Topic: Mr. & Mrs. X #1 (Spoilers)

[Berry]

Jubilee is leading the charge for something old, new, borrowed & blue.  Psylocke gives Rogue the earrings that are antiques for old, Jean uses TK to pick the bouquet for new, Kitty has Rogue borrow the veil and for blue... Mystique shows up.  She’s been there the whole time posing as Agent Brand. 


Bla bla bla, they talk, they hug. 


Rogue walks down the isle, he zero ins on the collar.  He tells her that he heard Mystique is there and asks what horrible awful terrible things is she going to do. 


Then it cuts to after the ceremony, Bishop asks Gambit if he’s going to steal the honeymoon too (yasss!  #TopTierThief)  But Gambit is like “god no, I know how to plan a honeymoon”.  Jubilee seems horrified that he’s dragging Rogue to New Orleans for the honeymoon, and Gambit can’t believe none of them have come around to understand he’s a total romantic at heart.  Meanwhile Rogue is talking to Beast about the collar asking if it could be made smaller and she points out wearing the thing gives her a migraine (which is new to me, has there always been side effects to the collars or is KT just establishing another reason she’s avoid the collars?)


Gambit & Rogue honeymoon.  There’s a lot of implied sex, bed sheets covering all the right parts to keep the comic within code.  Rogue laments why come out to space if all they’re gonna do is hang out in bed.  They then have more sex.  There’s a naked tickle fight (Gambit wins).  Kitty calls, Gambit gets roped into a mission, so in frustration he drops the bedsheet and Kitty pretends to be upset about it. 


They go find what’s-her-name and the package, there’s a fight scene.  Rogue ends up touching another character whose name escapes me and phases through the ship.  Gambit flips his s*** because she has no gear to allow her to breathe outside the ship.  She suddenly blinks away in a burst of light.  She comes to calling out to Gambit, turns out she’s with Deadpool who saved her and opened the package - it’s a Phoenix Egg (whatever that actually does, I still have no idea).


It’s nice to see Gambit & Rogue functioning like a team.  Yes they raze each other, but she does defend Gambit to Bobby, Kurt & Mystique at different points through the issue.   All in all, thought it was a solid start.  Yes, the wedding stuff part focuses more of Rogue than Gambit but it’s not jarring. Gambit got his honeymoon, he’s happy y’all.

[belay]

When the book was announced and they mentioned about that special package I knew it at that very moment that it was the Phoenix egg. .
I loved the first issue very much and it is a great start. Oscar's art was also good but all the women he draws look the same.
The book was really fun and can't wait for the next issue. Deadpool involvement will make things very interesting.

[remydat]

It was a fun issue and in isolation a good start to the series for the reasons mentioned above.


My concern in all of this still remains though. Rogue getting more focus made sense and Rogue ending up with Deadpool made sense.  But therein lies the problem.  A writer can always write good and logical reasons for a character getting focus and right now we are moving from a Rogue centric first issue (albeit well done) to a next issue where Rogue will be with Deadpool and Gambit will be with a bunch of barely used characters.  I know if I were a writer, which group I would focus on.


It just feels like Gambit has already been relegated to side character in his own book as I expect a lot of Rogue and Deadpool banter until Gambit finds them.  Maybe I will be proven wrong but time will tell.




P.S. 2 small minor points that felt a bit off.  First, I thought it was a bit too contrived that Mystique randomly deciding she was going to attend Kitty and Collosus' wedding and then being super calm and ok about the fact it ended up being Gambit and Rogue. 


Second, I thought Bobby and Nightcrawler's dialogue was off.  They focus should have been the fact they were closer to Rogue than Gambit as a means to explain why they were on her team so to speak.  Instead the dialogue made it seem like they had issues with Gambit which is just odd.  They both have been on teams with him with Bobby and Gambit most recently during Liu's AXM and Kurt currently with X-men Red and while they aren't best buds, I just don't see them saying what they did about Gambit.  Perhaps Bobby I can understand a bit if you ignore Liu and go back decades but certainly not Kurt.

[purplevit]

Loved it.
Issue was really good and so much fun.
Finally Remy at home and don't feel as loner. It felt like old X family. All cameos were really good.

