Cable #57 Summary and Review
by The Mighty Juggernaut himself
Rainer Ho Ten Soeng

Summary of Cable # 57: Enter: Rama-Tut! And The Pharaoh Shall Ascend!

Technical information:
* Publisher: Marvel Comics
* Release date: August, 1998
* Writer: Joe Casey
* Penciller: Ryan Benjamin
* Inkers: Scott Hanna in association with Banning & Holdredge
* Colorist: Gloria Vasquez
* Letters: RS & Comicraft
* Editor: Mark Powers
* Editor in Chief: Bob Harras
* Total number of pages: 32 pages with ads; 22 pages without ads
* Subtitle of the book: Momentary Lapse

Main characters in the book:

Cable: Nathan Dayspring Summers a.k.a. Cable, uses his mutant abilities of telepathy and telekinesis to fight for a better tomorrow -- and seeks his own fate as a man out of time.

Irene Merryweather: A former reporter for the muckraking Inquiring Eye, Irene dreamt of one day working for a legitimate newspaper such as The Daily Bugle. But when her investigations led to the loss of her friends and her job, Irene dedicated herself to chronicling the life and mission of the man called Cable.

Blaquesmith: The gnomish, misshapen enigma known as Blaquesmith has long been Cable's mentor and taskmaster, training him in the use of his great powers and following him through time to the twentieth century. Blessed with the innate ability to create all manner of high-tech gadgetry, Blaquesmith has often run afoul his pupil, as he is more than willing to deceive others, even his allies, in order to achieve his goals.

Rama-Tut: A native of thirtieth century Earth, the madman known as Rama-Tut grew tired with that era's peace and prosperity. Fancying himself a man of action akin to those of earlier times, and possessed of great intellect, he constructed a time travel machine so that he could journey to other periods in the planet's history. His first expedition was to the very dawn of civilization -- ancient Egypt, where he used his vastly superior technology and knowledge to subjugate the Egyptians, declaring himself Pharaoh. He was eventually defeated by the time-tossed Fantastic Four, but has continued to wreak havoc throughout the time stream....

Remarkable quotes:
-1. "I suppose I have always been fairly single-minded about what I am doing here...." (Cable)
-2. "Your power is no match for me stranger! I am a being unlike anything you have ever encountered! I have sailed across seas of time -- the centuries are like water between my fingers..!" (Rama-Tut)
-3. "Wretched infidel! I shall squeeze the life from you with my bare hands! Consider it an honor!" (Rama Tut)
-4. "You're the one who's hilarious Nathan. You are so transparent. I can see you reaching out, grasping to make a connection. You want to talk, so why don't you?" (Irene Merryweather)
-5. "For the record, boy, I am pleased you've finally chosen a chronicler. Your mission is far too important to risk it ending with you. The fate of generations unborn rests upon your shoulders. You are here for one purpose.... to prevent the rise of that despot Apocalypse. Nothing must take precedence over that." (Blaquesmith)
-6. "My head's still pounding. My mind.... on fire.... what happened to me? What happened to my powers?" (Cable)

