Mr. & Mrs. X: Gambit and Rogue Appreciation 2020

[AppleJ]

Okay, we're safe for Excalibur #11 spoilers now right?

Copied over from the Excalibur thread because I had a lot of thoughts.

I found this issue much better. Not great, not perfect, but I enjoyed it at least somewhat and don't regret money spent on it this time. Anyway here goes:

Finally a Gambit and Rogue I recognize! YAY! Their banter and innuendo in those last two pages was more on par with the dialogue flow and characterization that define them. I really enjoyed Rogue's line about "liking to let Gambit take his time". I smiled! High five, Tini! Thank you!

Now I have to do some nitpicking ...

It was a huge missed opportunity to not have Gambit, the master thief, pick his way into a locked cabinet rather than pillage an unlocked cabinet. Filling your pockets with items you just pick up isn't that impressive. I was glad to see Rogue suggest it though and show some appreciation/affection for her partner. And likewise his line about having a weakness for pretty things was perfect. It was also a very TAS moment when she volunteered him to stay. LOL

It was a huge relief to see Gambit not be the team punching bag anymore and be competent in battles and even contribute to some of the planning.

NOW ... can we try to let characters besides Ric, A, and Betsy shine a little?

They have amazing mutant abilities and other skills too. But where do we see that? 11 issues in and I haven't.

Gambit and Jubilee shoot things. Rogue punches things. Betsy hits things with her sword - still hasn't stabbed anyone with the totality of her psychic blade if that even is still a thing? It's all kind of generic.

SO much of the action and fights take place off panel. SO MUCH! And even if I'm not a huge action sequence person, in a superhero comic I expect to see SOME. I want to see some! Any?! Let them ALL be badasses at least sometimes. Tired of the A and Rictor show.

Rictor basically got to play savior to the whole team by tunneling them in and delivering the Krakoa flower while the rest of the team plays back-up singers with shooting and punching. You can do better than this, girl!

Jubilee, who looks fierce as hell on this cover, basically cried in a tree then sat out. I was ready to see her slay!

The plot bits revolving around Candra's backstory and her gem very much peaked my interest in this plot ... finally.

Our team is always traveling ... but they don't seem to be getting anywhere most of the time. I'm pretty ready for some major plot resolutions and answers here instead of more foggy mysteries and questions and mini quests.

We all know Ric is being manipulated and this issue doesn't foreshadow good things for him.

The real question I have is whether A will have expected Remy to steal Candra's gem from Saturnyne so he can get his mits on it or is that an ace up their sleeve? Or are A and Saturnyne in cahoots? Seems unlikely, but who knows.

It also came up in the Excalibur thread, do you think Gambit recognized the gem?

I took for granted and assumed that he did. But you know what they say about assuming. ; )

[Purplevit]

Marcus To posted WIP with Gambit and Rictor probably.

Reunited and they are back as comments.
https://twitter.com/marcusto/status/1296305469510877184

Be ready to see Gambit and Rogue to be left in Outworld next issue so they can be left from Swords crossover completely. I assume he is working on issue 15.

[Master of Sound]

Marcus To posted WIP with Gambit and Rictor probably.

Reunited and they are back as comments.
https://twitter.com/marcusto/status/1296305469510877184

Be ready to see Gambit and Rogue to be left in Outworld next issue so they can be left from Swords crossover completely. I assume he is working on issue 15.

Well, we have not seen them omn any cover yet, so we can ideed assume the might barely play a role on XoS or mayne none at all.

What is it lately? Rogue and Gambit went to A-status after the Rogue & Gambit mini, their marriage and then the Mr. & Mrs. series and now down graded to background characters. Same happens with Sunspot, he became very high profile and then,,... nothing.

[AppleJ]

Marcus To posted WIP with Gambit and Rictor probably.

