# Cable & Deadpool
**Cable & Deadpool** was an ongoing [American comic book](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-comic-book) series published by [Marvel Comics](https://www.edgepedia.org/marvel-comics) from 2004 to 2008, pairing the time-traveling mutant soldier Cable (Nathan Summers) with the mercenary Deadpool (Wade Wilson) as reluctant partners. Written by Fabian Nicieza, who had co-created Deadpool and written Cable for years, the series ran 50 issues and became one of the defining portrayals of both characters.[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Cable_%26_Deadpool_Vol_1) • [2](https://aiptcomics.com/2024/08/07/deadpool-cable-modern-era-epic-collection-ballistic-bromance-review/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Publisher / format | Marvel Comics; ongoing team-up series, super hero genre[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Cable_%26_Deadpool_Vol_1) |
| Run | 50 issues; first issue released March 24, 2004, with cover dates May 2004 through April 2008[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Cable_%26_Deadpool_Vol_1) • [3](https://www.comicpriceguide.co.uk/us_comic.php?tc=cabledead) |
| Writer | Fabian Nicieza, co-creator of Deadpool and longtime Cable writer[2](https://aiptcomics.com/2024/08/07/deadpool-cable-modern-era-epic-collection-ballistic-bromance-review/) |
| Artists | Mark Brooks and Patrick Zircher on early volumes; Reilly Brown among later artists[4](https://www.marvel.com/comics/characters/1017317/cable_%28deadpool%29) |
| First arc | "If Looks Could Kill," a six-part story in issues #1-6[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Cable_%26_Deadpool_Vol_1) |
| Reason it ended | Marvel canceled the series with issue #50 to make way for new Deadpool (2008) and Cable (2008) ongoing series[5](https://www.goodreads.com/series/63732-cable-deadpool-collected-editions) |
| Reviews | Comic Book RoundUp aggregate: 7.5 critic average, 7.3 user average over the 50-issue run[6](https://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/reviews/marvel-comics/all-series) |
## Background
The two leads came out of [Rob Liefeld](https://www.edgepedia.org/rob-liefeld)'s run on *The New Mutants*: Cable debuted in issue #87 (March 1990) and Deadpool in issue #98 (February 1991), the latter co-created by Liefeld and Nicieza.[7](https://as.com/meristation/comics/x-force-el-grupo-mutante-mas-violento-y-moralmente-cuestionable-f202511-n/) In Deadpool's first appearance he had been hired to kill Cable, the leader of the [New Mutants](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-mutants), beginning a shared history of team-ups, beat-ups, and "what just happened" moments that continued through *X-Force*.[8](https://www.marvel.com/comics/guides/389/cable-and-deadpool?linkId=51736669)
The series launched after both characters had lost their solo titles. Following the cancellation of Deadpool's second series and Cable's two series, Cable (first series) and Soldier X, *Cable & Deadpool* served as a composite series for the two characters.[9](https://uncannyxmen.net/comics/series/cable-deadpool) At the 2004 launch, Cable was considered the sure bet as primary protagonist: he had been a hero longer than Deadpool had been an anti-hero, had led a super team, and had played major roles in 1990s X-Men crossover events, while Deadpool was a sometimes funny, perpetually obnoxious single-note character.[2](https://aiptcomics.com/2024/08/07/deadpool-cable-modern-era-epic-collection-ballistic-bromance-review/)
## Premise and story
The opening arc, "If Looks Could Kill" (issues #1-6), established the duo's dynamic, with the first issue titled "Face to Face".[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Cable_%26_Deadpool_Vol_1) The premise joined the pair as "Marvel's oddest couple" who are stuck with one another, and the book's emotional center was the frenemies alternating between conflict and affection.[10](https://prhcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/PREVIEWS2021013_DEC_2022_FINAL.pdf) • [2](https://aiptcomics.com/2024/08/07/deadpool-cable-modern-era-epic-collection-ballistic-bromance-review/) Cable's dreams of building a utopia appeared in the series: in a later scene, Deadpool calls to mind Rumekistan, a deeply troubled and entirely made-up European nation that Cable had once attempted to transform into an earthly paradise.[11](https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/3961/cable_deadpool_2004_26) The story moved quickly to cosmic scale, with Cable battling the [Silver Surfer](https://www.edgepedia.org/silver-surfer) by issue #10.[2](https://aiptcomics.com/2024/08/07/deadpool-cable-modern-era-epic-collection-ballistic-bromance-review/)
