Cover: Ted Pertzborn & Michael Ryan

Cable #96

Oct 2001 · Marvel · 2.25 USD; 3.50 CAD

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“I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago”

★ 1st appearance — Gort

About this Issue

Cable #96 is a stand-alone character study that arrives at a transitional moment for the series — it is the final issue written by novelist Robert Weinberg and the final issue penciled by Michael Ryan, closing out the creative partnership that defined the book's post-Revolution era (Cable #79–96). The story's central conceit — a Neanderthal who has quietly survived 30,000 years of human history thanks to ancient Deviant experimentation — allowed Weinberg to draw a thematic parallel between Cable's own displaced, time-fractured existence and Cole's millennia of isolation, giving the issue an unusual introspective register for a superhero monthly. While #96 does not carry the weight of a franchise-altering first appearance, it marks a clear editorial seam: the very next issue launched writer David Tischman and artist Igor Kordey's harder-edged, guerrilla-warfare arc that would carry the title into its Soldier X rebirth.

In "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago," Cable forms an unexpected bond with a Neanderthal man running a diner in modern-day America, unaware that the man’s hidden treasure draws the attention of his ancient kin. Michael Ryan’s expressive art, with inks by Ted Pertzborn and cover by Ryan and Pertzborn, brings this strange, poignant encounter to life, as Cable finds himself caught between protecting a lost relic and a man who’s lived longer than any history book records.

writer Robert Weinberg · inker Ted Pertzborn · inker Harry Candelario · colorist Avalon Studios · letterer Comicraft · artist Michael Ryan · letterer Richard Starkings · cover Ted Pertzborn, Michael Ryan

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More listings for this title

FN/VF $1.98 VF $2.9 FN $2.9 VG $2.9 Newsstand $3.74 VF $3.98 NM $3.99 NM $3.99

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History

Robert Weinberg, a genre novelist whose Marvel Comics work began on Cable with issue #79, wrote the entire Revolution-era run through to this farewell issue; Goodreads and uncannyxmen.net both confirm that the Cable series was his first comics assignment. Michael Ryan, who penciled the bulk of Weinberg's run — issues #78–85, #87–92, and #94–96 — also departed with this issue, with inkers Ted Pertzborn and Harry Candelario and colorist Avalon Studios rounding out the production crew under editor Mark Powers and editor-in-chief Joe Quesada. The complete Weinberg/Ryan Cable run was later collected in the 2018 trade paperback Cable: Revolution (ISBN 978-1302912178), which gathers issues #79–96 in full.

Trivia · 9 facts

Released September 6, 2001; cover-dated October 2001 — a direct-edition and a newsstand edition were both distributed.
Written by Robert Weinberg; penciled by Michael Ryan; inked by Ted Pertzborn and Harry Candelario; colored by Avalon Studios; lettered by Richard Starkings/Comicraft; edited by Mark Powers under editor-in-chief Joe Quesada.
Story title: 'I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago' — a 21-page self-contained tale.
First appearance of Cole, a Neanderthal born approximately 30,000 years ago who runs a roadside diner after surviving millennia of human history via Deviant genetic experiments.
First appearance of Taras Vol, a Deviant telepath and geneticist of ancient Lemuria who conducted the aging-retardation experiments on Cole, Gort, and One-Eye circa 18,000 BC.
First appearances of Gort and One-Eye (Cole's fellow Neanderthal survivors) and the Oogla Tribe, Jana, and Tres — all antagonists or supporting cast introduced solely in this issue.
The Deviant experiments that granted the Neanderthals near-immortality were cut short by the Great Cataclysm that sank Lemuria and Atlantis — an event woven into existing Marvel prehistory continuity.
This is the final issue for both writer Weinberg (whose run began at #79) and penciler Michael Ryan; starting with #97, David Tischman and Igor Kordey took over for the series' final 11 issues before it was relaunched as Soldier X.
The complete Weinberg run including this issue was collected in Cable: Revolution (2018 paperback, ISBN 978-1302912178).