[B5JMS] OT- Fiona Avery's Rogue (WAS Re: Peter Parker Annual.... written

[b5jms-admin at cs.columbia.edu]

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From: christian at jasdigital.com (Christian Smith)
Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2001 01:54:53 +0100
Lines: 94

On 24 Aug 2001 15:44:27 GMT,jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5) wrote 

>Also her first issue of the Rogue miniseries came out this week. 

I'll be totally upfront about this, I am a hardcore Rogue fan, I have
been from the first story I read with her in it and remain so to this
day

When I heard that Rogue was getting a Limited series looking back at
her early days in the X-men I was overjoyed, this time in the comics
was a joy, with a well balanced and fun team, some good camaraderie
and interesting and new storylines.

I hoped it would deal with Mystiques reaction to her joining the
"Enemy" Rogue learning to deal with Carol's persona in her mind
permanently.

Then I read Issue 1.

Still not sure about this.

It is very well written, each character has his or her own voice,
Piotr Rasputin is back and there is no Gambit to muddy the waters

However the character is Not Rogue as she is shown in the comics. It
also is not the Rogue (Or the X-men) of the movie or Evolution.
Instead she is an amalgam of lots of different aspects of these three,
such as the Cerebro room, her outfit on the cover, the effect on skin
when she absorbs them..

I like the idea of it being set just after she joins the team, but
there are inconsistencies to the existing story (such as team members-
where's Kitty?, Logan's reaction to her, Storm's Mohawk)

(Anyone interested should search for X-Men- From The Ashes trade
paperback which shows Rogue's real first adventures and meeting with
the team or the cheaper (but black and white) X-men Essential 4.)

What I find interesting is that Fiona has taken some of the
interesting aspects of Rogue and ignored them.
For example she was raised by Mystique and her Lover Destiny, she left
to join the X-men of her own free will when the memories of her
totally subsuming Carol Danvers (Ms Marvel) and Carol's personality
were out of control. At no point was she a runaway or an orphan.
The loss of Carol's absorbtion also means Rogue has no super-strength
or flight.
These two events make Rogue part of who she is now, she was a villain,
raised by villains who murdered a hero, but came to her Mother's enemy
for help.
Her struggle to live in symbiosis with carol continued fro many years
to come and actually spawned some very interesting story ideas when
the team were based in Australia and Rogue/Carol time-shared Rogues
body

The story is an interesting one, but I feel that the character is not
who it should be, but a new one with Rogues powers and limitations
grafted on.
. 
Rogue does not absorb people permanently (or at least she was not
aware of it when she joined - this has altered slightly in Extreme
x-Men in the last 4 months.)
Each absorb, was temporary, the only exceptions to this were Cody (the
first time it ever happened) and Carol Danvers. In the case of Carol
it literally caused Split Personality.

Now I'm just nitpicking I suppose

On the upside, the story has potential and is very well drawn. Though
in many scenes I found myself wondering why Kitty Pryde had appeared
and replaced Rogue in the shot.
She also hasn't used the name Marie (YAY!!!!!)- Rogue has never
revealed her real name to anyone...

If Marvel had solicited it as an "Alternative" universe, or as a "What
If" style story, I wouldn't have been jarred so much on my first
reading.
As it is it's going to get slated by a lot of Rogue fans who see it as
another attempt to re-write history to fit the movie..

I will pick up the rest of the series because I'm interested to see
where Fiona goes next.
I also know that if sales on the Icon series are high enough those
characters will stand a good chance of getting an ongoing, then we can
have the Marvel Universe Rogue take to the skies....

Christian
-- 
See Jeri Ryan, Roxann Dawson and Garrett Wang at Supernova-Retribution. www.supernova-conventions.com

"Every new beginning is some other beginnings end..."

ICQ 45494039
(E_Mail: Remove "NOSPAM" from e-mail address when replying)


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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 25 Aug 2001 08:18:21 GMT
Lines: 15

What I understand is that Marvel specifically wanted it taken outside
continuity to make it more accessible to an audience that may only have seen
the X-Men movie, and specifically indicated that the stuff at this time -- the
Ms. Marvel situation and others -- be dropped.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd., 
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
and don't send me story ideas)