Subsequent arcs included "The Burnt Offering," beginning with issue #7 in December 2004, and "Blood of Apocalypse" starting at issue #26 in May 2006.[1](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Cable_%26_Deadpool_Vol_1) • [12](https://marvelreading.com/title/cable-and-deadpool) The series also crossed over with wider Marvel events, including the universe-hijacking of [House of M](https://www.edgepedia.org/house-of-m), without losing its own narrative focus.[2](https://aiptcomics.com/2024/08/07/deadpool-cable-modern-era-epic-collection-ballistic-bromance-review/)
## Creative approach
**Rebuilding the characters.** Nicieza had a long history with both leads: he co-created Deadpool, giving the "Merc with a Mouth" his humor, insanity, and tragic backstory, and had been writing Cable almost as long as the character had been around.[13](https://www.fabiannicieza.com/bio) • [2](https://aiptcomics.com/2024/08/07/deadpool-cable-modern-era-epic-collection-ballistic-bromance-review/) Per one retrospective, the series stripped the characters down to their most basic concepts and placed them on new foundations: Cable became a clear savior figure and Deadpool returned to his morally off-center heroic hopeful, with each tempering the other's shortcomings.[2](https://aiptcomics.com/2024/08/07/deadpool-cable-modern-era-epic-collection-ballistic-bromance-review/) A scholarly account of the character likewise credits the 2004-2008 run, alongside earlier miniseries and the 1997-2002 solo series, with making Deadpool a somewhat more noble character.[14](https://elearning.shisu.edu.cn/pluginfile.php/71578/mod_folder/content/0/X-Men%20and%20Philosophy%20-%20Rebecca%20Housel%2C%20J.%20Jeremy%20Wisnewski%2C%20eds.pdf?forcedownload=1)
Readers and critics commonly describe the dynamic as Cable playing the [straight man](https://www.edgepedia.org/straight-man) to Deadpool's funny man, and a 2017 review of a later Cable solo book called the partnership with the very talkative Deadpool the character's most successful configuration, without which Cable is relegated to a walking action hero cliché.[15](https://worldcomicbookreview.com/2017/06/02/cable-1-review/) Artist Patrick Zircher's consistent, clean visual aesthetic, with sharp, near-iconic character designs, differentiated the book from the uneven ongoings that preceded it.[2](https://aiptcomics.com/2024/08/07/deadpool-cable-modern-era-epic-collection-ballistic-bromance-review/)
## Cancellation and collections
Marvel canceled the series with issue #50 to make way for new ongoing *Deadpool* (2008) and *Cable* (2008) series, and both leads returned to solo titles, published as Deadpool (4th series) and Cable (2nd series).[5](https://www.goodreads.com/series/63732-cable-deadpool-collected-editions) • [3](https://www.comicpriceguide.co.uk/us_comic.php?tc=cabledead) The run has been collected repeatedly: eight trade paperback volumes, a three-book Deadpool & Cable Ultimate Collection collecting issues #1-18, #19-36, and #37-50, and a single Deadpool & Cable Omnibus collecting issues #1-50 together with *Deadpool/GLI Summer Fun Spectacular* and material from *Deadpool* (2012) #27.[5](https://www.goodreads.com/series/63732-cable-deadpool-collected-editions) • [10](https://prhcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/PREVIEWS2021013_DEC_2022_FINAL.pdf) A Modern Era Epic Collection, *Ballistic Bromance*, collects the first 18 issues.[2](https://aiptcomics.com/2024/08/07/deadpool-cable-modern-era-epic-collection-ballistic-bromance-review/)
