I saw this picture of the evolution of Rogue over the years and I must ask: WHAT HAPPENED!??

1st: We see Rogue as an ex-villain

2nd: We see her finding her place among the x-men and fitting in.

3rd: We see her showing more personality & flare as an x-man

4th: We see her as a spunky, charismatic, iconic, & honorary x-man.

5th: Does not seem like the next step on her growth as a character. It actually looks like she has devolved as a character. In fact it seems like this character could fit between 1 & 2.

Are any Rogue fans disappointed in her growth as a character? How can you compare Rogue 5 to 4?? What happened to my beloved character? I realized there where some changes done to the character, but this picture makes it seem so drastic...

I actually tend to find she was more spunky and charismatic in the third costume, the only advantage the fourth has to me, is that it was her TAS uniform, drawn by Jim Lee, and was her costume when X-Men had a massive influx of new readers, and fans thus making it more iconic =p but still an awesome period for her unlike 5. I am good with where she is now. She's been healed under Carey's pen. 

@SC said:

I actually tend to find she was more spunky and charismatic in the third costume, the only advantage the fourth has to me, is that it was her TAS uniform, drawn by Jim Lee, and was her costume when X-Men had a massive influx of new readers, and fans thus making it more iconic =p but still an awesome period for her unlike 5. I am good with where she is now. She's been healed under Carey's pen.

@lykopis said:

Rogue's been around a long, long time.

As a character way back as depicted in the 80's (which is the time-frame I picked up her story), what struck me was that she was so non-hero like? In the sense she was no Wonder Woman, but man oh man she was tough and strong and a real powerhouse.

And yet so vulnerable and confused and so lonely.

She was always (and still is) such a strong and loyal and visceral character. I haven't always been happy with where she's gone under different writers over the years, but I have to agree, Carey has done a great job. Fingers crossed -- we get past this whole, experimental stage she's at romance wise and she doesn't lose control of her powers.....

(oh -- and I don't mind the recent outfit except for when that zipper seems to find its way inexplicably to her navel and a scarf that makes no sense.....)

lol I actually like the scarf. Though I agree completely with what you said. Though I can admit that I started at 90s Rogue and sort of had to go back for the others, but she's still an awesome character and Legacy tends to make me smile with some of the moments she has going on in the book. Both in being strong and cool and confident, but also in some of the legitimate empathy and understanding she has for other people. My recent favorite is when she's talking to Rachel about Mimic. I dig him as a character too and that moment was just great to me.

@lykopis said:

@Soulstealer: Exactly! I got into an old stack of an older relative's comics when I was ten (he started collecting the X-Men from the early 80's) so it was fun seeing her come into the fold. Gah --- she looked horrid in the beginning, the excuse that she had skunk hair to make her look older just.....**shudder**

It's just the scarf can kill her? Like --- stand to close to a fan and she's a goner...

O_O

LOL True. But I still dig it. I'm actually not sure why, but then again I think it might be because when I think scarfs I tend to think of more old fashioned styles that incorporated them and the like and usually my stance on ventage looks are that they tend to be elegant and awesome as long as they're tasteful. So maybe my taste is a little iffy or just outdated, still I like what I like.

Also I agree with you all day on the hair.

And it's the X-men that got me into comics in the first place, so I think I know what you mean. I don't always agree with the current writers in all things X, but I'll love the characters always.

Great discussion. Yes, her current look as posted by Soulstealer is definitely better than '5' although not as good as '3' or '4'. I miss the more colorful looking & one of kind personality version of Rogue. Before she was a breath of fresh air and a bit wild and as said before a bit fragile. Now she seems so toned down.. that her character is a bit difficult (imo) to relate to from before. As a reader, I feel like she lost me a bit. Like the next thing to change about her is her accent. Which at that point I'd give up. lol

(Although all the x-men are drastically changing.

Fearless, unstoppable leader Storm of the 90s compared to the more passive current Storm.

Noble Leader Cyclops of the 90s compared to the current Cyclops who is a jerk.

The short, grungy, snarly, bad habit, 90s Wolverine compared to the sellout typical hero, Wolverine is now.)

And yes-- All in agreement that the skunk hair should stay in the past. lol

Carey did an excellent job with Rogue...and then he ruined her.

You're judging the development of a character by her costume????

I really don't like her current costume. I mean a scarf? seriously?

In terms of character development, she lacks the spark of her 90s self. But I think she has developed a bit, not a lot, but a bit.

But she does get a bit boring nowadays.

The 90's outfit is outdated, but it will always be my favourite look for her. I think it captures who she was as a character at the time - a wild-hearted rebel and a prisoner of her own skin. I think that jacket gave her some sass.

I do like her current look as well - though not when artists draw her boobs hanging out of her cleavage. The scarf seems impractical, yes, but it's still a nice, flowing detail which often adds a dramatic element of movement in the picture. But I still wouldn't mind seeing a contemporary version of the bomber jacket thrown on that costume.

@jrock85 said:

Carey did an excellent job with Rogue...and then he ruined her.

I agree; I do think that Carey wrote her extremely well in the beginning of his run. I think he really got who she was, and took her to interesting places developement-wise. She went through difficult times that made her really ponder who she was, and then she finally gained control over her powers and took her place as a mentor to the younger X-Men. I liked all of that.

