"Tell Me Which Course of Action is Best for Rogue."

Hey guys. I'm back to the comics and this time it will be a two-part blog. So if you keep up with both blogs I have at the moment, I will be substituting the second half of this story next week instead of the next blog for 'Wonder Woman'. Trust me I will get back to that one in good time. In the meantime let's get down to a brief summary of Rogue's scene in Uncanny X-Men #183 before getting to #185's first half.

The only piece given for Rogue in this issue is a scene where we see that Ororo comes upon Rogue in the Danger Room with a deadly setting. This, given the dialogue that comes later, is at least trying to get an attempt or taste of suicide for Rogue. Much as she mentioned the last time we say her.

Now the time between here and the mission to rescue Michael Rossi is unknown, but can't be too long as shield is never too slow to dispense their own justice. At the very least it has to be enough that Rogue has done something similar to this once before, if not more often, just not in this manner; because Ororo states that she has been acting crazy since that mission.

Ororo does end up destroying the machine before it can kill Rogue and asks her why she has been acting in such a way. While Rogue basically states that it's her life, Ororo responds with the fact that because she is a member of the X-Men, she is her responsibility. She warns against bottling her emotions and says that she's been there and to let her and the rest of the team help her through whatever she is going through. This does seem to work a little bit as Rogue does extend her hand to Ororo's palm, but retracts when she realizes(or rationalizes) that she is only making this gesture because there is no risk to her as both women are wearing gloves. After that, she storms off and asks to be left alone.

While this rational makes sense for her background. There has been very few people that have trusted her and she really doesn't trust herself or blame others because she knows the effects of her touch and has to deal with it constantly. Is it melodramatic.. maybe, but after all she has been through it's understandable to a large degree.

Moving onto #185, we begin with Henry Gyrich filling in the Pentagon about Rogue's abilities and past, emphasizing the danger as usual, before introducing a power neutralizing weapon Forge created to return her to a normal human. In a way this makes sense for dangerous people, but could be used irresponsibly(like any tool or gift), with Gyrich being a prime example of it.

Before the meeting can be concluded, Raven bust into the room demanding to know how he got the weapon as it was a secret project and wasn't even tested properly for safety. Valery Cooper holds her back and explains why this is a good test and they will win whether this fails or not, and Raven relents under protest.

At the mansion, Ororo notifies to Xavier that Rogue is gone and hasn't been there since last night. She recounts her concern about her mental and emotional stability considering her attitude as of late. She is bringing this up to him now because she knows Rogue came to the X-Men only because no one else would help her when she was going insane and now fears that she is going through a relapse. To which Xavier, seeing this genuine concern, says that they should go to Cerebro to she where she went.

Raven comes back to her home to find Irene when she decides to vent and get some advice. Irene asks her what she wants to happen, and Raven is conflicted because she guises her desire and sees the opportunity to get her daughter back with the fact that if this neutralizer works, her daughters pain could be ended forever. In the same action she could have the normal life she has always wanted. Irene sees through this pretty quickly and asks Raven if Rogue would appreciate you making this life-changing decision without even the knowledge or any kind of say, even if it does make her life better?

Raven's last chance to get a straight answer comes when she decides to ask Irene to use her precog abilities to see which option is the best for Rogue. It's not really said if this is true or not but Irene says in her own way that she can't at the time, it's going to be up to Raven to decide what decision is better. I say that it's foggy because while she does give a legitimate answer as far as we know, it's hard to tell with someone who could see the future if they are ever telling the truth, just as much of a problem with a telepath. It also makes sense because Irene usually is the one in their relationship(which is possibly the first major Lesbian relationship in comics, being subtle about it) that pushes Raven into making decisions of her own accord and not relying on someone else making decisions for her; especially when it comes to decisions like this that could make her a better parent.

After a long consideration her answer comes when she tells Forge that his weapon is being used and knows that he will go stop them. Not because he has any connection to Rogue, but it's the principle of the thing for him.

That's it for this part guys. There is a lot here and I didn't want to condense it. Come back next week for the second half of the story and we cover the rest of Uncanny X-Men #185. Thanks for reading guys.