Writing: Steve Seagle & Joe Kelly
Art: Chris Bachalo & Ryan Benjamin
What Went Down:
The issue starts with Rogue dreaming about being intimate with
Gambit. She is woken in the waiting room
of Dr. Agee’s on the day of her mutant cure treatment. In Alaska, Michael Twoyoungmen, aka Alpha
Flight’s Shaman, is running tests on Jean Grey after she collapsed last issue
from the events of the Psi-War. He says
she is healthy, and plugs his upcoming appearance in Alpha Flight, before it is
revealed that Jean herself has lost her powers.
Back at Dr. Agee’s, the doctor has invited a Senator named
Brickman, his wife Mallory, and Henry Gyrich to observe his procedure. The government has been funding Agee’s
research, so they are checking in on him.
The nurse asks Rogue if she is having second thoughts, and Rogue
reflects on her experience with Gambit, as well as the events of Uncanny
#353-354 that led her here. Senator Brickman’s
wife tells him that she can’t watch.
The nurse comes back in, as Agee is about to cure Rogue, and
opens fire with a machine gun. Rogue
saves Agee, and it is revealed that the nurse is really Mystique in
disguise. Mystique was also posing as Mallory
Brickman. Back in Anchorage, Jean
struggles with the loss of her powers and its effect on her perceptions and her
identity. Cyclops tries to comfort her.
Mystique tries to talk Rogue out of the procedure, saying
it’s a betrayal of herself and mutantkind.
She tells Rogue about the government’s funding and plans to use the process
on mutants. Also, the process is based
off of Forge’s neuralizer from the eighties.
Mystique taunts Rogue with the image of Gambit, so Rogue decides to see
if she is telling the truth by absorbing her powers and memories.
Gyrich and Agee have moved to the Mutopia center, assuming
it is safer since there are soldiers stationed.
Gyrich insists that Agee comply or lose his funding. Mrs. Brickman shows up again, but it is
really Rogue using Mystique’s powers.
Having absorbed some of Mystique’s personality, Rogue is compelled to
attack some guards. A battle breaks out,
and the real Mystique shows up to knock out Gyrich. She is about to kill Agee when Rogue stops
her. Rogue decides to absorb Agee’s
memories to see if the treatment works.
Rogue learns that early forms of the treatment led to some
fatalities. It worked briefly for Agee’s
sister, but then it mutated her further.
However since then he has perfected his process and it does in fact
work. Realizing it works, Rogue decides
to destroy the machines, rationalizing that the government will force mutants
to use it. She warns Agee not to
continue his work, and suggests he take care of his poor sister. Then she destroys the lab.
Jean comes to accept that her powers are gone, and
apologizes to Scott for ruining his plans for the X-Men (that we never learn
about). Scott confirms that she is the
most important thing in his life right now.
Rogue flies back to the mansion, and Wolverine tells her that he knew
about the treatment, but decided to let her decide. He tells her that she is still welcome.
How It Was:
This issue could’ve felt way out of character for Rogue, so it is to
Steve Seagle’s credit that he makes it work.
Grounding Rogue’s confusion in her recent interactions with Gambit is a
justifiable approach to doing this story.
Having Mystique show up is a random coincidence, but it does give Rogue
the opportunity to vocalize her frustrations and come to her decision. The conflict of weighing the value of love vs
purpose is far more compelling than any villain battle. Even better, it’s nice to see Rogue become so
overwhelmed that she doesn’t know what to do, resorting to using her powers on
Mystique and Agee. This does somewhat
dilute the lesson Rogue is supposed to learn, but I do really like the
sequences and they still feel in-character.
And speaking of villains, the government conspiracy behind
this story is a little too convoluted for its own good. Basically they are brought in to provide
action sequences for Rogue and to justify her decision at the end. Plus I’m not quite sure how the Mutopia
business fits in; originally Agee said he refused their offer, so was he lying
or is it just Gyrich who is in bed with both Agee and Mutopia? It’s a shame that instead of exploring the
conflict as is, the writers had to resort to bringing in Gyrich and shady
government officials to take the decision out of Rogue’s hands. It’s just too clear that they want the mutant
cure for nefarious purposes, making the right choice too obvious. The reveal that Agee is actually on the up
and up is interesting, but doesn’t quite fit with things he has said previously
while alone in his lab.
Chris Bachalo and Ryan Benjamin are two artists whose styles
couldn’t be farther from each other. I
have to say I like Benjamin’s a lot more; he doesn’t draw Agee with a head that
is three times as tall as it is wide.
Plus Bachalo’s Gyrich doesn’t look right, and his Wolverine looks like a
recolored Beast.
The sequences with Scott and Jean should have more of an
impact, but they don’t. This may have
something to do with the fact that Jean’s power loss gets completely ignored
after this issue. Personally I think there is just a disconnect between this
plot line and the Rogue one, which is strange because thematically they should tie
together perfectly. Rogue is struggling
with whether she wants her powers; Jean loses her powers and in doing so loses
a part of herself. It should work, but
it just doesn’t. Maybe it’s due to the
fact that Jean was semi-retired at this point and didn’t really need her powers
for much. Also, it’s strange that the
rest of the original X-Men have gone home after Jean had such a horrific
trauma, and instead we’re meant to settle for the familiarity and comfort of
Shaman from Alpha Flight.
This is actually a solid conclusion to the arc Seagle set up
for Rogue since coming onto Uncanny. The
end is maybe a little too sappy for some, but it works as a personal journey
for Rogue. While the character is
essentially at the same place at the end, this felt like a story that needed to
be told: the story of why Rogue doesn’t use technology to cure herself. Seagle and Kelly make this story compelling
by choosing a tumultuous time in Rogue’s life, building off of events and
traumas relating to Gambit. This is some
solid character work.
B
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