X-Men: Gambit

X-Men: Gambit
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	December 1998 – February 2001
No. of issues	28
Main character(s)	Remy LeBeau / Gambit Jake Gavin / Courier
Creative team
Written by	Fabian Nicieza Steve Skroce (co-plotter) Scott Lobdell & Joe Pruett (epilogue)
Penciller(s)	Steve Skroce Georges Jeanty (epilogue)
Editor(s)	Mark Powers Jason Liebig
Collected editions
Volume One	ISBN   978-0785196853
Volume Two	ISBN   978-1302913755

X-Men: Gambit is a 26-issue comic book series published by Marvel Comics between December 1998 and February 2001. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Steve Skroce, it is the first ongoing (and third overall) series starring the popular X-Men character Remy LeBeau / Gambit, following him as he goes on missions for his handler Jake Gavin / Courier. As the two work for and investigate Gambit's evil alternate self "The New Son", their relationship is complicated by Courier being turned into a girl ("Jacqueline/Jackie") by Mister Sinister. The series received generally positive reviews from comic critics.

Publication history

The series collected as X-Men: Gambit (and initially published as Gambit), which lasted 25 issues, one special, and two annuals (for a total of 28), ran from February 1999 to February 2001. ^{[1] [2]} Initially simply written by Fabian Nicieza and drawn by Steve Skroce, following Gambit and Courier, Skroce would receive a co-plotter credit midway through the series, ^[3] while the final (epilogue) issue would be plotted by Scott Lobdell, scripted by Joe Pruett, and drawn by Georges Jeanty. ^[4] The 2001 miniseries Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom was advertised as a direct continuation of X-Men: Gambit at the conclusion of its final issue, ^[5] while Courier would return in the 2024 Fall of X series Cable (again written by Fabian Nicieza and drawn by Scot Eaton), still stuck with the body of a girl and looking for a way back. ^[6]

Characters

• Remy LeBeau / Gambit – a card-wielding mutant who was adopted by the Thieves Guild, able to create, control, and manipulate kinetic energy.
• Jacob "Jake" Gavin Jr. / Courier – a shapeshifter able to detach and remotely move his own body parts, ^[7] who is trapped in the body of a woman by Mister Sinister after he steals his powers, ^[8] going by the alias Jacqueline ("Jackie"). ^[9]
• Sun / The New Son – an evil version of Gambit from an alternate reality where he was never joined the Thieves Guild.
• Anna-Marie / Rogue – the power-and-lifeforce-absorbing adoptive daughter of Mystique and Gambit's love interest.
• Ororo Monroe / Storm – a thunder and lightning-controlling mutant goddess and Gambit's former friend. ^[10]

Critical reception

The series received generally positive reviews from comic critics. AIPT Comics rated the series 7.0/10, calling it "a slow read to be sure [but the] verbose writing style aside, there are some fascinating tidbits about Gambit". ^[9] Not Blog X praised Steve Skroce's art as "do[ing] a great job of conveying the action sequences", and complimented Fabian Nicieza's "prose flesh[ing] out Gambit’s character and suggest[ing] ideas that couldn’t be translated by a silent action scene", ^[10] while Slings & Arrows lauded Nicieza's "verbose form of writing" and Skroce's art as "better than what’s perceived as Marvel’s 1990s look", ^[3] complimenting Georges Jeanty for "pull[ing] out all the stops for the art" following Stroke's departure, concluding to call the plot "over-extended, but tie[d] together well". ^[4]