Art was good. The only problem is women faces that all are the same.
Also it annoyed me that Guard after fight had no skratches at all. Like punches and explosions did nothing. Also artist's fault I think.
Sad a little that Jean-Luc and Tante weren't there but book can`t be perfect.


Overall itis a great and beautiful start. Can't wait for more.

[belay]

Loved it.
Issue was really good and so much fun.
Funally Remy at home and don't feel as loner. It feld like old X family. All cameos were really good.


Art was good. The only problem is women faces that all are the same.
Also it annoyed me that Guard after fight had no skretches at all. Like punches and explosions did nothing. Also artist's fault I think.
Also sad that Jean-Luc and Tante weren't there.


Overall itis a great start. Can't wait for more.

I did have a problem with how Oscar draws the female character's faces. The way he drew Mystique made her look super young but still it was a beautiful looking book so I will give him a pass and the honeymoon scene was super hot.

[purplevit]

I agree that art was beutiful so it didn`t really bothered me a lot.
Perez and Marquez just made a high standarts for Romy art.

[DonPriceTag]

It was dope. No real issues from me outside of ONE. I think Mystique was a bit too restrained, but this probably wasnt issue for her to really air out frustrations. I figured she'd be there, it'd be too hard for her not to. I was hoping for something a bit more and I believe Kelly saw the "shallowness" of her presence as she basically inferred as much, not believing her reason for attending. Perhaps it'll be addressed later like; "What Mystique was really up to...". I'm surprised they let her use so much nakedness throughout this issue and I loved the space setting. I hope there's more to the story as to how Gambit was able to get a ship on loan from Alpha Flight. As far as I'm aware, he doesnt have any real connections via the X-Men to any of them. Perhaps he used his less official channels with the Guild? Who knows, hopefully it's brought up. I also didn't know Alpha Flight had ships capable of light-speed travel, but what exactly do I know about Alpha Flight these days? Not much. I did say I only had one concern, but another isn't big. The art was fine, dont get me wrong. Some of the best out of the X-Men in a long time. But faces' could have been... less round in places? There was a panel where a lot of the characters looked too similar. Other than this (these), it was almost flawless. If Astonishing got a 3.9 out of me, this one gets a 4.5/5. Stroooong start. Got the Ramos variant BTW. Very happy with it.

[purplevit]

It was a fun issue and in isolation a good start to the series for the reasons mentioned above.


My concern in all of this still remains though. Rogue getting more focus made sense and Rogue ending up with Deadpool made sense.  But therein lies the problem.  A writer can always write good and logical reasons for a character getting focus and right now we are moving from a Rogue centric first issue (albeit well done) to a next issue where Rogue will be with Deadpool and Gambit will be with a bunch of barely used characters.  I know if I were a writer, which group I would focus on.


It just feels like Gambit has already been relegated to side character in his own book as I expect a lot of Rogue and Deadpool banter until Gambit finds them.  Maybe I will be proven wrong but time will tell.




P.S. 2 small minor points that felt a bit off.  First, I thought it was a bit too contrived that Mystique randomly deciding she was going to attend Kitty and Collosus' wedding and then being super calm and ok about the fact it ended up being Gambit and Rogue. 


Second, I thought Bobby and Nightcrawler's dialogue was off.  They focus should have been the fact they were closer to Rogue than Gambit as a means to explain why they were on her team so to speak.  Instead the dialogue made it seem like they had issues with Gambit which is just odd.  They both have been on teams with him with Bobby and Gambit most recently during Liu's AXM and Kurt currently with X-men Red and while they aren't best buds, I just don't see them saying what they did about Gambit.  Perhaps Bobby I can understand a bit if you ignore Liu and go back decades but certainly not Kurt.

I felt that Bobby/Kurt panel was odd too but I didn't really cared about it. Maybe because Gambit's team already had everyone who should be there.
Neither of them should be near Gambit but it was strange to hear such things from Kurt. Not so much from Bobby.

