Matthew Cable: Difference between revisions

Matthew the Raven
Matthew the Raven
	Cover of Showcase #96,; art by Jim Aparo: Matt Cable arresting Valentina Vostok
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Swamp Thing Vol. 1 #1 (October-November 1972); (as Matthew the Raven): The Sandman Vol. 2 #11 (December 1989)
Created by	Len Wein, Berni Wrightson
In-story information
Full name	Matthew Cable*
Species	Raven, previously Human
Place of origin	Earth
Team affiliations	Abigail Cable, Dream

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Revision as of 11:19, 30 November 2008

Matthew Joseph Cable is a character in DC Comics series Swamp Thing, who died and was later resurrected as Dream's raven in Neil Gaiman's rendition of The Sandman.

Swamp Thing/Doom Patrol

Matthew Cable was a government agent who thought Swamp Thing killed Alec Holland. For years, Swamp Thing believed himself to be Holland, and eventually revealed to Cable that he was "Alec", which led Cable to let him go.

He encountered the Doom Patrol during this time (in the 1978 Showcase series), though it has been speculated that these occurred shortly after Swamp Thing #20, due to his removal from DDI as explained in The Saga of the Swamp Thing #17.[1]. However, a newspaper headline in Showcase #95 indicates that Swamp Thing is possibly in Gotham City at the time Cable is searching for Valentina Vostok, meaning this is either at the same time as Swamp Thing #7, or more likely The Brave and the Bold #122, Swamp Thing's first and second visits to Gotham.

Eventually, Cable's mind was damaged, leading to him gaining the ability to alter reality itself. He eventually married Abigail Arcane, a longtime friend to Swamp Thing and niece to Anton Arcane, a ruthless man who wanted Swamp Thing's secrets so he could become immortal. Their marriage eventually deteriorated, leading to Matthew's abuse of his power in the form of obscene sexual acts, such as using his powers to create decaying forms to arouse and please him, all the while straining his marriage. Matthew only seemed to be able to access his power while stressed or intoxicated.

After a fight with his wife that culminated in her leaving on foot to find the Swamp Thing, Matthew had an attack of conscience and drove after her. He had been drinking heavily and ended up crashing his car, mortally wounding himself. A fly, believed by him to be a manifestation of his power, said it would revive him, and he agreed. In reality, Anton found a way out of hell, and merely possessed Cable's body, with it gained Cable's godlike power. Eventually Matthew managed to exorcise Arcane, but at the cost of the effects of the car-crash catching up with him, and only after Arcane had murdered Abby. Still possessing enough power to repair one body and not wanting to live, he managed to bring Abby back to life (though her soul would still have to be rescued from Hell by the Swamp Thing). Apologizing to "Alec", he then fell into the coma he would remain in for the duration of his mortal life.

Sandman

Since Matthew technically died while in the Dreaming in Swamp Thing #84, Morpheus/Dream of the Endless revived him to a form of life as his raven. He lives with Eve in Dream's domain. His purpose -- and the purpose of any of the Ravens that Morpheus has had previously -- is somewhat questionable. Morpheus seems to keep the Ravens around out of some sort of unspoken need for companionship. The Ravens are created by Morpheus, offering the position to people who died, usually while dreaming, and released them from service if they so wished.

Matthew is irreverent and somewhat crude, having a questionable life behind him. However, he served Dream loyally by providing advice and occasionally going on missions for him. His loyalty extended so far that when Morpheus was slain, he at first was going to seek release from service to Daniel, who had taken Morpheus's place as Dream. He eventually decided to stay on as Daniel's Raven.

In the The Dreaming series Matthew plays a more important role and was often teamed with the Corinthian. He died twice more during the series, once as a result of being tricked by the Coyote, and for a final time by an accidental shot from Lucien during a fight with Echo and Eblis O'Shaughnessy. He came back briefly to tell Daniel to not let Lucien blame himself.

Other Ravens

The lettering of all ravens' speech is messy at the edges, and so are the speech bubbles, perhaps giving them a gravelly voice of sorts.

Notable predecessors as the Raven are Lucien, who was the first Raven, as well as the last Raven and Aristeas of Marmora who, centuries later, returned to his life as a man for a year. Disturbingly, when Delirium tried to recall the other of Dream's ravens she had seen, she mentioned 'Eleven and a Half'. Other predecessors who are mentioned are Jessamy, Francois, Jehuda, Vivien, Ming-Ti, Dechtire, and Hatshepsut. After he died, Daniel created a new white raven, Tethys, to serve him.

