Cable #61 Summary and Review

by Roy Ho Ten Soeng The Mighty Juggernaut

Summary of Cable #61: Captive of S.H.I.E.L.D.!

Technical information:

* Publisher: Marvel Comics
* Release date: Late November, 1998
* Writer: Joe Casey
* Penciller: Ladronn
(BTW: the cover was drawn by Ladronn and Vlasco after Steranko)
* Inker: Juan Vlasco
* Colorist: Gloria Vasquez
* Letters: R&S 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: Captive Audience; The Nemesis Contract Part 3 of 4

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.

G.W. Bridge:
Once a close ally of Cable, G.W. Bridge is now one of the highest ranking officers in the government espionage organization, S.H.I.E.L.D.. He has often found himself at his old friend, and that conflict will soon cost him much ....

Agent 18:
- His real name: Jack Truman - His existence: highly classified, known only to a handful within the government - His job: S..H.I.E.L.D. manhunter, assigned to track down and capture - dead or alive - the country's most wanted fugitives - His abilities: deadly hand-to-hand combatant, marksman and strategist - His current mission: to secure the capture of the man called Cable!

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Remarkable quotes:

-1. "Cable's been doing this for years, longer than I could imagine, probably. Across centuries. Across milennia. He didn't need my help when it came to the hero biz .... but something about this was different. Call it intuition but I knew it." (Irene Merryweather)

-2. "I should've known all along. This 'mutant terrorist' garbage .... I should know a smokescreen when I see one. I must have been so blind, so charged up over the challenge of bringing in a mutant .... that I didn't see this for what it truly is .... a cover up." (Agent 18)

-3. " .... I can only imagine what Cable is going through .... knowing the way this place operates, they've probably got you so doped up on neural dampeners that you don't even know where you are .... or who you are. They'll keep you exactly where they need you .... just barely on this side of the living. Wouldn't surprise me a lot if your only awareness was comprised of fragmented images of your entire life flashing through your head. They'll probably seem like ghosts of another lifetime to you. I wonder if I'm in there somewhere ... in any case, it's like experiencing a living death. I certainly don't envy you, hero .... 'cause the vultures are already circling." (Agent 18)

-4. "So you are just giving up? The guy is here to save the future and we are not going to do whatever it takes to save him? I can't believe this ...." (Irene Merryweather)

-5. "Allow me to preface my remarks .... our goal here has always been to upgrade our dormant nemesis robots using the techno-organic virus. In doing so, the robots would become the ultimate espionage agents .... sentient but programmable, able to carry out any mission without fear and hesitation." (Dr. Horatio Belgrade)

-6. "I feel old. Seeing Belgrade's report .... the minds at work in my own organization .... I can see now why they wanted me out of the way. To those so sinister, I must seem like a fossil .... a relic of a bygone age, when men lived by their honor and ethics. Am I helpless to do anything about this? Am I as old as they think I am?" (G.W. Bridge)

-7. "Dayspring! Dayspring! Pay attention when I address you!" (Blaquesmith)

-8. "Look deep within yourself for the truth about your telekinesis .... you still possess it. The lockdown is your own doing. Without your telepathy, you must retrain your mind. The trauma of losing your telepathy has put your psionics in a state of shock -- but you can overcome it .... your TK power has always been there. It's up to you to access it .... trust me, Dayspring." (Blaquesmith)

-9. "Pretty soon, the ball's gonna be in your court .... don't disappoint me, hero. I will be waiting for you." (Agent 18)

=====

Summary of Cable #61: Captive of S.H.I.E.L.D.!!

The story begins with the desperate search of Irene Merryweather for some information about the recent events in Hell's Kitchen. After seeing what went on in that area on various news programmes on TV, Irene instinctively knows that Cable is somehow involved in all this. Even worse, she realizes that after hearing eyewitnesses on TV telling that they saw S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier flying over the neighborhood, Cable must be in deep trouble if one takes all the damage which has been done to Hell's Kitchen into account. And unfortunately every effort of her to find out exactly what happenend down there seems to be futile since nobody is willing to shed some light on the matter for her. Everybody, including her own private contact in the police department or S.H.I.E.L.D.'s press liaison, politely keeps her at arm's length and in the dark. Irene can't do a thing for Cable and as the days go by she has to face the thought that Cable is in trouble and desperately needs his friends while she has to hold herself aloof being completely helpless ....

