Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

X-Men Legacy #220
Marvel Comics
Carey, Eaton & Hennessy

Finally Xavier gets around to dealing with Rogue. As Xavier makes his rounds to all the key characters in his life he has touched on Rogue here and there, but in this issue he finally decides to do something about her. The issue is mostly just setting the pieces on the board and generating some interesting conflicts for the next issue. It’s a good issue but the confrontations are light which made the issue not quite as good as previous issues in the series.

The comic begins with Xavier recruiting Gambit. Xavier had already teamed up with Gambit earlier in the series which kind of gave Gambit a reprieve from his status where he was pitted against the X-Men in the past few years. Xavier asks Gambit to help him make a personal connection with Rogue. This is interesting because Rogue may hate Gambit more than anyone at this point. I guess Xavier is just desperate to find anybody to help him out.

Elsewhere, Rogue continues to mull over the consequences of her absorbing Mystique’s psych. She is essentially having a conversation with herself, but with the voice and face of Mystique. It’s a strange thing to see when you consider that Mystique is still alive.

There are some other moving parts at work in this issue. Someone shows up to confront Rogue before Xavier and Gambit arrive. Also, the Shi’ar Salvage Vessel shows up for some involvement. The issue ends with a confrontation of these various groups.

The issue backs off on the usage of flashbacks as we had seen in previous issues in this series. This is unfortunate because I can’t remember how the people on Salvage Vessel fit into the X universe. Also, I’m not sure who actually shows up to face Rogue and how they are connected. It might not matter who they are at this point but it did nag at me a little bit.

The issue has solid art, as usual. I was a little curious about the choice in costume for Rogue. It seems to be going back to the 1980s view rather than the cloaked look she had the past few years. The art definitely enhanced the story and its usage of the cast.

The story moves around the people to have them collide in Australia. While everyone’s motives aren’t entirely known at this point, the key party, Xavier, has made his intentions clear. If you like Rogue and you like Xavier trying to fix what he screwed up with her then this is an issue for you. The rest of the cast getting used here will only help to make the story more interesting in the next part of the arc.

3 out of 5 geek goggles