Marvel’s X-Men relaunch is giving Cable a new ongoing - but the question remains, why? The last few months have seen Marvel conduct a high-profile relaunch of the X-Men range, and it’s proven to be a fantastic success. Hickman has established a sophisticated new status quo in which the X-Men have established the mutant nation of Krakoa, and the first wave of books have been bestsellers.
October 2019 delivered the best month in three years for the Direct Market, with Hickman’s X-Men, Powers of X, and House of X books all driving sales. ComiXology has been reporting similar digital sales as well, proving that this relaunch is scratching readers’ X-Men itch. Given this performance, it’s no surprise that Marvel is preparing a second wave of titles. The X-books are currently hotter than at any time since the ’90s, and Marvel wants to make the most of it.
Marvel has just announced that wave 2 will feature a new Cable ongoing, written by Gerry Duggan and featuring superstar artist Phil Noto. Cable is traditionally portrayed as a grizzled war veteran, but back in 2018, he was replaced by a new, younger version of himself from across the Multiverse. “Kid Cable” has played a prominent role in the Marvel Comics universe since the X-Termination event, and now he’s moving to center-stage.
Marvel has certainly recruited a prestigious creative team; Gerry Duggan is a brilliant writer, best known for his Deadpool run, and he’s already involved in the X-Men relaunch as the mind behind the Marauders. Meanwhile, Noto is one of Marvel’s most celebrated artists. “I’m thrilled to be back working in the X-Universe,” he noted in a press statement, “and very happy to get the band back together with my buddy, Gerry Duggan.” And yet, for all Marvel may have put together a top creative team, it’s hard not to view this as something of a conservative choice; the Hickman era is currently quite limited in terms of diversity among its creative talent. Given the X-Men are something of an extended metaphor for the theme of diversity, that’s actually quite a cutting criticism.
Making matters worse, Kid Cable is something of a surprising choice to headline his own ongoing. Although he’s been around for over a year now, Marvel has yet to develop a consistent voice for the character; he currently appears in both X-Men and Fallen Angels, and frankly feels like two different people in those books. The concept is far from proven, and indeed is causing confusion among old-school readers who’ve returned to the X-Men for the Hickman run.
With each passing week, it’s seeming more and more like Marvel is taking serious risks in their handling of the X-Men’s newfound success, and this feels like another unwitting act of self-sabotage. For Cable’s sake, let’s hope that isn’t the case.
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