They create a lot of hate from fans when they are in one book not because they are toxic characters but because most of their writers are garbage. They were not toxic in Asmus. They were not even toxic at the end of Legacy as Carey made it clear that Gambit would leave her alone and let Rogue come back to her. So the issue I have with your statement is they could have been written perfectly fine together as friends or apart if writers had simply left things as Carey, Asmus, had written. Liu and David simply followed that formula while people like Duggan and Soule did not.
If you want to claim they are toxic, show me the convo where Gambit says he was lying about what he said in Legacy? Show me the convo where he said he was full of sh*t regarding what he said at the end of Asmus? No such story exists. This sudden pining for Rogue or even Rogue wanting to kiss Red Skull Gambit was completely pulled out of thin air and simply is not supported by anything that happened in Legacy or the solo.
In short, KT based her book on a false premise. A false premise she did not create but a false premise she is clearly knowledgeable enough to realize exists because she read Legacy and the solo so she knows nothing Duggan and Soule wrote is supported by what Carey and Asmus wrote. She simply did a beautiful job with that false premise but in effect, her story is based on a lie. Gambit and Rogue were not toxic. The were not pining for each other and Asmus proved they could handle things with no hard feelings.
The point about sales is that while I agree they are iconic, that status is exaggerated. If they were as iconic as Romy fans believe the book simply would have sold more and wouldn't have had sales that completely plummeted after the first issue. That plummet is evidence of what I am saying. I personally know a few Gambit fans who read the solo, Liu, and David and were completely shocked by what they read in issue 1. Why? Because the casual Gambit fan isn't picking up dumb cameos like Duggan and they aren't reading books where it is clear Gambit is not a focus. So they read 1 wondering how the f did the same Gambit who said what he said to Rogue at the end of Asmus and was trying to get with Cece and Polaris is suddenly back to begging Rogue for some a** in a way that borders on sexual harassment. Casual fans simply don't rate cameos and awful characterization as highly as you or KT did and quite frankly many of them bailed long before KT was able to turn this around. That was her fatal mistake. Issue 1 pretty much ruined the experience for a lot of people because again, the premise of issue 1 is a lie and runs counter to years of development. All because she decided to focus on garbage Gambit appearances in Duggan and Soule.
It is so cool that yoy know what books should be ignored and what shouldn't be when you are writing #1 for new book. Cameo and story is s*** so it shouldn't be used or must be ignored. With the same logic writers should ignor all stories that they didn't like like it never happend.
They were toxic in Asmus. Some readers dropped third arc because Rogue was in it. The same way you was creating hater posts at cbr when R&G was announced 3 months before even #1. I don't remeber really but I think your posts about Astonishing wasn't when Rogue was announced either.
About sales I can't say because I don't know how it works. Marvel created just 38k and it was outsold and went to second printing. Should it be better? Definitely. But I am sure that if Gambit and Rogue were not written as crap before then sales would be better. End if they were not toxic then posters would be not writing hater posts and jusr tried this book.
I am not going to look for something to show you. I told you before that I am not interested in this. They were toxic before R&G. Now not so much but still are.
If you don't think that they are toxic then I am happy to see when you won't continue to make negative posts if they will be announced for one new team book.