Gambit #1 - Spoilers/Discussion

[mbm721]

I was so excited for this book, sad it was delayed til July, last week of the month no less. However excited I was this book was….great. Really solid book. I’ll copy what I said in a Reddit post

I thought it was a really fun and solid start! I loved the dialogue between Remy and Ororo. The starting of a cool friendship, storm is easy to become besties with.

Art was enjoyable and fun, kinda miss those early 90s designs, especially the gang, Sabine and the end! Left me wanting more right away so yeah good issue for me, I’m buying 2.

[Gripstir]

Think that title goes to Mr. Sinister of course. Probably could also include Candra.

Has Gambit succeeded over Sinister even once solo? I think Scott is more of a nemesis than Remy tbh. And if they want to make Sinister Gambit’s nemesis then Gambit would have to prove he can match Sinister intellectually, consistently.

[AppleJ]

Oh man, this was just a breath of fresh air for this here Gambit fan!

It was just such a relief quite frankly to see Gambit written as he should be ... charming, clever, street wise, funny, honorable, and highly skilled and competent. Contrast this with the Remy we've seen since the Krakoa era started and it's not even a comparison.

Thank you Marvel! Now can we get THIS Gambit back in the present era already?!

As for the issue itself, very fun and great character work like we expect from Claremont. These characters are his creation and it shows in the way he knows them. The Gambit and Lil' Ro dynamic is enjoyable. Remy loves to irritate and push her buttons, but he's also helping her learn. I'm really digging the art.

Of course I'm always hoping for a tad more action in a Gambit solo comic and most of what we did get was from Storm. But for a first issue I'm content and it's very Gambit not to fight a fight when you can talk or trick your way out of it. In that respect, bring on ALL the thought and word bubbles.

Speaking of Ro, the fact that her story arc is driving the plot does make me wonder if this would have been better named Gambit and Storm or Gambit and Lil' Ro. I'm not mad at it really because I love Storm, but I do hope we learn more about Gambit as we go.

The big reveal of course is that he and Lila Cheney are old pals! (Watch out, Rogue! LOL) But I actually love this little story addition because having a connection to an intergalactic thief like Lila could really open up a whole new avenue for Gambit stories going forward.

I was mildly surprised to find out that the lady in red from the previews was neither Candra nor Belladonna, but yet another of Remy's past connections ... who DOESN'T Gambit know?! Haha. Seemed weird to bring this group into it also, but at least the board is now set.

Sheesh, I had totally forgotten the Bacchae had appeared before- https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Bacchae_(Earth-616)

It has been a really long time since I read those Fantastic Four and Uncanny X-Men issues and it didn't even register for me. I am going to have to go reread them now.

I don't remember EVER reading about this group! Now I'm intrigued.

Very ready to see this all unfurl.

I think my only lament is that we couldn't get a Gambit solo set in the Krakoa era with this Gambit. The Gambit who has a plan and an angle and tons of skill and heart. Hopefully when we come out of A.X.E. he and Rogue land somewhere where we can find this Remy again.

[Romy134]

just wanted to add some of my fave scenes. You can see what i've been talking about about dem red eyes.

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Hmmm I wonder if that last scene is foreshadowing storm having to maybe stop Gambit later on. He looked super menacing and the dialogue seemed a little forshadowy. Or it could be just a simple teaching moment.

[Zoks]

Has Gambit succeeded over Sinister even once solo? I think Scott is more of a nemesis than Remy tbh. And if they want to make Sinister Gambit’s nemesis then Gambit would have to prove he can match Sinister intellectually, consistently.

I don't think Gambit has much of a personal conflict with Sinister. Rather he learned the hard way a deal with Sinister is a deal with the devil, so he's much more conscious about any interactions with him. It's not like Sinister double-crossed Gambit after their deal. He just never told him the exact nature of what Gambit was doing to pay off his debt. Candra on the other hand was one of Gambit's big bads but she's dead now after Gambit gave her to Apocalypse. So right now he has no personal nemeses.

[AppleJ]

Has Gambit succeeded over Sinister even once solo? I think Scott is more of a nemesis than Remy tbh. And if they want to make Sinister Gambit’s nemesis then Gambit would have to prove he can match Sinister intellectually, consistently.

I've always felt like Sinister is Remy's boogie man or Achilles heel ... because he's been able to exert his will over and manipulate Remy in the past. But he has got the upper hand over Sinister a few times ... when he partnered with Mystique who used Rogue's death touch against Sinister and didn't Gambit and Sebastian Shaw take him out during the Carey run when he tried to reincarnate?

[Mutant101]

Think that title goes to Mr. Sinister of course. Probably could also include Candra.

I can't remember when on Gambit solo Mr. Sinister engage on a battle with him it is more on in X-men story lines.

[Zoks]

I think my only lament is that we couldn't get a Gambit solo set in the Krakoa era with this Gambit. The Gambit who has a plan and an angle and tons of skill and heart. Hopefully when we come out of A.X.E. he and Rogue land somewhere where we can find this Remy again.