Reunited and they are back as comments.
https://twitter.com/marcusto/status/1296305469510877184

Be ready to see Gambit and Rogue to be left in Outworld next issue so they can be left from Swords crossover completely. I assume he is working on issue 15.

You know, I believe this is Longshot and Rictor actually. People have been waiting for their reunion since this book launched.

But I hope there is a good and logical reason at least given for why Rogue and Gambit are left out of X of Swords. Not holding my breath though.

As far as popularity, they are top 10 X-Men by Twitter survey. They are A-listers that were in the books at the height of X-Men sales. They've been in every cartoon and several movies. People want to see them featured in books!

[Purplevit]

You know, I believe this is Longshot and Rictor actually. People have been waiting for their reunion since this book launched.

But I hope there is a good and logical reason at least given for why Rogue and Gambit are left out of X of Swords. Not holding my breath though.

As far as popularity, they are top 10 X-Men by Twitter survey. They are A-listers that were in the books at the height of X-Men sales. They've been in every cartoon and several movies. People want to see them featured in books!

They are left because Hickman hates Gambit and Howard has them as prisoners so they can show how other characters are cooler or better.

Maybe. But that pic had Gambit animation from old fighting game.

[Sandmans_Raven]

They are left because Hickman hates Gambit and Howard has them as prisoners so they can show how other characters are cooler or better.

Pretty much. I'm not sure he hates Gambit (still haven't been able to find a source on that), but he definitely doesn't care about these 2

[Purplevit]

Pretty much. I'm not sure he hates Gambit (still haven't been able to find a source on that), but he definitely doesn't care about these 2

I couldn't find it either but it was like a well known fact among Gambit fans years before House of X. Don't know where it came from but I am sure that it is true.

[R0d]

At best, he is completely indifferent towards Gambit; at worst, he hates him. Either way, none of those cases are good for us.
At this point, I'm just waiting hoping for some sort of relaunch so Gambit and Rogue end up in the hands of a writer that is competent and actually cares about both of them.

[AppleJ]

Dang ... so am I the only regular in this thread still reading this book?

Because if that's the case, it really ought to be a wake up call to the X-editors. This thread has been booming with activity for the last two years and now it's practically dead. Granted we are but a small sampling of fans, but it seems like a pretty dramatic drop off since MMX ended and it's hard to believe that is going completely unnoticed.

Who knows ... I suppose there's enough influx of other X-fans for DoX that the powers that be don't care about Rogue and Gambit fans. Since all sales are probably poorer since COVID anyway, it's not likely on their radar. And Excalibur is so heavily tied into X of Swords, which is super hyped, that I'm sure it's not changing any time soon and they've already planned out well beyond it.

That's probably why I'm trying to make my peace with it and find something about the book to enjoy, if only a little bit. Could be years before a writer or book change for them. There's always the chance for a writer to finally click with a character and course correct a series, so I continue to hold out hope.

[anyajenkins]

You know, I believe this is Longshot and Rictor actually. People have been waiting for their reunion since this book launched.

But I hope there is a good and logical reason at least given for why Rogue and Gambit are left out of X of Swords. Not holding my breath though.

As far as popularity, they are top 10 X-Men by Twitter survey. They are A-listers that were in the books at the height of X-Men sales. They've been in every cartoon and several movies. People want to see them featured in books!

You mean Rictor and shatter star? That’s the one I’ve been hearing people mentioned. But the little gambit animation does throw that off.

[Sandmans_Raven]

Dang ... so am I the only regular in this thread still reading this book?

Because if that's the case, it really ought to be a wake up call to the X-editors. This thread has been booming with activity for the last two years and now it's practically dead. Granted we are but a small sampling of fans, but it seems like a pretty dramatic drop off since MMX ended and it's hard to believe that is going completely unnoticed.

Who knows ... I suppose there's enough influx of other X-fans for DoX that the powers that be don't care about Rogue and Gambit fans. Since all sales are probably poorer since COVID anyway, it's not likely on their radar. And Excalibur is so heavily tied into X of Swords, which is super hyped, that I'm sure it's not changing any time soon and they've already planned out well beyond it.