However, I think the last few arcs Carey wrote made Rogue come off as an unpleasant, thoughtless person - which could have been an interesting turn of events had that been the purpose, but I think he really meant for the readers to keep loving her. I'm not just referring to the relationship with Magneto, which I did thoroughly despise, but rather her character developement as a whole. The last few arcs seemed to be solely about proving that Rogue is strong and awesome in every way by having all the characters say so. I really didn't like the way he used all the other characters as mere vechiles to state how awesome she was and having Rogue save the day over and over again in the exact same manner.

I do think that Rogue is strong and awesome, but a part of the reason I think so is because she also has a vulnerable side to her; she's tough, but she's always had fears and doubts to overcome. Seeing her battle her demons is one of the reasons I find her interesting and awesome. I don't think that she displayed any signs of human weakness in Carey's last few story arcs, save for that one scene after Age of X when Legacy's memories messed her up for a moment, and she acted rather carelessly without having anyone call her out for it (except maybe Frenzy), which all made her less appealing in my eyes.

I don't think that being strong means that you never have to doubt yourself or to question your choices.

I dont think that Rogue's looks/outfits should be in any consideration on her growth as a character... Mean her actions Yes (relationships, mistakes, conflicts. ect) If you want to get into her costume choices that would be a different matter all together. Her appearance is key to her personality but not her growth as a character. I think Rogue looks good in anything, the only issue I have is that they keep her with her color (GREEN). If anything, Rogue's been rather consistant in comparison to others LOL (hints Kitty: Shadowcat) :)

You're judging the development of a character by her costume????

Losing Ms.Marvel's powers destroyed her character.Absorbing powers is cool but without anyone's powers in her arsenal she's a regular girl.I can't really bring myself to care about a characters personality in a comic where characters have so many interesting abilities, I need to have some interest in what they can do first.This is partly why I don't care much about Jubilee anymore.Without her powers she's not the character I grew to love.

@Vance Astro: I swear I LOVED jubilee with her whole " fireworks" thing going on.

once she became a vampire I began forcing myself to read her content :/

@poisonfleur said:

I saw this picture of the evolution of Rogue over the years and I must ask: WHAT HAPPENED!??

1st: We see Rogue as an ex-villain

2nd: We see her finding her place among the x-men and fitting in.

3rd: We see her showing more personality & flare as an x-man

4th: We see her as a spunky, charismatic, iconic, & honorary x-man.

5th: Does not seem like the next step on her growth as a character. It actually looks like she has devolved as a character. In fact it seems like this character could fit between 1 & 2.

Are any Rogue fans disappointed in her growth as a character? How can you compare Rogue 5 to 4?? What happened to my beloved character? I realized there where some changes done to the character, but this picture makes it seem so drastic...

I like her mohawk outfit! : )

@jhazzroucher said:

@poisonfleur said:

I saw this picture of the evolution of Rogue over the years and I must ask: WHAT HAPPENED!??

1st: We see Rogue as an ex-villain

2nd: We see her finding her place among the x-men and fitting in.

3rd: We see her showing more personality & flare as an x-man

4th: We see her as a spunky, charismatic, iconic, & honorary x-man.

5th: Does not seem like the next step on her growth as a character. It actually looks like she has devolved as a character. In fact it seems like this character could fit between 1 & 2.

Are any Rogue fans disappointed in her growth as a character? How can you compare Rogue 5 to 4?? What happened to my beloved character? I realized there where some changes done to the character, but this picture makes it seem so drastic...

I like her mohawk outfit! : )

Number 2 is alright. I think 3 or 4 suit her well as well. But as stated before, her character is really getting ruined down pretty bad. It's a shame, because when I was younger I always had Storm and Rogue on the same level as best women in Marvel. Sadly, I hate to admit this, but Rogue doesn't even make my top 5 anymore... );

The last image looks like something from the 60's.

• Personally, I always prefered her 90s outfit but I must admit that right now, I really love her new look. Sure, I'm not a fan of the art in some of the recent issues of X-Men: Legacy (I blame it on David Baldeon, he didn't do her justice) but the way Mark Brooks draws her on the covers, it's just so gorgeous. She looks splendid ;p

Gallery

• Am I the only one who thinks that the picture in the OP looks awful. It's not that the art is that bad (I'm not an expert so who am I to judge) but there's something in the faces that just seems kinda... weird. It looks more like a bunch of female draugrs doing cosplay than Rogue IMO.
• I still really like Rogue but I admit that sometimes, the writers did some questionable choices. I think that one of the main problems is her love life who was not handled very well. Her relationship with Gambit wasn't going anywhere, the scene about her "affair" with Sentry (see this and this) was really stupid and the Magneto/Rogue pairing upseted a lot of fans (It's not that I hate it because I think it worked well in AoA and other alternate universes but it did seem odd in 616)

• AND I DON'T CARE WHAT SOME PEOPLE SAY!!!

For some reason, she doesn't wear a bra anymore...

I approve.

Chalk it up to another great Marvel heroine that Marvel has butchered. Seriously other than Sue, and SW each of them have seen serious drawbacks in the last few years even Emma and Ms. M.

Through it all, she kept that white mark in the hair.

Some of her personality comes from the power she had at that point and time as well. Nothing is wrong with her.