Welcome to Comic Book Legends Revealed! This is the six hundred and sixty-first week where we examine comic book legends and whether they are true or false.
As always, there will be three different posts for each legend this week!
COMIC LEGEND:
James Asmus tried to reveal that Gambit was bisexual during his 2012 ongoing series.
STATUS:
True
In 2012, Gambit’s most recent ongoing series launched by writer James Asmus and artist Clay Mann (working with inker Seth Mann and colorist Rachelle Rosenberg).
It was a delightfully fun series. Here’s a nice bit from issue #2…
Asmus also clearly had a blast with little gags in the comic, like having Waldo (of Where’s Waldo? fame) show up in a big scene with a bunch of villains in Gambit #8…
Anyhow, reader Bryan L. wrote in to ask whether it is true that Asmus originally intended to reveal that Gambit was bisexual in the series but he was not allowed to do so.
Rich Johnston asked Asmus about this back in 2015 and he got the answer straight from the horse’s mouth:
It’s true that I was interested in revealing Gambit to be bisexual in our series – with us first seeing him seduce a man on one of his missions, and soon thereafter meeting a member of the thieves guild Gambit previously had a more significant relationship with in his pre-X-Men debut. I never got past pitching the first part, though, as word came down we wouldn’t be redefining the character as such.
Asmus, though, made sure to throw in some very important qualifiers…
A few important disclaimers, though… first, I have no idea how high or low on the totem pole that decision was made, or for what reasons – but my editor on the book was the fabulous Daniel Ketcham who is an out man and prominent voice for LBGT diversity in comics. Though the memory is hazy (I pitched a LOT of different ideas for that book) I don’t think he was keen on the idea just from a practical / story stand point. And as I mentioned, I had lots of different concepts I was happy to explore – so in fairness, the No wasn’t something I fought against. And in hindsight, maybe that pitch was too half-baked? Either way, we never did anything to go against the idea he’s bisexual. So maybe someone else will craft that story?
Fascinating stuff.
Well, there ya go, Bryan, that was a simple answer! Rich already did the work for us!
Thanks to Bryan for the suggestion and thanks to Rich Johnston and James Asmus for the information!
Check out some legends from Legends Revealed:
Is Sarah Michelle Gellar Really Banned for Life From McDonald’s?
Was Dumbledore Originally Going to be Straight in the Harry Potter Movies?
Did Kiefer Sutherland Add Lines to Episodes of 24 to Mess With Fans Playing 24-Based Drinking Games?
Is There Really a Law in Washington D.C. That No Building Can Be As Tall As the Washington Monument?
Check back Saturday for part 2 of this week’s legends!
And remember, if you have a legend that you’re curious about, drop me a line at either brianc@cbr.com or cronb01@aol.com!