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Summary of Cable #57: Enter: Rama-Tut! And The Pharaoh Shall Ascend!
Before I begin it's I think a good idea to explain that the story is ingeniously divided in different parts or chapters which are hussled through each other and which take place at different points in time. The story continous to shift between the present and the past and although that may seem confusing at first sight it is in fact a very well executed 'exercise' in time-shifting by Joe Casey who gives us a taste of what it would be like to 'time travel'! :-) To prevent anyone who hasn't read the issue yet from getting confused however I decided to include a brief overall view of the different chapters or keypoints in which the story is divided:
Chapter 1: The story begins in Egypt, in the present.
Chapter 2: "Nothing like Caffeine"; the events in this chapter take place a few days prior to the events which occurr in Egypt (see Chapter 1).
Chapter 3: the events in this chapter take place in Egypt, in the present.
Chapter 4: "Blast from the past"; the events in this chapter take place in Egypt several hours before the present as seen in chapter 1.
Chapter 5: the events in this chapter take place in Egypt, in the present.
Chapter 6: "Is Any House Truly Safe?" (after the dinner); the events in this chapter take place in the recent past and they serve as a starting point for Cable's actions and presence in Egypt; the events are all seen from Cable's point of view.
Chapter 7: the events in this chapter take place in Egypt, in the present.
Chapter 8: "Some Kind Of.... Disturbance On The Psionic Plane!" (a.k.a. meanwhile in X-Men #77); this events in this chapter take place simultaneously in the past in X-Men #77 and they show us that the fight between Psylocke and The Shadow King resulted in the disturbance of the Psionic Plane which in turn caused Cable to loose his powers.
Chapter 9: the events in this chapter take place shortly in the past and at the end of this chapter we arrive in the present: the ending scene of this chapter is the same as the opening scene of Chapter 1.
Chapter 10: from here on the story takes only place in the present in a chronically logic sequence until the end of the book.
Please note that the sequence of the chapters is the sequence in which the events take place in this issue! That leaves us with the following conclusions:
* The chapters 2, 4, 6, 8 and 9 take place in the past * The chapters 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 take place in the present Please notice furthermore that the chapters 2, 4, 6, 8 and 9 take place at different points in the past: if you would like to arrange them chronically correct then the sequence would be: 2, 6, 4, 8, 9; chapter 2 is the chapter which took place the longest ago whereas chapter 9 took place just before the present time. The sequence of the chapters which take place in the present is chronically correct: the chapters 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 take place after each other in the present. So if you would like to read the whole story in a chronically correct sequence then you would have to read the chapters in this sequence: 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10.
If you lost me somewhere somehow after all this please don't worry though! Hopefully all will become clear after reading the summary! :-)

Chapter 1: Egypt, the present
The story opens in the present in Egypt with Cable helping a battered and tortured Blaquesmith up on his feet again. They find themselves in the severely ruined palace of Rama-Tut which, as a result of continuing and increasing tremors, can fall apart any minute. Cable realizes that because of that danger they have to get out of there as soon as possible and we leave the scene with Cable and Blaquesmith trying to find their way out.

Chapter 2:
"Nothing like Caffeine" (the events in this chapter take place a few days prior to the events which occurred in chapter 1)
The story then shifts to Babel's, the diner in which Stacey works, where Cable just drops in for a cup of black coffee. While he is drinking his coffee Cable and Stacey have some small talk about their lives and the choices we all have to make. It's a peaceful scene in which Cable seems to enjoy his coffee and Stacey's company whereas Stacey seems to enjoy her little conversation with Nathan, a man she is fascinated by and in some ways attracted to....

Chapter 3: Egypt, the present
We are taken back to the situation in Egypt where Cable and Blaquesmith are desperately trying to get away. Rama-Tut's palace is becoming increasingly unstable as a result of the ongoing tremors and on their way out they see the body of the unconscious 'Pharaoh' Rama-Tut lying in a corner of the building.
We find out that Rama-Tut apparently wanted Blaquesmith to repair his damaged time machine so that he could sail again over the seas of time. He was so obsessed with this idea that he didn't want to listen to Blaquesmith's warnings that the mechanism of the time machine was damaged beyond repair....

Chapter 4:
"Blast From The Past" (the events in this place took place only hours before the events which took place in chapter 1)
We are making another time-jump and the story shifts back to the events which preceded the events which occurred in the first chapter.
We enter the scene in the midst of a fight between Cable and Rama-Tut while Blaquesmith, who was captured by Rama-Tut to help him repair his damaged time machine, is hanging on the ceiling locked up in some specially designed equipment which Rama-Tut used to torture him and force him to co-operate. Rama-Tut and Cable are fiercely fighting each other when all of a sudden another tremor hits the building and causes Cable's mentor to fall from the ceiling and be buried under heaps of rubbish. Cable is, because of his concern for Balquesmith, momentarily distracted and Rama-Tut uses this opportunity to reach for his special ultra diode ray gun. Cable however doesn't surrender that easily and with the help of his mutant powers he manages to take Rama-Tut down quickly and efficiently. But just when Rama-Tut is lying on the ground, seemingly defeated by Cable, the Askani'Son feels a buzzing in the back of his mind telling him that there's some kind of disturbance on the Psionic Plane....