Then we are taken onboard of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier where we find Agent Clay Quartermain in discussion with Doctor Horatio Belgrade. Dr. Belgrade is just explaining to Agent Quartermain that all of the nemesis robots are ready for the procedure which will expose them to the TO-virus which Cable is carrying in his body. The good news is that Belgrade and his team seemed to have met their deadline. The bad news is that according to Belgrade's calculations there will only be a 67% probability of success in this venture. Agent Quartermain doesn't find that too reassuring and he doesn't even dare to think about what will happen if their little experiment turns out to be a failure and Nick Fury would find out about it .... His days as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent would be over! Fortunately however Dr. Belgrade can assure him that the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. will never hear a word about this project since the Nemesis Lab is not only the most secure facility on the Helicarrier but also because Nick Fury is most certainly not one of the select few who have been privileged with access to these shallow rooms. While the two men are talking to each other they decide to check up on their 'guest' and most valuable prisoner: Cable. And although Cable is heavily drugged to keep him quiet and under control the tests which have been done on him show some interesting and surprising results which Dr. Belgrade can not explain right away. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files have always stated that Cable is an alpha-level telepath and telekinetic but the scans clearly show an unexpected and curious absence of psionis energy! What happenend to Cable that made him lose his powers? Or was S.H.I.E.L.D. mistaken all along? But that would be impossible, would it? But whatever the answer to that question may be it will not influence Agent Quartermain's plans in a negative way: Cable's body does contain a lot of the Techno-Organic material that he wants to use on the nemesis robots and that is in the end the only thing that really interests him....

Meanwhile in the cosy living room of Stacey Kramer she and her brother Kenny are watching the news reports out of Hell's Kitchen. The official explanation for what happenend down there a week ago is that a massive fire swept through the neighborhood destroying everything in its path. But one can wonder whether or not that's the truth since eyewitnesses have seen a large rampaging electrical creature (Zzzax; see the previous issue of Cable) as well as S.H.I.E.L.D. armament engaged in open combat on the spot! Stacey and Kenny wonder what happenend to Cable and what his role in all of this might have been. But for the moment it doesn't look like the official authorities will release some information and answer their questions.

Back onboard of the Helicarrier we find Jack Truman, also known as Agent 18, who is pondering about the events of the last few days. His mind goes back to how it all began: the file which he received on Cable and which portrayed his target as a state terrorist with highly developed TK and TP-powers, the way he released that monster Zzzax to draw Cable out in the open, the confrontation between Cable and himself, the interruption of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Air Cavalry, the renewed hunt for Cable, his victory over Cable in a man-to-man fight and last but not least the transfer of Cable to the Extechop division of the Helicarrier. Looking back it all seemed so simple and such an exciting task which he eagerly accepted. Jack Truman would measure himself with a powerful mutant terrorist and bringing him in would be the greatest challenge, and without a doubt the greatest victory, of his life so far! But oh boy, are things different now! Truman realizes that somehow he was fooled by his superiors who used a smokescreen to mislead and misguide him. In the condition in which Cable was when Truman confronted him he could have never been such a danger for the national security; besides that Cable's personality and character didn't seem to fit those of a state terrorist. No, S.H.I.E.L.D. must have wanted Cable for a completely different reason and Jack Truman is determined to find out what games his superiors have been playing behind his back.

Completely unaware of Agent 18's thoughts and intentions, Dr. Belgrade has invited Agent Quartermain and Special Agent Seth Waters to inform them on the progress and findings which have been made with regard to the Nemesis Contract. Agent Waters is not only glad but also very relieved to see that things are finally getting somewhere. Commander Bridge has been on his back for more than a week now suspecting that something fishy was going on behind his back and Seth Waters finds it increasingly difficult to control Bridge and keep him from asking the 'wrong' questions to the wrong people. G.W. Bridge seems to become an annoying obstacle and even Quartermain's assurance that commander Bridge will not be much of a problem can't completely reassure Agent Waters. But commander Bridge is not the reason why he has come to the Helicarrier and that is why Waters starts to listen when Dr. Belgrade begins to explain what he has discovered so far. And to be honest: that's quite astonishing and surprising. Not only does Cable not seem to have any of the TP and TK-powers which S.H.I.E.L.D. suspected he would have but the tests have also shown that the Techno-Organic substance is in fact a living organism which eats away at Cable's innards now that his psionic abilities are no longer around to keep the virus in check. That was not exactly what Belgrade and his tean expected to find but they will nevertheless be able to put the TO-virus toi good use! To make sure that Agent Waters is as completely informed as the rest of them, Dr. Belgrade has sent a hard copy of his findings to Waters' office in Washington. Seth Waters is satisfied with that but he can see with his own eyes nonetheless that there are still enough unique problems which have to be overcome before everything is done and settled. The Techno-Organic substance proves to be so strong for example that ordinary surgical equipment doesn't seem to be able to remove it from Cable's body ....

