I keep forgetting about the Uncanny X-Men run, it's something I thoroughly enjoyed but then started to give less and less attention to as the issues went by. It somewhat lost my attention as it switched up from artists and lost some of that visual and narrative magic its earlier issues had, some of this is due to the current X-Men run actually connecting to its other stories, under the X-Manhunt structure. While I read some of these other issues outside of Uncanny X-Men and got a bit more context into what's going on, I noticed that the change in quality over the story and many others came from Marvel feeling the need to connect all of the stories into their own little universe. Meaning you need to read other ongoing X-Men comics to see how everything is connected and how characters each have their own participation in the whole great story. I didn't like this much, I prefer when I can just jump into a single comic and get the entire story without things feeling a bit thin. Due to this sudden arrival of the X-Manhunt story, it meant that a lot of character development got left behind, and in previous Uncanny X-Men stories I was mentioning how Gambit was a main character that had pretty much no relevance nor participation in the story beyond the odd fight sequence. I wanted to see more of Gambit though, he's a character that's new to me and one that seems interesting in his design.
It was about time that the narrative took a pause and gave a bit more context into some of the characters, it was a refreshing read that looked at a more human side of the Gambit character, going into his past and showing how he was raised. Initially a weaker child that couldn't really stick up for himself, bullied often by the other kids. A friend of his father's appearing and pretending to be of a father figure to the young Gambit, initially giving him some protection despite claiming that he'll always be around providing he gives him 25% of whatever he makes for the rest of his life. His father's colleague also hints that he'll cover for Gambit if he wants to pursue revenge, giving him an alibi that would allow him to head back to the bullies and give them a good beating in return for once. This somewhat shapes Gambit a little more, turning him into a more violent person that gives Vig more leverage over him, slowly shaping him into a warrior he can take advantage of. It's clear that this friendship isn't all that reliable, and that Gambit isn't really safe. Now thrown into a world of crime in which he'll always be on the run, always owing someone money. This was an interesting story that showed how Gambit this whole time had something going on that he had kept hidden, something he had never properly dealt with.
While this was giving a bit more story into Gambit and his upbringing, I liked the connection the present that showed Gambit had never managed to escape Vig. He was still owing him money, still having to deal with the struggle of never knowing whether he was safe from him or not. We saw in the past that Vig was happy to kill, that he would pretend to have to 'deal' with people only for the news the following day to state that multiple people had been killed. Gambit obviously didn't want this lifestyle, and more so as an adult as he was now part of the struggling X-Men which had specific values as mutants, not believing in killing people and generally trying to protect people despite mutants themselves being hunted for what they are. Since we haven't seen a whole lot of Gambit so far within Uncanny X-Men, it was nice that the first bit of story we do get about him shows a more secretive lifestyle he lives, something that even his lover Rogue isn't aware of. A totally secret life that he's been living and out of fear. Though in this situation, with all that has been going on, Gambit is finally preparing to face his fears head-on and deal with the ongoing problem. Knowing he has to step up and can't be threatened and live this way forever, with Vig constantly threatening him if he doesn't get his pay.
While the story so far has been stagnating with the teaching of younger mutants and the seemingly endless X-Manhunt narrative, Gambit manages to slip away a little and deal with Vig in a direct conflict without anyone knowing. It's the first time we've seen Gambit really fight someone, and I think there was more impact on the story given the person he did fight was someone from his past, someone he had to kill and put down for good due to the threat. It felt like the conflict actually had some emotional weight to it as well, it wasn't the usual comic book fight sequence in which good guy fights the bad guy, it felt like Gambit was finally pursuing some closure on something. And with the context we had been given beforehand with Gambit struggling to find a safe place as a child to grow up in, without his father and constantly bullied for both being a mutant and being vulnerable, he was easily susceptible to manipulations that would promise the idea of connection, where he could feel as if he had some actual family. This brings the story full circle given Gambit is now with people he considers friends and family, now with young mutants to teach and take care of.
I'd say this was one of my favourite issues of the Uncanny X-Men story so far, very different from the rest but emotional and more focused on backstory and character development. Less about the bigger world of things that has grown a bit tiresome, and more about the human side of the characters. I do hope to see more of it going forward. Especially as the X-Manhunt boredom does come to an end.