When they are handled well, love triangles can be very compelling (they are almost never handled well). They go on a classic New York City Christmas date.Р”Р„dorable moment, and I like how there is the added conflict in this joy about Rogue and Gambit also having their own thing that Magneto is sort of getting in the middle of, emotionally. There was also time given to Rogue spending the holiday with Joseph, who was believed to be an age-reduced Magneto at the time (and, let's be honest, totally WAS an age-reduced Magneto at the time, until they decided that he WASN'T). However, there was more going on in this issue than JUST a big superhero misunderstanding fight. He has always been one of the most dynamic artists working in comics and this fight was a highlight of those skills. The key part of this, and why I like this a lot more than similar stories of underpowered heroes taking out a bigger threat is that Lobdell really isn't saying that Cannonball would even necessarily WIN this fight, just that for at least a moment, he was on par with Gladiator, even if Gladiator would cream him the next second.Р”Р„lso, by the way, Joe Madureira drew the heck out of the fight scene. Here, then Cannonball uses his ability to create a 'nigh invulnerable' force field to put all of his powers into taking a hit from Gladiator so that it would shake Gladiator that Cannonball was still standing, at which point Cannonball would strike, before Gladiator's confidence could rise. If you could then shake that confidence, his powers would be affected as a result. In other words, his abilities came from his confidence in his abilities. Gladiator, you see, had been set up by John Byrne as to have sort of confidence-driven powers. That's not meant as a backhanded compliment, by the way, as Lobdell had a number of clever bits. The majority of the issue was devoted to Cannonball fighting against Gladiator (including a bit where Cannonball takes advantage of Gladiator's powers in one of the most clever bits that Lobdell ever came up with during his X-Men run.

Gladiator begins sequel