External Links

Roots of the Swamp Thing - An extremely detailed timiline chronicling all the events of Swamp Thing, Hellblazer and related titles in chronological order, covering the life of Matthew Cable

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{comics-in-universe}}
 {{Superherobox <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics-->
 | image=[[Image:Vvostokdcu0.jpg|225px]]
 | caption=Cover of [[Showcase (comics)|Showcase #96]],</br> art by [[Jim Aparo]]:  Matt Cable arresting [[Valentina Vostok]]
 | character_name = Matthew the Raven
-| publisher = [[DC Comics]]
+| publisher = DC Comics
 | debut = ''[[Swamp Thing]]'' Vol. 1 #1 (October-November 1972)<br>
 (as Matthew the Raven): ''[[Sandman (Vertigo)|The Sandman]]'' Vol. 2 #11 (December 1989)
-| creators = [[Len Wein]]<br>[[Berni Wrightson]]
+| creators = [[Len Wein]], [[Berni Wrightson]]
 | alter_ego = *
 | full_name = Matthew Cable
 | species = Raven, previously Human<!-- optional -->
 | homeworld = Earth<!-- optional -->
-| alliances =
+| alliances = Abigail Cable, Dream<!-- optional -->
 | aliases = <!-- optional: actual identities the character uses, not nicknames -->
 | supports=<!--optional-->
@@ Line 23: / Line 22: @@
 Matthew Cable was a government agent who thought Swamp Thing killed Alec Holland. For years, Swamp Thing believed himself to be Holland, and eventually revealed to Cable that he was "Alec", which led Cable to let him go.
+He encountered the [[Doom Patrol]] during this time (in the 1978 ''[[Showcase (comics)|Showcase]]'' series), though it has been speculated that these occurred shortly after ''Swamp Thing'' #20, due to his removal from DDI as explained in ''The Saga of the Swamp Thing'' #17.[http://rhandley.0catch.com/swampthing/timeline_04.html]. However, a newspaper headline in ''Showcase'' #95 indicates that Swamp Thing is possibly in [[Gotham City]] at the time Cable is searching for [[Valentina Vostok]], meaning this is either at the same time as ''Swamp Thing'' #7, or more likely ''[[The Brave and the Bold]]'' #122, Swamp Thing's first and second visits to Gotham.
-He encountered the [[Doom Patrol]] during this time (in the 1977 ''[[Showcase (comics)|Showcase]]'' series).
 Eventually, Cable's mind was damaged, leading to him gaining the ability to alter reality itself. He eventually married [[Abby Holland (comics)|Abigail Arcane]], a longtime friend to Swamp Thing and niece to [[Anton Arcane]], a ruthless man who wanted Swamp Thing's secrets so he could become immortal. Their marriage eventually deteriorated, leading to Matthew's abuse of his power in the form of obscene sexual acts, such as using his powers to create decaying forms to arouse and please him, all the while straining his marriage. Matthew only seemed to be able to access his power while stressed or intoxicated.
-After a fight with Abigail that culminates in her leaving on foot to find the Swamp Thing, Matthew has an attack of conscience and drives after her. Having been drinking heavily, he ends up crashing his car, mortally wounding himself. A fly landing by him said it would revive him, and he agrees. In reality, Anton, who had since died and gone to hell, finds a way out by way of Cable. He possesses the fly and then Cable's body and with it gains Cable's godlike power. Eventually Matthew manages to send Arcane back to hell, but at the cost of the effects of the car-crash catching up with him, and only after Arcane had molested Abby. (The plot point, incidentally, that resulted in DC dropping the Comics Code seal on ''Swamp Thing'' for good, adding instead the words "Sophisticated Suspense" across the top)  Still possessing enough power to repair one body and not wanting to live, he manages to bring Abby back to life (though her soul would still have to be rescued from Hell by the Swamp Thing, who succeeds in doing so). Apologizing to "Alec", he then fell into the [[coma]] he would remain in for the duration of his mortal life.
+After a fight with his wife that culminated in her leaving on foot to find the Swamp Thing, Matthew had an attack of conscience and drove after her. He had been drinking heavily and ended up crashing his car, mortally wounding himself. A fly, believed by him to be a manifestation of his power, said it would revive him, and he agreed. In reality, Anton found a way out of hell, and merely possessed Cable's body, with it gained Cable's godlike power. Eventually Matthew managed to exorcise Arcane, but at the cost of the effects of the car-crash catching up with him, and only after Arcane had murdered Abby. Still possessing enough power to repair one body and not wanting to live, he managed to bring Abby back to life (though her soul would still have to be rescued from Hell by the Swamp Thing). Apologizing to "Alec", he then fell into the [[coma]] he would remain in for the duration of his mortal life.
-This life is cut short by a corrupt hospital administration harvesting several of his more expendable organs. Abigail takes mercy on Matt and destroys the machinery, ending his life.