I wouldn't say that Gambit is gone. He showed flashes of his old self under Howard's pen. He just shines as a street level hero, but right now he's stuck fighting against heavy weights or mobs. He's definitely out of his element in Otherworld. He should be on the Marauders or X-Force, not Excalibur.

[thjan]

I went back and read the issues the Bacchae were in and I can see why they did not make an impression. They were founded and led by the queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta, and were a criminal organization of warrior women that served the Olympian god, Hades(at least at first). They were not real memorable in the Fantastic Four issues or the Uncanny X-Men issues. It's a cool callback though and I wonder if they will be in any of the upcoming Gambit issues.

Bounty, the bounty hunter, was also in that Fantastic Four run by Claremont, so lots of callbacks to that run in this series. Bounty and the Bacchae were also in a Spider-Man 2000 annual by Claremont that I never read. Going to give that a read tomorrow.

I wouldn't say that Gambit is gone. He showed flashes of his old self under Howard's pen. He just shines as a street level hero, but right now he's stuck fighting against heavy weights or mobs. He's definitely out of his element in Otherworld. He should be on the Marauders or X-Force, not Excalibur.

I don't really see him as out of his element in Otherworld or in that type of story. I think Howard is just not good at writing him or a team working together. One of the things I like about Gambit is that he works equally well in street level stories and in bigger X-Men stories. His powers and skills make him versatile that way. I like him going on adventures in the streets of New Orleans, space, other dimensions like Otherworld, and everywhere inbetween.

[AppleJ]

I wouldn't say that Gambit is gone. He showed flashes of his old self under Howard's pen. He just shines as a street level hero, but right now he's stuck fighting against heavy weights or mobs. He's definitely out of his element in Otherworld. He should be on the Marauders or X-Force, not Excalibur.

I do agree that he would have been better served in another book, just from a character motivation perspective. Pirate seems like a obvious choice given his organized crime connection and Mauraders is totally on the nose. X-Force ... well, it's bound to happen sooner or later for a H2H fighting character.

However ... respectfully ... I have to disagree that he couldn't have been better utilized in Excalibur. He may be a more street level hero, but we have seen him effectively and impressively fight mobs even as recently as the Rogue and Gambit miniseries and accomplish very large explosions as recently as X-Men: Red by Taylor. We've also seen that he's a skilled lock pick under multiple writers and in Excalibur he was literally made to rob an open cabinet. So you have a thief for your DnD party and then you don't even have him use any actual skills for said theft? That's just poor writing. Add to that things like running from Warwolves, falling down holes and needing rescue, stupidly taking on a foe he knows he can't out gun, having multiple teammates belittle him or ignore his input, being put into a cat maid outfit ... ok sorry ... I'll just stop there. I don't want to beat that dead horse anymore. Needless to say, those "flashes" were too minute to capture the character as I've come to appreciate him over multiple previous writers.

I'm infinitely glad to have this to read instead and hoping against hope for a different writer to take him in the present era. He may not be gone per se, but he's barely been himself.

[Thundershot]

This book was a breath of fresh air.. brought me back to the good old days. The only jarring thing is Storm using contractions when she didn’t do that until X-Treme X-Men…

Loved seeing Bounty again!

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Bount...id)_(Earth-616)

[Malachi]

Gambit and his uses on different stages is often down to the writer and artist. With how the impact of his charged cards varies. Here in this issue I think we got a prime example of how hard it can be to gauge them. The explosions look big and powerful. His targets fly up in the air. Yet their is no damage and they are kids. Witch of course makes sense, he is not going to hurt kids like that.

The cards are charged very quickly. Witch means that the charge should be very light. Gambit uses cards because they are easy to charge but even so these cards where charged fast.

With consistent use Gambits powers should make him useful on bigger battles and against tougher opponents if he charged different objects to get a bigger or smaller impact. But cards are his iconic object to charge so we mostly get them. Sometimes they destroy walls and fling opponents through the air. Other times they just blip out like a cheap firecracker.

[staptik777]

You can see what i've been talking about about dem red eyes.

they look like they're from a horror movie


and i love it

[Uncanny X-Man]

I thought this was a strong first issue. Starting with the art, I take back all my reservations about Sid Kotian because the art was absolutely fantastic. Kinetic, expressive and just beautiful to look at, both the artist and the colourist did a great job here.

I also love how Claremont can't really help but write a mini-epic every time he writes a new book. The issue was filled with great character work on both 'Ro and Remy, continuity, callbacks to some of his lesser-known creations from 2 decades ago (the Bacchae and Bounty), surprising guest-stars (I certainly didn't expect to see Moira) and more accents than you could ever dream of LOL. It really makes for a rich experience in my opinion and makes me feel like I got a good bang for my buck. It bodes really well for the rest of the mini and the upcoming X-Treme X-Men book.

[Askia]

This issue was fun! It took me back years and years to the Gambit I enjoy - a cool character with so many damn layers of complexity and filled with mystery. My gosh its nice to finally have a confidant Gambit who is the master of himself.

To be honest I had no clue who Lila was, but thanks for the footnotes, Chris! I'm really excited to see where this goes as it seems we're headed for a wild adventure.