What do you think?
Rate this book
New Mutants (1983-1991) #86-94, Annual #5
X-Force: Cable and the New Mutants
For years, the New Mutants have struggled to hone their powers and teamwork in defense of Charles Xavier's dream of peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants. Now, with the arrival of Cable--a mysterious metal-armed, big-gunned, glowing-eyed man from the future--things will never be the same...not for the New Mutants, and not for any mutants! Featuring the threats of Stryfe, Nitro, the Vulture, the Skrulls and Sabretooth! Guest-starring Sunfire and Wolverine! COLLECTING: New Mutants #86-94, New Mutants Annual #5
257 pages, Hardcover
First published December 29, 2010
About the author
Louise Simonson
985 books105 followersLouise Simonson (born Mary Louise Alexander and formerly credited as Louise Jones, when married to artist Jeff Jones) is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as Power Pack, X-Factor, New Mutants, Superman, and Steel. She is sometimes referred to by the nickname "Weezie".
Since 1980 she is married to comic book writer and artist Walter Simonson
Since 1980 she is married to comic book writer and artist Walter Simonson
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 11, 2023
Detailing the New Mutants' adventures with the coming of future Marvel heavyweight Cable. An interesting character, shrouded in mystery, scars and weaponry! Simonson, now joined with Rob Liefeld one of the heralds of a new age at Marvel where art will subsume all! I was/am not a fan of the art trumping storyline phase at Marvel, but it ultimately led to the creation of Image Comics, so it wasn't all bad! 6 out of 12, Three Star read.
Collecting The New Mutants #86-94 and The New Mutants Annual #5
2010 read
Collecting The New Mutants #86-94 and The New Mutants Annual #5
2010 read
January 16, 2016
X-Force: Cable and the New Mutants collects issues #86-94 of the New Mutants and features the introduction of illustrator Rob Liefeld and character Nathan Summers (a.k.a. Cable) to the book. Liefeld's art, although not always anatomically correct, injects some much needed excitement to a title that was winding down (at a time when other X-titles were heating up). Writer Louise Simonson, who dutifully stewarded the series for 50+ issues following Chris Claremont's departure, does her best to work with Liefeld and provide a narrative to showcase his talents.
It's no secret that their working relationship was tenuous; Simonson would leave the book three issues later after complaints that her plotting was being rewritten. You can see this tension manifest itself in the end product; some panels don't match the dialog, while others clearly reflect Liefeld's passion for popular culture (check out the Star Wars TIE fighters in the danger room sequence in issue #90). The collaboration still bears fruit, however, making this a worthwhile read. Introducing Cable as the group's leader gives new life to the book and provides the characters with renewed purpose.
It's interesting to watch the narrative shift from a story centered around brooding adolescents trying to find their place in the world to one focused on over-the-top action, established archetypes, and commercial appeal. The book certainly feels more accessible, which probably explains the uptick in sales. Change is both difficult and cathartic, and that's a good way to describe this collection.
It's no secret that their working relationship was tenuous; Simonson would leave the book three issues later after complaints that her plotting was being rewritten. You can see this tension manifest itself in the end product; some panels don't match the dialog, while others clearly reflect Liefeld's passion for popular culture (check out the Star Wars TIE fighters in the danger room sequence in issue #90). The collaboration still bears fruit, however, making this a worthwhile read. Introducing Cable as the group's leader gives new life to the book and provides the characters with renewed purpose.
It's interesting to watch the narrative shift from a story centered around brooding adolescents trying to find their place in the world to one focused on over-the-top action, established archetypes, and commercial appeal. The book certainly feels more accessible, which probably explains the uptick in sales. Change is both difficult and cathartic, and that's a good way to describe this collection.
December 28, 2020
If you are interested in reading anything Cable related, the excellent reading order from Comic Book Herald is worth looking at. They recommended this book as the starting point, so here we are
https://www.comicbookherald.com/cable...
X-Force: Cable and the New Mutants is where the character of Cable is first introduced into the Marvel Universe, and collects together The New Mutants Issues #86-94 (plus the New Mutants annual #5). Cable is one of my favourite characters (mostly due to his appearances in the excellent 90s X-Men carton series), but I've never before read his comic introduction.