Prints

Issues

Issue	Title	Publication date	Estimated sales (first month)
#1	"The Man of Steal"	December 23, 1998	117,437, ranked 5th in North America [11]
#2	"Stormbringers"	January 27, 1999	86,130, ranked 10th in North America [12]
#3	"Monsters Like Us"	February 24, 1999	66,559, ranked 17th in North America [13]
#4	"Old Wounds, Fresh Blood"	March 24, 1999	63,525, ranked 18th in North America [14]
#5	"Of Mice and Men"	April 28, 1999	59,689, ranked 22nd in North America [15]
#6	"Muddy Waters"	May 26, 1999	54,004, ranked 31st in North America [16]
#7	"Dirty Troughs"	June 23, 1999	51,939, ranked 29th in North America [17]
#8	"Destined to Repeat It"	July 28, 1999	49,286, ranked 44th in North America [18]
#9	"To Thine Own Self Be True"	August 25, 1999	46,399, ranked 36th in North America [19]
#10	"Waiting for the Princess"	September 22, 1999	43,235, ranked 47th in North America [20]
#11	"The Hamster Run"	October 27, 1999	44,251, ranked 42nd in North America [21]
#12	"The Sunset Dawn (Book 1): The Time Trap"	December 1, 1999	41,480, ranked 43rd in North America [22]
#13	"The Sunset Dawn (Book 2): The Black Womb"	January 5, 2000	43,326, ranked 35th in North America [23]
#14	"The Sunset Dawn (Book 3): Tomorrow Starts Today"	January 26, 2000	38,978, ranked 44th in North America [24]
#15	"Folding City"	February 23, 2000	36,734, ranked 44th in North America [25]
#16	"The More Things Change"	March 22, 2000	43,376, ranked 29th in North America [26]
#17	"Assassination Game", Part 1 of 3: "The Pin Cushion"	April 26, 2000	36,946, ranked 53rd in North America [27]
#18	"Assassination Game", Part 2 of 3: "Working the Treadmill"	May 31, 2000	37,126, ranked 59th in North America [28]
#19	"Assassination Game", Part 3 of 3: "Beasts of Burden"	June 28, 2000	38,160, ranked 49th in North America [29]
#20	"In Dreams"	July 26, 2000	37,543, ranked 49th in North America [30]
#21	"A Sheep in Wolves' Clothes"	August 23, 2000	35,155, ranked 49th in North America [31]
#22	"Follow the Leader"	September 27, 2000	35,364, ranked 54th in North America [32]
#23	"Shell Game"	October 25, 2000	36,605, ranked 49th in North America [33]
#24	"Sunrise, Sunset"	November 22, 2000	35,351, ranked 60th in North America [34]
#25	"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around"	December 28, 2000	35,361, ranked 53rd in North America [35]

Annuals

Issue	Title	Cover date	Release date	Estimated sales (first month)	Rated
Gambit 1999 #1	"With or Without You"	September 1999	July 21, 1999	38,434, ranked 72nd in NA [18]	12+
Gambit 2000 #1	"Endgame?"	October 2000	August 16, 2000	29,119, ranked 75th in NA [31]	12+

Collected editions

Title	Material collected	Publication date	ISBN
X-Men: Gambit – The Complete Collection, Volume 1	Gambit (vol. 3) #1–11, #1/2. Annual '99, Marvel Authentix: Gambit #1, material from X-Men Unlimited (vol. 1) #18	March 8, 2016	978-0785196853
X-Men Origins: Gambit	X-Men Origins: Gambit #1, Uncanny X-Men #266–267, X-Men (vol.2) #33, Gambit (vol. 3) #25 and material from Nation X #2	September 27, 2016	978-1302902476
X-Men: Gambit – The Complete Collection, Volume 2	Gambit (vol. 3) #12–25, Annual 2000	December 24, 2018	978-1302913755

See also

• List of X-Men comics

References

1. Fabian Nicieza (March 8, 2016). "X-Men: Gambit (1998–2001)". Marvel.com . Retrieved March 8, 2016.
2. Gene Kendall (November 28, 2011). "Gambit #1 – February 1999". Not Blog X. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
3. Ian Keogh (March 8, 2016). "Review: X-Men: Gambit – The Complete Collection, Volume 1". Slings & Arrows. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
4. Ian Keogh (December 24, 2018). "Review: X-Men: Gambit – The Complete Collection, Volume 2". Slings & Arrows. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
5. Lobdell, Scott; Pruett, Joe; Jeanty, Georges. Gambit #25 "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (December 2000). Marvel Comics.
6. Alex Zalben (January 15, 2024). "Marvel Preview: Cable #1". Comic Book Club Live. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
7. Helmy Herlambang (June 15, 2021). "Besides Loki, These 5 Marvel Superheroes Also Have Unclear Genders". Kincir. Retrieved June 15, 2021.
8. Ian Goodwillie (November 12, 2019). "X-Men: 10 Times Mutants Stole Powers". CBR. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
9. David Brooke (December 11, 2018). "Retro Recap: 'X-Men: Gambit Complete Vol. 2' — What you need to know". AIPT Comics. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
10. Gene Kendall (January 11, 2012). "Gambit #2 – March 1999". Not Blog X. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
11. "December 1998 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
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13. "February 1999 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
14. "March 1999 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
15. "April 1999 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
16. "May 1999 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
17. "June 1999 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
18. "July 1999 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
19. "August 1999 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
20. "September 1999 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
21. "October 1999 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
22. "November 1999 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
23. "December 1999 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
24. "January 2000 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
25. "February 2000 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
26. "March 2000 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
27. "April 2000 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
28. "May 2000 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
29. "June 2000 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
30. "July 2000 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
31. "August 2000 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
32. "September 2000 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
33. "October 2000 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
34. "November 2000 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.
35. "December 2000 Comic Book Sales Figures". comichron.com. Estimated Comics Sold to North American Comics Shops as Reported by Diamond Comic Distributors. The Comics Chronicles . Retrieved 2018-01-03.