I bought these two issues because I'd been hearing good things about Joe Casey, Ladronn, and CABLE, in general.  I had read CABLE during James Robinson's run as writer (-1, 44-50) and followed the first three issues of Casey's run (51-53), but hadn't been too impressed by either one.  Also, Casey plugged CABLE #59 or #60 as being "the best comic of the year," or something to that effect.  Regardless, it was enough for me to take notice of CABLE.  And I'm interested in the book enough to follow it through the end of "The
Nemesis Contract."  But farther . . . ?  That will depend upon the final two parts of "Contract."  These first two didn't inspire great confidence . . . 

Agent 18, one of SHIELD's elite "Manhunters," is assigned the task of capturing Cable.  To accomplish this, he first releases the energy creature Zzzax (#59) and later confronts Cable in Hell's Kitchen, all by his lonesome ... 

I would like to enjoy Casey's writing, I really would.  But I can't.  His characters make stupid mistakes, don't do anything or are overly cryptic, and aren't overly interesting, either.  As far as the plot goes . . . it's decent.  It's nothing spectacular (yet), but it isn't as bad as some of the hack plots Jeph Loeb wrote while on CABLE. 

For instance, I mentioned in my first paragraph that I had read CABLE during "The Hellfire Hunt" (47-53) which introduced Irene Merryweather (#47).  Now, over a year's worth of issues later . . . she's almost exactly the same person.  Her adventures with CABLE haven't changed her one bit, as far as I can tell.  Speaking of which, what *does* she do all day ?  Sit in Cable's little bunker and chat with Blaquesmith ?  Speaking of whom, here's another character (first introduced in #20-something) who hasn't done anything or evolved at all in CABLE.  Blaquesmith dutifully fulfills his role as Cable's mentor, yet I never saw him "mentor" Cable once during these two issues.  As far as I'm concerned, Irene and Blaquesmith aren't adding anything to Cable, the character, nor CABLE, the book.  If either of them died in #61, I certainly wouldn't care, as they've done nothing to earn my interest. 

Agent 18 is another wholly uninteresting character.  His tough guy-persona is similar to practically any other post-Clint Eastwood/John Wayne bounty hunter-type you've seen in comics, flim, television, or literature.  I can find little special about the man, little to make me care for him.  Also, I would be extremely surprised if Casey does *not* have Agent 18 have a turn of heart and help free Cable.  However, if he manages to finish "Contract" WITHOUT Agent 18 doing this ... I would be somewhat impressed.

Alright, so the plot is standard, the supporting cast is window dressing for an empty window and the "villain" is boring.  How about the main character ?  Cable isn't the cypher he's been in the past; nor is his overly convoluted past referenced.  No, now he's simply an Action Hero (TM).  He's a Man of Action (TM), which, I suppose is better than a Man of Overly-Expository Dialogue.  Still,  I don't care about Cable.  If he were to die next issue, I wouldn't care.  If it made the book more interesting ... hell, I'd be the first one to sign the petition requesting his death.

Artistically, Ladronn's isn't quite up to Casey's inspired mediocrity.  His style-an odd mixture of Geoff Darrow and Jack Kirby- fails whatsoever to excite me, and the basic mechanics of his art seem completely awful.  He's quite unable to draw decent-looking, normal people, as all of the males look like over-rendered Kirby men (with Liefeld ankles . . . ) and the women look amazingly ugly, with the exception of Irene.  The waitress in issue #59 and #60 is so unebelievably ugly, I keep waiting for "her" to rip of "her" face and reveal a man underneath. "That's a man, baby !"

Ladronn's backgrounds and technology (the only place where the Darrow-Kirby combination produces something good) look amazing.  Unfortunately, not only are his figures spectacularly ugly, but his action scenes are sensationally muddy and incoherent.  The fight between Agent 18 and Cable on page two of #60 was completely impossible to understand.  I had no clue what was going on there.  Nor in most of the fight scenes.  This is a particularly grevious error, as Cable is an Action Hero (TM).  An Action Hero (TM) with unrecognizable action scenes is terrible.

One of the very good things about the art is Gloria Vasquez's colors, which are simply exquisite and absolutely perfectly suited for CABLE.

I think that if Ladronn was to become a background artist (a la CEREBUS's Gerhard) and find a competent partner to render the figures and action scenes, he could become a great success,  Likewise, I'm curious about Casey's upcoming work on HELLCOP and MR. MAJESTIC, but I sincerely hope that they raise above
CABLE's aggressive mediocrity.
 

Score:  C+
  

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