Dr. Belgrade is however not the only one having problems. At that same moment Blaquesmith is desperately trying to find and locate his pupil. But that seems to be a much more complicated task than expected: Cable's psi-signature is being blocked somehow and it is therefore impossible to find Cable that way. Irene just can not accept this setback and she's quite upset at Blaquesmith who seems to be so calm under the circumstances. But looks can be deceiving and it turns out that Cable's mentor is just as determined to find Cable as Irene. And what even better is is that Blaquesmith seems to have found a way to get some information on Cable and the situation he is in: when looking through Cable's personal files he finds a picture of the mercenary band called the Six Pack which was once led by Cable. And in that picture Irene and Blaquesmith discover the face of G.W. Bridge. Bridge, who is now a high ranked S.H.I.E.L.D. official, was a member of the Six Pack back then. And slowly hope begins to grow in the hearts of both of them that perhaps they have finally found a trail which they can use to come to Cable's aid. They have to find out where Bridge is located as quickly as possible but after the wall of silence which they encountered earlier on this seems to be the least difficult of their problems!

Meanwhile in the Washington Bureau of S.H.I.E.L.D. commander Bridge is becoming more and more concerned about the fate of his old friend Cable. The files about the incident in Hell's Kitchen have been deleted from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database just like all the files SH.I.E.L.D. had on Cable. It looks like somebody really wants to cover his tracks and that fact alone could mean that something terrible has happenend to Cable. But what can Bridge do? He has been transferred away out of the Helicarrier and all the files which could answer his questions have been mysteriously deleted. But then Lady Luck decides to start playing on Bridge's side: the hard copy which Dr. Belgrade has sent to Seth Waters has arrived and since Agent Waters is not around commader Bridge takes care of the package. And although he knows that it is against several stringent inter-office policies as well as a couple of national security regulations he decides to open the package to see if he can learn something more about what has been happening behind his back. Once opened the package turns out to be a CD-ROM and once it is installed in his computer Bridge starts to learn the horrible and shocking truth about the Nemesis Contract: Cable has been taken captive as a prisoner of the Extechop Division under supervision of Dr. Horatio Belgrade to use his Techno-Organic Substance to enhance S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Nemesis robots.... And despite the fact that Cable was drugged with powerful neural dampening narcotics Bridge can imagine in what kind of Hell his friends must have been after reading that it took a 49-hour operation before Belgrade managed to take some of the Techno-Organic substance out of Cable's body...

But commander Bridge is not the only one who is startled to learn the truth: at that same time Jack Truman is also looking at that very same file and he's shocked to see that Cable was in fact so weakenend when he confronted him that it was no more than logical that he defeated him. And that bothers Agent 18 deeply: he had thought that fighting Cable and capturing him would be his greatest challenge and his true defining moment but now it turns out that the suits in their offices fooled him and took away all that from him. And Jack Truman is not the kind of man who will let people do that to him just like that!

The story then shifts to Dulles International Airport in Washington where we find Irene talking to Blaquesmith on the phone. Irene still has some doubts if she has got it in her to do this but Cable's mentor convinces her Cable would have never trusted her that much if he didn't feel that she was capable. And with that little peptalk Irene leaves on her mission to find and help Cable.

Onboard of the Helicarrier Agents Quartermain and Waters have gathered to find out from Dr. Belgrade whether or not their experiment has been a success. How many nemesis robots will have survived the exposure to the Techno-Organic-virus? Despite the fact that they knew not all of the units would survive, they are not pleased at all if they learn that out of the ten units only four have survived the experiment! Panic strikes because such a high rate of failure was not what they expected! The four remaining units had better be the best agents S.H.I.E.L.D. 's ever had or else they will all be in some very serious trouble!

