Gambit: Wanted #1: No Good Deed…

Wedging new stories into continuity is not always a simple business. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Gambit and Bullseye have crossed paths before in Gambit #17 and if you ignore the fact that that in that encounter Bullseye kind of alludes to the fact that that is their actual first in person meeting (maybe he’ll get a bump on the head and get amnesia, these things happen), you’ll be fine.

What I do like about this story is that it’s set very early on in Gambit’s encounter with the team he will eventually become part of and that well he’s still not sure about this whole X-Men business at this point. Claremont does a smart 3 page recap to paint the scene before whisking us off to New Orleans where this untold adventure begins. There’s Mardi Gras, casinos, gambling, thievery, a new villain that wants Gambit’s head for interfering in a high stakes card game and pulling his sister out of it before she could lose big time. Fun caper stuff really. Then a goodly portion of the book is a throw down fight between Gambit and Bullseye (hired by aforementioned lady villain to go after Gambit).

Claremont’s internal monologue is the driving force behind the narrative here and really the most engaging thing about the issue for me. Gambit’s always walked the middle road and this is really the starting point of him trying to be better, trying to do the right thing regardless of consequences because it’s the right thing to do. After solidly beating Bullseye in a fight and leaving him for dead, he makes a choice and wrestles with what his choice means as he rescues the unrepentant killer from a watery grave. For me this is the best part of the story past the action. Claremont showing a Gambit trying to be the better person and why he ultimately does end up an X-Men down the road. Actions have consequences though and I’m sure Gambit’s choice will have dire ones as the series progresses.

Robert Gill, who entertained us on several X-Force issues, is on art duty, Bryan Valenza on colors, and Ariana Maher on letters. The issue looks and feels like a Gambit book, pink narration boxes with Remy’s inner thoughts as he moves through his world. Gill does solid interpersonal moments and then a great dynamic fight scene that runs ten pages of the book between Gambit and Bullseye, Maher spaces Gambit’s on going monologue perfectly within the action and Valenza’s colors are bright and draw your eyes through every panel along with Gill’s art. Also Remy has good hair on nearly every page he’s in. This may sound like a silly throw away remark but Gambit fans like it when he has good hair – signed, Me, Gambit fans. It’s an solid steady first installment from everyone on the team that has plenty action and enough hook to keep people reading.