GAMBIT #4 by James Asmus & Clay Mann

October 25, 2012

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Portal of doom? Really Gambit you didn’t see that coming? Click the jump to see.

Gambit #4
Written by James Asmus
Art by Clay Mann
Published by Marvel Comics

Gambit is just an adventure comic book. Gambit is such an impulsive character who gets into trouble without doing anything. Maybe it’s the fact that trouble always seems to find him and a comic book that focuses on this kind of character has to be more plot driven than character driven. Gambit is an easy character to understand and it’s more about the adventure building his reputation. For future reference, if you’re into adventure driven comic books with tons of action, Gambit is the one for you. James Asmus (writer of Gambit) brings said action on hard in Issue #4.

Synopsis: Gambit opens a portal to another dimension with a relic that dangerous and yet beautiful. The portal unleashes demons from another world. So, how in the world is Gambit going to get around this one?

Good: Gambit is his usual anti-heroic self, only this time he is the heroic knight trying to save Joelle. Joelle is the femme fatale of Gambit and like most femme fatales archetypes, nothing good comes with her. She is partially the sole reason why Gambit is fighting against demons unleashed from a portal however, Gambit did steal the relic first so, the blame game evens out between the two. The most you will get out of this issue is action and some witty charm. Asmus’ use of Joelle is not to further Gambit’s character, but to only verify that he is a sucker for pretty faces. So, essentially you’re seeing Gambit being Gambit. Anyone who is a lover of this Cajun Cardshark will love this issue because Asmus brings the true essence of the character in this issue. The only reason why I like Gambit is because he is so cool. So, I get what I like from this issue.

As for the art by Clay Mann –who is more a pencillier than an artist, it does not disappoint! His use of the panels in this issue served to tell the story very well and the action was suspenseful and awesome, if you’re into action.

Bad: The issue does not develop Gambit’s character one bit and I’m always hoping for good character development. As I have stated before, this comic book is more plot driven than it is character driven; The fact that Gambit has his own comic book should be a red carpet for a writer to explore the depth of the character. You can break him down, rebuild him, or revamp him into something completely new but instead Asmus does very little with Gambit’s character. Instead, I have learned more about Gambit’s co-star, Joelle. While I’m not entirely disappointed, I just wanted to learn more about his character. I guess I’ll have to enjoy the adventure ride from here on, taking Gambit for who he is –a cool guy who gets into trouble, the trouble is the story, and Gambit is just the pawn getting across. Every character has to have a story before you learn about their true nature and I guess that is all just part of anti-heroism. So, I cannot fault Asmus for sticking to the formula of adventure time. This is how an anti-hero character is built –from their experiences, so I’ll try to keep an open mind.