Gambit’s missing Rogue (something to do with a larger X-Men storyline happening around this time) and decides to distract himself by investigating the death of an ex in London - the latest victim of a Jack the Ripper copycat killer with a Wolverine silhouette. Couldn’t be Logan, could it? He does have blades in his hands and has a tendency to go off on one without really knowing what he’s doing. Nahhh. Anyhoo, Remy’s on the case, cher.
This four-issue X-Men miniseries from the mid-90s is definitely one of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s lesser-known collabs but one of the few that’s actually pretty decent.
Loeb’s story has an intriguing hook - it’s not that we believe Wolverine is really doing the killings, but it’s seeing why it’s being set up this way - and writes both characters well. As he’s the gruff straight man, Wolverine tends to have good chemistry with any playful character and he and Gambit bounce off each other well. But I also found Remy charming here - as he should be given that he’s presented that way - and a solid protagonist.
The brief length of the miniseries is a benefit to the story as it means Loeb doesn’t have the space to mess around (like in The Long Halloween) and as such the narrative canters forward at a nice pace. Tim Sale’s sharp-looking art also adds to this by having dynamic, imaginative layouts that grabs the reader’s attention on each page (maybe a bit too much with the Dutch angles - hey, it was the ‘90s!) and Wolverine and Gambit look great too in their classic outfits.
Loeb stumbles a bit in the second act. It’s not totally clear what’s going on or why - are they in the villain’s head or in captivity somewhere being toyed with psychologically and how did they get there? It’s kinda (unintentionally?) clever in that it puts the reader in the character’s confused mindset but also feels a bit convenient. And the ending is not great, but also not typical in that Loeb is going for a more nuanced psychological take, rather than evil villain behaving like evil villain just cos, which I appreciated.
X-Men: Wolverine/Gambit isn’t the most memorable story but definitely a readable and mildly entertaining one. Unlike a lot of Jeph Loeb’s comics, I did actually want to see what happens next - not bad, bub.
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