Cable and X-Force #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Of all the new Marvel NOW! titles that I put on my pull list, I probably felt the least enthused about "Cable and X-Force."  I really just sort got it to get it, using Marvel NOW! the way that Marvel wants me to use it, as an excuse to try out new series.  Whereas that approach failed when it came to "Iron Man," I'm happy to say that I'm a pretty happy camper with this series.  Hopeless is telling a familiar Cable story, but one with an interesting twist and a supporting cast that I find just as (if not more) intriguing.

First, Hopeless is doing a great job of framing the mystery at the core of these first few issues in a way that I don't find annoying.  We get confirmation here that X-Force did seemingly kill a bunch of people, something that causes Colossus great consternation in this issue.  But, Cable seems to believe that it was for a reason, one probably related to this apocalyptic future that he's trying to prevent.  Given that the members of X-Force seem as unclear on Cable's goals as we are, Hopeless is setting up Cable as a sort of messianic leader, asking his subordinates to trust him as he tries to avoid as-yet-unnamed looming disaster.  The "messianic" aspect is all the more profound given that Cable is apparently dying, as discovered by Dr. Nemesis in this issue.

But, part of the reason that I like this series is that it's not just Cable's show.  This issue revolves mostly around Domino and Hope, who continue to display if not a mother/daughter relationship exactly but a reasonable approximation of it.  Domino establishes herself pretty firmly here as the grounding force on the team, the only one not pushed by arrogance, insanity, intensity, or rage.  Somewhat conversely, we get our first real glimpse of a post-Phoenix Colossus, who's dealing with similar emotional and physical scars as the other former possessors of the Phoenix Force (or, at least, Emma and Scott).

I'm definitely intrigued by where Hopeless is going, not only with Cable, but with the rest of the cast.  Given how meh I've been feeling about comics this month, I have to thank him for giving me an unexpected bright spot!