Customer Reviews

Cable - Volume 1: Messiah War (v. 1)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Honestly, I wish it were possible to give this title 3.5 stars. I rounded up to be nice.
I am not a follower of the X-titles. Have not been for years. I know a bit about M-Day and the 198 and Endangered Species, but nothing all that specific. Having said that, this is an easy title to follow not knowing those things. The jumping on point is rather easy: Cable's protecting a baby mutant messiah in the future... GO!!
What brought me to the book was the art of Ariel Olivetti which, as I'm finding out, is a bit hit or miss with readers. Personally I am a huge fan, not only of his character drawings but also his ability to bring 3-d animation in for backgrounds and such. Do I believe the look is seamless and perfect? By no means. But I do respect an artist on the edge of technology trying to marry the traditional past with the possible future of how the industry may look.
The story itself goes on a pretty stock, brainless-fun sorta route, borrowing a healthy dose of both Lone Wolf and Cub and Mad Max with a pinch of Spaghetti Western. Not much happens but it does lay the framework for a possibly promising series.
Huge fan of the art, thought the story was merely passable though had its occasional moments of Sci-Fi fanboy fun.

I picked up "Messiah War" because I love time travel. I was originally looking for a book on Bishop, but this is the closest I could get. The cover and pages are of excellent quality.

The story is a bit bland. Although my knowledge of X-Men comes from the early 90's cartoons and an old roommate, the story falls within the X-Men universe. The story would benefit from a little more complexity... It often feels like a "no talking, just action" story. Well, at least there's a solid frame for the story.
One thing that really irritated me were the errors I found: a grammar error, and Bishop was called Nathan. Shouldn't be a big deal, but I think any published work should be free of any spelling/grammatical/mistype errors!!!

The art is pretty good. The characters are drawn with detail, but the backgrounds feel copied and pasted. I can deal with the rare 3D art, but some of the backgrounds look slapped together. Not a major turn-off but an old-fashioned background would have been acceptable.

I'm torn, but I think I'll give vol. 2 a shot. If there isn't an improvement on the next book then I'm done with this story.
This is the second graphic novel I have ever read. Maybe "Kingdom Come" has lead me to expect more than I should.

Actually , I bought this book to find out what happens to Cable and the baby after "Messiah Complex". And honestly speaking, I was quite impressed with this book!! Though there are very few characters in the story, still it's quite entertaining and thrilling! Though there is a weak point in the story (How Bishop can easily track Cable through time-travel), still it's enjoyable.The characterization by the writer Swierczynski is brilliant. The artwork by Olivetti is stunning!! Especially the face expressions!! I've rarely seen any other artist render so good face expressions.So, if you are an "X-Fan", then I suggest you pick this book up!! You won't be disappointed...it's better than the regular "X-Men" books! But be sure to read "Messiah Complex" before reading this book..else you might not comprehend the story!

The premise for this Cable series intrigued me. He's a time traveller on the run through the timestream from another time traveller but they're both from different/alternate timelines. This story doesn't offer up much time hopping. It's set in a specific future timeline and there's no offerings of different timelines. Maybe as the series progresses this will become more like that. As it is the story is alright but the art does not suit the book at all. There's no real hint that this is a devastated future. Also far too much of it is bright colours. The art should match the tone of this book - dark. Also, there's a different take on Bishop's powers in this book that I haven't seen him use too often. Overall, it's not a bad start to the series but it could've been a whole lot better.

This review is for the entire Cable Series run: Messiah War, Waiting For the World to End, Stranded, and Homecoming. The entire run follows Cable as he protects the Mutant "Messiah" baby.

Since the events of "M Day" there have been no new mutant births, until now. The Story "Messiah Complex" follows the immediate actions of this birth, and ends ****SPOILER --> with the mutant baby jumping into the time stream with Cable as a means to protect her and hide her from her enemies*****

The Cable Series follows the adventures these two go through over a 16 year period as they are hunted by another time traveler who is determined to see her dead.

I highly reccomend this entire run to any X-men fans. Each volume builds on its previous one and we see the growth of both Cable and the mutant baby. We see the realtionship between these two grow from Protector & Guardian to Father & Teacher. We see the baby grow into a teenager, we see her struggle with a life not only on the run, but on the run through time travel. Duane Swierczynski shows an amazing understanding of both these charaters and finds new and creative ways to show exactly how you hunt someone through time.

This series also takes place outside of the "X Universe" until the X-Force Crossover: Messiah War; but you do not need to follow any of the other X titles to enjoy this run. This series ends with Homecoming, and then is followed by the X-Men Mega event "Second Coming".

Great book, great art, highly reccomended.

Must Reads prior to reading this:
Messiah Complex

Reccomended Reads:
Avengers Dissaembled
House of M
Second Coming (After you read this series)