Uncanny X-Men #23: Time For An Intervention

When everyone’s favorite Cajun starts sneaking out at night, it’s natural to assume he’s got thieves guild business or some old score to settle. But when he starts hunting in the Louisiana bayou under moonlight, it’s natural for his teammates to be concerned.

Nearly the entire story of Uncanny’s 23rd issue focuses on Gambit and the consequences of using the Left Eye of Agomotto as your personal taxi around the globe. Up until now, Gambit has shown no major signs of burgeoning madness since the dragon’s warning in Uncanny X-Men #13. However, in issue #23 he’s confronted by the other Louisiana X-Men for sneaking off at night for a “midnight snack,” as it were. The thinly disguised intervention for addiction here adds some much-needed nuance to the issue, since it primarily focuses on action. The writing is enough to get readers through the issue and into the next, and it does do some character building, but very little beyond that is tested, leading the issue to feel closer to filler than a starter to a new story arc.

David Marquez draws said action very well, as usual. From popped-out Wolverine claws to exploding playing cards, the action has a lot of flair and color. The colorist of Uncanny X-Men, Matthew Wilson, did not drop the ball for this issue either. A lot of the art does leverage the sheer darkness of the bayou at midnight to darken plenty of areas so that the art team can focus more on the designs of the characters themselves. There is also a section towards the beginning of the issue that was drawn in a very retro style, which I found interesting, albeit highly disconnected in tone from the rest of the issue.