Chapter 5: Egypt, the present
The story then takes us back to the present where we see Cable and Blaquesmith still trying to make it out of Rama-Tut's palace in one piece. We learn from Blaquesmith that the tremors, which continue to hit the building, are caused by the fact that the Pharaoh's time machine suffered significant temporal damage which could lead to an imminent reactor leak.... Things are getting dangerous and they have to get out of there quickly and cautiously if they want to live to tell the tale! Luckily though they have reached the time flux distortion which Cable went through on his way in to rescue his mentor. But the distortion has gotten worse and the two of them will somehow have to find a way to deal with that....

Chapter 6: "Is Any House Truly Safe?"
(after the dinner; the events in this story take place in the recent past (after chapter 2 but before chapter 4) and they are used as a starting point to explain Cable's presence and actions in Egypt. This chapter forms the fundament in which all other chapters are based.) This chapter opens with a scene in which Irene wonders why Cable is all of a sudden is visiting Babel's (the dinner in which Stacey works) so often. She doesn't understand it and being Cable's chronicler she asks for an explanation. Besides that she senses that Cable subconciously feels the need to talk about all the things he recently experienced or went through. Cable however refuses to enlighten her about his personal feelings by saying that she is here to report and not analyze him; before he can explain himself however they are being disrupted by a projected image of Blaquesmith. Blaquesmith who has never met Irene before and who doesn't know who she is rather bluntly asks Cable what she's doing in his safe house. Irene, who seems to be a bit annoyed by the behavior of that 'bug-eyed guy' snaps back that she too has some questions of her own.... Before things could get out of hand however Cable comes in between them and formally introduces Irene and his mentor to each other. But as far as Cable is concerned that is not the end of it though. He is surprised by the appearance of Blaquesmith's projected image, he is tired of all the games his mentor seems to play with him and he demands to know from his mentor where he is, where he is projecting from. Blaquesmith reminds his pupil however of the importance of his goal here on Earth (to prevent the rise of the despot Apocalypse) and to prevent Cable from endangering the success of that mission he refuses to give him that specific information. Cable won't take 'No' for an answer that easily though and by using his mutant powers he manages to get a telepathic fix on Blaquesmith's exact location. It appears that his mentor is in Egypt and without further hesitation Cable leaves for him. Meanwhile in Egypt Blaquesmith is being held captive by Rama-Tut who wants to force him to repair his time module which was damaged by a chronal interference, a time storm. The Pharaoh wouldn't believe Blaquesmith when he told him that his time machine was damaged beyond repair and now he intends to torture Blaquesmith until he gives up his resistance and starts co-operating. Rama-Tut has in fact just begun to slowly and intermittently torture Blaquesmith when Cable arrives at the scene. Cable's arrival has been rather problematic as a result of a grave and unusual time-flux distortion and although Cable doesn't understand what's causing the distortion he does sense that the distortion is getting bigger and more intense rather quickly. But there are more pressing matters at hand then to find out who's responsible for the distortion when Cable sees his mentor being tortured and threatened by Rama-Tut. Cable doesn't hesitate and he comes to the rescue of Blaquesmith even though his mentor scolds him for endangering his life, and thus the success of his ultimate mission, in such an irresponsible way! Rama-Tut is a bit surprised by Cable's sudden appearance but that doesn't stop him from attacking Cable with his ultra diode ray gun....

Chapter 7: Egypt, the present
We are taken back to the present time when we see Cable and Blaquesmith going through the time flux distortion. They are having a lot of trouble to find their way out and that surprises Blaquesmith since he expected that his pupil by using his powers would be able to get them through without a breeze. The scene closes with Blaquesmith desperately asking Cable what is wrong and what happened with his mutant powers....

Chapter 8:
"Some Kind Of.... Disturbance On The Psionic Plane" (a.k.a. meanwhile in X-Men #77; the events in this chapter take place in the past before the events in chapter 7) The story then makes a short side step by showing us the events which simultaneously took place on the Psionic Plane in X-Men #77: we see Psylocke making a miscalculation in her battle with The Shadow King with dire consequences and far-reaching effects for telepaths all over the world. As a result of Psylocke's actions the Psionic Plane is disrupted by a massive wave of psionic energy....

