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question is possibly moot. In X-Treme X-Men #31 she shows up wearing 
skimpy clothes and sporting one heck of a tattoo, and kisses Bishop full 
on the lips. If she felt ready to take her relationship with Remy to the 
next level, she's probably done it by now... assuming that she felt ready 
to do so. Either way, it's her business, so until we see Rogue and Gambit 
on-panel being very specific about their activities during those months, 
the best one can assume is "probably." If her powers do come back, assume 
that they'd use a power nullifier for moments alone, and not bring Leech 
(or others) into their personal matters.


--- Is Rogue's inability to control her powers psychological in nature?

Probably, although the real issue is what "psychological" problems she 
might have had. The most popular theory is that Rogue suffered some form 
of physical abuse in her youth, causing her to subconsciously keep her 
powers on all the time to prevent it from happening again. Skids' 
problem deactivating her force field was revealed in X-Factor #16 to be 
a result of her father's physical abuse of herself and her mother, and 
the same logic is typically applied to Rogue's problem.

However, the problem with Rogue's powers may just be a lack of practice.
Steven Seagle in UXM #354 had Rogue giving mouth-to-mouth resucitation 
to Joseph, and she was able to partially control her absorption power in 
the process. At the time she claimed that since she was never allowed to 
use her powers except when needed in combat, she never had a chance to 
learn control, a rather obvious and clever solution to this longtime 
problem.

Rogue's unexpected control over her powers isn't actually new, either; 
even prior to the Carol Danvers event Rogue could control her absorption
to some extent (see Dazzler, for example). There is one panel in UXM 
#239 that is used to support this; Carol, having taken over Rogue's body 
after the fight with Nimrod, touches Betsy on the shoulder. When asked, 
Chris Claremont confirmed it was intended to indicate that Carol could 
control Rogue's power, even though Rogue couldn't. In addition, the X-
Men '97 Annual portrays the Gamesmaster as able to "keep her power in 
check" by using his own. Since the Gamesmaster's powers are solely 
telepathic, this indicates Rogue's real problem is solely a matter of 
mental control.


--- Why does Rogue have claws? When did that happen?

Two words: "Maximum Security." In that storyline, Rogue absorbed a young 
Skrull girl. Because the Skrulls can change their form, Rogue's body had 
a severe reaction to the absorption. Basically, when trying to find a 
form to shift to, the shape-shifting power comes up with multiple 
examples: all of the people that Rogue has previously absorbed. 

So far, Rogue has manifested Wolverine's claws and healing factor most 
often, but she has also manifested powers and features of Cyclops, 
Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm and Magneto (in UXM #388, with Colossus 
and possibly Storm also in Bishop #16), and Cecilia Reyes (X-Men #108). 
This also explains the red glasses in X-Treme X-Men--she's compensating 
just in case Cyke's optic blasts return unexpectedly.

As for why we're seeing the claws consistently... well, Rogue wants them 
(on panel) so she can be tough, and Claremont (off panel) is using her 
as a substitute Wolverine. Expect to see the new powers for a while.


--- Was Rogue raped by the guards in the first Genosha storyline?

No, she wasn't, and it says so right in the captions in the same issue
(UXM #236) it supposedly happened in. Check the series of captions 
during the slow close-up to Rogue's cell. The guards slapped her around 
some and made fun of her, but nothing along the lines of actual rape 
happened:

     All they did was touch her.
     Rude hands, ruder glances--taunting promises of worse to come.
     She couldn't stop them.
     For so long, she dreamed of being able to touch another person,
     without her power absorbing his/her psyche.
     To hold, to caress, to kiss, just like any other-- normal--
     teenage girl.
     In those dreams, it was the most beautiful of moments.
     She never imagined being handled against her will.

Note also that Rogue's Carol personality, as an "eyewitness," says in 
UXM #244 that "Nothing happened. But that wasn't the point."


--- What is the relationship between Mystique and Nightcrawler? Why is 
    Rogue involved in it, if she isn't blue? (+)

The first inkling of a Mystique/Nightcrawler relationship came in UXM
#141-142, the original "Days of Future Past" storyline, which introduced 
the whole "future ruled by Sentinels" idea to the X-titles.

Mystique, who was a villain from the Ms. Marvel series, was trying to 
arrange the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly. Kitty Pryde was 
possessed by her future self, sent back in time by Rachel Summers, to 
try and stop Mystique. And somewhere in there, Nightcrawler saw 
Mystique... and recognized her from somewhere.

The original plan from Claremont was that Mystique, a shapechanger based
in feminine form, was actually Kurt's father. Drunk and amnesiac after
the events of World War II, Mystique was taken in by Irene Adler 
(Destiny), and the two of them had a child, Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler). 
Marvel being a corporate-run company that, for a while, didn't even 
allow the word "homosexual" to appear in their books, quickly informed 
Claremont of the Great Displeasure he would find if he were to pursue 
that plot thread. It was thusly dropped, except for one scene in 
Murderworld (UXM #177) where Mystique showed that she was capable of 
killing anyone, even her adoptive daughter Rogue, except Nightcrawler. 

Cut ahead to the 1990s. Claremont was long gone, and Lobdell and Niceiza 
were left with the unpleasant task of cleaning up his loose plot ends.
They decided that Kurt would be the son of Mystique, but Mystique would
be his mother, not his father. The father, unrevealed, was implied to be
some nameless German baron. Rogue, as Mystique's foster daughter, is 
thus Kurt's sister-by-law. It should be noted that the X-writers also 
have had Sabretooth briefly be attached to Mystique, with the offspring 
of that happy union being the nonpowered Graydon Creed, making him a 
half-brother of Kurt.

All of the above was revealed in X-Men Unlimited #4, which is, quite
possibly, the single most ignorable comic book in recent history, and 
thus highly suspect as a source of revelation on any subject. One hoped 
future Marvel writers would ignore the "history" revealed in X-Men 
Unlimited #4 just as blithely as X-Men Unlimited #4 ignored the history 
it was built on.

Unfortunately, issues circa Uncanny X-Men #428 and following pick up 
on that same storyline, exploring Kurt's parentage in "The Draco." 
Now, apparently, count Christian Wagner and his wife (Mystique) wanted 
children, but Christian was infertile. Mystique then proceededs to see 
every available man in sight, as well as an in-vitro specialist, in 
order to get herself pregnant. Eventually, she meets the perfect man, 
has an affair, gets pregnant, and then realizes that the father of her 
child is Azazel, a red-skinned, pointy-eared guy who hails from "La 
Isla des Demonas" and has his own plans for the infant. Picking up from 
the events of Unlimited #4, Mystique gives birth, is pursued by a lynch 
mob, chucks the baby off a cliff, and doesn't notice when baby Kurt is 
rescued.

There are still numerous issues left to this storyline, and it's not 
expected that it will make the best sense, but after all this time the 
answer seems to be in front of us. Meanwhile, in summary: Mystique and 
Azazel are Kurt's parents, making Rogue his foster sister and Graydon 
creed his half-brother (via Sabretooth).



*** Continued in Part 4 ***


   Compilation Copyright 2000-2003 by Katharine E. Hahn
   SEND ADDITIONS / CHANGES / DEAD LINKS / MOVED LINKS / UPDATES TO:  
   Kate the Short,  racmx@yahoo.com  (mailto:racmx@yahoo.com)


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