Mr & Mrs X #6: Return of the Ex

The story itself this issue was as usual exceptional and true to form for Kelly Thompson and shows why she is so adept at lacing copious amounts of humor into her drama. Even without the pull of space there was plenty to see and there wasn’t even a hint of this being a filler issue, which was my first fear. From the full to bursting guest stars to the incidental action, which Kelly doesn’t shy away from by making some of it off stage and yet still manages to engage the audience. The fact that almost the only image we get during the opening of the fight scene of Gambit in action was his flying past the window as Bobby and Laura make idle chit chat was brilliantly understated and almost slapstick in it’s execution.
This set up the feel of the whole issue for me too and as Remy and Belladonna have a great moment to catch up in the aftermath the stage is set for some wonderful Film Noir drama. Also the conversation between Rogue and Magneto was equal parts dizzying in it’s visual perspective and yet touching in that she finds she can confide in him and he is man enough to admonish her for not trusting Gambit and encourages her to open up to him.
And what better way to end things than a good old captive audience. Let it not be said that Kelly doesn’t have a theme here. Ever since her debut with the miniseries she has put the couple through the wringer and it’s fun to see the myriad ways she drops them into perilous situations. Looks like she hasn’t lost her Mojo…..
And so on to the art. I’ve been loving the explosive BOOM imagery which seems to have been the trademark throughout the last arc. As such the loss of Travis Lanham on lettering this issue was felt and at first I got to thinking there was less bang for my buck. And also the same was apparent with the role of David and Nayoung as guest artist and colorist…at first. Though the colors felt much more natural for the homely environment of the newly wed couple’s abode, the art took a little more getting used to. I had a slight issue with the face of Jean-Luc as he enters the apartment and also Bobby’s yoga-esqe stance as he exits stage right as well.

However even though the faces were a little off at first I soon warmed to it on the image of Rogue and her determination not to let the uninvited guests ruin her party and food preparation. And the scene showing the open plan room with the milling around of the guests was an exercise in how to show a crowd without just drawing the usual heroes in their costumes interacting without actually interacting as we are used to seeing in those situations. Aside from the cleverly unstaged look of the gathered friends in a relaxed environment and the way they are set out naturally as the party it truly is meant to be, this for me reminded me of the Technical Graphics lessons of my school days and was a great use of space.
And the art gave breathing space for the chatter and even allowed some well deserved nostalgia with talk of the picnic and the pie incident. And as already mentioned the discombobulation in perspective of the discussion between Mags and Rogue helped as did the Film Noir set up of Gambit and his ex.
Similarly the fight scene was interesting in that it didn’t take up the lions share of the story which allowed the personal interplay to take center stage. Well done on that score and everyone involved ensured this was the focus of the narrative and the fight, which was of course incidental, didn’t drown out the main story here, which was the interaction between the couple and their extended family and old flames.