Gambit returned last month with a new series, which means it’s time to look back at one of his old ones and see if his story’s improved any. Spoilers ahead!
Fifteen years ago, the Ragin Cajun starred in a four-issue miniseries written by Howard Mackie with art by Klaus Janson. It opened with a two page, fold-out recap of the story’s four main characters and Gambit’s recent history. The first page goes on to show three characters watching the same meteor fall at night from the Vatican, New Orleans, and New York City. I’m not a professional astronomer, but I’m pretty sure that’s impossible.
From there, the three all decide to recover whatever was falling from where it landed in Miami. Meanwhile, in Miami, Gambit is attempting to steal an expensive cross from a Cuban drug dealer because…well, he never says why. He gets caught, and during his escape, he finds a beautiful naked lady on the beach. He’s never seen her before, but somehow knows she’s looking for him. What a coincidence! Meanwhile, the character from New York City (the villain) appears in Miami and watches Gambit continue his escape with the lady. He remarks Gambit to be exactly what he needs because Gambit is “Resourceful and of a questionable moral composition.” I guess you would have to travel from NYC all the way to Miami to find that kinda guy. The pursuers corner Gambit at a pier, and shoot him until he falls into the water. At this point, the naked woman has mysteriously vanished. Gambit has a vision as he drifts off to die in the water… Also, this whole issue was peppered with a subplot of characters in the Vatican acting mysterious.
The writing is a bit heavy handed in this issue. More than once, characters outright say how they’re feeling or what’s motivating them. It’s especially heavy when there’s no actual motivation beyond the plot requiring it. LeBeau narrates for us in awkwardly angled, card-shaped boxes. It’s distracting, because the size limits how much text can be in each box, and sentences are broken up to fit. It makes the narrative seem choppy. The issue also assumes the reader knows Gambit is supposed to be the hero, but does nothing at all to actually show it. He steals an item for no reason, runs from its guards, gives his jacket to a naked lady, and then gets shot. Why should anyone care if he survives?
Janson’s art is very dated. Most of his faces look the same, but his over-the-top hairstyles keep characters distinct. Some of his poses are awkward. In one panel, one character is talking to a wall while Gambit listens from beside her. Later, the direction of the wind seems to be “whatever will cause the naked woman’s hair to cover her naughty bits.” It switches from sideways to straight-up to forward, and at one point seems to coming from multiple directions at once. Maybe hair generates its own air currents when it has as much volume as a woman’s body?
Overall, I’d give this issue a 4.0 rating: Browse only if you really, really like Gambit.
More recently, Gambit returned in a third on-going series from the writing-art team of James Asmus and Clay Mann. Despite debuting in the midst of AvX, it doesn’t even hint at the event. What’s that about? Like the previous #1, “Gambit” (2012) is about a theft. Unlike the previous #1, Gambit has no ally (although he seems to make one during the course of events), no villain besides the one he’s stealing from, and there are no references to the Vatican.
The first few pages make an attempt to introduce Gambit’s character, but like Mackie before hime, Asmus assumes the reader is already familiar. There’s mention of Rogue, Wolverine’s school, and Gambit’s role as a teacher, but none of that actually explained or important. Gambit attends a charity fundraiser thrown by a rich man who funds villains, and successfully steals…something…from him. Along the way, he makes a (very tattooed) friend and uses some ridiculously advanced glasses and gloves. When it’s all said and done, LeBeau goes home to get a closer look at what he’s stolen. It pops open, and a starfish jumps out and burrows into his chest. No, I’m not making that up.
Continued belowThe writing is a bit more subtle than the 1997 issue, but only a bit. The book goes to great lengths to let readers know it’s not going to take itself too seriously by having Gambit muse on his “costume” and some chatter at the party, then proceeds to be fairly serious. Gambit’s motivation for the theft seems to be “I’m doing good deeds, so I should probably have some fun and steal anything I can from this random, rich, questionable guy.” Gambit admits he wasn’t sure the guy was bad until he saw the contents of the vault. There’s enough of a connection to be made with the character to warrant checking out the next issue, but then that starfish jumps out of nowhere. Twists are important in a serial medium, but good twists make the reader say “Whoa!”, not “Wait. What?”
Overall, I’d give this issue a 5.5 rating: Browse, and the extra points are due more to art than writing.
There have been other “Gambit” titles over the years, but I was unable to find them (cheaply or at all). If you’ve read them, feel free to throw your judgments in the comments.
Final Standoff: 2012 > 1997
