Rogue is in the house!
Originally Published July 1983
We begin in the underground tunnels, where Storm is wrapping up this whole Morlock situation.
As you will recall, Storm had recently bested their leader, Callisto, in a knife fight to the death, thus winning the ceremonial leather vest of leadership. She decrees that while the Morlocks can continue to live in the tunnels if they so desire, they are not to hurt, rob, or kidnap innocent people topside. The Morlocks are a little bummed about that, being that that is their entire way of life, but Storm goes unchallenged - seems like nobody wants to put themselves at risk of getting heart-stabbed.
I've got to think of a guy like Sunder, who probably would look at Storm and think, all things being equal, I could probably take her down in a fight. But Sunder is smarter than he appears and knows he's not well-suited for upper management.
Before leaving, Storm has one last word with Callisto, who survived thanks to the Morlocks' healer, whoever they are. Callisto vows that this isn't over, and Storm basically says "Anytime, bitch." Nightcrawler is perturbed by this transformation in his friend.
With that, the X-Men take their leave, and Kitty tactfully neglects to mention that she had promised to stay forever with Caliban. Oh well. I'm sure he'll understand. Plenty of fish in the sewer and all that.
Back in Alaska, Madelyne Pryor is awakened from a terrible dream...
Scott comes rushing to her aid, and she explains that she was re-living the great trauma of her life. Back when she was piloting 747s, she encountered a freak storm on her way into San Francisco. The plane went down, and everyone on board died, except for Madelyne, who walked away without a scratch.
The date of that flight?
Dun dun dunnn! What could this mean? The plot thickens.
Elsewhere, in the Boston suburb of Beverly, Mass, where the parents of Carol Danvers lives, the former Ms. Marvel checks in on her folks, who immediately clock that there's something a little different about their little girl lately. It could be that she has the infinite power of a white hole channelling through her, or it could be that she was stripped of her entire identity, which has been gradually rebuilt but remains distant to her. Hard to say.
As complicated as it is to trace exactly what Carol's mindset has been, this is a good level-set scene to hammer home what has been lost inside of her: she doesn't even feel the deep affection one should feel for their own parents, and they seem like perfectly lovely people.
At the X-Mansion, Professor Xavier is still struggling with the psychosomatic pain in his cloned body that is keeping him from being able to walk. Lilandra suggests they go play Doctor. Charles blushes, but then she's like "Let me go get the stethoscope and the thing for looking in your ear." (Har dee har har, folks.)
While Colossus is busy in the kitchen pondering a cookbook, Professor X sends him a psychic summons to answer the door, a visitor is about to arrive, and it's somebody shocking.
That's right, it's Rogue, the power-absorbing villain and member of Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, last seen punching Woverine through a ceiling!
As Xavier invites her in for tea, she explains tearfully, to an unsympathetic crowd of X-Men, that her powers are out of control. Much like Cyclops, who has no control over his optic blasts, or Wolverine, who has no control over being the coolest and best mutant ever, Rogue cannot touch another person without absorbing their memories and identity and, if applicable, super-powers. Carol Danvers' persona remains in her head, tormenting her.
With the X-Men unable to stop throwing shade all over the sometime-villain, the Professor x-cuses them so he can x-amine her on his own. Frustrated, they opt for a group workout in the Danger Room, which little Illyana has programmed with a "surprise" holographic scenario... which seems to surprise even her:
Yes, somehow, the X-Men find themselves transported back to the daemonic limbo of Belasco, where they saw alternate versions of themselves meet horrifying fates and Illyana herself was captive for half her life! Should be a fun exercise.
Illyana, triggered by this (as literally as one can be, not in the sardonic sense that word is sometimes co-opted for) flips her wig and mindlessly attacks Kitty, pulling a magical lightsaber out of nowhere.
Kitty manages to subdue her friend and the two have a tearful embrace:
The Professor concludes his examination and determinesthat Rogue's intentions are sincere and her need for help is real. He admits her to the school, and also - to general shock and dismay - to the X-Men as a probationary member.
Storm objects.
She makes some good points, but anyone who's in tune with what the X-Men are about will side with Xavier, whose past recruits have included reformed villains Mimic, Banshee and Sunfire, and dangerous killer Wolverine. But it's a testament to where Storm's head is right now that she is feeling more severe about things like this.
Before the debate can go further, however, Binary arrives, strolls across the foyer, and...
Rogue flies into low orbit and shakes it off, diving back into the fight, although she's not entirely sure who this woman is or why she felt the need to attack unprovoked. Binary gets the better of the exchange until it is called off, and Carol reveals herself:
The X-Men basically all threaten to walk out on their mentor and his so-called dream, but the Prof busts out a well-timed eloquent speech about seeing the good in people that pretty much sums up what the series is about. The team begrudgingly admit he has a point.
Carol, being unaffiliated, has had her fill of all this chicanery and flies off in a rage, possibly never to be seen by the X-Men again.
We leave off with Storm, who ponders her conflicting nature to herself - duty-bound to the X-Men, and thus to accepting Rogue, and yet yearning for a simpler time in her life, as we all do. Alas, there are no easy answers.
Further Thoughts:
The guest artist for this issue is one of the all-time greats, Walter Simonson, husband of editor Louise Jones. Simonson is very much the equal of John Byrne (if not better!) as far as depicting conventional superheroic action, and makes good with all the talky-talk here. Maybe it would have been different under Paul Smith's pencils, but Simonson's art is so good it fits in perfectly between his issues.
This is one of those in-between issues that is very much built out of smaller moments, and yet that makes it far from inessential. There isn't a big enemy or a fight or anything besides the brief scuffle between Rogue and Binary, we are simply presented with the major internal conflict of accepting Rogue as an X-Man when she comes to them looking for help.
It's different, cerebral - maybe not to everyone's taste, especially back when it was new and you were expected to have a villain to punch in most of all comics, but I definitely think having an issue like this buffering between real thrillers represents the fullest execution of Chris Claremont's vision as writer. With Rogue joining the team, the story absolutely does advance, and it is key to the entire vibe of the book that it takes place not in the heat of battle, but in the living room over tea. It's a testament to how strong and rich these characters have become that the issue works very well.
As discussed above, this is a great examination of the X-Men's stated mission to help and protect mutants in need as much as it is to thwart villainous ones, something that is coming up more and more. Rogue had previously been a sneering henchman who seemed to take delight in her villainy, much like Magneto, who was a bug-eyed world conqueror type before revealing his tragic backstory.
It's a neat trick too because the X-Men's hostility is totally justified based on what we've seen of Rogue before, but this one issue does a great job flipping that and making her sympathetic and vulnerable... although admittedly, my readiness to accept Rogue is a little inflienced by more than three decades of her eing a fan-favourite X-Man. So who knows how it reads to a reader in 1983?
Besides, it feels like having a one-woman army with the powers of Ms. Marvel and also potentially virtually anyone she comes across, could come in handy.
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