REVIEW: ‘Cable: Love And Chrome’ Issue 1

Cable: Love and Chrome Issue 1 is published by Marvel Comics, written by David Pepose, art by Mike Henderson, colors by Arif Prianto, and letters by Joe Sabino.

Cable is sent to the far future, where he discovers a land filled with people infected with the same Techno-Organic Virus he has.

Cable: Love and Chrome Issue 1 is fast and ferocious. Beginning with an action sequence that would make Mad Max proud, Pepose reveals how ruthless and hardcore the series will be. The comic moves at a terrific pace. It is split into two parts. The opening showcases how Cable has been launched over time. He faces goons and one more significant threat, one that seems resistant to his powers.

This enemy creates worthy opposition for the time traveler, whereas other soldiers seem like putty to be molded by his hands and mind. The book’s second half sets the location of the rest of the season, establishing more characters and a cause worth fighting for. The plot of Cable: Love and Chrome Issue 1 is exciting in both, and some connections run through the points in time that show that there are consequences across time.

Cable: Love and Chrome Issue 1 offers something different for Cable by showing the two extremes. In the first battle, Cable is on his own. Strapped to the front of a Sentinel transformed into a truck, Cable has to use his ingenuity and power to escape a bad situation. There is no one watching his six. Pepose uses captions to accurately and efficiently explain Cable’s backstory: his last name, powers, and, more importantly, his affliction. The Techno-Organic virus in his bloodstream is a terminal illness and one he has had to deal with alone.

Cable being alone is one of the most critical aspects of the series because the opposite is found halfway through. The Techno-Organic Virus is much more prevalent in the community he finds himself in by accident. It’s a dystopian, oppressive future that contains someone who is so much like Cable. Noble, hardcore, and relentless, the newcomer is the perfect partner for Cable, sharing his pain and plight. Even as a potential love story is brewing, the book never gets soppy or sensitive, as either character would consider that a sign of weakness.

The art in Cable: Love and Chrome Issue 1 fits the ruthlessness of Cable’s line of work. Henderson has an art style that makes the locations look scruffy and messy, which is precisely what they need to be. These points in time aren’t paradises; they are hellholes. The first mixes Asgard with Mad Max, with nothing but heavy metal and brutes. The first panel of the title character features him changed to the front of a rusty truck, and his experiences don’t get much more pleasant.

And as soon as he breaks free, Cable starts unleashing chaos on an extreme level in Cable: Love and Chrome Issue 1. His powers, tech, and weapons all come to the fore, and explosions and deaths occur around him. While the violence is raucous and brutal, Henderson never devolves into a bloody gore fest. Instead, the focus is on the damage to the area, with a technological slant to the savagery instead of biological. The woman that Cable finds has many similarities to Cable, primarily the scars caused by the Techo-Organic Virus. Her design is exceptional and instantly captivating.

The colors are always fascinating, especially when the action steps into gear. Both locations take place in deserts, although the time of day changes. The first has a boiling orange sun pounding down, with rust metal everywhere. The second is nighttime, with the orange poking through as lights against darker blues. When Cable bursts into action, those two colors are unleashed in excess. The fiery explosions fill the page with orange, and the tech and telekinesis usually radiate a stark blue. The lettering is brilliantly easy to read in Cable: Love and Chrome Issue 1.

Those who have read Timeslide #1 know what appears to be the end of this story, but this comic details how Cable got there in the first place. It’s an energetic, exciting set of action sequences filled with Pepose’s hardcore dialogue and Henderson’s spectacular art. Cable constantly finds new threats and fights, but there are also the sparks of a love story starting to be crafted.

Cable: Love and Chrome #1 sets up kindred spirits. Cable’s experience has primarily been a lonely life, even when he has been part of a team or with various partners. The other anti-heroes and costumed individuals weren’t suffering in the way he was and couldn’t help him control his symptoms. But now he has discovered a place where they are all in danger of the same nasty fate.

Cable: Love and Chrome #1 is available now wherever comics are sold.