THE UNCANNY X-MEN #12 – A Look into the Cajun’s Past

Creative Team – Gail Simone(writer). Gavin Guidry(artist). Matthew Wilson(color artist). VC’s Clayton Cowles(letterer). David Marquez & Matthew Wilson(cover artists).

Published by Marvel Entertainment

Catch up with The Uncanny X-Men #11!

“The smoothest X-Man, Remy LeBeau, A.K.A. GAMBIT, is forced to face his past, as an UNSTOPPABLE force comes to collect a DEBT, whether from the Cajun’s pocket or his HIDE. Details of Remy’s life, never before revealed in this thrilling one-shot crime tale, as everyone’s favorite card-thrower faces THE VIG.” (Credit – Marvel)

The Story

We’ve seen so much progress with the Outliers and the mentors, and Rogue as a leader, but there’s someone we haven’t gotten enough of, and that’s Remy, aka Gambit. Gambit is always there to support where he can, and mentor whoever needs it. But what happens when it’s Gambit that has to fix something from his past?

Rogue wakes up in a sweat, riddled with guilt over how aggressive she was when practicing with Jitter in the Danger Room. Wanting to apologize to Jitter, Rogue finds Jitter working hard in the Danger Room with the other young mutants practicing. Rogue storms out to apologize to Jitter, and tell her she just wants her safe. Gambit, the man of the hour, had already apoligized on behalf of Rogue the night before.

When it’s time for everyone to go inside to eat breakfast, Gambit finds a mysterious note in his pocket. It says that his bill is due and it’s time for him to pay what he owes. Gambit knows exactly what this means and he knows exactly who it’s from. We see the entire story play out from the beginning when he was a child, pickpocketing bullies and doing what he can to survive. While he was searching for crawfish as a child, some bullies showed up to ruin his day.

After mouthing off to them, they tried to teach him a lesson by beating him, but it was all a ploy for young Remy to rob them of their personal belongings. When he’s laying on the ground after his beating, that’s when he meets The Vig. The Vig works for his father, and anyone that comes into contact with him is terrified of him. The Vig is a hustler who gets what he wants from whoever he wants. And now he’s laid his eyes onto a very young Gambit.

The Writing

I loved that we were given a one-shot with a look back into the life of Gambit. It was the perfect way to come back from the X-Manhunt event and find our footing right back into the lives of the Louisiana X-Men. This look back at how Gambit lived as a child was exciting and fun, especially when you see him deal with the ghosts of his past in a very Gambit-esque way. Gail Simone continues to impress more and more with her writing of The Uncanny X-Men. Can’t wait to see what she gives us next!

The Art

With art by Gavin Guidry, colors by Matthew Wilson, and letters by Clayton Cowles, you really can’t go wrong here. Guidry made The Vig absolutely spine-chilling, while making the action sequences have a great power to them. Matthew Wilson gave a great tone change when looking back into Gambit’s early life, along with adding depth to each of Guidry’s pages. I think the artists really added a whole new depth to the already exciting storyline, brought the story to life expertly.

Overall Grade – 9.8/10

Let me know in the comments below what you thought of The Uncanny X-Men #12!

This review was written by Megan from the Vigilante Vibes Podcast! If you liked my review, be sure to check out my other reviews! Let me know what you think of The Uncanny X-Men #12, or tell me what comics you’d recommend me trying out! Find me on my socials, and check out my Marvel podcast, Vigilante Vibes, by clicking here!