Sticking with the books in desperate need of a sales boost, we turn to Rogue.  The solution they're trying in this case is to have a solicitation for May which bleats that something really important is going to happen, honest.  So they've twigged that nobody really thinks these new books are remotely important, then?  Well, it's a start, I suppose.  (Mind you, if giving Rogue a full family background and a real name in the first arc didn't convince people, I'm not sure a Previews blurb is going to do the job.)

Rogue heads off to Japan and has a stab at absorbing Sunfire's memories to work out why he set Lady Deathstrike on her.  This results in (a) Rogue working out that he didn't do it after all, and (b) a four-page origin flashback for Sunfire, which is a bit wearing for those of us who know it all already.  To be fair, Bedard does seem to have a point in mind; Rogue and Sunfire were both raised by slightly dodgy criminal types and got imprinted with their agendas.  Granted, in Sunfire's case, that's a plot which comes almost exclusively from one Silver Age comic, but it is his origin story, so I guess it's fair game.

Meanwhile, the Silver Samurai turns out to have reverted to villain mode because somebody's messing with his mind.  She's got memory-related powers, and she's rather obviously being set up as an evil Rogue counterpart. 

It's alright, I suppose.  But it feels very formulaic.  There's little of the spark or energy that Bedard's Exiles stories have, and it just doesn't seem as much fun.  The art seems a bit ropey as well, and the presence of three inkers is always a warning sign.

Rating: B-

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