Following the major X-Men crossover, X-Manhunt, Uncanny X-Men was due for a “Cool off” issue, but what is so cool about Uncanny X-Men is that when your book is focused on character interactions, there’s really no such thing AS a “cool off” issue, since that is the driving force of the series period. Think back to the classic Chris Claremont era of the X-Men, and how issues like “Professor X is a jerk!” were just as major an issue as anything else, because the character was king. That is the case with Gail Simone’s Uncanny X-Men, as well, and so there really isn’t a huge difference between this issue and every other issue of the series, outside the clear spotlight on Gambit, of course, introducing a mysterious old foe of his named The Vig.
Uncanny X-Men #12 is from writer Gail Simone, fill-in artist Gavin Guidry, colorist Mattew Wilson, and letterer Clayton Cowles, and it shows the growth that Gambit has made as a character, while also continuing the plot development of The Outliers, the four young mutants who have been taken in by Rogue and her team to train (and HOW they are trained is a major part of this issue).
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How does having an artist actually from New Orleans help this issue of Uncanny X-Men?
As noted, Gavin Guidry is actually FROM the New Orleans area, and so I imagine that that would bring a certain sense of versimillitude to the issue, but honestly, I don’t know that there really is anything special about the book from that perspective, but what IS clear is that Guidry does an excellent job on this issue with a great mixture of character expression and fluidity of movement. Gambit is a character that should never feel like he’s TOO firmly planted on the ground, and Guidry nails that about him, both in scenes in the present day, and also in the major scenes set in the past.
One of the hardest things to do in comic books is to depict any small scale movements. Comic books often live in the big moments, but it is the little ones that often separate the talent. Just think back to Watchmen, and all of the little tiny moments that Dave Gibbons was doing throughout that series. Similarly, Guidry did an excellent job with those little moments, like having Gambit demonstrate to everyone else how to peel a crawfish. It’s so smart of Simone to even INCLUDE a scene like that in the issue. It gives the book so much more local flavor to include stuff like that.
As noted in the last issue, even in the middle of a crossover, Simone found a way to work in some nice character moments with Rogue and the Outliers, where she has Gambit actively injure Jitter, one of the Outliers, while the team is training, to help let them know that their training isn’t a game, they’re training for stuff that could actually get them killed, and Rogue wanted to introduce that sense of true, random danger to the mix, as you never know when, say, the Reavers might attack.
In this issue, Rogue is driving herself crazy with guilt over her stunt, but she learns that it really has seemed to compel the Outliers to train harder (even Deathdream wants to learn how to fight), but at the same time, she still apologizes, because she feels like she went about it the wrong way. It’s a great piece of character work all over.
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Does The Vig fit into Gambit’s past well?
Okay, as to The VIg. The idea of a criminal manipulating events so that he can get his hooks into someone that he thinks he can bleed for years is a great concept. The design of Vic, with a nod to the alligators of New Orleans, was great. I really liked the concept a lot.
However, I think we all know how often comic book writers like to pull in “Mysterious important person who I have never mentioned before,” and, for the most part, I think it is totally fine to do so, but I think that The Vig had just a bit TOO much of an impact on Gambit for us to have only met him now. Furthermore, I don’t think it says much about Gambit that he’s been paying off this guy for all of these years until NOW?
If this same exact story had come out in, say, 1993 or whatever, it would make perfect sense, as Gambit was just getting used to being part of a superhero team. But to have him still be paying off The Vig 25% for all of these years with the X-Men strikes me as a bit of a step backwards for Gambit. It’s great that he moved past him now, of course, but it seems strange that he wouldn’t have moved past such an onerous setup YEARS ago, especially based on what we know about Gambit. Had it been a case of him blowing The Vig off for years, and his return to New Orleans bringing the Vig back into play, I could totally buy that, but Gambit notes that he’s been paying the Vig off for years. It doesn’t quite work for me (also, an entire charged deck of cards is famously what Gambit used to slow down Gladiator, one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, it seems like overkill for someone like The Vig).
Taken out of context, the Gambit/Vig scenes were still excellent, and Guidry drew the heck out of the issue, and I still love the spotlight on character work (all the Outliers stuff was outstanding), but it definitely threw me to see Gambit learning a lesson I would have assumed he would have learned years ago.
Source: Marvel
