Rob Liefeld Vs Rob Liefeld Over Jim Lee And Cable's Origin

Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics, X-Men | Tagged: cable, fabian nicieza, louise simonson, rob liefeld

Rob Liefeld Vs Rob Liefeld Over Jim Lee And Cable's Origin

Rob Liefeld Vs Rob Liefeld Over Jim Lee's Involvement In The Origin Of Cable

Published Sat, 15 Aug 2026 12:54:10 -0500
by Rich Johnston
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Last updated Sat, 15 Aug 2026 13:02:54 -0500
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Article Summary

• Rob Liefeld vs Rob Liefeld erupts as he denies Jim Lee helped make Cable Nathan Summers, contradicting others.
• Fabian Nicieza says Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio and Bob Harras pushed Cable’s origin, while Louise Simonson recalls it differently.
• Publication dates for X-Force #1 and X-Factor #68 are dissected as evidence in the fight over Cable’s true origin.
• Archived Robservations and a 2011 video show Rob Liefeld once credited Jim Lee and Bob Harras with the Cable reveal.

Recently, I wrote a piece reporting on Louise Simonson and Fabian Nicieza's recollection of the creation of Cable at Marvel Comics. Louise Simonson wrote New Mutants towards the end, as it was co-written and drawn by Rob Liefeld. Fabian Nicieza then took over as scripter before the series was relaunched as X-Force. Louise Simonson said, "I thought his design was really cool, particularly for the time and the era. Cable showed up, did his thing, and then, after I left, they actually made him Cyclops's baby son all grown up in the future, which I thought was brilliant, and I wish I had thought of that". Fabian Nicieza disagreed. "I hated that. That wasn't even us coming up with that. That was Jim and Whilce, and Bob bought into it, and then we got kind of stuck with it."

That's Jim Lee, writer/artist on X-Men and writer on X-Factor back then, Whilce Portacio, writer/artist on X-Factor, and Bob Harras, X-Men line editor. Fabian continued, "We didn't want it. It automatically overcomplicates in a way for a character that's already complicated, and it added further entanglements, cables, if you will, that really made it harder to define who he is and why he is."

After my Bleeding Cool report, it spread across the internet further. On X, Rob Liefeld was then asked, "You created Cable, but the decision to make him Nathan Summers was Jim Lee's decision as part of X-Factor, which the storyline of sending an infected Nathan to the future was a year after Cable debuted?" Rob Liefeld replied, "I can confirm that this is 100% horse sh-t. Jim had nothing to do with CABLE whatsoever. Never heard this one before." And when, on Facebook, Terry Sala agreed with Rob Liefeld and criticised Fabian or Louise, not sure which, he got quoted on Facebook by Rob.

Then, Rob Liefeld got into the details, posting, "In March & April of 1991, I am drawing X-Force #1, as the writer, same as New Mutants #100 – both of which contain seminal reveals for CABLE. During this period, I write & illustrate the first connections to Nathan Summers. The book goes to press in May in order for it to be on sale in June. The claims made in this delusional claim do not stand scrutiny, and it is truly sad that some 37 years after being fired, anger & bitterness persist. Receipts matter. I created and sold Cable with no input from the previous writer, as I was hired with the knowledge I would be writing within 10 months of introducing Cable. There's a reason he suddenly became so much more interesting when I took over as author. I had absolutely played it completely close to the vest." And also posted pages from X-Force #1 with Cable using telekinetic powers, just like Jean Grey might use, with Domino stating that this was a secret.

Some readers brought up X-Factor #68, published around the same time, credited to Chris Claremont, Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio, which saw Scott and Madelyne/Jean's child being sent to the future to heal him from the techno-organic virus. Liefeld replied, "yeah, your dates are way off. X-Factor #68 comes out one month AFTER X-Force #1. It's not that hard to count and look at dates. A comic that arrives in June with a polybag for cards has to be sent to press in early May. That double-page comic has to be completed in April, produced since March."

I can confirm that while X-Factor #68 had a cover date of July 1991, it was published on the 29th of May 1991. X-Force #1 had a cover date of August 1991; it was published on the 5th of June, 1991, one week later. But as Rob says, it would have had a longer production process.

So there is clear disagreement. Rob Liefeld contradicts Fabian Nicieza, stating that Jim Lee had nothing to do with the decision to retroactively make Cable the older self of Nathan Summers, the child of Scott Summers and Jean Grey-clone Madelyne Pryor. And that he has never heard of anyone making such a connection before. But there is someone else who disagrees with Rob Liefeld, and that's… Rob Liefeld. Who, in his Robservations column from 2001, wrote

"His history with Wolverine, his romance with Domino, his numerous safe houses, the futuristic technology at his disposal and the revelation of his telekinetic abilities in the pages of X-Force #1 were all a direct result of the profile I had created for Cable. So imagine my surprise when I received a call from Bob Harras, informing me that he, Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio had crafted a story that would reveal that Cable was the son of Scott Summers and Madelyne Pryor. I politely protested and asked Bob repeatedly to reconsider what I felt was a decision that would be damaging to the character in the long run. It became very clear that my protests would go unheeded and I reminded myself that Cable was not my character; he belonged to Marvel and I needed to accept that and make the best of a frustrating situation. I chose to never address the issue in the titles I was invested in and continued to work hard to create an element of intrigue around Cable, even though it seemed futile after the mystery surrounding Cable's true identity had evaporated without my consultation."

And as for who Cable was meant to be, well, someone else has a contradictory take on that, as well as confirming Jim Lee's part in that decision. And it's also Rob Liefeld on video from 2011 who said,

"Cable was always supposed to be Sam Guthrie from the future to come back and train himself to lead the war that's coming. And Bob Harras called me one day and said oh he's Scott and Jean's kid… It's done, it's actually in Jim's issue; we established it. So you go okay, not my character can't do anything about it, but I came real close… when Cannonball gets killed, then Cable's on the table with him, like issue nine or whatever and then you find that Cannonball regenerates, that was kind of the beginning of that story, but right off the cliff, and you know he's a Summers kid. I was like, wait, Scott's son is older than him and backtalking to him, and we didn't establish that for two years, but now okay, you gotta deal with that stuff, I am a paid worker here, this is not my character."

I've got those pages too.

However, in 2020, in his Robservations podcast, he says,

"X-Force #1 …. the first time we show you his telekinetic abilities, since he's levitating all the tools in the repair room as he's recovering as he's repairing the jet. Dimono flips out, 'what are you doing? Do you want the kids to find out? 'Do you think I would do this without thinking this through? When the kids find out who I am, it's gonna be the exact right place and time. 'I just hope you know what you're doing. I'm not sure they're ready for that reveal'. That is furthering the Nathan Summers connection, the reveal that he has a deeper legacy within the X-Men office, al by design, all written and constructed by myself."

And that's the version Rob Liefeld is sticking with in 2026. Maybe we can get the three Rob Liefeld's to argue with each other? All we have to do is send them back in time… but if we do, there's always the risk that Rob Liefeld himself will become the baby of Scott Summers and Madelyne Pryor. And that will just make things even more complicated. But here's the thing, whoever you are, whatever you think, you probably now agree with Rob Liefeld. Which Rob Liefeld you agree with, that's a different matter, but at least we have some unity in that aspect, right?

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