about the Black Box.
I don't know what it is with these comics, but it's like they're physically incapable of focusing on Cable as opposed to Deadpool. I don't know if it's because he's more popular or what, but so far all three volumes have felt less like "Cable & Deadpool" and more like "Deadpool feat. Cable".
I think I just need to accept that this series is always going to have a solid three-stars from me.
May 2, 2010
This series is so weird. But maybe every Deadpool-story is weird. I can't say that I like it, but then again I can't stop reading it, because I'm so curious to know what crazy thing might happen next.
July 23, 2025
Deadpool comics have two distinct eras for me: The 90s and early 2000s where a group of writers had various success making a mercenary seem funny by feeding him complex, often nonsensical plots, and having him spout food and pop culture related catchphrases as opposed to writing actual jokes, and the 2010s and 2020s where Daniel Way crafted the cult-favorite Deadpool into a more mainstream-friendly character by actually fleshing out his character and making his stories more direct satire than pastiche.
Between these two eras is Fabien Nicieza's Cable & Deadpool.
I enjoyed it at the time. Having not been a fan of Nicieza's runs with X-Men, Cable, or X-Force, I thought Cable & Deadpool was a step in the right direction. It had two basic conceits: Cable trying to save the world by building a city with no violence, and Deadpool constantly reevaluating his relationship with Cable to either help him or kill him. Neither storyline was great but they were focused. And while, as usual, Nicieza's dialogue is rife with misogyny, Islamaphobia, homophobia, and other things that he uses for humor, it's not quite as awful as most of his other work.
Rereading it in 2025, without the context of how bad his previoous work is, you might think this is awful. I promise it's not nearly as bad. But it is still, at its best, a mediocre story with cringey dialogue, a dated sense of humor, and no real resonance with the other X-books, even though the end of its run does dovetail into the Deadpool by Daniel Way: The Complete Collection, Volume 1 and X-Men: Supernovas. Still, the whole series is unnecessary and not fun enough to recommend unless you really enjoy Nicieza's writing.
Between these two eras is Fabien Nicieza's Cable & Deadpool.
I enjoyed it at the time. Having not been a fan of Nicieza's runs with X-Men, Cable, or X-Force, I thought Cable & Deadpool was a step in the right direction. It had two basic conceits: Cable trying to save the world by building a city with no violence, and Deadpool constantly reevaluating his relationship with Cable to either help him or kill him. Neither storyline was great but they were focused. And while, as usual, Nicieza's dialogue is rife with misogyny, Islamaphobia, homophobia, and other things that he uses for humor, it's not quite as awful as most of his other work.
Rereading it in 2025, without the context of how bad his previoous work is, you might think this is awful. I promise it's not nearly as bad. But it is still, at its best, a mediocre story with cringey dialogue, a dated sense of humor, and no real resonance with the other X-books, even though the end of its run does dovetail into the Deadpool by Daniel Way: The Complete Collection, Volume 1 and X-Men: Supernovas. Still, the whole series is unnecessary and not fun enough to recommend unless you really enjoy Nicieza's writing.
March 7, 2022
The story takes a bit of a hard-boiled detective thriller feel to it. Wade is the detective (or he thinks he is) and narrates events, of course in his hilarious fashion. Haji bin Barat, the world's most wanted terrorist, is found dead in Providence. Irene carries out the investigation and assigns Wade some tasks that put him out of the way. While moping alone, he figures out that he is one of the most likely suspects, though he doesn't remember killing Haji.
October 16, 2017
Continuing the great x-read of 2017...
I just continue to be surprised (in a fabulous way) by this series. It is so comic-booky but manages to always interject some interesting philosophical discussions between the punching and the punchlines.
Can't wait to dive into the next volume. It is these type of books that keep me slogging through this x-book catch-up.
I just continue to be surprised (in a fabulous way) by this series. It is so comic-booky but manages to always interject some interesting philosophical discussions between the punching and the punchlines.
Can't wait to dive into the next volume. It is these type of books that keep me slogging through this x-book catch-up.
February 23, 2019
And it ends in Intercourse, Pennsylvania...
Always funny, always bizarre, always creative, always fun, and yet thought provoking. This time Deadpool travels through dimensions to save Cable. That's the basics, the rest is too complex/gives away too much to describe here. Just an amazing character.
Always funny, always bizarre, always creative, always fun, and yet thought provoking. This time Deadpool travels through dimensions to save Cable. That's the basics, the rest is too complex/gives away too much to describe here. Just an amazing character.
October 13, 2020
Cable has disappeared so DP is to the rescue hopping between alternate realities that are just bonkers but before even that there has been a murder in Cable's paradise, but it's okay-Deadpool is on the case.
