Gambit: Thick as Thieves

Gambit (2022) #1-5

by Chris Claremont, Sid Kotian (Illustrator)

An all-new adventure of everyone’s favorite thief, by co-creator and legendary X-scribe Chris Claremont! You think you know all there is to know about Remy LeBeau, the mutant called Gambit — but there’s still plenty up this ragin’ Cajun’s sleeves! Before he joined the X-Men, Gambit encountered a mysterious girl named ’Ro — the mutant Storm, regressed to childhood by the nefarious Nanny — and the two went up against the forces of the Shadow King! Now, more of their story is revealed for the first time, as Gambit finds his path to becoming a heroic X-Man! But as Remy and ’Ro become a thorn in the side of mogul Solarz, the mercenary Warhawk is unleashed on our heroes! Claremont weaves a story of action, intrigue and revenge — you’ll get a charge out of this one, mon ami!

COLLECTING: Gambit (2022) 1-5

Genres: Comics, Marvel, X Men, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fiction, Young Adult

112 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 2023

About the author

Chris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.

Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.

Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.

Reviews

[Sean Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is there any X-Men character that has more fun than Gambit, just generally?

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not the greatest story, and the book is a bit all over the place, but I love it. This is exactly what I want from a Gambit book. I think previously, when Gambit gets his own series, they are narrated by him, and giving away his thought process takes away from his mystique. Well, that is my opinion anyway.

Gambit has taken responsibility for a young mutant called Ro, not knowing her past. Mentoring in the riles and way of thieves. Stealing from the rich to give to the needy and protecting friends and family above all else. Of course, with Gambit, one thing leads to another, from facing gangsters to monsters to intergalactic bounty hunters. All the while charming ladies, stealing hearts and jewels.

One of the things I really loved about this book is that it is a great reminder of how good a fighter Gambit is. Remember when Wolverine lost his powers and had to rely on his skills? Gambit beat him numerous times.

This is a fun, fast-paced, and action-packed book. That should be a must-have for any Gambit fan. Every chapter/issue starts with the full-page cover. Towards the end of the book, there is a thumbnail cover gallery for the variant covers to issue 1.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciate the concept of pulling "lost" stories from earlier X-Men eras so that the authors don't have to tie into the events of Hickman's X-verse, but they could at least make the lost stories interesting. Thick As Thieves finds Gambit and a de-aged Storm roaming down the Mississippi, beating up bad guys and falling in love wherever appropriate.

There's really not much more to it than that. It's all adequately told with throwback art (all the women are babes), though I have to imagine there's more interesting tales to tell.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chris Claremont não vinha fazendo um trabalho muito admirável quando pegava novamente para escrever os X-Men. Contudo, achei essa minissérie do Gambit, que a Panini Comics Brasil publicou sob o título X-Men Lendas bastante divertida. Talvez por não ter tanto comprometimento cronológico, Claremont soube aproveitar novos elementos com coisas que ele havia plantado lá na primeira aparição de Gambit, quando ele ainda andava com a versão criança de Tempestade, Tempestinha, aqui chamada de 'Ro. Os desenhos de Sid Kotian, a princípio podem parecer estranhos, mas são funcionais e o artista desenvolve uma ótima narrativa visual dos quadrinhos ao lado de Claremont. Outra característica da minissérie é que ela apresenta diversas mini histórias em uma "temporada" só, mostrando conflitos com diversos personagens e antagonistas no mesmo projeto, bem ao gosto de Chris Claremont. Então acredito que nessa minissérie temos o veterano dos X-Men de volta à boa e velha forma, aquela que o tornou famoso e adorado por tantos leitores.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is essentially an untold story pulled out of the 'Uncanny X-Men' #248-267 timeframe.

Who else would you trust to write a story about early Gambit? The characters are definitely straight from that era. Nothing phony or untrue about the way they're written. Has the feeling of being VERY open ended depending on feedback. We could see more miniseries set in this time

Bonus: There's a dark (almost Spawn level) bit of art in the final issue. Darkest in the whole miniseries
Bonus Bonus: Lila Cheney rockstar making that 90's cameo.

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because my friend bought me variant with the Gambit's Hellfire Gala outfit. Stories weren't the best but I stil enjoyed them. Last issue was pretty fucked up tho.

[Sean · Rating 1 out of 5]

Would someone please take Chris Claremont's access to a keyboard away? This look into an untold story in Gambit's past was untold for a reason. Its awful. The weirdly interesting meeting of a de-aged Storm and Gambit careens into an unwanted love story, a real estate scheme, an intergalactic bounty, and bit characters from Claremont's awful Fantastic Four run. Seriously, this was bad.

[Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun. Gambit is as slick as ever. Gambit and a child version of Ororo team up with a marine to stop a local gangster from buying her property to sell to a chemical company or something. Things escalate and alien bounty hunters get involved. It ends at a Lila Cheney concert.

[Derek Moreland · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last issue is pretty dire, but everything leading up to it is spectacular. Still worth it.

