Mr & Mrs X #1
Writer: Kelly Thompson
Artist: Oscar Bazaldua
Colorist: Frank D’Armata
Letterer: Joe Sabino
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Review by Greg Brothers
Some of you may remember way back when Kitty and Colossus were going to get married back in X-Men Gold #30. Of course, spoiler warning, the wedding ended up not happening. But fear not those of you who got a babysitter and wanted to see a wedding that night. Gambit, who had been recently reunited with the love of his life over in the Rogue & Gambit miniseries, seized the opportunity to not only propose, but also to go ahead and get married that night. Okay caught up? Good, because here we are with the new ongoing series from Kelly Thompson, Mr. & Mrs. X.
Mr & Mrs X #1 starts by taking us on a bit of a flashback. We see the aftermath of Gambit’s proposal as teams of X-Men rush to help prepare for the wedding. Various members of the X-Men declare themselves either team Gambit or team Rogue, as the preparations continue. Instead of an arch-villain interrupting the nuptials, the wedding goes off without a hitch. Unfortunately for the newlyweds, however, the honeymoon is not without its interruptions, as Kitty contacts them to head out on a mission to retrieve and protect an unknown package.
Before I get into the meat of the review I must say one thing that is obvious from reading Mr. & Mrs. X #1: Kelly Thompson loves these characters. The care that she takes in presenting them in a fun and original way hearkens back to the characters’ past. I picture Thompson grinning ear to ear as she laid out the plot and wrote the story.
For me, one of the biggest things is that the X-men are not only a superhero team, but they are also a family. Thompson is able to highlight this as the preparations for the wedding are going on. It is here that Thompson’s trademark humor and sarcasm are able to shine through in the dialogue: from the touching moment between Storm and Gambit to Magik and her opinion of spiders. We have heard over and over that Gambit and Rogue are supposed to be the sexiest couple in the Marvel Universe, and Thompson really plays that up here. As much fun as the first half of Mr. & Mrs. X #1 is, the second half sets up the rest of what can assume to be the first arc. While the action is put into place, the stakes are not so high that it requires an entire team of X-Men–which is nice. It means that instead of juggling too many characters, Thompson will be able to focus on the newlyweds.
The art is sharp and bright throughout this first issue. Solid lines easily define the various characters. As I have touched upon before, Rogue and Gambit are supposed to be one of Marvel’s sexiest couples, and they are certainly drawn this way. A few coloring choices were a bit off in my opinion–such as Psylocke’s hair at one point. But, the off colors are not enough to take away from the story.
Verdict: Buy it.
Mr & Mrs X #1 does an excellent job of filling in the blanks from the wedding and moving the story forward. Thompson’s love of the characters pours into the pages and comes across in the dialogue. With a start like this, it will not be long before Rogue and Gambit are Marvel’s new number one couple.