Later collections reversed the billing to put Deadpool first, a change one retrospective called the book's worst crime, since Deadpool was already everywhere.[2](https://aiptcomics.com/2024/08/07/deadpool-cable-modern-era-epic-collection-ballistic-bromance-review/) A 2023 collecting guide noted that the bulk of Cable's collected editions from the period were actually from this series, because his own 1993 series was not particularly well-collected at the time and Deadpool, by then, had several well-collected series to his name.[16](https://crushingkrisis.com/2023/01/updated-guide-to-cable/)
## Legacy
The pairing carried through to later collaborations such as *Deadpool & Cable: Split Second* (2016), which reunited "The Merc with the Mouth and the Soldier with the Scowl".[17](https://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/reviews/marvel-comics/deadpool-cable-split-second) It also reached film in *Deadpool 2* (2018), in which [Josh Brolin](https://www.edgepedia.org/josh-brolin) played Cable, a mutant from the future whose thirst for vengeance left unclear whether he was hero or villain, opposite [Ryan Reynolds](https://www.edgepedia.org/ryan-reynolds)'s Deadpool.[18](https://elpais.com/cultura/2018/05/15/actualidad/1526374775_695480.html) The series remains a frequent recommendation for readers new to either character, with the first trade, *If Looks Could Kill*, cited as a popular team-up entry point.[19](https://superheroetc.wordpress.com/2016/07/10/comixplanations-where-to-start-reading-deadpool/)
## References
1. [Cable & Deadpool Vol 1 (2004-2008), Marvel Database](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Cable_%26_Deadpool_Vol_1)
2. [Deadpool & Cable Modern Era Epic Collection: Ballistic Bromance review, AIPT Comics (2024)](https://aiptcomics.com/2024/08/07/deadpool-cable-modern-era-epic-collection-ballistic-bromance-review/)
3. [Cable and Deadpool, The Comic Book Price Guide for Great Britain](https://www.comicpriceguide.co.uk/us_comic.php?tc=cabledead)
4. [Cable (Deadpool) Comics, Marvel.com](https://www.marvel.com/comics/characters/1017317/cable_%28deadpool%29)
5. [Cable & Deadpool (Collected Editions) Series by Fabian Nicieza, Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/series/63732-cable-deadpool-collected-editions)
6. [Marvel Comics All Series Reviews, Comic Book RoundUp](https://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/reviews/marvel-comics/all-series)
7. [Reseña de 'X-Force', MeriStation (AS.com)](https://as.com/meristation/comics/x-force-el-grupo-mutante-mas-violento-y-moralmente-cuestionable-f202511-n/)
8. [Cable and Deadpool, Character Close Up, Marvel.com](https://www.marvel.com/comics/guides/389/cable-and-deadpool?linkId=51736669)
9. [Cable & Deadpool, uncannyxmen.net](https://uncannyxmen.net/comics/series/cable-deadpool)
10. [Marvel Collected Editions catalog (December 2022), Penguin Random House](https://prhcomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/PREVIEWS2021013_DEC_2022_FINAL.pdf)
11. [Cable & Deadpool (2004) #26, Marvel.com](https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/3961/cable_deadpool_2004_26)
12. [Cable and Deadpool Reading Order, Complete Marvel Reading Order](https://marvelreading.com/title/cable-and-deadpool)
13. [Fabian Nicieza, Bio](https://www.fabiannicieza.com/bio)
14. [X-Men and Philosophy, eds. Rebecca Housel and J. Jeremy Wisnewski](https://elearning.shisu.edu.cn/pluginfile.php/71578/mod_folder/content/0/X-Men%20and%20Philosophy%20-%20Rebecca%20Housel%2C%20J.%20Jeremy%20Wisnewski%2C%20eds.pdf?forcedownload=1)
15. [Cable #1 (Review), World Comic Book Review (2017)](https://worldcomicbookreview.com/2017/06/02/cable-1-review/)
16. [Updated: Guide to Cable, Crushing Krisis (2023)](https://crushingkrisis.com/2023/01/updated-guide-to-cable/)
17. [Deadpool & Cable: Split Second Reviews, Comic Book RoundUp](https://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/reviews/marvel-comics/deadpool-cable-split-second)
18. [Deadpool no tiene miedo a Disney, El País (2018)](https://elpais.com/cultura/2018/05/15/actualidad/1526374775_695480.html)
19. [Comixplanations: Where to start reading Deadpool, Superhero etc. (2016)](https://superheroetc.wordpress.com/2016/07/10/comixplanations-where-to-start-reading-deadpool/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Visual arts and design › Illustration and illustrators › Comic books and characters › Comic book series and storylines*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license