 ==Sandman==
-Since Matthew technically died while in the Dreaming in ''Swamp Thing'' #84, Morpheus/Dream of [[the Endless]] revived him to a form of life as his [[raven]]. It may be influenced by the Hungarian king [[Hunyadi Matthias]], as his symbol was also a raven. This is more true than Matthew first suspected, stating in Sandman #40 "I suppose I figured I'd be a man in a raven's body. Nope, it don't work like that. I'm a raven.". He lives with [[Eve (DC Comics)|Eve]] in Dream's domain. His purpose -- and the purpose of any of the Ravens that Morpheus has had previously -- is somewhat questionable. Morpheus seems to keep the Ravens around out of some sort of unspoken need for companionship. The Ravens are created by Morpheus, offering the position to people who died, usually while dreaming, and released them from service if they so wished.
+Since Matthew technically died while in the Dreaming in ''Swamp Thing'' #84, Morpheus/Dream of [[the Endless]] revived him to a form of life as his [[raven]].  He lives with [[Eve (DC Comics)|Eve]] in Dream's domain. His purpose -- and the purpose of any of the Ravens that Morpheus has had previously -- is somewhat questionable. Morpheus seems to keep the Ravens around out of some sort of unspoken need for companionship. The Ravens are created by Morpheus, offering the position to people who died, usually while dreaming, and released them from service if they so wished.
 Matthew is irreverent and somewhat crude, having a questionable life behind him. However, he served Dream loyally by providing advice and occasionally going on missions for him. His loyalty extended so far that when Morpheus was slain, he at first was going to seek release from service to [[Daniel Hall (comics)|Daniel]], who had taken Morpheus's place as Dream. He eventually decided to stay on as Daniel's Raven.
-In [[The Dreaming series]] Matthew plays a more important role and was often teamed with the [[Corinthian (comics)|Corinthian]]. He died twice more during the series, once as a result of being tricked by the [[Coyote (mythology)|Coyote]], and for a final time by an accidental shot from Lucien during a fight with Echo and Eblis O'Shaughnessy. He came back briefly to tell Daniel not to let Lucien blame himself.<ref name="vert-drea">{{Citation  | last = Irvine | first = Alex | author-link = Alexander C. Irvine | contribution = The Dreaming | editor-last = Dougall  | editor-first = Alastair  | title = The Vertigo Encyclopedia  | pages = 64-65 | publisher = [[Dorling Kindersley]]  | place = New York  | year = 2008 | ISBN = 0-7566-4122-5 | oclc = 213309015}}</ref>
+In the [[The Dreaming series]] Matthew plays a more important role and was often teamed with the [[Corinthian (comics)|Corinthian]]. He died twice more during the series, once as a result of being tricked by the [[Coyote (mythology)|Coyote]], and for a final time by an accidental shot from Lucien during a fight with Echo and Eblis O'Shaughnessy. He came back briefly to tell Daniel to not let Lucien blame himself.
 ==Other Ravens==
-The lettering of all ravens' speech is messy at the edges, and so are the speech bubbles, perhaps indicating a gravelly voice.
+The lettering of all ravens' speech is messy at the edges, and so are the speech bubbles, perhaps giving them a gravelly voice of sorts.
 Notable predecessors as the Raven are [[Characters of The Sandman#Lucien|Lucien]], who was the first Raven, as well as the last Raven and [[Aristeas]] of [[Marmora]] who, centuries later, returned to his life as a man for a year. Disturbingly, when Delirium tried to recall the other of Dream's ravens she had seen, she mentioned 'Eleven and a Half'. Other predecessors who are mentioned are Jessamy, Francois, Jehuda, Vivien, Ming-Ti, Dechtire, and Hatshepsut. After he died, Daniel created a new white raven, Tethys, to serve him.
+[[Category:DC Comics characters who can fly]]
-==See also==
+[[Category:Fictional Americans in DC Comics]]
-* [[List of characters in The Sandman|List of characters in ''The Sandman'']]
+[[Category:Fictional birds]]
-==External links==
-* [http://www.swampthingroots.com Roots of the Swamp Thing] - An extremely detailed timeline chronicling all the events of Swamp Thing, Hellblazer and related titles in chronological order, covering the life of Matthew Cable.
-==References==
-{{reflist}}
 [[Category:Fictional mutates]]
-[[Category:Fictional ravens]]
 [[Category:Fictional secret agents and spies]]
-[[Category:Fictional characters in DC Comics who use magic]]
+[[Category:Sandman characters]]
-[[Category:Mythology in comics]]
+[[Category:1972 introductions]]
-[[Category:The Sandman]]
+==External Links==
-[[Category:1972 comics characters debuts]]
+* [http://www.swampthingroots.com Roots of the Swamp Thing] - An extremely detailed timiline chronicling all the events of Swamp Thing, Hellblazer and related titles in chronological order, covering the life of Matthew Cable