What they don't know is that more unpleasant things are about to happen: with the use of a keycard designed by Blaquesmith Irene managed to enter the Washington Bureau of S.H.I.E.L.D. and find G.W. Bridge's office. And even though commander Bridge is highly surprised to find a reporter in his office, he's prepared to listen to what Irene has to say when she tells him that she is here on behalf of Cable... Cable has disappeared and Irene tells Bridge that she believes that S.H.I.E.L.D. had anything to do with it. But she doesn't have any hard evidence and she doesn't know what they have done to Cable and therefore she is hoping that Bridge will be able to give her some additional information and to help out his one-time friend Cable. Bridge realizes that Irene is on the right track and he explains to het that he has just discovered the horrible truth about what happenend to Cable. And seeing that his old friend is in real trouble now he longer hesitates but decides to help out Irene and his old friend Cable.

But Irene and commander Bridge are not the the only ones who have come to Cable's aid: suddenly an astral projection of Blaquesmith appears inside the Nemesis lab where Cable is being held captive. And after Cable's mentor 'summons' the astral projection of his pupil he tells him that as a result of that enormous Psi-blast on the Psionic Plane Cable has permanently lost his gift of telepathy. It is gone forever. But the good news is that Cable still has access to his telekinetic powers. The trauma of losing his telepathy has put Cable's psionics in a state of shock but once he has overcome that barrier Cable will find his TK-powers still intact. And just as suddenly as he appeared Blaquesmith's appearance has disappeared.

But that is however not the end of the surprising events: making sure that he is seen by no one Agent 18 sneaks into the laboratory and dismantles the equipment which holds Cable captive and under narcose. When he first confronted Cable it was not an honest and equal match. And Jack Truman will not let anybody take away what should become the defining moment of his life! By releasing Cable he is making sure that there will be a 'rematch' or rather, a second chance for both of them to measure each other against each other under more equal and honest circumstances .... And shortly after Agent 18 has left the room the Helicarrier's internal sensors register a TK spike on deck 42 .... Cable's free and he is not looking like he will ever let them take him captive again in this lifetime! =====

The Good

Well, what can I say guys? I could talk a long time or I could talk a short time but that would not change the fact that this was simply an excellent issue! The story was fascinating, compelling and intriguing and the art more than matched the high quality level of the book. Sometimes I wonder if the team of Casey, Ladronn and Vlasco has any limits or not! :-) So far they only seem to get better and better with each issue! There were a lot of goodies in this issue: for example I liked the fact that in this entire issue Cable barely spoke a word. And still it was clear that the entire issue revolved around him and what happenend to him. Besides that it was cool to see how, if only for once, the other characters got a spot in the limelight. But let's not forget that a lot of things happenend for Cable in this issue: he permanently loses his TP-powers and a substantial amount of the Techno-Organic-virus which was ramapging through his body. Besides that it was also very interesting to see all those little games played at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters. The Nemesis Contract was in a weird way an interesting chance to see S.H.I.E.L.D. officials try to realize their goals and objectives. And it suer was interesting to see the motives behind Agent 18's behaviour: he reminded me of those ancient Japanese Samurai's with their great sense of honor and responsibility. And of course he wanted to prove that he had got what it takes to bring the Askani'Son in. Last but not least it was good to see that there are still some friendship ties between Cable and G.W. Bridge. There may have happenend a lot between these two characters but when everything is said and done they are still friends who will help each others wherever possible.

The Bad

Hmmm... I am not sure what I should put here! If Casey and Ladronn keep going on like this then I think I might as well close down this column! :-) I do have some points which I could not understand but those points are actually more questions than really crtical remarks:

-1. I thought that Cable was infected with the TO-virus when he was a little boy; I don't think he got that virus from the day he was born, right?

-2. How is it possible that the Nick Fury, the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. himself, has no access to the Nemesis Lab?

-3. Dr. Belgrade states that Cable's TK and TP-abilities are far beyond any which S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever catalogued. Now how is that possible? Does S.H.I.E.L.D. not have any files on Jean Grey, X-Man, Prof. X., Stryfe etc.? IMHO they are at least as powerful as Cable is especially if you realize that Cable needs a substantial amount of his powers to keep the TO-virus in check.

But other than that I don't have any complaints at all! Let's hope that the creative team behind Cable will keep all of us smiling for a long time to come! :-)

See you all in fourteen!
Excelsior!
Rainer Ho Ten Soeng

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