In August of 1975, Chris Claremont began writing for Marvel's X-Men series. In his hands, the mutants became the company's most popular heroes. He created characters like Emma Frost, Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Mister Sinister, and Legion, who are all still as popular and influential as ever. Since 1991, Claremont has returned to the world of the X-Men for a number of projects, but his latest ones find him taking the iconic characters back to the time period where he originally wrote them.
Claremont's five-issue Gambit miniseries, featuring art by Sid Kotian, takes place before the titular mutant joined the X-Men and finds him working with a young, amnesiac Storm, who had been de-aged by the Nanny. Then in November, Claremont and artist Salvador Larroca will reunite for a new five-issue volume of the series they created back in 2001, X-Treme X-Men. CBR recently chatted with Claremont about returning to these characters, the eras the stories are set in, the adventures Gambit will embark on, the new characters he'll meet, and which of his classic stories the upcoming X-Treme X-Men series relates to. He and Marvel also shared an exclusive look at the interior of Gambit #2 and Whilce Portacio's cover for Gambit #5.
CBR: Gambit finds you returning to the adventures of the titular thief set in a time before he met the X-Men. What made you want to explore this time period and Gambit in particular?
Chris Claremont: The Gambit that existed at that point was the Gambit I had in mind from the very beginning. He hadn't been affected by any subsequent evolutions of continuity. So, for me, it was basically "The best thief in the world and the best apprentice he could have found." This time frame provided a fairly extensive opportunity in terms of how long they were looting and pillaging. So why not take as much advantage of that excitement as possible?
It's also a great way to show readers a part of the country and the inherent cultures there that are rarely seen. Everything in comics pretty much embraces areas like New York or L.A. We don't often get into the South; the Mississippi Valley along with the Gulf of Mexico and into smaller towns. I thought this would be a lot of fun.
So, you're telling sci-fi-tinged crime stories in an area that usually doesn't serve as a backdrop for those types of tales?
Yeah, but this is less a crime story and more of a comedy with elements of science fiction, superheroes, adventure, romance, robberies, and horror thrown in for fun.
What's it like writing Storm as a teenager after so many years of writing her as a very powerful and capable adult?
She's not a teenager. She's a pre-teen, which means [that] she's even more fun to write. Her powers haven't activated yet, so, in this arc, she's more what I had in mind when I started this back in the day [In 1990's Uncanny X-Men #265] than what she turned out to be. Sid Kotian brought her wonderfully to life. In my eyes, this first issue is a tease of the visual storytelling extravaganza this book becomes over the next four issues.
The other fun thing is that a lot of times five-issue miniseries turn out to be one story in five parts. The challenge to myself in this was, "How many stories can I fit into this five-issue arc?" So, essentially, it's one one-parter and two two-parters. That's me going back to the old rubric that I was taught by Stan Lee, which is that every issue has to be a single issue because we can't guarantee distribution, and we don't want readers to feel left out. I'm cheating because two of them are two-parters. I figure, "We end on a cliffhanger, resolve a cliffhanger, do it again, and ideally get to the end of the miniseries leaving readers screaming, "More! More!" Then I go to C.B. Cebulski and say, "You heard them."
You mentioned Sid Kotian's art. It has a sense of playfulness and kinetic energy in almost every panel.
That's the idea! This isn't a traditional-looking contemporary comic because there are aspects of Anime, aspects of younger-oriented art styles. At the same time, there is incredible maturity in some presentations. There's also science fiction, horror, romance, and, like I said, a sense of place. There's an issue that opens on a Mississippi Riverboat in the middle of a poker tournament, and it's great!
We also answer the question, "What really happens when Gambit goes looting and pillaging?" It might not be what you expect. Then, finally, after a great many years, I figured out why Gambit's outfit looks like that. I've been complaining about it, because I was too lazy to unlock my brain and say, "Okay. Think. Jim Lee wasn't just fooling around." There is a really sensible rationale for it. You'll have to read the book to find out, but it works for me.
