Previously On X-Men: A Tale of Two Gambits — ‘Uncanny X-Men’ #33 And ‘X-Men Of Apocalypse Omega’

Journey with me back to the heady days of August 5th, when one Gambit began his exorcism journey while another decided to deceive his wife to feel good about himself. Guess which is featured in the better comic?

Uncanny X-Men #33

By Gail Simone, Luciano Vecchio, Matthew Wilson, Clayton Cowles

Rogue and Gambit seek the help of Gabriel the Devil-Hunter

• Gabriel the Devil-Hunter first appeared in Haunt of Horror (vol. 2) #2, roughly one year after The Exorcist was one of the biggest movies in the country (never say Marvel was above chasing a fad or something hitting big in the zeitgeist). His longest run is probably as a supporting character in the early 1990s Hellstorm series.
• He is not the same character as the Devil-Slayer, which is totally who I thought he was when it was first mentioned he would be appearing in this arc.
• It’s unclear how Rogue even knows who Gabriel is or where/how to find him, let alone why she is taking Gambit to him vs. plenty of the other magical practitioners she is familiar with (such as Illyana, who has a sword which breaks magic spells…), other than the fact that Simone apparently likes using characters pulled from the most obscure corners of the Marvel Universe (which, can relate).
• Monet accidentally bossing the St. Juniors around like the help is consistent with her upper class upbringing, but also, it suggests Rogue gave her and Quicksilver absolutely zero context about the mission she foisted on them.
• As with their reaction to Rogue and Gambit’s departure in the previous issue, the Outliers are acting like Rogue and Gambit are dead and not a work trip.
• Technically, Calico is correct that Quicksilver isn’t a mutant; though he was said to be one for decades, in Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #5 it was established that he and Scarlet Witch are orphans who were given powers by the High Evolutionary, part of Marvel’s effort to separate the characters from the world of the X-Men due to the pre-“Disney buys Fox” movie rights that kept the X-Men and their world out of the MCU.
• Monet references Jubilee’s brief stint as a prisoner in Graymalkin, from issues #7-8.
• Thenassil Tormenter of Thieves is a new character/demon.
• Thenassil says Gabriel is holding a copy of the Darkhold; the original is currently merged with Scarlet Witch
• Sabretooth died in Wolverine (vol. 7) #50, on Krakoa, so its not clear why he’s wandering near the Dark Artery.
• Feral and Rusty (Firefist) Collins both died (unceremoniously) in X-Factor (vol. 5) #1. Like Sabretooth, they have no established connection to the Dark Artery and, presumably, their bodies aren’t interred there.

A decent enough start to the “Wild Ride” arc. I’m still a little fuzzy on the relationship between Gambit, the Eye of Agamotto that is possessing him, and Thenassil, but Vecchio’s art does a lot to smooth out the rougher storytelling edges.

Wade Wilson: Deadpool #7

By Benjamin Percy, Alex Lins, Alex Sinclair & Joe Sabino.

Deadpool ends the threat of the Badpools by blowing them all up.

Not a ton of notes or annotations on this one, it’s pretty straightforward and self-contained. But I do want to shoutout Lins’ art. He was clearly chosen for this story due to the raggedy, horror-esque style he gives the figures, and while that doesn’t do a lot to excite me in terms of the figurework, it fits the Badpools wonderfully.

More importantly, Lins does some fun sequential storytelling stuff throughout the issue — basic stuff, like having Deadpool walk through three panels in which the background is one consistent image but Deadpool changes position in each panel, that nevertheless helps ground the more whacky grotesquerie of the Badpools.

X-Men of Apocalypse Omega #1

By Jeph Loeb, Simone Di Meo & Tyler Smith

In which Age of Apocalypse Gambit and “regular” Gambit switch places, and I feel bad for Jeph Loeb’s wife.

• All “Omega” and “#1” nonsense aside, this is essentially the sixth and final issue of the series.
• The X-Men are alerted to the fight between the various AoA characters by Cerebro, but I don’t believe any of the disparate groups have a Cerebro anymore (in X-Men United, they pointedly use the Empathy Engine to locate mutants).
• I guess Sabretooth and Wild Child are sticking around in the “main”/616 universe, presumably because Sabretooth is currently dead; that said, the idea of a heroic Sabretooth was already done before, in the wake of the “AXIS” and the inversion (Sabretooth was one of the characters who stayed inverted past the end of the story).
• 616 Gambit and AoA Gambit swap places at the end of the story, with regular Gambit I guess going back to hang out in a dystopia for awhile while AoA Gambit essentially rapes his wife and stars in the upcoming Gambit: Gone miniseries. Needless to say, this is beyond dumb.

The whole point of this miniseries being a setup to another miniseries is both maddening and pretty typical of comics these days, but let’s be honest, it pales in comparison to the ridiculous decision to swap Gambits. This sort of thing (“haha you think I’m one person but I’m actually another person!”) used to be a lot more common before the troubling implications when doing so involves romancing someone started to be acknowledged more. Loeb is certainly an old-school enough writer that I can see him not even considering that, but someone in editorial should have stepped in and put a kibosh on it.

Putting aside all the icky implications of Gambit letting, essentially, a stranger who looks like him hang out with his wife for the express purpose of letting that stranger know what it feels like to be loved by Rogue without telling his wife (if you can), it simply invites too many other problems for too little gain. Was Simone made aware of this? Is she going to have to reflect it in her book (probably not)? Does regular Gambit know how to get back to his home reality?

Is anyone going to bother to show that, or has this whole venture been so thoroughly walled off from the rest of the line that no one will bother? Is AoA Sabretooth can tell the difference between the two Gambits, it stands to reason Wolverine — who lives in a house with Gambit — would as well. It just doesn’t work.

I’ll give the series this: when it launched, I questioned what the point (beyond shameless nostalgia) of it was, but now at the end, it has answered that question. Yet now I kind of wish it hadn’t…