After a very sluggish start, John Layman and Georges Jeanty's Gambit title is finding its feet.  Now that the plot is finally underway, the book finally has the momentum it needs.

If you're going to do a straightforward Gambit story, without trying anything too clever or deep, then the formula is pretty simple - action, thieving, fighting, and Gambit being obnoxiously charming.  The last couple of issues have pretty much delivered on that score.

Granted, it's ridiculously contrived.  Gambit likes throwing cards.  So we have a story where Gambit tries to steal a magical deck of cards, assisted by a friend with the bizarre and unlikely ability to receive psychic messages while playing card games.  One card-related plot device is a happy coincidence; two is pushing it a little bit.  But the story gets away with it by playing Dan's bizarre abilities partly for laughs; he's irrationally terrified of playing solitaire, so we get a lovely scene of Dan playing a baffled Gambit at Go Fish while surrounded by unconscious henchmen.

So, yes, it's a bit cheesy.  But then, that's Gambit for you.    I still question whether an essentially generic Gambit story is the best way to open a new solo title - it tends to suggest that nobody's got any ideas for the character, besides same old same old - but at least it's now being done rather well.  It's not particularly outstanding in any way, but Gambit's fans should be happier with the book now.

Wolverine turns up at the end, evidently foreshadowing a guest starring role next month.  This raises an interesting problem which has come up in several of the solo titles - Nightcrawler has Storm hanging around, Rogue has Gambit, Jubilee has Wolverine in upcoming issues, and Wolverine has... well, most of the X-Men at one point or another.  On the one hand, the other X-Men are the most logical people to use as supporting characters - after all, they all live under the same roof and they've got a lot in common.  On the other hand, there are more than enough X-Men stories already, and if the solo titles overuse the rest of the X-Men mythos then it casts even more doubt on why they exist in the first place.  Which, let's face it, is strongly questionable in any event.

Still, this isn't at all bad, judged for what it is - a straightforward Gambit story.

Rating: B

back | continue