Writer Mike Carey Pencils Scott Eaton Ink Frank Hennessy Colors D’Armata Release Date Jan 21, 2009 Description: It’s the moment that X-Fans have been waiting for - Rogue makes her return to the X-Books. But while Xavier seeks out Rogue, who is searching for him? Hunter becomes hunted and friend becomes foe, in a story that will change your favorite Southern Belle forever.

This issue opens on a superfluous story (read: one not involving our two favorite protagonists) about a S.W.O.R.D. base in peril but quickly switches to the reason we all bought the comic in the first place: Gambit and Rogue. Feeling guilty both for his inability to help Rogue learn to control her powers and for his original assertion that he ever could, Xavier seeks out Gambit in his hometown of New Orleans to ask for his assistance in interceding on his behalf with Rogue. Gambit is initially reluctant, recalling Rogue’s firm insistence that he give her time to herself (X-Men 207) but is eventually convinced by something Xavier says:

Remy, she said she didn’t want you. But if she needs you? What if she can’t get through this on her own?

Xavier, X-Men Legacy 220

X-Men Legacy 220

I found the interaction between Xavier and Remy quite believable. Remy has never really deferred to Charles as a mentor. It’s perhaps this lack of diffidence that has always made his relationship with Charles more interesting and all the more enjoyable than those of his peers.

In another scene, we find Rogue meditating at Maynards Plains, Australia, a site formerly associated with the now-deceased mutant, Gateway. Her thoughts are repeatedly interrupted by the self-emulated persona of her foster mother, Mystique, having previously absorbed her (X-Men 207). The question arises whether the personalities Rogue has absorbed actually deserve to be considered sentient. Mystique’s “ghost” is clearly offended at the idea that she doesn’t really exist. Rogue sticks to her assertion that she herself is the one manifesting Mystique, however, which makes one wonder why Rogue continually seeks to punish herself (and what would have happened if she hadn’t absorbed Mystique).

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This calm and collected interaction is markedly different from the one that occurs later in the book when Rogue is temporarily convinced that a woman visiting a nearby mining town is actually her foster mother in disguise. Grabbing the woman by the front of her clothes, she yells furiously:

All ah wanted was to find a way to get my head back together. To get mah power under some kind of control. Ain’t it enough ah got you inside mah mind? You gotta stalk me, too?

Rogue, X-Men Legacy 220

It’s at that point that the woman reveals that, while she is in fact a “shapeshifter” of sorts, she isn’t Mystique. She’s Danger, a sentient manifestation of the Shi’ar programming of the X-Men’s training system, the Danger Room. She’s chosen Rogue to use as a “conduit of revenge” against Charles Xavier. I’m personally curious what would make Danger’s plans specific to Rogue (aside from Carey’s obvious and admirable goal to return Rogue to the mainstream books).

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Overall, this was a great issue. I really enjoyed Rogue’s conversations with her “phantom” foster mother and am happy about the fact that she’s finally determined that she is perhaps the only one capable of helping herself. And while Eaton’s artwork may lack the panache of Ramos or Bachalo, it’s definitely solid in a more traditional way. I thought his illustration of Tujague’s in New Orleans was a particularly nice touch.