Summary
Gambit defeats Vargas’ two guards and confronts the man himself.
Bishop and his teammates are on the Beach in Valencia enjoying a beach fire. He is then taken into dreamscape where he discovers Gateway is his grandfather and he views images from the future. In this Vision Gambit is bound and dying, Rogue’s powers allow her to drag the others into the same place but just as abruptly Gateway departs and send them all back to the beach.
In Vargas mansion Gambit prepares to fight him but is blindsided by his speed. Amused by him Vargas allows him to play card games for his life.
Elsewhere Storm and her team try to break into Rogue’s old home where she lived once with Destiny and Mystique. They manage to get in and Bishop tries to teach thunderbird to control his powers.
At Vargas mansion Gambit tries to keep a level head faced with the superior adversary but when Vargas reveals a statue of Psylocke who he killed last issue. He manages to convince Vargas to let him live since he did not come to steal the diary of destiny which he holds. Gambit leaves not realizing the dire prophecy of his own imminent death.
At Rogue’s she discovers what she came for a box containing Destiny’s diary, once it’s opened however she realizes the contents have been stolen and the rose they placed on Psylocke’s dead body….is now in the box. (Insert ominous music)
Elsewhere Vargas laughs since having the diary he knows everything that will happen next.
The Good
Cover- Sexy cover art by Salvadore showcasing Sage in an ass hugging leather costume which oozes sex appeal in every frame. Yummy Cover!
Art- Larocca always does gorgeous work and this issue sure stand the rigors of time being of far higher quality than most of the books on the shelves today. Beautiful woman, distinctive faces and bodies, Men with masculine features, age lines on flesh, veins. Yup this is one clean looking book!
Characterization- Honestly there are some characters which only work under some writers and Storm, Gambit, Bishop and Rogue always shine under Claremont’s thumb. Storm is the confident, beautiful awe inspiring leader she gets no credit for nowadays. Rogue at this point has even more control issues but manages to be have playful banter with Storm reminiscent of their days together in the Australian outback. Bishop is still very much a man out of time whose biological link with Gateway also ties him directly into the “Outback days” history. Gambit is the charming handsome thief we all know and loved in the 90’s every mouthed word and how he tries to worm his way out of danger is classic Gambit! Love it!
Villain- Vargas makes for an intriguing Villain, two steps ahead of our team and containing destiny’s diary which hold a dire future for our mutant heroes. The glimpses we have from the book itself spell doom for gambit and his skill and power continue to be inspiring. Blindsiding gambit, securing the diary and killing Psylocke a few issue’s back makes him a foreboding new threat and a joy to read!
The Bad
Cover- While the cover was gorgeous it had nothing to do with the interiors or story within.
Thunderbird- This new X-men member was always hated by fans and he’s as annoying and worthless as ever!
The Ugly
4/5 Solid characterized issue with great art!