David Hine (writer), David Yardin (penciler), Mike Perkins
I don’t really understand the love for Black CableBishop. There’s nothing really original about him and I have yet to read a Bishop story that made me think, “Wow! It’s a good thing Bishop exists as a character because only he could do that!”
Until now.
District X focused on a homo sapien detective, Ismael Ortega, who is assigned to “Mutant Town,” aka District X, a part of New York City primarily occupied by mutants. The concept debuted in X-Men Unlimited #2, so if you’re a completist read that first. After his nonmutant partner is killed in the line of duty by a telepath. Ortega gets partnered with Bishop.
Yes, Bishop is now working to support the human police force in District X. This is great because it builds on his XSE experience and his whole purpose: To come back in time to prevent a horrible future. So in this book, he kinda moves from time cop to beat cop.
The first story arc involves a new drug called Toad Juice, which is usable by mutants but kills humans and two rival criminal gangs who are fighting to control the drug trade in District X. Much of this story involves Bishop and Izzy navigating between the warring gangs and meeting one-off mutants along the way. It’s all good stuff. The bosses themselves aren’t worth tagging, but I’m noting this because it’s funny: One of the bosses is a mutant whose power is that he emits odors based on his mood.
Living in District X is a powerful mutant called Absolon Mercato. We first meet him when he fixes a toaster for his neighbor, Hanna Levy, who is basically a less deformed version of Toad.
Absolon becomes a key witness in the case being worked by Bishop and Izzy, which ties to the kidnapping of the mutant Toad Boy—whose bodily fluids form the basis for the Toad Juice drug. A.bsolon tries to help Toad Boy but accidentally kills one of the kidnappers. He then goes to Izzy for help but, through another accident, ends up mistakenly believing that Bishop intends him harm—and Absolon runs away and gets pissed.
Mister M then decides to burn Mutant Town to the ground. Another new mutant, Lara the Illusionist, uses her mutant power to trick Absolon into believing he succeeded, after which Mister M surrendered to Bishop.
Lara’s an interesting character. She can create illusions that are pulled right from the observer’s own desires.