The cull of C-list X-books continues, as Rogue dies with issue #12.

Again, this is a character who really doesn't belong in a solo title, simply because it's not in her nature to be having solo adventures apart from the team.  Plus, the peak of Rogue's popularity was almost 20 years ago now.  It really shouldn't be a big surprise that two perfectly decent creative teams haven't managed to make the book work.  Fundamentally, very few people want to read a Rogue solo title, whatever's in it.

The big change from this storyline turns out to be that Rogue inherits Sunfire's powers permanently.  Since Iceman is there to witness it, it's a little irritating that it seemed to come as a surprise to him in X-Men #171 - really, how hard is it to keep that sort of thing straight, especially when the scene is being written specifically as a continuity reference?

That said, it's not a bad move for the character.  As a pure power-leecher, Rogue is just way too limited to be of much use as a recurring character.  It's a villain gimmick, not a hero one.  At least this gets her properly back into circulation without simply hitting the reset button.

But the story ends up being a little unsatisfying.  Blindspot is an reasonable enough attempt to create a kind of opposite number for Rogue, to act as part of her rogue's gallery.  You wouldn't really want to see her back in future, because there's a limit to what she can really do with those powers, but the basic idea of Blindspot reaching out to one of her friends after erasing herself from everyone's memories is nice enough.

The mechanics of her powers seem a bit shaky, though.  If Rogue's really been reset to the Silver Age mindset for most of this issue, for example, then she ought to be rather more surprised by the line-up of X-Men who come to fight her.  For that matter, merely absorbing their powers should carry with it a clear explanation of what she's been missing out on.  (The story suggests that it does, but doesn't really explain why Rogue doesn't act accordingly.)  If Rogue still retains enough of her previous attitudes to respond to Gambit on any level, why didn't something similar apply to the Silver Samurai?  Oh, and if Gambit's going to mention her name in order to prove that they have a relationship, it would be nice if he got it right.  It's Anna Marie, not just Marie.

The issue also skips out on the obvious question of whether Rogue's inherited Sunfire's persona as well, which ought to be a fundamental part of the revised character.  They seem to be leaving open the possibility of Sunfire surviving - I suspect a miraculous resurrection post-House of M, not least because he's appearing during it.  Still, it's such a key point that it feels odd for the characters not to bring it up.

Karl Moline's art seems rather rushed in this issue, even despite a fill-in on issue #11.  It's competent enough, but it's certainly not pretty, and it verges on sketchiness at times.

Bedard has held my attention with the storyline up to this point because there were some interesting ideas in there.  Unfortunately, the pay-off doesn't properly follow them through, and the plot glitches mount up to an irritating degree.  It does leave Rogue as a more workable character for the core title, but it really didn't work as a solo title.

Rating: C

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