Chapter 9: Egypt, shortly in the past
(the events in this chapter takes place shortly in the past after the events of chapter 6 and 8) We are taken back to the point where we left in chapter 6: Rama-Tut points his ultra-diode ray gun at Cable and he intends to take him down when all of a sudden Cable is being hit by the massive disruption wave on the Psionic Plane and an intense pain which feels like if a white hot dagger was plunged into his brain, brings the Askani'Son down on his knees. The Pharaoh doesn't understand what happened to his opponent but he quickly adjusts himself to the new situation and tries to finish Cable off by punching him as hard as possible in the face. Cable, who's still in pain, tries to gain control over the situation again by giving Rama-Tut a TK-blast but he's shocked to discover that his telepathy is gone and his telekinesis severely curtailed! That white flash of intense pain must have robbed him of his powers! Cable lies helpless on the floor and is about to be shot by Rama-Tut with his ultra diode ray gun when all of a sudden another tremor hits the building. The tremor is intense and it catches Rama-Tut off-guard making him losing his balance and dropping his gun. Cable realizes that this might be the only chance to defeat Rama-Tut and he picks up the gun and fires it at the Pharaoh. The effects of the gun are obviously painful and paralyze and stun Rama-Tut and Cable has no trouble knocking him unconscious with a firm blow. And although Cable's head is still ringing he manages to get back on his feet and search for Blaquesmith. After a short while Cable finds his old mentor and from that point on the story takes place in the present (the scene in which Cable kneels down by his mentor's side to help him on his feet again is exactly the same scene as the opening scene of the book which means we have come full circle).

Chapter 10: Egypt, the present
The chapter begins where chapter 7 ended. Cable explains to Blaquesmith that he no longer seems to have his mutant powers anymore; therefore he will have to take them through the chronal distortion the hard way! With an ultimate effort Cable manages to pull himself and his mentor out of the time flux and he doesn't do so one moment too soon: moments after they got out of it the chronal distortion collapses on itself closing the gateway to Rama-Tut's palace.... Cable is worried for a moment that it's just a trick out of the Pharaoh's sleeve but Blaquesmith assures him that for the moment Rama-Tut won't be able to do any harm since the temporal feedback must have launched him back into the timestream! And together Blaquesmith and Cable leave comforted by the knowledge that at least this time they survived again....

The Good
Well, to start with I have to say that Joe Casey's way of telling this story was very original. By dividing the story in different parts which take place at different moments in time and by husling them through each other he has really created a special atmosphere which makes the time flux distortion almost real! Very funny and realistic was also the fact that when Cable and Blaquesmith were going through that time flux distortion even their thoughts were jumbled in random order. Joe Casey really has a sharp eye for details I guess! Another goodie was the way in which the relationship between Cable and Stacy seemed to develop itself. It would be great IMHO if Stacey and Cable would deepen their relationship in the upcoming issues which is not the same as saying that they should fall in love though! :-) But Cable simply being good friends with a human could give the book and his character some extra dimension. Last but not least I have to say that I liked the fact that Cable was being affected by the events which occurred in X-Men #77. After all if all telepaths were supposed to be affected by that disturbance on the Psionic Plane then it's only logical to see that Cable has to deal with the effects of the disturbance too. It's good to see that there is such coherence between the various X-books.

The Bad
It may sound a bit harsh but I didn't like all of Ryan Benjamin's work: Cable's face looks very strange IMHO in the scene in which Cable is being hit by the disturbance on the Psionic Plane for example. What surprised me furthermore was the apparent lack of respect of Cable for his old mentor: I mean he bluntly stated that Blaquesmith was perhaps going senile. I know Cable will have probably said this in jest but still it doesn't sit well with me. Shouldn't there be more respect between a pupil and his mentor? Furthermore I would have liked to see an explanation how Rama-Tut managed to capture Blaquesmith: was Blaquesmith simply uncareful or did something else happen? And what was Blaquesmith doing in Egypt after all? But all in all I guess this was a pretty good issue after all. So far the quality of the the Cable issues is very high and I am already looking forward to the next issue!
See you all then!
Excelsior!
Rainer Ho Ten Soeng

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