Things to note about this collection, nearly everything is drawn by Rob Liefeld (bar one story). I personally don't mind his steroid using, multiple belts/pockets/bandoliers art of the 90s (it was the style at the time), but you won't get that here. This is early Liefeld, and consequently, much more restrained (although Cable is somehow drawn double the width of most of the other characters)
Art aside, this is a bit of a shambolic collection. I have previously read some New Mutants (early stuff from what I recall), so I knew some characters, but wasn't aware of a lot of backstory/larger plots. The book starts by dropping you into to a story already in progress, a bit jarring, but possibly the only logical place to start the collection. Start the book a few issues back, and you couldn't really have Cable on the cover. There's enough information there to grasp what's going on, but this is where the mess starts. The initial story just isn't that interesting, and the action bounces around more than a child whose had too much sugar.
Things do improve somewhat with the introduction of Cable in the second collected issue, but this isn't yet the character who would get fleshed out in the 90s, this is basic. Interestingly you are given no backstory what so ever at this point, the guy shows up (everyone strangely knows who is), and he's suddenly leading the New Mutants as their mentor. Once this initial rushed element happens, things to do improve, and by the second half of the collection things are a bit more focused. It still seems random how Cable arrives and suddenly takes over, but I guess run with it - in some ways it's worse reading this knowing everything that comes after, his debut doesn't make too much sense here.
The collection is interesting to those who want to see Cables first appearances. It also gives you some quick set up for the future X-Force series, and the stories here lead right into the much lauded X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda. Is it a worthwhile collection? That really depends on whether you like 80s Marvel, and more the New Mutants (neither of which are my cup of tea, so possibly take my opinion with a pinch of salt) It also greatly depends on whether you want a book that starts part the way through a plot line, and then doesn't actually finish it (It would have been nice if this had been bundled in with X-Tinction Agenda, but this is Marvel, not Valiant)
Lastly, included is New Mutants Annual 5. It not surprisingly has nothing to do with the story, but it's a fun romp and is actually a fun page turner in its own right.
For Fans/enthusiasts only. You could gleam as much information by just reading a wiki entry.
https://www.comicbookherald.com/cable...
X-Force: Cable and the New Mutants is where the character of Cable is first introduced into the Marvel Universe, and collects together The New Mutants Issues #86-94 (plus the New Mutants annual #5). Cable is one of my favourite characters (mostly due to his appearances in the excellent 90s X-Men carton series), but I've never before read his comic introduction.
Things to note about this collection, nearly everything is drawn by Rob Liefeld (bar one story). I personally don't mind his steroid using, multiple belts/pockets/bandoliers art of the 90s (it was the style at the time), but you won't get that here. This is early Liefeld, and consequently, much more restrained (although Cable is somehow drawn double the width of most of the other characters)
Art aside, this is a bit of a shambolic collection. I have previously read some New Mutants (early stuff from what I recall), so I knew some characters, but wasn't aware of a lot of backstory/larger plots. The book starts by dropping you into to a story already in progress, a bit jarring, but possibly the only logical place to start the collection. Start the book a few issues back, and you couldn't really have Cable on the cover. There's enough information there to grasp what's going on, but this is where the mess starts. The initial story just isn't that interesting, and the action bounces around more than a child whose had too much sugar.
Things do improve somewhat with the introduction of Cable in the second collected issue, but this isn't yet the character who would get fleshed out in the 90s, this is basic. Interestingly you are given no backstory what so ever at this point, the guy shows up (everyone strangely knows who is), and he's suddenly leading the New Mutants as their mentor. Once this initial rushed element happens, things to do improve, and by the second half of the collection things are a bit more focused. It still seems random how Cable arrives and suddenly takes over, but I guess run with it - in some ways it's worse reading this knowing everything that comes after, his debut doesn't make too much sense here.
The collection is interesting to those who want to see Cables first appearances. It also gives you some quick set up for the future X-Force series, and the stories here lead right into the much lauded X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda. Is it a worthwhile collection? That really depends on whether you like 80s Marvel, and more the New Mutants (neither of which are my cup of tea, so possibly take my opinion with a pinch of salt) It also greatly depends on whether you want a book that starts part the way through a plot line, and then doesn't actually finish it (It would have been nice if this had been bundled in with X-Tinction Agenda, but this is Marvel, not Valiant)
Lastly, included is New Mutants Annual 5. It not surprisingly has nothing to do with the story, but it's a fun romp and is actually a fun page turner in its own right.
For Fans/enthusiasts only. You could gleam as much information by just reading a wiki entry.
November 5, 2025
The action-packed work Rob Liefeld showed in X-Force: A Force to Be Reckoned With had to start somewhere, and it is collected in this volume.
Liefeld's rise in the Marvel's X-office started in earnest when he took over New Mutants as its regular artist/penciller. It started with issue 86 and most of the issues until the bestselling 100, which was also the last issue.