Will Deadpool solve the case? Will Deadpool and "friends" find the real Cable of their universe and finally will DP get to go to the toilet?
Will Deadpool solve the case? Will Deadpool and "friends" find the real Cable of their universe and finally will DP get to go to the toilet?
December 27, 2021
Some great art and baby Cable is adorable but I honestly couldn't tell you what actually happened. Maybe it doesn't help that I've not read House of M. But tbf I was confused even before I got to that issue.
February 20, 2022
The series hasn't really done enough with its base odd couple premise yet to make splitting these two characters up actually work. Really enjoyed the first couple arcs of the series, but this bit lost me.
February 8, 2018
I think this is a concept which would have been good as a limited series, but it begins to wear thin in these issues.
May 25, 2018
Reality hopping DP
July 25, 2018
6.5/10
I usually do not like alternate worlds stories, this was relatively interesting, but a let down compared to the previous volume for me.
I usually do not like alternate worlds stories, this was relatively interesting, but a let down compared to the previous volume for me.
December 2, 2018
This volume was fun, but not as good as the first two. The M-Day story line was really weird.
April 18, 2019
I liked this one. I enjoyed seeing all the possibilities.
July 2, 2020
This volume was the best so far! Deadpool investigating a crime he commited himself, without knowing. And Cable as a kid and teen! Really enjoyed this one!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2021
Cable as a baby? This is getting weird.
August 6, 2023
i like the idea of wade having to cross different universes to search for cable
November 25, 2024
Baby cable, Mr. Sinister, siyrin and Wade again <3
May 29, 2017
Now that Cable is non-lobotomized once more, he and Deadpool return to Providence. There is a murder, however, and Deadpool attempts to solve it. The problem? He's the one who did it; he just can't remember the murder itself or why he did it. A fracture develops in their friendship, and Cable kicks Deadpool off Providence because he can't be trusted.
Deadpool hunts down Black Box, because he wants to find a way that he can be killed. While receiving "treatment" from Black Box, Deadpool is implanted with the desire to kill the "greatest threat" in the world - Cable. He doesn't now this at the time, and he's quickly reunited with his old flame, Siryn (as well as Cannonball), in an attempt to track down Cable, who has yet again gone missing. They bounce through several different alternate worlds, each of them showing what could have happened if a different part of Nathan's personality (rage, peace, and the TO mesh) had become dominant and taken over the world.
Eventually, they find a baby Cable in the hands of Mr. Sinister. Deadpool cannot leave the baby to be raised by Sinister, and so he steals him and takes him back to the 616verse. Turns out that this is the "real" Cable, anyway. But then Deadpool wants to kill him. Unable to stop this impulse, Deadpool ends up shooting himself in the head. In the end, Cable decides to burn out his power by healing Deadpool of the mental lapses and brain damage he's had for a long time, in effect saving them both.
Wow, that is a long summary. These issues are crammed with information, and if you're not a long-time X-fan, some of it might go over your head. This collection also suffers a little from the crossovers (something with the X-Men, which is why Cable disappears in the first place, as well as a tie-in with House of M). But, altogether, this is still a fun read, and not too difficult to follow as long as you don't get bogged down in the minutiae.
Deadpool hunts down Black Box, because he wants to find a way that he can be killed. While receiving "treatment" from Black Box, Deadpool is implanted with the desire to kill the "greatest threat" in the world - Cable. He doesn't now this at the time, and he's quickly reunited with his old flame, Siryn (as well as Cannonball), in an attempt to track down Cable, who has yet again gone missing. They bounce through several different alternate worlds, each of them showing what could have happened if a different part of Nathan's personality (rage, peace, and the TO mesh) had become dominant and taken over the world.
Eventually, they find a baby Cable in the hands of Mr. Sinister. Deadpool cannot leave the baby to be raised by Sinister, and so he steals him and takes him back to the 616verse. Turns out that this is the "real" Cable, anyway. But then Deadpool wants to kill him. Unable to stop this impulse, Deadpool ends up shooting himself in the head. In the end, Cable decides to burn out his power by healing Deadpool of the mental lapses and brain damage he's had for a long time, in effect saving them both.
Wow, that is a long summary. These issues are crammed with information, and if you're not a long-time X-fan, some of it might go over your head. This collection also suffers a little from the crossovers (something with the X-Men, which is why Cable disappears in the first place, as well as a tie-in with House of M). But, altogether, this is still a fun read, and not too difficult to follow as long as you don't get bogged down in the minutiae.