[Danny R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 3.5

[Bucletina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me copa arrancar el año con este cómic. Salvo algunas viñetas con un dibujo medio rari, el guion me encantó. Aguante Remy.

[Craig Schorling · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lot better than most any of the other Gambit spinoffs. I loved little Ro and Gambit was fun as he should be. The final confrotation was a good one and some art really stood out. There was one panel in particular that hit hard. It was way darker than anything I was expecting from this series. I really wish to see more adventures with this duo and see more of the characters in this story. A very satisfying conclusion to this mini series.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essentially an untold X-Men story from the time before Gambit joined the X-Men when he and a de-aged Storm worked as thieves roaming the Mississippi River. It's a decent tale. The story is a little unfocused though considering Clarement wrote the X-Men for 17 years in this era. Sid Kotian's art was hit or miss. You could tell they are still developing their style.

[Nate Deprey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love what Claremont did with the X-Men in the 70s and 80s. Those comics are my life blood and I return to them more frequently than I do any other comics. This series, set during a brief pocket in time before Gambit's first appearance when storm was de-aged to a preteen, starts off as the promise of a "wolf and cub" style story featuring two of Marvels most popular characters. It doesn't deliver on that promise nor is it a fun heist of the week comic and young Storm is basically left with a sitter while Gambit spends the last four issues of this collection hooking up with a new character, Marissa DeCastro, who, by the nature of where this story lies in continuity, literally has no future. One of Claremont's great gifts is mining small story nuggets for big arches but he really comes up empty with this series.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was excited to see something new from Claremont but set in the timeline of some of his earlier X-Men stuff. Maybe this tonally fits that, but it felt all over the place from being sorta kid-friendly with low-stakes fighting all the way to some pretty horrifying body horror elements at the very end. The pacing is also rushed to an insane degree, which maybe fits these stories when they were being told in the 80s and early 90s. I found it more odd that it doesn’t seem to have any immediate or apparent connections to the current post-House of X universe, though maybe I just overlooked them somehow?

[Rob Marney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sid Kotian's delightful art and obvious affection for late 80s X-Men can't make up for Claremont's wandering plot, which can't even hold a cast or theme for 5 issues. Sure, "This is body horror but I kinda like it" and "The Shadow King vs the ancient magic of Africa" are also late 80s X-Men nostalgia, but those were dumb the first time. I appreciate the effort to give Gambit a new love interest, since that's the one thing his modern stories can't have, but I want more of that and less of "Whatever Kotian wants to draw I'll shoehorn in there".

[libreroaming · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could happily read novels of Gambit and de-aged Storm, or 'Ro, as it may be. When the story focuses on them and Storm's desire to fight the Shadow King it has so much potential. The sidetrack into Gambit's many lady love interests isn't terrible, and still a good example to show why Gambit is such a fun character to read about, but the second half wasn't as strong. The art really felt like a 90's throwback with its styles and setup, suitable for the fact that this is some forgotten side stories, but some readers may wish for an updated image.

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light and enjoyable entry by the prolific Chris Claremont into Gambit lore. Taking place during the time when Gambit had partnered in thieving with a de-aged Storm, Thick as Thieves moves briskly and balances growing stakes with a breezy air.

By reaching back in time to the period just before Gambit joined the X-Men, Claremont is able to explore his co-creation more openly and without any of the character baggage that marching through an untold number of X-Men adventures will dredge up. The result is fun and easy reading. The child version of Storm doesn't bear many strong connections to her adult self and is written somewhat generically as a rebellious and headstrong kid, but it works all the same for the purposes of this volume.

I found the final issue to be the weakest. Gambit's new (or given the chronology, old) romantic relationship hasn't developed by this point to quite the degree that would justify the payoff to the climactic battle here, but it's a weak point only relative to what is otherwise a strong series.

Sid Kotian does a good job with the art as well, rendering attractive characters and drawing more personality from Storm than the dialogue alone would impart.

Overall, it's an easy recommendation to any fan of Gambit. For those who aren't specifically fans of the character, it may be more of a three-star read.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short mini-series set during the time where Gambit was training young Ororo. A straightforward story that was pretty entertaining, but not something vital to read at this time. Nice to see a new story from Chris Clermont anytime, so that's the draw here. Otherwise, not current canon, so you can skip it.
Still a recommend, especially if you love the character.

[Forrest · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.9/5 stars.
Had my dad fill me in on the X-Men plot during this time, and I think I understood it pretty well. Art was great, and I really like Claremont’s writing style! Definitely have to go back and read more of his run.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perfectly fine Gambit and Storm adventure although it didn't really provide as much backstory as I felt it leads readers to believe.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Body horror and regression. Quite a tragic love story.

[Anthony Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! I laughed and i cried. A comic hasn't truly done that to me in a long time.

[Adriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving this one 3.5 forward-leaning stars because it has some good moments but it isn't very clear if you don't know a ton of things happening in other series.

[Erik J · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was awful. Utter garbage.

That is all.

Overall - 1/5

[maddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Guido · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listado de personajes pendiente.