Mr. & Mrs. X: The Gambit and Rogue Appreciation 2023

[thjan]

Yeah, I did not enjoy this first issue. The lowest point for me was the panel Purplevit posted where even Rogue made fun of Gambit. I think it was just supposed to be Phillip's idea of Rogue being playful or something, but it came totally out of the blue and just came off as a bit mean and unnecessary, especially combined with the overall tone of the rest of the issue in regard to Gambit's treatment. I am very, very well aware that Marvel editorial and a lot of Marvel's writers see Gambit as a joke, but I sure wish we didn't see that reflected in the comics so much. I also thought that in a book where Gambit is one of the title characters that we wouldn't be getting this kind of stuff.

I am bummed honestly. I have been looking forward to this comic so much(even with my concerns from the solicits and previews). I am still giving the series a chance, and I'm getting the next issue, but this one definitely did not land for me at all.

[Kingdom X]

I recently read some of Thompson’s Mr. and Mrs. X run to get in the mood for this and BOY was that a mistake. The contrast from the sweet and supportive relationship there to whatever this is just didn’t click for me.

The very PREMISE of the tension in their relationship doesn’t make sense to me. Yes Gambit seemed a little bummed that Rogue was spending all her time with the X-Men, but he was also Otherworld that entire time so it’s not like he wasn’t doing anything.

If the writer wanted to inject some tension into the relationship it seems like drawing from Gambit’s recent “death” and how that affected him would be a good start, instead of just making him childish and making Rogue talk down to him for 20+ pages.

Also doesn’t help that Thompson is currently writing them better over in CM.

[remydat]

Thanks for the warning guys. Expected as much but now I don't have to go thru the trouble of going to my LCS and flipping thru the pages to see if I like it.

[DarkMagnus]

Spoilers please :c

DM

[Fokken]

I recently read some of Thompson’s Mr. and Mrs. X run to get in the mood for this and BOY was that a mistake. The contrast from the sweet and supportive relationship there to whatever this is just didn’t click for me.

The very PREMISE of the tension in their relationship doesn’t make sense to me. Yes Gambit seemed a little bummed that Rogue was spending all her time with the X-Men, but he was also Otherworld that entire time so it’s not like he wasn’t doing anything.

If the writer wanted to inject some tension into the relationship it seems like drawing from Gambit’s recent “death” and how that affected him would be a good start, instead of just making him childish and making Rogue talk down to him for 20+ pages.

Also doesn’t help that Thompson is currently writing them better over in CM.

This is very disconcerting. I loved the connection Thompson wove between them. The tension they experienced in the mini prior to their wedding was believable and messy and sexy.
I was really hoping they'd use Destiny as THE attempted wedge between them. Its believable. She doesn't like Remy. She loves Rogue. She's got a powerset that she could use to manipulate them into tense situations. There could be an argument between the love birds over the whole amnesty & giving second chances vs. trust & bad blood and Rogue & Remy's respective prior trust issues and trying to build bridges and the challenges of interference from the IN LAWS and THAT would be so fun to read.

The fact that Remy was ever butthurt about Rogue being on the X-Men is nonsense. He was elated and proud of her. I can fully understand MISSING her and, over time, feeling like he wasn't a priority BUT BUT BUT Remy went to OTHERWORLD (which was inescapable at the time if I recall correctly???) and then he got killed and eventually they were reunited (ummm spoiler alert?) so I could actually see ROGUE being legitimately upset about his agreeing to enter Otherworld knowing the consequences of that choice (Potentially not coming back, nor being resurrected) without discussing it with her first. I mean, I would be upset if I were her. But then again, this is SUPER HERO LIFE, so who knows how far the tolerance and understanding meter bends?

[JB]

Spoilers please :c

DM

I intended on writing up a spoiler thread but when I finished the issue I kinda lost the inspiration. The angst between Rogue and Gambit feels very forced and has editorial's handprints all over it, and has for a while now imo with Gambit overly missing her. Rogue has of course been tough on Remy in the past but she's depicted as cold here. spoilers:

I was hoping she would apologize for being several hours late to their date but it was more about punishing him for being drunk and causing the fight.

end of spoilers

I'm still somewhat interested in the overall plot and where it takes them, I just hope future angst is more driven by Destiny going forward because that works for me.

[Malachi]

I intended on writing up a spoiler thread but when I finished the issue I kinda lost the inspiration. The angst between Rogue and Gambit feels very forced and has editorial's handprints all over it, and has for a while now imo with Gambit overly missing her. Rogue has of course been tough on Remy in the past but she's depicted as cold here. spoilers:

I was hoping she would apologize for being several hours late to their date but it was more about punishing him for being drunk and causing the fight.

end of spoilers

I'm still somewhat interested in the overall plot and where it takes them, I just hope future angst is more driven by Destiny going forward because that works for me.

