|
You got the touch! You got the power! Well, you get the power when you get the touch.
With just one touch, Rogue can absorb anyone's superpowers - making her capabilities in any matchup nearly limitless.
We were due to get a modern Rogue in that weird single series of Wolverine Marvel Legends - you know, the one with Puck. She was going to be released as the swap figure for Emma Frost, under the shared name "Manipulators of Memory." Unfortunately, that figure got cancelled (why her and not Emma?), leaving us again Rogueless. The last time we got a Rogue was the X-Treme X-Men costume from 2006 (in both long- and short-haired variations), and before that, she was the only new figure in an overpriced box set. So thank you, Hasbro, for finally sending this Southern belle back to store shelves.
In addition to being expensive, ToyBiz's box set Rogue was a real butterface. She was sculpted by Steve Kiwus, who we know can produce great-looking faces, but something went awry there. This one, however, is done by the unknown artist we like to call "Ol' Wide-Eyes," for reasons which are probably pretty apparent. Whoever they are, they have a style.
Rogue is no wilting flower, so she's built on
the curvy body - that's kind of fitting, since she got most of her more familiar powers (super strength, invulnerability, flight) by absorbing them from Carol Danvers, who also shares this mold. Heck, that even means you can put Rogue's head on Ms. Marvel's costume, as was sometimes seen in the '80s. She does get some new pieces, and they're not just limited to her short leather jacket and its pushed-up sleeves. First of all, she's got new little cuffs on her wrists, to suggest her gloves, which is a nice way of doing it - preserves the range of motion. And rather than sculpting both new thighs and new shins to accommodate her over-the-knee boots, they just designed add-ons that fit over the existing limb. This does have the drawback that, unless they're in just the right spot, they tend to shift out of place, but you could glue them down if it really bugs you.
This is easily Rogue's most famous costume,
by virtue of being the one she was wearing when the X-Men were adapted to animation - same as Jean Grey. The line between the yellow and green sections is crisp, though they won't line up perfectly on the fronts and backs of her thighs at the same time. She has red X logos on both sleeves, a black X on her breast, and two black bars by her clavicles. According to what little art of Rogue we were able to find where she isn't wearing her jacket, those run around her shoulders and a bit onto her arms, but that wasn't drawn by Jim Lee, so who knows? They're still a strange design element. Her belt is a separate piece, and her bandana is glued into her temple.
Her hair is big, but for true '90s style, it would have to be bigger. And the white stripe should run all the way back, but that
changed from artist to artist anyway. Of course, she already can't tip her head back for a flying pose, so bigger hair wouldn't help that. She does get a perfect accessory, though: an alternate right hand, molded in pink instead of yellow. Pop her hand (and cuff) off, put this one in its place, and suddenly she's pulled off her glove to drain somebody's powers! That's some clever thinking on Hasbro's part.
She's also got a piece of this series' Build-A-Figure, Juggernaut. It's the left leg, pair of the one that came with Havok, with the same strengths and weaknesses. Very big and thick, though.
It's disappointing that Hasbro never found a way to release their "modern" Rogue figure, but at least now we've got her most popular costume in a version that doesn't suck.
-- 05/01/17
|
