Cable confronts the horrors of his past in this exclusive preview

Nathan “Cable” Summers has one of the most convoluted backstories of any superhero character, but with the right creative team, that history can provide rich narrative material to push the psychic commando forward. Writers Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson are newcomers to the world of superheroes, and they’re taking what they’ve learned on their creator-owned books—Black Mask’s The Dregs and Come Into Me—and applying it to Cable. They’re taking the series in a horror-influenced direction, with much of the horror stemming directly from the character’s past. In their first issue on the series, they had Cable and his daughter, Hope, facing off against Metus, a creepy creature that has been haunting Nathan since childhood. And for next week’s issue, the creative team explores a different era of Cable’s life, looking at the period when he and Hope were traveling through time on the run from Cable’s former ally, Bishop.

This exclusive preview of Cable #156 shows the pair as they wander through a post-apocalyptic wasteland, rendered with evocative detail by artist Germán Peralta and colorist Jesus Aburtov. Cable is worried about Bishop, but there’s another threat lurking much closer, and Metus is slowly stretching its techno-tendrils toward the hero. The splash page in the excerpt below is a great example of how Peralta and Aburtov create a chilling atmosphere: The overhead shot gives the viewer a complete picture of the dilapidated surroundings, while also showing Metus’ slow crawl as circuitry follows Cable and Hope down the street. There’s a rush of heat when the two enter this building and meet a group of cannibals, and framing that first shot from inside the oven adds a hellish intensity to the scene. There are dangers around every corner, and this creative team puts Cable at the center of a horror story by emphasizing that constant peril.