I think I will try to write a spoiler thread then. I need to reread it to see if I can get a better impression of it anyway.

[NicoPony]

I intended on writing up a spoiler thread but when I finished the issue I kinda lost the inspiration. The angst between Rogue and Gambit feels very forced and has editorial's handprints all over it, and has for a while now imo with Gambit overly missing her. Rogue has of course been tough on Remy in the past but she's depicted as cold here. spoilers:

I was hoping she would apologize for being several hours late to their date but it was more about punishing him for being drunk and causing the fight.

end of spoilers

I'm still somewhat interested in the overall plot and where it takes them, I just hope future angst is more driven by Destiny going forward because that works for me.

You know it’s bad when JB loses enthusiasm.

[JB]

You know it’s bad when JB loses enthusiasm.

Haha I'm gonna stick with it for now! I'm just at the point of "where are we going with this and can we just get there please?" It started in Excal/KoX, then Gambit didn't know Rogue went to outer space in Captain Marvel and wondered why she contacted Carol over him, and now spoilers:

they're to meet in New Orleans and she heads to Argentina without at least sending him a text.

end of spoilers
I'm just ready for it all to culminate and get tied up with a bow so we can move forward.

[AppleJ]

Whelp ... I'm glad I kept my expectations low. It was far less painful that way.

Hmmm ... I don't know what to think of this.

I totally agree that this feels a LOT like a continuation of the exact same problems I had with Excalibur where Rogue is written as inconsiderate of Gambit's feelings and even mean/cold to him, while he is written as incompetent and clueless, aimless and yet wholly devoted. Rogue almost can't be bothered with their relationship and always gives work or her Mother the benefit of the doubt and the priority while not extending it to her own husband.

I've said this before and I'll say it again - if they reversed this and Rogue was being written as Gambit is people would be rightfully disgusted with someone treating their spouse this way.

Seriously, Duggan did a much better job in the short sequence he gave us in X-Men, remembering that Rogue has a sense of fun and Gambit is actually clever.

I did think this did some things better than Excalibur. The dialogue was overall much smoother and even had some good spots. I liked Gambit's bravado during the opening fight, even if his actual fighting skills sucked.

I'm seriously NOT loving that Gambit always calls Rogue "Anna Marie" here when he doesn't use that name with her even once during R&G volume 1 or Mr. & Mrs. X. Like I don't mind him using it once in a serious moment to get her attention or in an intimate moment, but this felt very unnatural. Also the "mon cheri"? Just nooooo. NO.

I feel like Phillip's did not do her due diligence in researching the characters for this story because the characterizations feel like they lack depth. They feel very sitcom caricature and I'm not using that as a compliment. I'm not sure how you could read Niceiza's Gambit and then give us ... this. I would be shocked if she had read Rogue and Gambit volume 1 or MMX even because there is so much distance between the characterizations. Even when they are fighting they aren't hurtful!

I get putting your own spin on things, but readers also appreciate some semblance of continuity. Especially in a character focused book! This all feels contrived in an unnatural way.

Honestly I think my favorite part was their text messages. No notes! I laughed.

The art was decent! It's not my favorite, but no complaints.

The rest of the story and the pacing felt a little rushed and a little hand-wavy.

I can only hope this picks up and course corrects. No more Raymond and Debra stories please!

[AppleJ]

The more I dwell on this, the only silver lining I can imagine is that hopefully Phillips will give us an IMPROVEMENT to this shitty status quo and have them address their awful behavior and actually reconcile by the end.

Because honestly what is the point otherwise?

But also, I'm not sure how this is supposed to appeal as an opener to make people want to keep reading and rooting for them when you show us both characters at their worst in this relationship.

Not a single cute, flirty moment to be had. Not a tender moment. No spark of affection shown whatsoever.

At least in R&G volume #1 we see that Gambit has legitimate concern for Rogue in the danger room and their banter is playful and she reacts to his presence in a way that at least shows attraction and some sadness/regret.

All I got from this issue was passive aggressive anger and resentment and even some contempt seeping in there.

[Malachi]

The more I dwell on this, the only silver lining I can imagine is that hopefully Phillips will give us an IMPROVEMENT to this shitty status quo and have them address their awful behavior and actually reconcile by the end.

Because honestly what is the point otherwise?

But also, I'm not sure how this is supposed to appeal as an opener to make people want to keep reading and rooting for them when you show us both characters at their worst in this relationship.

Not a single cute, flirty moment to be had. Not a tender moment. No spark of affection shown whatsoever.

