I think you hit upon a number of good points that I probably should have taken into consideration when reading the story.

With that said, however, I think that (with a few additions) this King Size cable really could have kickstarted the series. It pretty much summed up the entire first arc and then expanded upon the concept much better than anything in the first arc itself.

In a way, I almost feel ripped off by the King Sized Cable…it was much better than anything thats happened in the series so far and almost makes what came before it completely unnecessary (with the exception of the surprisingly strong cyclops issue).

I know ill stick with cable..something HAS to happen eventually…but, as I mention, I wish it wasnt so frustrating…

also, on a side note…I’ve been pretty impressed with Swierczynski lately…his work on Iron Fist since taking over from Fraction and Brubaker has been surprisingly good and Cable has definitely improved since it started…If his writing can be as strong as it was in KS Cable..I see good things for the series in the future.

Thanks again and keep reading.

But I wonder why the acrobatics are necessary. It is a bit unusual how hard they’re trying to get new readers on. First off, I don’t see why they shouldn’t have huge sales already, since Messiah Complex led right into it. I imagine most X-Men fans have read at least part of that story, and this is the direct follow-up. I mean, the whole point of that story was this girl.

Secondly, this isn’t the only way they’re reaching out to get more readers. The Divided We Stand anthology had a short story which told you the same exact thing as the beginning of Cable, just from Bishop’s perspective. Though it was too short to be particularly interesting, it was the same as this: a well-written bit using tiny differences from how the story’s told in “War Baby” to justify explaining everything to new readers. And if you stop and think about it, the issues crossing over with Uncanny/Astonishing and X-Force are probably also attempts to get the readers of those series interested.

The third reason this is so weird is that there have only been five issues of plot! I mean, I can understand if you’ve got a series which has been going for a while, and it’s losing steam, so you do some crossovers and release a special to get more readers. This isn’t that. The first five issues of Cable are all we’ve got so far, and even those seem to just be reiterating what we already know from Messiah Complex! There’s pretty much one new development in “War Baby” which you wouldn’t have already gotten from the end of the crossover. (Unless you count Cable making a friend, or Bishop getting an arm.) The series hasn’t done anything yet, and already they’re pulling out all the stops in marketing it!

I see two possible explanations. Either Swierczynski is a really insecure writer who needs to feel like there are lots and lots of people who like what he’s doing, or he’s leading somewhere huge. So huge, that the marketing department wants everyone to already be reading it so the story has the proper impact. I don’t know which.