In a nutshell, this collection has an uneven start, but a very strong finish. This momentum carries over to X-Force: A Force to Be Reckoned With, which collects some of Marvel's bestselling comics, with at least two issues selling at least a million copies each.
New Mutants #86 - Liefeld's first issue was an editorially mandated "Acts of Vengeance" tie-in. Though competently illustrated, it suffers the same malaise as the recent Aaron Taylor-Johnson Kraven movie. Having a member of Spider-Man's rogues gallery as the main villain, in this case, the Vulture, only works if it's actually Spidey as the main protagonist. The main New Mutants were nowhere in Earth, literally since they were marooned in Asgard, does it no favors. Rusty Collins who?
New Mutants #87 - First Cable, with Stryfe and the Mutant Liberation Front, Liefeld was starting to cook here.
New Mutants Annual #5 - The Liefeld illustrated story was more stand-alone and didn't connect to the main story of the series.
New Mutants #88 - New character Cable, in pro wrestling terminology, is going through jobbers to build a rep. The jobbers in question here is Freedom Force. An apt description for a team featuring Pyro and the Blob.
New Mutants #89 - It was kind of unbelievable seeing the ease Cable earned the trust of the New Mutants, but he has some history with Moira MacTaggert, who easily vouched for his bonafides.
New Mutants #90 - Cable's New Mutants take over the ruins of the X-Mansion, which still had its subterranean complex and the Danger Room intact. I think this was during the X-Men's Australian period.
New Mutants #91 - The cover teased a Cable and Sabretooth confrontation, but the former was really just a bystander. Caliban had a bigger axe to grind with the Marauder after all.
New Mutants #92 - A fill-in issue, but with a character driven subplot with Cable and Rahne serving as bookends.
New Mutants #93 - The New Mutants in Madripor! Cable versus Wolverine. This was when the series was starting to get really good. Years later, Liefeld revealed on his podcast that Wolverine was a favorite character. It was apparent in how he drew the clawed Canadian.
New Mutants #94 - To continue the pro wrestling analogy, Cable, as a new character, needed someone to put him "over". Wolverine was perfect for it. Though their tussle ended in a draw, it was enough to establish that Cable could go toe-to-toe in toughness and grit with the popular X-Man.
Together with X-Force: A Force to Be Reckoned With, these books would collect the entirety of Liefeld's New Mutants save for three issues that were part of X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda. Liefeld barely drew those issues and would contribute mostly layouts. As revealed years later in his podcast, Liefeld took the time to prepare issue 98 and the double sized 100th issue.
Liefeld's rise in the Marvel's X-office started in earnest when he took over New Mutants as its regular artist/penciller. It started with issue 86 and most of the issues until the bestselling 100, which was also the last issue.
In a nutshell, this collection has an uneven start, but a very strong finish. This momentum carries over to X-Force: A Force to Be Reckoned With, which collects some of Marvel's bestselling comics, with at least two issues selling at least a million copies each.
New Mutants #86 - Liefeld's first issue was an editorially mandated "Acts of Vengeance" tie-in. Though competently illustrated, it suffers the same malaise as the recent Aaron Taylor-Johnson Kraven movie. Having a member of Spider-Man's rogues gallery as the main villain, in this case, the Vulture, only works if it's actually Spidey as the main protagonist. The main New Mutants were nowhere in Earth, literally since they were marooned in Asgard, does it no favors. Rusty Collins who?
New Mutants #87 - First Cable, with Stryfe and the Mutant Liberation Front, Liefeld was starting to cook here.
New Mutants Annual #5 - The Liefeld illustrated story was more stand-alone and didn't connect to the main story of the series.
New Mutants #88 - New character Cable, in pro wrestling terminology, is going through jobbers to build a rep. The jobbers in question here is Freedom Force. An apt description for a team featuring Pyro and the Blob.
New Mutants #89 - It was kind of unbelievable seeing the ease Cable earned the trust of the New Mutants, but he has some history with Moira MacTaggert, who easily vouched for his bonafides.
New Mutants #90 - Cable's New Mutants take over the ruins of the X-Mansion, which still had its subterranean complex and the Danger Room intact. I think this was during the X-Men's Australian period.
New Mutants #91 - The cover teased a Cable and Sabretooth confrontation, but the former was really just a bystander. Caliban had a bigger axe to grind with the Marauder after all.
New Mutants #92 - A fill-in issue, but with a character driven subplot with Cable and Rahne serving as bookends.
New Mutants #93 - The New Mutants in Madripor! Cable versus Wolverine. This was when the series was starting to get really good. Years later, Liefeld revealed on his podcast that Wolverine was a favorite character. It was apparent in how he drew the clawed Canadian.