[purplevit]

It was dope. No real issues from me outside of ONE. I think Mystique was a bit too restrained, but this probably wasnt issue for her to really air out frustrations. I figured she'd be there, it'd be too hard for her not to. I was hoping for something a bit more and I believe Kelly saw the "shallowness" of her presence as she basically inferred as much, not believing her reason for attending. Perhaps it'll be addressed later like; "What Mystique was really up to...". I'm surprised they let her use so much nakedness throughout this issue and I loved the space setting. I hope there's more to the story as to how Gambit was able to get a ship on loan from Alpha Flight. As far as I'm aware, he doesnt have any real connections via the X-Men to any of them. Perhaps he used his less official channels with the Guild? Who knows, hopefully it's brought up. I also didn't know Alpha Flight had ships capable of light-speed travel, but what exactly do I know about Alpha Flight these days? Not much. I did say I only had one concern, but another isn't big. The art was fine, dont get me wrong. Some of the best out of the X-Men in a long time. But faces' could have been... less round in places? There was a panel where a lot of the characters looked too similar. Other than this (these), it was almost flawless. If Astonishing got a 3.9 out of me, this one gets a 4.5/5. Stroooong start. Got the Ramos variant BTW. Very happy with it.

Maybe he won Space jet from poker game with Alpha flight)
Would love to see such panel, lol

[remydat]

I felt that Bobby/Kurt panel was odd too but I didn't really cared about it. Maybe because Gambit's team already had everyone who should be there.
Neither of them should be near Gambit but it was strange to hear such things from Kurt. Not so much from Bobby.

Yeah it was just a minor point for me.  Like I said, overall it was a solid issue.  I just won't be able to shake my larger concerns about this until several issues where I can really see if Gambit is getting enough focus overall.


As for the Jet, I assumed Kitty was joking when she said he got it on loan and in fact meant he stole it.

[purplevit]

Yeah it was just a minor point for me.  Like I said, overall it was a solid issue.  I just won't be able to shake my larger concerns about this until several issues where I can really see if Gambit is getting enough focus overall.


As for the Jet, I assumed Kitty was joking when she said he got it on loan and in fact meant he stole it.

Lol, I would love to see how Gambit stole that jet.
I think next 2 issues should be enough to see if Gambit will have enough focus.
I think #1 was more Rogue focused only because wedding in Gold was Gambit centric. Will see.

[Nekobaghira]

Yeah it was just a minor point for me.  Like I said, overall it was a solid issue.  I just won't be able to shake my larger concerns about this until several issues where I can really see if Gambit is getting enough focus overall.


As for the Jet, I assumed Kitty was joking when she said he got it on loan and in fact meant he stole it.

Agreed.

[Nox]

I read it and yeah, it was a cute, fun issue. Definitely a must-read for shippers.


A few minor critical points: I thought Mystique was a little...too nice, but Mystique's odd that way in regard to Rogue; one minute she's a concerned mother, the other she's a manipulative mother-from-hell. I, too, didn't quite understand where the mild animosity from Bobby and Kurt towards Gambit came from (but then again, I may not be up-to-date in my comic book reading as some of you are). Again, these are all very minor criticisms that popped up in my head as I was reading it.


I actually really liked the art (*gasp*, right?). I mean, yes, the women had similarly shaped faces, but it wasn't a bad similar, if you know what I mean? I could easily differentiate the different characters. Mystique looked too young, though. Gambit, on the other hand, looked pretty good.


Oh, and when you-know-who showed up at the end? Pretty funny stuff.


All in all, a good issue that answered a lot of those questions many of us had regarding the wedding, and that set up the upcoming story in a solid way. I'm looking forward to the next issue.

[DonPriceTag]

With you on Mystique. But no, Bobby and Gambit never really got along that well. Especially leading up and after Legion Quest/AoA/Road Trip. It was commonly assumed that Bobby had some sort of a crush on Rogue. He'd daydream about her and the such... Of course the retcon turns that into nonsense, thus the animosity he feels shouldn't really be there. I don't know where Kurts beef stems. Those 2 have barely interacted as during the 90s Kurt was mostly on Excalibur and when he did return, Gambit was MIA and then in a different book. By the end of the early 00s Gambit was being pushed to the rear while Kurt and the other movie Characters got the spotlight. So, there's no real reason for the slight.


"Storming the castle..." lol, get it? That was funny.

[Paradox Jast]

Well, I said I'd try to do a neutral review for those still on the fence about getting it, but by the time I got home from work and was able to read the issue, it seems as though everyone else has already gotten it.

Ah well. I'll just leave my own thoughts and rating then. Fair disclaimer that I'm a 'lapsed' Romy fan, I still enjoy reading it but I don't go out actively looking for it like I used to years ago. I do still think they have and have had enough chemistry to stick together or play off each other for a while to come. I guess the rest will be up to Marvel editorial.

So... I'll just dive right into this issue then. If I was coming at this as a reader who had no interest in them as a couple but still like them as characters, this first book is a definite pull. There are very few new books where the first one can knock it out of the park at the get-go, but this one does it. Granted, it has some help piggy-backing off Gold #30 for those who read that, so there isn't any wasted story time in the beginning half of the book. It's a nice behind-the-scenes look, as it were.

The second half, beginning with the call... well, we the readers knew something would happen otherwise the entire point of the book is moot. It has its ups and downs, and Gambits anger and Rogues look of disappointment was appropriate actually rather well done. There was also a good explanation that fit for the suppression collar as to why they don't use them often, and a sarcastic line from big blue about why no mutants have 'bothered' to improve upon them.

If I have any qualms about this issue it is towards the very end, near the last 4 pages or so. Looking over it the first time is fine, but upon a second and third look through questions arise.
Gambit and Rogue are asked to do something that is 'important' with little to no information to go on. Seriously. Collect the package. It's 'important'. An 'old friend' let me know about it. Bring it home. Others will be after it. Gambit was correct in his incredulity, considering the 'others' ended up being the Imperial Guard.

We get to see a handcuffed Cerise in a couple panels, but she says nothing. The fight starts almost right away as the Guard tries to commandeer their ship without saying please first. Rogue manages to nab the package and through and eyebrow raising series of unfortunate events, somehow pops into a bed and wakes up next to Deadpool.

Find out all the things that weren't explained this time in the next episode of Dragon Ball Z!.... or something like that.

But yeah, its obvious that the last few pages of the book had to 'hurry up' and get the hook in for the next issue, because there are a lot of question marks being thrown around all over the place. On one hand that's good because it gets people interested. On the other hand that can be bad, because it has a tendency to build early frustration. Sure, some things could have some easy explanations, but we're still gonna have to wait for the next one to find out the answers.

Now, for the 'scores':

Writing: 4.5/5 - good chat and banter for the first half, second half started getting serious but left a lot out as a lure for book 2
Art: 4/5 - the beginning was good, after the halfway point I thought it had a marked improvement. Backgrounds were very wow. Much amaze. Pretty stare.

Pull-o-meter: Tastes great, almost satisfied but the ending still left me hungry. Yep.

What I learned: Mystique is so obviously bipolar. There is medicine for that.
Favorite part: Laura offering to stab Remy to help him focus.
Least favorite part: Illyana's face doing a Yoda impression on the bottom left panel of page 6. Can't unsee.

PANEL TIMER
And because it may or may not become a 'thing' for some people, I present.... dun dunnnn... the PANEL TIMER! This will probably also help those on the fence decide if they want to bother or not, by taking a more direct and mathematical approach to seeing if it is worth their time and money.

If Gambit or Rogue have any part of their body, a speech bubble, or the affect of their powers show up in a panel, it counts towards the total.

Their name spoken in someone else's bubble (even if they share a scene) as a reference or to draw attention does NOT count. Only the characters presence or actions count towards the total.

Total issue panels: 102
Rogue: 72 - 71% of the book
Gambit: 49 - 48% of the book

Not taking anything else into account, yeahhhhh that's a teensy bit cringey. Rogue got a whole extra scene with Illyana and Mystique so that sorta skewed it in her favor. Otherwise they were relatively equal. The next issue will likely have Rogue with Deadpool for a bit while Gambit figures out what's going on with the Imperial Guard until they meet up again.

Not to be a Debbie Downer or nothin', but we can see who gets to pal around (even for a brief stint) with the A-lister while the other gets stuck with the extras. I shall cautiously await the next issue.

Regardless of what's to come, though, this one was definitely a blasty blast for most of it. If folks are okay with this sort of review style, I'll continue it.


EDIT: Spoiler tags keep breaking