X-Force #8 (1992)

Author: Fabian Nicieza, Rob Liefeld,Art: Mike Mignola,Cover Art: Rob Liefeld. X-Force #8 (March 1992) is a fascinating, stylistically unique key issue from the early 90s mutant boom. While Rob Liefeld provided the plot and character designs, the interior artwork for the extensive flashback sequence was drawn by legendary Hellboy creator Mike Mignola—creating a surreal visual mashup of Mignola's signature shadow-work and heavy blacks on Liefeld's pouch-and-shoulder-pad aesthetics. The story, "Flashed Before My Eyes," erupts in the present day when the villain Sauron brutally impales Cannonball (Sam Guthrie). The trauma triggers a massive, vivid flashback for Cable, pulling back the curtain on his mysterious mercenary past. The issue reveals that years prior, Cable led a high-tech elite strike force called the Wild Pack (later renamed the Six Pack). During a dangerous assault on a Hydra fortress in New Mexico, Cable operates alongside his trusted crew: G.W. Bridge, Grizzly, Garrison Kane, Hammer, and—most importantly—the real Domino. The issue also confirms Cable's nature as a time-traveler when he uses a space-time displacement device to jump forward into a distant future.