Review: Cable: Love & Chrome #1

Due to my holiday break I’m a little late on this one, but Cable: Love & Chrome #1 is arguably my COTY (Comic Of The Year) for 2025. Why? Well read on…

Much like other Marvel characters, Cable is one who’s gone through a multitude of changes since his debut. From team-ups and fallouts, Cable has seen his fair share of ups and downs. Now with David Pepose at the helm, Cable heads back to his roots - albeit with a bit of Mad Max thrown in. 

Taking place after Krakoa’s fall (seriously Marvel are milking this new era), Cable finds himself in a place called Salvation Bay. It’s a place that the seasoned veteran hasn’t heard of before, and it’s a world whose salvations is soon thrown into his hands. With no choice but to accept an offer by the one person who saved his life, Nathan Summers is soon drawn back to doing what he does best - gratuitous violence. 

For those who’ve read my previous reviews on David Pepose’s Punisher reboot will know that the writer isn’t a stranger for plenty of high-octane action - and with Cable: Love & Chrome it’s no different. While the lines of his history have often been blurred, Pepose treats Cable as a grizzled soldier who’s protecting others by doing the things they cannot. A quasi saviour of the space time continuum, Cable has seen and done some very questionable things, and this is captured very well by Peopose. Across Cables dialogue we see the heroic soldier that juxtaposes with plenty of sly remarks and cliched jokes that comes with a life time of fighting. This is a Cable who’s old and certainly feels that way, but even so his sense of duty is still paramount. 

Dealing with a new environment is always a tough thing but here the world of Salvation Bay is suitably delivered without bogging the reader down with exposition. Straight away Cable is thrown into the thick of it with scenes straight out of Mad Max. It’s here where Pepose lays the foundations to his world whilst simultaneously highlighting Cables own unfamiliarity with it. It’s not just action either as the story takes us to some unexpressed territory once Cable meets up with Avery; a figure who’s essentially Cables equal within Salvation Bay. While this issue doesn’t give too much away as to Avery’s story, it gives plenty of room to expand upon further own the road whilst potentially opening up on Cables own struggles with the techno organic virus. 

Bringing the world of Salvation Bay to life is artist Mike Henderson and colourist, Arif Prianto. Sadly I’m not familiar with eithers past work, but I was thoroughly impressed with what the duo has accomplished within this issue. With bring the atmosphere to life, Henderson uses a rough style to symbolise the frenzied and dirty nature of this apocalyptic world. Scene layouts are a blur of chaos as we’re thrown from one scene to the other in chaotic fashion. This style does calm down once Cable is on the scene, as we get more clean coverage that highlights just how out of place Cable is in this techno organic world. 

Prianto’s choice of colours perfectly matches Henderson’s art to build this world. Action scenes are a wash with reds and orange and explosions rock the dusty landscape. Once Avery takes Cable out into the twilight Prianto then switches to a more cool palette to highlight the serene beauty and calmness of this world when a few shot pages ago it’s was a war zone. It’s extremely well done and really does make Salvation Bay quite a believable and familiar place. 

Overall this is a story for old school Cable fans and new fans alike. This opening issue has all the elements to make Love & Chome an essential read when it comes to Nathan Summers. With a plot that’s just as intriguing as its lead character, I feel that there may be a few surprises in store for both us and Cable! 

Rating: 9/10 

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