May 6, 2016
Cable sets off to find Skornn and in turn Deadpool, accompanied by Siryn and Cannonball, set out to find Cable. Through their adventure, they encounter the likes of Apocalypse, the Four Horsemen, the Black Box and Sinister. They eventually find Cable, but not how they expected.
This was my first foray into the world of graphic novels and I quite enjoyed it. I have always loved watching the cartoons and am a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so it was about time I picked up a comic book.
Ross ad I were reading this at the same time, so every night I was dreading the moment he would ask to have it back. I ended up completing it before he did though.
Deadpool was hilarious and witty, providing much needed comic relief, as the other characters were not so humourous. According to Ross, he is the only Marvel character that is aware that he is in a comic.
In my infinite wisdom, I managed to pick a volume that actually relates to the upcoming X-Men movie. The coincidences do not end there. This volume was published in 2005, well before the casting for Ant Man and Age of Ultron was decided. Yet Evangeline Lily (plays the gorgeous Hope van Dyne in Ant Man) and the Olsen twins (older sisters of Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Wanda Maximoff in Age of Ultron) both get mentioned in the comic.
I thoroughly enjoyed my first foray (I just like saying the word foray) and will definitely be reading others.
This was my first foray into the world of graphic novels and I quite enjoyed it. I have always loved watching the cartoons and am a huge fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so it was about time I picked up a comic book.
Ross ad I were reading this at the same time, so every night I was dreading the moment he would ask to have it back. I ended up completing it before he did though.
Deadpool was hilarious and witty, providing much needed comic relief, as the other characters were not so humourous. According to Ross, he is the only Marvel character that is aware that he is in a comic.
In my infinite wisdom, I managed to pick a volume that actually relates to the upcoming X-Men movie. The coincidences do not end there. This volume was published in 2005, well before the casting for Ant Man and Age of Ultron was decided. Yet Evangeline Lily (plays the gorgeous Hope van Dyne in Ant Man) and the Olsen twins (older sisters of Elizabeth Olsen, who plays Wanda Maximoff in Age of Ultron) both get mentioned in the comic.
I thoroughly enjoyed my first foray (I just like saying the word foray) and will definitely be reading others.
November 25, 2014
This was an enjoyable romp that managed to navigate the House of M storyline while still making sense and establishing a new beginning for the two main characters that didn't invalidate what came before. It was done rather well, all things considered, and I rather enjoyed it. The future of the stories is pretty much wide open, and there were plenty of laughs along the way without going too far over the top. This is just about where I would like most Deadpool comics to be, but with just a bit more Deadpool. Since this is only half Deadpool, it was pretty much right.
June 25, 2012
The characters are nice, which is why I am still reading this, but I am afraid the story arcs are all tried and tested well before. And with as much books as I have been reading the past two years, they do feel a tad overused. The alternative reality thing with different Cable's for example... well executed, but nothing new.
Maybe I am expecting too much from comics. They are fun and easy read and obviously targeted to teenagers, so I shouldn't complain much.
Maybe I am expecting too much from comics. They are fun and easy read and obviously targeted to teenagers, so I shouldn't complain much.
March 4, 2016
Of the first three volumes of "Cable & Deadpool", Volume 3, "The Human Race," is clearly the best. It's a perfect culmination of everything Fabian Nicieza had been building toward in his first two volumes of work. After 18 issues, the relationship between the titular characters has grown in both complexity and in depth, which adds emotional weight to each of the stories. It's a fantastic collection of issues and it more than makes up for any misgivings I had with Volume 2.
June 26, 2010
This book had some awesome Deadpool moments - especially him as a detective and the sequence where he was fighting clowns.
I think I prefer the Cable and Deadpool series to the Deadpool comics that are out currently, because although Deadpool is still wacky, he has his thoughtful times which make him a more rounded character.
I think I prefer the Cable and Deadpool series to the Deadpool comics that are out currently, because although Deadpool is still wacky, he has his thoughtful times which make him a more rounded character.
August 9, 2015
An amusing plot with Deadpool alternate reality hopping and meeting different versions of Cable and ultimately bringing back a baby/child version who is aging rapidly. It was a cute gimmick but it did lack a little bit of heart compared to the earlier storylines. Still better than many titles but I'm looking forward to an adult Cable and Deadpool and more direct interaction.
February 16, 2016
I'm going to go ahead and make this one a five star rating.
Why? Because the art and writing were honestly a step up from the previous volumes and they were 4s for me.
Also? Because this story was pivotal to the relationship between these two characters. I can't imagine a fan of Deadpool not reading this line.
Why? Because the art and writing were honestly a step up from the previous volumes and they were 4s for me.
Also? Because this story was pivotal to the relationship between these two characters. I can't imagine a fan of Deadpool not reading this line.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews