If you read no other blog post this year...

So I don't update this thing nearly enough.

Then again, I'm not real sure people are reading this except to look at pretty Gambit pictures.

Which reminds me that I never did review #4. And technically I didn't review #3 either but I figured since they were the end of the first arc I'd wait to do them together...

But I scrapped that because of Akicon. I did not have the will power to write a full review. Suffice to say that the comics are good! Even newcomers to comics this is a good place to start. Because you honestly don't need to know a thing about Gambit! The writer is good enough to spell it out on the first page: he's a thief that plays at being a super hero/teacher and has been stuck in the friend zone by his ex-girlfriend. Done. From that moment on it doesn't matter who Gambit is necessarily but what he's doing. There's no overwhelming amount of characters, just Gambit and a few minor characters introduced solely for this plot arc.

So comic reviews aside... I've been working on National Novel Writing Month.

For those that don't know, National Novel Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo and often shortened to NaNo) is the goal of writing 50,000 words in one month. That's roughly 1,667 words each day. As it is day four I should be at about 6,668 by tonight.

I'm at about 4,180 words right now so, for those of you not following along at home with your own math, means I need to write about 2,500 today to catch up. An actually very doable goal for me. If I ever stop writing silly blog posts long enough to add to my word count... I'm still waking up. I'm going to blame that.

Anyways, I've been making posts and updates on facebook since the first and realized that I haven't posted anything about what my story's about. So this blog post is here to fix that!

Helen is an army scientist that was ordered to look into creating a super soldier serum by General Stover. She comes up with a possible serum but chickens out, trying to run and hide with the serum so the army can't use it. This plan fails and Stover captures her and decides to test the serum on her younger brother, William, which transforms him into a lycanthrope-like beast. While both Helen and William escape from Stover, he is still after them as well as a vampire named Izzy. She is one of the few blood suckers not to lose her mind after being turned and Stover is hopeful that her blood contains the key to perfecting the serum 'work out the kinks' to what happened to William. So not only does Helen intend to keep Izzy away from Stover, she's also hopeful that Izzy's blood contains the key to curing her brother. And, hey, Izzy's not picky because she'd like a cure for her fanged problem so that she can go home! But it turns out that William may not want to be cured. He may actually like his new body... And now Helen must struggle to get her brother back in more ways than one.

And that is a much longer summary that I would normally do. But I haven't quite boiled this one to his essence yet. I've only had this idea for five days now. So I'm surprised I have this much!

In other news, this is also a lesbian romance. Izzy and Helen hook up.

Mostly because at first Helen was supposed to be a man named Leon. But as I got started imagining scenes, Leona kept acting... female. Not girly or feminine, which is perfectly acceptable behavior for men. But he acted very positively female... So instead of forcing him to be something he wasn't, I gender swapped him into Helen. Which worked because I originally wrote Izzy to be bisexual.

And that is basically it at the moment. I've got a subplot going on as well with another villain which deals more with William possibly wanting to keep his super powers... But it's a subplot. Same as the romance honestly... even if it does take center stage for a long stretch...

But otherwise that's basically it! Off to writing land!

Gambit #3... Late

So we all know that this would be the day I'd excitedly go to pick up my comics and then put up a review of Gambit #3

Except the release date has been pushed off till 9/26. Insert here many wrinkled, disgruntled looks of abject disappointment here please.

Nobody is quite sure why the release is being pushed off. Not even James Asmus, the writer, who tweeted about a week ago the change in dates. As well as this very nice picture Clay Mann drew for him:

Hopefully this series doesn't lose the momentum its got (there were several reorderings to compensate for how many people wanted to read this). The last thing Gambit fans want is another dud series.

Other news is that the first collected Gambit book is going to be #1-7. Which as Asmus points out, means it'll be a little late for Christmas. Ah well, we Gambit fans never needed an excuse to love him and pay even more money to support him, did we?

Look back here on the 26th for a proper Gambit #3 review!

Gambit #2: Exciting

So according to interviews with Asmus, he's really hoping to turn Gambit into a solo hero. Much like Wolverine and Deadpool have stepped out of their X-Men titles and become big names. The plan to do this was to introduce a new cast of characters.

Issue one we met a nemesis (Borya Cich) and a mysterious woman. Possible ally, rival and/or love interest We don't know, she's that mysterious!

Issue two, first page, we get to meet a friend of Remy's. A friend that's not connected to his past via the Guild (which has been done to death in past Gambit solo series) or the X-Men. This seems to be a purely thievery-esque contact and I love the addition. As Asmus said often, it adds to the Gambit mythos instead of rehashing the same old.

We still get little moments where we taste upon Gambit's spotty and shady past, remind readers that this is a man that's already been through quite a bit.

This issue is fantastic. Taking us deeper into the conflict and this new Gambit mythos Asmus is trying to create, while also touching upon the Prince of Thieves. For new readers this is probably an even better glance at who Remy was before the X-Men. For old time fans, these are cheeky little moments that remind us why we love the Ragin Cajun so much.

The picture above especially had me on the edge of my seat. (Spoilers by the way) Because I know the way these types of characters operate. What looks like a touching little back and forth of guilt, anguish, and empathy is really a plot. And seconds later this mysterious woman is shoving Remy off the roof... but not before he's pick pocketed what he wants.

It reminded me a bit of Gambit's first solo run where he kissed Candra to distract her while he stole what he wanted. While not as obvious and dramatic as all that, this subtle approach still does the exact same thing.

And of course Remy is still the charmer, even under pressure.Can't wait for the next issue!

Gambit #1 - Refreshing

Thanks to role playing and a dear friend of mine that writes him wonderfully, I have come to be a fan of Gambit. But any fan of the Cajun thief might pick up the recent couple of years of comics and find themselves disappointed.

He's not dating Rogue. No she's with Magneto.

He's not really dating. Period. Which seems kind of counter to his personality.

In fact he's a bit of a love sick puppy dog about Rogue.

Meanwhile, he's still got the Death persona and other than a fight with Captain America in AvX (which he lost) he hasn't gotten much chance to kick ass.

These fan concerns were apparently on James Asmus' mind when he wrote this 2012 Gambit series. I mean, what else could they have been thinking when this is the first page?

He not only wanted to give long time fans something to be excited about, but Asmus invites new readers into Gambit's head. The very first line (a joke about the pink Gambit costume) feels like an inside joke between writer and readers. And considering both Asmus and Clay Mann (penciler) immediately asked to change Gambit's costume when given this project, I wasn't surprised to have such a large nod to the old design.

Page one does a wonderful job of wrapping up the last couple of years of heavy Gambit disappointment where page two brings us Remy LeBeau, the thief. Which as much as this comic series is 'Gambit' I have a feeling we'll be seeing more 'Remy' than superhero Gambit. A relief to me since I tend to enjoy the Cajun closer to his roots.

That being said I did have one problem with the comic, though it didn't effect my overall love of the comic. Spoilers to those that don't want to know what happens deeper in the comic. Once Remy gets past security and actually gets about to choosing something to steal, everything felt a little sloppy to me. While I can buy that Remy wouldn't have in mind any particular thing to steal, it gives this sequence a rushed feeling. The item he does end up stealing (which appears to be the plot device for the entire series) doesn't look all that unusual. I can't tell why it caught Remy's attention. And it's hard to tell if the shock it gives Gambit is a security feature or the actual artifact.

Despite those confusing couple of panels, the over all feel of the comic was great. I laughed, I cheered, and more importantly I'm intrigued. For the first time in awhile I'm anticipating the next one. I want to know what happens next! Who is the mysterious tattooed woman? Where did the artifact come from? Is Remy going to be naked more often!?

Also, they better keep the coat. Do whatever you want to the outfit so long as Gambit keeps the trench coat.

Pick up this series. You don't need to be real knowledgeable about either Gambit or X-Men to enjoy the ride. Just have to have an appreciation for wit, sexy and exciting heists.

(Gambit #2 cover)
(Writer: James Asmus; Penciler: Clay Mann; Inker: Seth Mann; Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg; Letterer: VC's Cory Petit)