New Mutants #94 - To continue the pro wrestling analogy, Cable, as a new character, needed someone to put him "over". Wolverine was perfect for it. Though their tussle ended in a draw, it was enough to establish that Cable could go toe-to-toe in toughness and grit with the popular X-Man.
Together with X-Force: A Force to Be Reckoned With, these books would collect the entirety of Liefeld's New Mutants save for three issues that were part of X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda. Liefeld barely drew those issues and would contribute mostly layouts. As revealed years later in his podcast, Liefeld took the time to prepare issue 98 and the double sized 100th issue.
April 1, 2024
This is really good late 80’s early 90”s superhero story telling. Some of Louise Simonson’s best. Not too much exposition, and sometimes thin on plot, but it moves along and the characters aren’t too annoying. But what really makes this one stand out is Rob Liefeldd’s art. It is bombastic and the colorist makes bright and pop. All of this and the introduction of Cable.
May 12, 2021
The annual and issue 92 were bland filler, otherwise fine.
January 15, 2024
It's nothing if not kinetic.
March 25, 2017
Era la fine degli anni '80 e già i '90 si lasciavano intravedere nelle storie scritte e disegnate qui raccolte. Disegni di Liefeld, che considero il peggior disegnatore di fumetti mainstream di sempre, o quasi. Nessun senso della narrazione, pose sempre uguali, personaggi monoespressivi. Meno male che almeno qui all'inchiostratore era chiesto di migliorare il possibile. Prima d lui c'era Brett Blevins, che non mi piaceva. Ma dopo aver letto Liefeld anche Blevins mi parve un grande disegnatore.
Luise Simonson, già Luise Jones, aveva cercato di dare un proprio tono alla serie dei New Mutants quando subentrò a Chris Claremont circa un paio d'anni prima. C'era anche riuscita, però il tono che preferivo era quello "minimalista" e marginale di Claremont. Con queste storie si spinge verso una logica militaristica ed estremizzata che, sebbene logicamente in linea con le altre X-testate del periodo, mal si atteneva a questi ragazzi, imho.
Nel complesso la serie peggiorava numero dopo numero e con l'arrivo di Cable non è affatto migliorata.
Luise Simonson, già Luise Jones, aveva cercato di dare un proprio tono alla serie dei New Mutants quando subentrò a Chris Claremont circa un paio d'anni prima. C'era anche riuscita, però il tono che preferivo era quello "minimalista" e marginale di Claremont. Con queste storie si spinge verso una logica militaristica ed estremizzata che, sebbene logicamente in linea con le altre X-testate del periodo, mal si atteneva a questi ragazzi, imho.
Nel complesso la serie peggiorava numero dopo numero e con l'arrivo di Cable non è affatto migliorata.
December 27, 2016
Fun, but not always for the intended reasons. Louise Simonson works overtime to make the introduction of Cable a big event, but the way in which it seems every prominent X-Men character has apparently A) met Cable long before now and B) all treat him like some big deal is unintentionally hilarious and comes dangerously close to going full Poochy. As for Rob Liefeld's art...well, you've heard it all before.
August 29, 2016
Much more interesting than I expected. Though, Cable is quite a bit different of a character here than what I know of him. There seems to be quite a bit of untold back-story for him that I still no know about. Ready to plunge into the X-Force Omnibus and the X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda. Just waiting for them to show up in the post.
May 30, 2018
I was most worried above it Liefeld's art, but his early work isn't bad. The fight between Caliban and Sabretooth was brutal and really intense. Cable's intro into the X-Men was great. But the collection needed some kind of arc. It dealt with the mutant liberation front,but don't have a solid ending. However, this isn't Simonson's fault. They were rushed into X-Tinction Agenda it seems.
August 30, 2019
Collects The New Mutants #86-94 and The New Mutants Annual #5 (February -October, 1990). This begins the transition from the New Mutants to X-Force and introduces Cable. While I'm glad The New Mutants aren't stuck in the circular rut Claremont had them in pre-Inferno, I really can't stand Liefeld's art.
October 4, 2012
This one might not be any good if not for nostalgia. Still, a surprising number of long-lasting characters are introduced here, and the New Mutants story moves off in a pretty startling new direction.
March 18, 2016
Very underwhelming. After listening to Rob liefeld on a podcast talk about bringing the new mutants into a new era I was ready to be impressed. Did not deliver for me.
July 11, 2017
So very, gloriously, ridiculously, 90s.
September 5, 2020
Liefeld has his charms but this is nearly unreadable crap.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews