ROGUE & GAMBIT review

(Review by Melody Werner)
Rogue & Gambit is a 2017 miniseries published by Marvel. Written by Kelly Thompson, with art by Pere Pérez, it follows the titular x-couple (get it?) as they are sent on a mission to investigate a mysterious, potentially malevolent couple's therapy resort. Baaaaaasically it's a superhero rom-com that digs through Rogue and Gambit's pasts as a couple. With the impending Mr. & Mrs. X title coming next month (at time of writing) following the two as a married couple (spoilers for X-Men: Gold! Sorry! Nah, who cares about X-Men: Gold of all things?), I thought I'd check this one out since it precedes that new title and I've heard some buzz about it. And you know what? It's fucking superb.

The covers for this series by Kris Anka are by no means bad, per se, and they certainly suit the series and its fun vibe--they just aren't as good as the interiors in my arrogant opinion. Huh, it's usually the inverse. Yeah, the interiors in this are phenomenal, generally speaking. There are some panels here and there that look a little... off. And I can't tell if it's the lines or the coloring that's more the cause of these itty bitty glaring visuals. Because both, in this book, are usually on point. Speaking of which, Frank D'Armata kills it on the coloring... again, mostly. The lettering and sequential reading flow are both smooth.

I'd heard murmurings of Kelly Thompson for some months, but had never really actually sat down and read one of her books until now. All I can say is: if she's usually as good as she is here, then I'm going to be reading a lot of her work in the near future. But let's not get to the conclusion-y bit before I go over why I think that. There aren't very many good romance comics out there. There's a lot of them, but a good portion of them are badly written erotica without the eroticism, or erotica without the pretense of even the bare minimum of writing. There are exceptions, such as the delightful Sunstone and strangely enough Batman: Rebirth, but for the most part, rom-comics are bad. This one is not, as I gave away in the preface. Okay, so why? These characters, they're likeable and well-characterized. Despite never having read older X-Men stories, this title makes a good case for caring about them. Their relationship is also mighty interesting in and of itself and doesn't just fall into the whole "Ugh, we are superheroes who cannot love because we are superheroes" trap many do. Both Rogue and Gambit have reasons to stay separated that may very well be as good as the reasons to get together, and the exploration of this borders on fascinating.

But fascination is not necessarily the goal of this mini. No, it's more of a pulpy, fun affair. And as pulpy, fun affairs go, this is one of the best I've read in a good while. The plot in and of itself is not particularly new, but this is a character-driven story where the narrative is more or less secondary. That is not to say it isn't well told or anything, but it's not what you come here for. What you would come here for are a) the romance, which I've already gone into, and b) the comedy, which I am doing now. The jokes in this series are genuinely quite funny. It's lacking in visual jokes--I mean, what can you expect? this isn't a Faith Erin Hicks comic--but what it lacks in visual jokes, it makes up for in witty banter, witty banter, witty banter. So much fun is to be had with this repartee. Possibly the most fun with banter in recent memory.

As for flaws, they do exist. I'll say that the whole "where's the supervillain monologue where you tell me all about your scheme" thing is growing more tiresome and hackneyed than supervillain monologues where the villain tells the hero all about their scheme. This series plays that card, though it kinda works (?). For once, though, I'd love to see a villain turn the tables on a hero and predict they're going to rattle off this ancient, played out line. Then there's the villain, Lavish, who's not super interesting. Then again, could've de-emphasized the titular relationship which is really the focus of the series. This was only a miniseries, so I can cut some slack there. Maybe Lavish will pop up in M&MX?

Overall, I think Rogue & Gambit is a delightful miniseries. I don't know what's up with Marvel lately where their exclusive writers are knocking it out of the park on miniseries with b-list characters, but I'm all for more of this. Rogue & Gambit is something I don't think any X-fans or enjoyers of fun superhero rom-coms should miss. I think it's on par with Rocket, though in its own ways. Fittingly, Rogue & Gambit gets a 9.5/10.

Must-read

Summary:
A ton of fun, between the hilarious banter, chemistry, and intriguing shared history between the leads and rocking art. The plot is serviceable and works well enough. It stumbles a bit with some art gaffes, a played-out line that's becoming irksome and in dire need of its own subversion, and a weak villain.