At least in R&G volume #1 we see that Gambit has legitimate concern for Rogue in the danger room and their banter is playful and she reacts to his presence in a way that at least shows attraction and some sadness/regret.

All I got from this issue was passive aggressive anger and resentment and even some contempt seeping in there.

I have been thinking about this too. It’s such a risky move to start here if your plan is for it to get better. When writing a book you normally get around 10 pages to make your reader interested enough to continue. Scripts for movies have the first turning point early to make you interested. Scripts for tv is structured around commercials and run time so it has several cliff hangers to make you stay.

Here we have 5 issues and while the plot has a cliffhanger Phillips is pretty much basing it all on the plot. She thinks we know these characters so we don’t have to spend that much time on them and instead focus on the plot. Gambit and Rogues problems are told to us and not shown beyond Gambit being drunk and then hungover. All Rogue gets to do is looking surly.

Even if this relationship gets better will the readers be there when it happens?

I hope issue 2 gives us more chemistry between them. They put Gomes on this and not give him scenes that are hot and smoldering with tension/flirting/sex? Surely that must be coming up!

[NicoPony]

Who mentioned it earlier in the lettered solicitations? That we didn’t need a splash page of Rogue stating Gambit is drunk?

It’s a very astute observation because this comic felt like it was 10 pages long. Space was wasted - like, I know Rogue is conflicted about trusting Destiny, and that to not trust her would mean she’d have to admit some pretty tough things about how she was raised and the people she believes love her - but I only know that from 20 years of backstory and because I read Phillips interview where the author states that. Rogue instead pauses a beat and stares vacantly before agreeing. A panel could have been spent with Gambit arguing don’t trust Destiny, Rogue having an aside with him trying to explain how she feels, and Remy conceding because he understands the conflict (I mean, his own family just beat him up two panels ago, sheesh).

Also, Manifold is out of the picture apparently, at least until he’s rescued. Where was the fun banter between him and Gambit? Or Gambit and ANYBODY? I felt like Gambit was talking to himself for the most part - …though everyone has tuned him out for the last two decades, so that’s consistent at least.

[BobbysWorld]

I remain baffled that no writer in this era has shown any interest in building a Krakoan Thieves' Guild with Gambit at the helm. It seems like such an obvious direction, Gambit and other mutant thieves using gateways and teleporters to jaunt around Earth, Otherworld and the galaxy stealing weapons, secrets and intel on behalf of mutantkind. They could've stolen magical weapons from Merlin's armory during the Otherworld war with King Arthur, been the ones to infiltrate the Eternal city and sabotage Uranos' machines during Judgment Day, sneak into Orchis facilities and plant viruses in their tech, do recon on distant planets where the Phalanx was assimilating other civilizations, etc, etc. There's so damn much Remy and other mutant thieves and spies could be doing that wouldn't step on X-Force's hyper-violent shoot-em-up toes or niche, but nah.

Instead we get Remy day-drinking and sitting on his ass in a restaurant for hours at a time like he's got nothing better he could be doing.

Where's the character who would take advantage of the Krakoan era and convince SWORD, the Quiet Council or the Great Ring to sanction some mission to steal Celestial tech from its makers themselves, just because he wanted to see if he could pull it off?

[Sandmans_Raven]

This is very disconcerting. I loved the connection Thompson wove between them. The tension they experienced in the mini prior to their wedding was believable and messy and sexy.
I was really hoping they'd use Destiny as THE attempted wedge between them. Its believable. She doesn't like Remy. She loves Rogue. She's got a powerset that she could use to manipulate them into tense situations. There could be an argument between the love birds over the whole amnesty & giving second chances vs. trust & bad blood and Rogue & Remy's respective prior trust issues and trying to build bridges and the challenges of interference from the IN LAWS and THAT would be so fun to read.

The fact that Remy was ever butthurt about Rogue being on the X-Men is nonsense. He was elated and proud of her. I can fully understand MISSING her and, over time, feeling like he wasn't a priority BUT BUT BUT Remy went to OTHERWORLD (which was inescapable at the time if I recall correctly???) and then he got killed and eventually they were reunited (ummm spoiler alert?) so I could actually see ROGUE being legitimately upset about his agreeing to enter Otherworld knowing the consequences of that choice (Potentially not coming back, nor being resurrected) without discussing it with her first. I mean, I would be upset if I were her. But then again, this is SUPER HERO LIFE, so who knows how far the tolerance and understanding meter bends?

Fokken, I put partial blame on you for my disappointment with this first issue You created that excellent fan art with the extended Brotherhood family and it gave me a taste of what a series with Rogue's family could be like