X-Men Legacy #224 Review: ‘Bout Time, Sugah!

Hey, everyone… I am going to be very busy doing reviews this week. I have a whole bunch lined up so expect to see them through the weekend to as late as Monday. For my fifth review (whew my fingers are getting tired!)I am going to do X-Men Legacy. Hope you enjoy it.

X-Men Legacy #224 cover X-Men Legacy #224
(details | thread)
Writer: Mike Carey
Pencilers: Scot Eaton
Inkers: Andrew Hennessy

NOTE: Wolverine only appears in flashback images in this issue.

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP:  The issue begins with a flashback of Rogue confronting Mystique about love. It then jumps to the present where Rogue is using the Shi’ar’s’ ship to confront them.

Their powerhouse, Horse, is pretty much nuts and he charges the ship only to get blasted away. But it gives their tech person the time to partially regain control and open the ship’s door. One of the Shi’ar quickly boards and is able to beat Rogue with a electric blast.

The captain is about to execute Rogue when Xavier gives the command sequence to free Danger from her programming. She quickly disarms the captain and takes out Horse forcing the aliens to take to their ship and flee. Instead of turning on Xavier though, she cauterizes his wounds until he can be properly treated.

Later that evening, Xavier presents a theory on how to help Rogue with her powers. He speculates that the reason she never learned control was that her mind was fractured by different personalities from the very first use. But now she only has one other person in her head so it should be possible to destroy the passenger, Mystique, and break down all the barriers.

Rogue agrees to this technique, and with Danger monitoring her vitals, Xavier enters Rogue’s mind. He destroys the Mystique persona and is successful in breaking down all the self-imposed partitions in her head. The process is traumatic and afterward she sleeps. When she wakes up her skin feels different but she is initially hesitant to test it.

But after a talk with Xavier, she decides to test it out with a kiss from Gambit. The test is a success, she is now able to control whether she absorbs someone’s energy or not. It ends with her not knowing exactly where to go from here but at least she now has options.

MY TAKE:  Let me start by saying neither Rogue nor Gambit are high on my list of favorite characters. I did like Rogue at the beginning but after all this time I have grown tired of her whining. Still, all I can say about this issue is, it is a about time someone took the initiative and let Rogue move forward. The story is not amazing and the explanation is somewhat lacking, but in the end it is the results that matter.

I do not believe I am exaggerating when I say, Rogue finally being able to use her power is a huge leap forward and a massive milestone in the X-Men mythos. Love her or hate her, she has become a foundation for the team.  Rogue first appeared in 1981 and joined the team two years later. So for nearly thirty years, she has struggled with this power.

The rest of the issue was decent if more or less forgettable. The Shi’ar pirates still had no real purpose, they were a one dimensional plot device used to free Danger. Having done so, they left and I do not expect they will show up again. Danger does have some interesting potential as a character although I have never been a fan of the original story. The idea of the Danger Room gaining awareness and attacking the X-Men seemed a bit too Terminator. But here she is given an attempt at depth so we will have to see how it pans out.

I have no strong feelings about the Gambit and Rogue relationship though I am sure there are plenty of very happy people with the new developments. Personally I just hope they either put them together or break them up for good and this seems to be a start on that process. I am still not sure if I like the new Professor Xavier but at least he is thinking clearly and trying to fix his numerous mistakes.

In the end, although there was little real plot or conflict, the huge leaps forward in character development more then made up for it. I am just glad we are finally getting some real change and progression on X-Men that have been languishing for so long. The issue earns a huge thumbs up from me for that if nothing else.

Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again tomorrow.

0 0 votes
Article Rating

2 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
jrpbsp
14 years ago

Yeah me too more or less. But now that she has her powers under control there is a glimmer of interest again. We’ll see how it develops.

14 years ago

Good book. I lost interest in Rogue a long time ago, but I’m glad to see she moved on.

2
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x