Review: Cable & Bishop Go To War In ‘Children Of The Vault’ #2

The Fall of X continues to be the most interesting thing that’s happened in the X-Men line. Far and away the most interesting of the bunch is Children of the Vault, which gets even more intense in the series’ second issue.

Deniz Camp, Luca Maresca, Carlos Lopez, and Cory Petit change the world.

The Children of the Vault have transformed themselves into the Children of Tomorrow, as their Message spreads around the world. Unfortunately, the Message isn’t a simple adage- it’s an insidious psychic weapon. Luckily for the entire planet, their only hope is Cable and Bishop. The Children of Tomorrow don’t have a chance.

I love Cable, but Bishop a bit less so. Frankly, too many writers write them as too similar, both as battle hardened soldiers of tomorrow. Camp gives us so much to like about each hero, with differences in their approaches, personalities and methods. 

Cable is cunning, multi-tasking in a way that he’s both interrogating one of the Children while also battling and destroying his defenses on the psychic plane. Bishop is stealthy, using his powers in unique ways to take the Children apart. It’s a great use to each character, leading up to the triumphant final page pointing towards some serious action.

Maresca’s action scenes are the highlight of the issue. When Camp writes the leads with their differences, Maresca shows that they move and fight differently as well. His depiction of Cable’s psychic battle is surreal and slightly off-putting, but he positions the interrogation and fight as equally important. Lopez’s colors are bright, casting most scenes in enough light that everything is clear, and making the Children’s horrific plot even scarier.

Children of the Vault #2 is available now from Marvel Comics.