Fabian Nicieza is taking an unusual approach with his House of M tie-ins.  Whereas most writers seem to be treating House of M as a suspension of normal stories, Nicieza is going the other way.  Both Cable & Deadpool and his other title, New Thunderbolts, are running single-issue tie-ins bang in the middle of ongoing story arcs.

How do you achieve that?  Well, in Cable & Deadpool, you do it by fudging slightly.  Deadpool, Cannonball and Siryn are busy teleporting from alternate world to alternate world, looking for Cable (who's been missing since X-Force #6).  His latest jump brings them back home to Earth, in the middle of the House of M storyline.  Of course, they just assume that it's another alternate world, and the story simply continues as if nothing had happened.

So what we actually get is a story with Deadpool turning up and meeting the House of M version of Mr Sinister.  In a world already dominated by the agenda of a different supervillain entirely, and where mutants are well on the way to ruling the world, Sinister finds himself completely marginalised.  There's no place for him in the House of M, and consequently, there's simply nothing for him to do.  He finds himself living in Nebraska, caring for an infant Cable, and politely waiting for Magneto to die - which should be happening in, ooh, thirty years or so.

It's a cute inversion of the House of M set-up, ignoring the main show entirely, in favour of characters who find themselves banished to the foothills.  Is it a cheat?  Well, not entirely.  For one thing, Sinister's rather awkward place in the world is dependent on the House of M premise - it's not a naturally occurring world, and he's been shoved in as an afterthought.  For another, if this is the real world, then presumably that infant's the real Cable.

As a storyline, it's still awfully bitty.  Although Deadpool has a nominal quest, he's got no real plan to achieve it other than randomly bouncing around the multiverse.  Consequently, there's a slight lack of momentum to the whole thing.  But there are undeniably interesting ideas in here, and it's a fun read, despite its flaws.

Rating: B

back | continue