Writer: Fiona Avery Artist: Aaron Lopresti(p), Randy Emberlin(i) Publisher: Marvel
Plot: It's the Rogue Show!
Rogue was an interesting character with a novel super-power introduced not in an X-book but an Avengers Annual by Chris Claremont and Michael Golden. In that story, Rogue absorbs the powers of Ms. Marvel and discards off the Golden Gate Bridge the husk of Carol Danvers. San Francisco then belonged to Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman. Jess rescues Carol and later has a hand in teaming with the Avengers to beat the spit out of Rogue who in her introduction is vile beyond words. Essentially, a rapist.
What changed Rogue? I'm betting not one X-Men fan knows the answer. Rom the Space Knight changed Rogue. In Rom's book, the Hybrid one of the most disgusting mutants ever created tricks the Brotherhood of Evil into collusion. Rogue, thinking she will absorb Rom's power, kisses the Space Knight right on the fused helmet. Instead of power, she inadvertently absorbs his goodness and "finds she likes the taste." Bill Mantalo should go to DC. They sorely need good writers.
Rogue next returns to Uncanny X-Men. She abandons the Brotherhood. Plagued by a reawakened conscience she feels the guilt over the crimes she committed. She seeks the help of Professor X but picks the absolutely worst day to visit. You see, thanks to Jess' mutual friend, the good Professor himself, Carol has regained her memories and the energy of a binary star system. Bad news for Rogue because Binary with one blow sends the former villain screaming into orbit.
I bring up the continuity of Rogue because it does not match the continuity in her new mini-series. Marvel has started to officially reboot and thereby kill any claim whatsoever to official doctrine making. The original Punisher/Spidey meeting, despite Mary Jane being present and despite showing a scene where early on she clues into something weird with Peter, is only accepted by naive fools like myself. There in lies the problem. Fiona Avery attempts to reboot using what appears to be X-Men movie continuity, but then one wonders what the heck are Nightcrawler and Colossus doing there? Where are Jean and Scott? If this is genuine X-Men continuity, then why is Storm being so nice to Rogue when before like all the X-Men she hated her guts. Rightly so, I may add. If this is new continuity, why are the X-Men even in the book, and why is Fiona Avery focusing on the stuff everybody already knows?
Like every other inferior X-Men book on the market, Rogue suffers from being about the character and not allowing the reader to get to know her, get inside her head, like her or hate her. We don't know whether or not she likes or dislikes pizza. We don't know her favorite music. We cannot even guess. We do not know her favorite movie nor even her favorite color. Everything in the book--including the silly addition of a snowy owl--seems artificial. Furthermore, nobody shuts up in the book. There's not one panel where the artist alone is allowed to evoke. This must be the noisiest place in the Marvel universe.
While Aaron Lopresti is an accomplished artist, he really has no idea what's going on. Rogue is supposed to be "a kid" according to Wolverine, yet she's almost as tall as Storm and has her chest-size. She has no body language distinguishable from the other X-Men. None the team really act different. Check out Wolverine arms akimbo on one panel and Storm arms akimbo on the next. I almost expected them to burst out into a rendition of Oklahoma! The cover of the book promises more than it delivers. The photorealistic artwork cannot be found inside nor can be found the self-assuredness in the way the character on the cover comports herself. The character on the cover looks older and more experienced as a hero. I don't know the character's age, level of experience nor history inside the pages, and she's so inconsequential, I don't believe I want to know.