That's probably why I'm trying to make my peace with it and find something about the book to enjoy, if only a little bit. Could be years before a writer or book change for them. There's always the chance for a writer to finally click with a character and course correct a series, so I continue to hold out hope.

I'm still getting the books. I'm just really bad about getting around to reading them bc there's other stuff I'd rather read when I do have time haha

[AppleJ]

You mean Rictor and shatter star? That’s the one I’ve been hearing people mentioned. But the little gambit animation does throw that off.

YES! Sorry, I meant Shattybuns. LOL Not sure why I typed his Dad instead. Agree, the animated Gambit is confusing.

[thjan]

Dang ... so am I the only regular in this thread still reading this book?

Not so much a regular since I so rarely post, but I am still reading the book too. Always hoping for the best and so rarely getting it, sigh.

But... I did enjoy this issue more than the previous issues and enjoyed the Rogue and Gambit focused parts at the the end. Finally some semi recognizable Gambit and Rogue! Still not perfect as you said, but so much better. I love how determined they were to stay with Betsy, and unlike some other posters I did not see that scene as Rogue speaking for Gambit, but more just her being secure in the knowledge of where Gambit would stand on that issue.

It was a huge relief to see Gambit not be the team punching bag anymore and be competent in battles and even contribute to some of the planning.

Yep that was good. During the first skirmish with the good priestess when all his cards missed, I first thought, "Oh boy here we go again", but it definitely improved later on in the second fight when it looked like all his cards connected and even actually seemed to be a help to the team for once lol. And the last part with Gambit and Rogue improved the issue a lot forme.

NOW ... can we try to let characters besides Ric, A, and Betsy shine a little?

Yes, please! Course people have been saying that for a long time now unfortunately.

They have amazing mutant abilities and other skills too. But where do we see that? 11 issues in and I haven't.

Gambit and Jubilee shoot things. Rogue punches things. Betsy hits things with her sword - still hasn't stabbed anyone with the totality of her psychic blade if that even is still a thing? It's all kind of generic.

Agreed. No imagination where abilities and fight scenes are concerned, but then again that seems to be a plague common to many modern comic books and modern writers.

Jubilee, who looks fierce as hell on this cover, basically cried in a tree then sat out. I was ready to see her slay!

Yeah I was expecting a lot more from Jubilee this issue. Especially after that preview.

We all know Ric is being manipulated and this issue doesn't foreshadow good things for him.

Yep. Still not sure why so many of them are so trusting of Apocalypse.

The real question I have is whether A will have expected Remy to steal Candra's gem from Saturnyne so he can get his mits on it or is that an ace up their sleeve? Or are A and Saturnyne in cahoots? Seems unlikely, but who knows.

I am hoping it is going to be another ace up Gambit's(and hopefully Rogue's) sleeve to disrupt some of Apocalypse schemes like Rachel earlier in the series. I mean come on, I can't be the only one who is bothered by Apocalypse trying to force these portals and putting up a messed up puppet dictator on Otherworld(a place without mutants as far as I know by the way). I still don't understand why this team is just going along with all this, and it is looking like their reasoning will never be explained.

It also came up in the Excalibur thread, do you think Gambit recognized the gem?

That is what I assumed when I first read the issue and saw that panel, but after coming on this forum I am not so sure. Seeing everyone's thoughts on the issue and remembering that this is Tini has me second guessing that thought now. One okay issue doesn't make me forget how things often went down in all the previous issues.

I took for granted and assumed that he did. But you know what they say about assuming. ; )

Yeah I took it for granted too, but who knows.

[Purplevit]

That Excalibur 11 page with Candra`s gem.

[Laemar]

That Excalibur 11 page with Candra`s gem.

I've never noticed before but the first item Gambit gets from the cabinet is a sword.