Cable and X-Force 14, Thunderbolts 15

Cable and X-Force 14
Hopeless (w) and Larroca (a) and D'Armata (c)

Hope is on her way back from the future to save Cable with a psychic scimitar that, upon contact with Cable's brain, should expel the excess telekinetic energy. It's a particularly tricky time to do that, though, because X-Force is fighting the Uncanny Avengers on the lawn of Avengers Mansion while Cable's powers go completely out of control in the Mansion itself. There's a good deal of fighting; X-Force holds its own for a little while before being ultimately overpowered by the Uncanny Avengers. Hope shows up just in time to cut through the fighting and stick Cable with the pscimitar, discharging his powers and, at least for now, saving his life. Havok agrees to let Cable and his team go (at least to give them a headstart) even though they're still technically fugitives.

This is a nice little wrap-up to everything that's already come out. I feel like the series has slowed a little from the big bang beginning, hopefully wrapping up this bit of the storyline will kind of jumpstart things again. The communication between the team still seems pretty solid, though occasionally we get some all-too on-the-nose lines from people (it's very hard to write Dr. Nemesis well enough to make him not sound like a Dr. Nemesis parody and here he kind of toes that line). I think that will get better as we focus a little more on the team and perhaps a little less on what's happening to Cable and the bigger plots and different teams and what-not. This is a book that, by its very nature, needs to be a bit of a smaller book than it's been the last few issues. I think that'll settle nicely though and will leave us with much the same book we started with and we thought we were getting. There are a lot of people who don't like Larroca's style and, though I've never been against him, I think the book could also serve from an artist change. Each one of Larroca's books tends to have a few panels that make me cringe a little so his staying power on a book, I think, suffers the longer he's on that book. I don't think he's necessarily a bad artist (I think most people don't like him for his methods) but I think the book might be better suited with another one, at least for a little bit.

Thunderbolts 15
Soule (w) and Palo and Pallot (a) and Guru eFX (c)

Punisher is driving a van with a secret weapon (undisclosed throughout the book), Elektra, Venom, and Deadpool to various small-time gang stomping grounds to get answers about the Paguros. Bored waiting in traffic, Deadpool chooses to get out and walk, promising he'll meet up with them again later. The other three begin abducting and interrogating gang members and, though they get plenty of confessions out of them, manage to learn nothing more about the Paguros. Venom and Castle are a bit at odds as Frank wants to torture and/or kill the crooks while Flash refuses to allow it. Their bickering comes to a head as Thanos' ships descend on Earth and Flash insists they help the city while Frank insists they stick to the mission. Frank ultimately wins out though Flash only agrees on the terms that they help people they run into who are in trouble. Meanwhile, Deadpool has found himself caught up in the attack, moving from the subway to the streets of New York while trying to help civilians who keep referring to him as Spider-Man. Adding more intrigue to the book, the Leader, down in the command sub with Ross and the contained Mercy, is beginning to sabotage Ross' plans, including not warning him of the aliens he saw on radar and surfacing the sub to expose them.

Really good book. I liked last issue a lot and felt like it had turned a corner with just about everything; plot, character, and art had all shifted for the better. This issue seems to confirm it as there's just something about it that keeps the pace and tension up while simultaneously staying fairly fun and fresh. The art is spot on for the newer feel and kind of reminds me of what Invader Zim would look like as a comic book. I think everyone is well represented in this book and the characterization is stronger than it's been throughout the series prior but I think Deadpool has seen the biggest upward spike. That's particularly surprising as I like the way Daniel Way writes Deadpool and have since he had his long run with the character. Still, this is a really fun Deadpool who is somehow both the same as the one we know and typically love while being something different entirely. I'd like to see more from him before I say why he's different but he feels a little bit like a funnier version of the one we saw in Remender's Uncanny X-Force. That was the best Deadpool I'd read and it added layer after layer to the character (or perhaps expounded on layers we'd already seen). This one feels similar but is maybe a little more funny in his narrative than he is jokey. Overall, really good book, very happy with the way it's coming around.