The powerful and sexy X-Men thief Gambit has been around since 1990 and has sported dozens of different costumes and looks over the past three decades, recently collected in a gorgeous new variant cover for Gambit #5 illustrated by the talented Russell Dauterman.
Gambit was one of the X-Men's quintessential 90s anti-heroes, a Louisiana-born street thief with a thick New Orleans drawl who was first fully introduced in Uncanny X-Men #266 by Chris Claremont, Mike Collins, and Josef Rubinstein as a mutant who had befriended the de-aged Ororo Munroe in Cairo, Georgia. Gambit quickly ed the X-Men and fell madly in love with the young Rogue, until it was revealed that Remy had worked with Sinister to gather the Marauders, which led to the horrific Mutant Massacre of the sewer-dwelling Morlocks.
Remy was able to repair his relationship with Rogue and the X-Men and has continued to be a major part of the franchise since then, becoming a fan-favorite hero because of his devilish good looks, roguish but loving attitude, and powerful card-throwing kinetic blast abilities. In fact, Rogue and Gambit's whirlwind romance and eventual marriage has made them one of Marvel's most popular heroic couples, and they starred together in the 2018 miniseries Mr. and Mrs. X after their marriage. Recently, the X-Men architect and legend Chris Claremont came back to Marvel to write this year's breathtaking Hellfire Gala costumes, is a stunning tribute to the long legacy Gambit has had on the X-Men, including the various X-Teams he has been a part of since his debut in 1990.
This is not the first time that Dauterman has illustrated a cover like this, with the artist creating a similar costume-homage cover for beloved X-Characters like Emma Frost, Storm, and Remy's loving wife Rogue. The X-Men have been around for so long, many for 50 years or more, that recreating a collection of their most iconic looks is a truly brilliant way to honor a character's legacy as well as let new readers know just how much of an impact this character has had on Marvel's history. Dauterman's homage cover highlights so many of Gambit's costumes that it is hard to catalog them all, but some highlights are Remy's costume from The Age of Apocalypse, his Shi'ar Warrior outfit from when the X-Men traveled to space to save the Shi'ar from the Phalanx, the "quirky" outfit he wore at X-Factor while it was owned by Serval Industries, and his more recent look from both Exacalibur and Knights of X, two popular series from the Krakoan Age of the X-Men.
Russell Dauterman's iconic Gambit costume homage cover truly does justice to the eclectic and diverse legacy of the X-Men's most talented thief, and the cover couldn't have been complete without the addition of Gambit's wildly sexy 2022 Hellfire Gala look which was also designed by the talented Dauterman, making this cover the perfect variant for the final issue of Claremont's throwback Gambit series.
Source: Russell Dauterman
Gambit #5 from Marvel Comics debuts on November 16th, 2022.
