Going Rogue

With the X-Men back at Marvel Studios, it will be interesting to see how Marvel's strategy for reintroducing audiences to these characters plays out. It appears the aim is to slowly weave characters in through other movies before culminating in an official X-Men movie. For this article, I want to focus on everyone’s favorite power-absorbing mutant southern bell, Rogue.

We all know that in the Fox X-Men films Rogue was a prominent character, depicted with her absorbing powers intact. With this, however, came the over-emphasis on portraying her as generally weak and vulnerable. Fox's portrayal of Rogue's inability to touch anyone without bringing them harm virtually disabled her. As a result, it overshadowed the exploration of any of her strengths. The MCU plans appear to be to reintroduce her in a manner consistent with her comic book history.  There, she began as a villain. She is rumored to be the main villain in Captain Marvel 2 squaring off against Carol Danvers.

Avengers Annual #10

The biggest book to get is Avengers Annual 10, the first appearance of Rogue. The current Fair Market Value for a CGC 9.8 is $850. While not cheap, this character has the potential of becoming a break-out star in her new iteration within the MCU. All told, there are 739 9.8’s currently recorded in the CGC census.

There are also 1421 copies of this issue at 9.6 in the CGC census. A CGC 9.6 currently goes for an average of $230, almost four-times more affordable than the 9.8. A definite safe investment. Possibly, the return on investment for a 9.6 may be surprisingly good.  $230 is a fairly low amount right now with a lot more room to grow. Even with twice as many 9.6's as 9.8's, as the 9.8's begin to routinely command greater than $1,000 the 9.6 will likely get more expensive.

For comparison, look at the FMV's in 9.8 and 9.6 for Savage She-Hulk 1. There are well over 2,000 each of 9.8 and 9.6 in the CGC census, and even though the 9.8 is selling for a few hundred less than Avengers Annual 10 in 9.8, Savage She-Hulk 1 in 9.6 is selling for more than Rogue's first appearance in the same grade.

 

Marvel Super Heroes #11

Marvel Super Heroes 11 (1992) features the first chronological appearance of Rogue. She appears in an unpublished story from 1979 intended for the then-canceled Ms. Marvel series. This story predated Avengers Annual 10 by a couple years. It fills in the gap of what happened to Carol Danvers between leaving earth in Avengers 200 and returning in Annual 10 stripped of her powers and memories. Additionally, this story, which featured Ms. Marvel vs. Rogue, was used as the inspiration for the 1990’s X-Men cartoon episode “A Rogue's Tale” and explains how Rogue ended up with permanent powers of flight and super strength.

There are not very many CGC copies of this book at the time. You are most likely going to need to try your luck getting a raw copy. From a cursory look on eBay, it appears the average selling price for this issue is about $20, with high-grade copies selling for a little over $40. You can see for yourself however that this issue is selling. There is most definitely interest from buyers in this book.

Conclusion

There is great potential in character development over several films (beginning as a villain and later leading into her heroine role in joining the X-Men.) I see this as a highly opportune time to invest in Rogue.