Originally Posted by
DearMachine
As the issue opens, our heroes find themselves in a sexy but familiar predicament. Rogue and Gambit are hung upside down over a pit of gators. Gambit has lockpicks somewhere in his pants (presumably the same place he hides that bo staff), and needs an assist to get them.
Before matters can get too hot, though, Mojo intervenes. He approves of the heat, but hates that he has seen it all before. He wants something new and innovative and exxxiting, and has Majordomo roll out the Wheel of Genre. He hopes for clowns, which he swears are a genre the way he does them. Instead, he gets noir.
One "lights, camera, action" later, Gambit and Rogue are starring in Honeymoonlighting. P.I. Gambit is narrating in his office, when Rogue walks in, all legs and leather and sass.
Spiral rightly points out that, uh, a reboot isn't exactly new or innovative, but, with the logic of every movie producer, Mojo is all about the reboot. He calls it a "new take on an old favorite," which mostly means that he's replaced shoulder pads with skintight leather.
However, as with many reboots, Gambit and Rogue don't seem able to break out of the loop of familiarity. On their mission to obtain the Coeur Sinueux, they find themselves in a vent, in a series of panels that are drawn essentially identically to those in the Rogue & Gambit mini-series. In this case, though, the vent goes straight up ten stories. Fortunately, Gambit has a tiny grappling hook (lol). After a kiss for luck, they go flying up the shaft.
They land in a room of goons who are guarding a treasure under a glass dome. Gambit and Rogue take down them down, and then Gambit goes after the prize. The Coeur Sinueux turns out to be a bird. It's obviously a Maltese Falcon joke, i.e. the most famous, birdy MacGuffin ever. In this case, though, it's a real bird: a small blue bird that twitters in Gambit's hand. It's very Snow White and I'll talk about its significance in a moment.
At this point, though, Rogue freaks out. She begins to see through Mojo's illusions, and have the horrifying feeling that she is out of control of her powers. She tells Gambit that she has to get away from him, but it's too late. She drains him dry and leaves him a husk that crumbles into dust.
Mojo is pissed. As endings go, it is not sexy or leather-clad, and he wants no part of it at all. Spiral is concerned that there is something really wrong with Rogue and her powers, and points out that her brain wave function, mindscope, etc. are different, but Mojo brushes her concerns away. After all, Gambit and Rogue got 6 and 8 on a recent social media poll, and are the only famous X-couple who are still both alive and together. He needs them. Spiral backs down once Mojo threatens to strip her powers and return her to the slave pits.
Mojo returns to the Wheel of Genre, and spins up another idea. This time, it is a fairytale with a roguish prince and an untouchable princess. The scene opens with Rogue sleeping in an enchanted castle, and a hooded figure climbing through the window. The figure wakes Rogue with a kiss, whispering for her to "come back to me." But it's not Gambit... It's Longshot?! Surprise recast!
Final thoughts: MMX #7 was a very fun issue.
I've always enjoyed Elseworlds and AUs, and think Mojo provides a good opportunity to do them in canon. Honeymoonlighting was more of a light reskin than a full-on AU, but it was an enjoyable imagining of Gambit and Rogue in a slightly noir world, and showcased their chemistry beautifully. I have never watched Moonlighting, so any specific jokes there may have been lost on me. Obviously, feel free to point them out, and any other references I may have missed.
Mojo also allows for meta commentary and fourth-wall breaking, and I thought that was executed very well. There were good jokes about Hollywood's love of a reboot (P.S. please watch She-Ra if you haven't), and about the state of the X-Books. I found it funny and telling that all of Mojo's "new" ideas were simply retreads of the past: slinging G & R upside, making them crawl through a vent, hooking Rogue up with Prince Longshot. Also, I was especially amused by the reference to the social media poll.
I'm intrigued by where the story is going with the blue bird in particular. Mojo says he didn't include it in the story, and it obviously prefigures the fairy tale in the next story. There's nothing more Disney than a blue bird perched on a person's finger singing a song. So, does that suggest Mojo isn't in full control? Does that suggest there's another hand controlling the narrative and wheel of genre? And does that have anything to do with Rogue's unusual mental patterns?
In short, it's a good first issue of the new arc, and I look forward to seeing where it goes next.