The Shadow King appears in Gambit #1 in his guise as FBI agent Jacob Reisz. Can you talk at all about your plan for that character in this series?
The Shadow King is in the book because this arc takes off from a specific point of continuity, and he's part of it. This is also where I can reflect on parts of Remy's continuity, as well, which is his various interactions with a "criminal" outfit known as the Bacchae.
Having the Shadow King as an FBI agent in a story about a thief is a nice touch.
Reisz is actually part of existing continuity. He was part of Remy's story [from] the moment he was introduced in 1990. The other interesting aspect and the unintentional irony is that the arc that was underway at that time and is reflected in his appearance here is his use of Moira McTaggert and his absolute control over her mind to suborn the X-Men. That was me setting off on my story arc that would culminate with Uncanny X-Men #300. The other thing is the Shadow King is not and has never been a mutant. In my mind, he's up there with someone like Thanos or a step above.
I was also curious about a character whose name comes up in the solicits that I'm not too familiar with. What can you tell readers about Marissa De Castro?
She's a brand-new character. She debuts in issue #2, and so does her mom. They're part of a story where a 50-year-old mom and doctor saves the day and becomes a superhero in her own right. I figured, "Let's try something new. Instead of having kids become superheroes, let's have moms become superheroes and see if we can start a new trend." So, Marissa and her mom are new characters. The villains of the story are also new characters. Creating new characters means I don't have to deal with continuity, and Sid is a wonderful designer. They look great.
You wrap up writing the past solo exploits of Gambit in November, but he'll be part of your X-Treme X-Men miniseries, which is also set in the past. What's it like coming back to the X-Treme team and reuniting Salvador Larroca?
What's it like when the sun comes up in the morning?
Pretty nice!
Exactly! I've seen the first issue. Salvador is just remarkable. As always, the challenge is making sure the story is at least equivalent to the art, which is putting a pretty high bar on things. I can't wait to see what his next pages look like.
What can you tell us about the story you two have put together for X-Treme X-Men?
It's five issues. It's a "sequel" to the Kitty Pryde & Wolverine miniseries with Ogun. As always, there's more to it than meets the eye, and it touches on some stuff I was playing with back in the day. It also touches on some things Salva and I did when we were doing short stories over the last few years. In this case, the three non-mutant super beings that almost killed Logan and Kitty in a 10-page story set in Madripoor that Salva and I did a couple of years ago. [in Wolverine: Black White & Blood #2!]
So, the key aspect of this arc is that Kitty and Logan are going up against two sets of adversaries, both of whom have come as close as imaginable to defeating or killing them. So, it's not anywhere near the slam dunk, heroes win concept that a lot of people are used to thinking about and seeing happen in these stories.
Is that why they team up with their fellow X-Men?
It's not even a need to call in the calvary. It's that it opens with a nightmare. At that particular moment in their lives, Rachel is bunking with Kitty in Chicago while Kitty is going through grad school. And since this is taking place within X-Treme continuity, in my mind this is the next arc.
So in Gambit, you get to see Remy in his original outfit, and in X-Treme, you get to see him in his X-Treme outfit. There's also the fun of looking in on these seven characters and seeing if I can surprise the readers -- not just new readers, but the ones who read the series a dozen years ago. If you enjoyed that, I'm bringing it back with, fingers crossed, some surprises and unexpected guest stars.
It sounds like you're having a great time with both of these books. Would you like to do more of these types of stories?
With these books, I'm getting the opportunity to play with characters that I haven't seen in quite a while and have a lot of fun. That's partly because they're set in a different element than the current continuity. That's a good thing for me. So the characters and I can have fun. Plus, when you're working with people like Salva and Sid and characters like these, how can it not be fun?
The fingers crossed moment of X-Treme X-Men is there are more characters in the X-Treme pantheon like Quicksilver, Magma, Lifeguard, and her younger brother. They were equally part of the X-Treme roster, and a lot of fans online expressed that they'd like to see them again. So if we can knock the ball out of the park this run, maybe we'll get a chance to feature them next time.
Gambit #2 is due out on Wednesday, Aug. 31.