Writing: Jim Lee and Scott Lobdell
Art: Jim Lee and Art Thibert
Quick Note: This is the start of a four part crossover, but I only have the X-Men parts. Sorry, but I’ll make it up to all of you when I review the X-cutioner’s Song, which I do own all of. The missing parts of these reviews take place in Ghost Rider #26-27 if you’re interested.
Update: Click here for Part 2.
What Went Down: We begin with Wolverine on the computer, looking for files about his past. It’s unclear whose files he’s looking at—if he were looking at Xavier’s files, surely the Professor would grant him permission, and he wouldn’t get so many “access denied” screens. Jubilee tries to talk to him, but he tells her to go away.
Bishop is getting a tour of the facilities from Storm, who still doesn’t trust him, and the Professor. When they encounter Forge, Bishop tells him that in the future he will be called Genesis; nothing ever comes of this. Forge alludes to the neglected relationship between Storm and himself, which will be brought up again over in Uncanny #289.
The Blue Team meets Bishop for the first time. He displays his characteristic hero worship, lets us know that Jubilee will be known as the last X-Man (also never goes anywhere), and informs Beast that in the future he is a well known philosopher.
When he gets to Gambit, Bishop recognizes him as Lebeau the Witness from his future; he automatically assumes that Gambit is the X-traitor alluded to in Uncanny #287. All of the X-Men ignore Bishop’s concerns, and then they all go off to have a picnic.
Wolverine somehow discovers a connection to the name Barrington. This gets resolved in a back up story in X-Men #10-11.
Next we have the beginning of a very unusual subplot where Psylocke attempts to seduce Cyclops, and Cyclops acts like a babbling idiot. To make matters worse, this begins right in front of his girlfriend Jean Grey while she is trying to discuss the possible effects of the Professor’s recent re-paralyzing, thus making her very jealous. Basically Scott ignores Jean because he is too busy staring at Betsy in her swimsuit.
Rogue apparently baked food especially for Gambit, so you know that they are getting serious. Bishop interrupts and gets in a fight with Gambit, as the cover indicates. The fight ends, I kid you not, when Gambit hits Rogue in the face with a pie, and both men start laughing so that Rogue will think they made up. After resolving that problem, a woman named Bella Donna shows up and announces that she is Gambit’s wife.
Back inside the mansion, all of the X-Men act very surprised. Gambit takes the opportunity to relay some of his past; Gambit was a thief and Belle was an assassin, he married Belle when they were young to bring the two clans together, he accidently killed her brother in a duel, and he was exiled. The Blue Team agrees to go with Gambit to help stop the infighting between the clans.
Ghost Rider shows up at the end of the issue and freaks out a traffic cop in New Orleans; this scene is very important because without it you can’t call this the first part of a crossover between the two books.
How It Was: In the span of one issue there is an awful lot going on here. We have the introduction of Bishop to the team, the revelation that Gambit might be the traitor, the revelation of Gambit’s real name, and the revelation of Gambit’s wife Belle and some of his past; it’s a heck of a lot to take in.
But that’s okay because the next issue is just a big, loud fight with the Ghost Rider, so I guess it all evens out. This issue works really well because everything going on revolves around the theme of trust. Bishop is trying to get the X-Men to trust him. In turn, Storm and Rogue try to convince him that Gambit should not be judged for actions he has not yet committed, when all of a sudden this icon from his past shows up to remind everyone how mysterious and dangerous Gambit is. Plus Belle adds some much needed drama and conflict to the Rogue/Gambit love train. There is some pretty funny dialogue in this issue that comes at Gambit’s expense.
It’s also nice to see Wolverine following up on exploring his past since it always comes back to haunt him and his friends; however, as I mentioned before it’s a little unclear exactly where he is looking for this information or what exactly he is searching for. The Cyclops/Psylocke plot continues for a while, but nothing really comes of it except for some awkward encounters; I guess there is some humor to be found in Scott’s awkward reactions.
As for the art, it has the leg up on Uncanny in that background art actually exists in it; nothing fancy, but most of the panels at least give some clues as to where the characters are. Of course, some of the trees look hastily drawn, but overall it’s a nice change of pace to see some bright outdoor scenes as opposed to the single color backdrop of past issues. Also, we get some nice designs of the X-Men in their swimwear.
This is an enjoyable issue with some really great character moments, and also some not so great ones. It’s also very important for Gambit fans. Enjoy it because the next three issues are pretty light on characterization.
B+
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