X-Men Monday #145 Q&A with Chris Claremont and letterless preview for Gambit #1

[Thundershot]

I'm so glad he didn't use the Sinister as Gambit story. Though it's odd he calls Sinister a mutant, when he created Sinister and he was always NOT a mutant. I guess the old rumors of Gambit originally being Longshot were never true.

[cranger]

I love the original concept for Mr Sinister and Gambit so much. Guess it was always inevitable with how Claremont worked that one day he'd leave and all those hanging plot-threads would be turned into something more mundane by fill-in writers.

This was cool to read about. I can't remember if I knew that before or not, but it does remind me that we don't get to see writers on a book long enough to start setting up plots like that.

[Malachi]

I am a bit torn with Claremont’s original idea with Sinister. Always have been. But one aspect of it that I like is the high risk. Not only are Gambit as a character and his potential longevity in the comic up in the air but so are Sinister and Kitty. While I appreciate the more “iconic” mindset, to borrow Dan Didos old PR crap term, I like the idea of the X-men as an evolving team. This is the idea I was sold on originally when starting to read X-men comics.

Characters get introduced and then leave, perhaps they comeback later or perhaps not. I think it reflects the themes of mutants quite well.

If we would have gone that route perhaps Gambit would not be an x-men these days. Perhaps only Jean and Bobby would be the only O5 active members. We would have Gen x graduates. New mutants graduates. Hellion. Surge and
so on. Plus a plethora of new characters.

I think I would like it since it would mean we readers are more on even footing. The team would change as the world does and there would be fewer camps supporting different characters because there would be less of a point with that. Because no one is special enough that they can’t be phased out.