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A review by crookedtreehouse
Rogue: The Complete Collection by Robert Rodi, Karl Moline, Cliff Richards, Tony Bedard, Derec Donovan
2.0
From a continuity standpoint, the second story was more impactful for the future of Rogue's character, while the first story was a chance to do a soft reboot on her past. Neither story achieved either Terrible or Terribly Good.
Rodi's story is nearly great. He doesn't have a firm grasp on Rogue's character, but he has a grasp on all the plotting and basic interpersonal relationships from the Austen run that this series dovetails out of. His decision to involve a dream world/dream mutants was interesting, but the idea of somehow attaching it to Native American culture was clunky. Sort of like if Poltergeist had made a big deal about the house being made on a Native American Burial Ground, only to reveal that all graveyards have the same effect. Ok, then, why bother to involve Native American culture, particularly when the crux of you using the culture is to expose the only actual Native American character in your story as a drunk fraud. It's lazy, stereotypical writing. Also, the actual dream elements at the end fall into almost Claremont-level melodrama.
Bedard's run sure had characters in it. And things definitely happened. But he also didn't seem to have any grasp on how the characters behaved with each other. I found myself flipping through most pages to just get the bare bones of the story, making it less successful than the Rodi arc, which I read every panel of.
I don't remember whether either or both of these stories have been retconned out of continuity, but if you're desperate for a Rogue story, and you see this on a Discounted Trades pile, you should flip through it and see if it interests you.
Rodi's story is nearly great. He doesn't have a firm grasp on Rogue's character, but he has a grasp on all the plotting and basic interpersonal relationships from the Austen run that this series dovetails out of. His decision to involve a dream world/dream mutants was interesting, but the idea of somehow attaching it to Native American culture was clunky. Sort of like if Poltergeist had made a big deal about the house being made on a Native American Burial Ground, only to reveal that all graveyards have the same effect. Ok, then, why bother to involve Native American culture, particularly when the crux of you using the culture is to expose the only actual Native American character in your story as a drunk fraud. It's lazy, stereotypical writing. Also, the actual dream elements at the end fall into almost Claremont-level melodrama.
Bedard's run sure had characters in it. And things definitely happened. But he also didn't seem to have any grasp on how the characters behaved with each other. I found myself flipping through most pages to just get the bare bones of the story, making it less successful than the Rodi arc, which I read every panel of.
I don't remember whether either or both of these stories have been retconned out of continuity, but if you're desperate for a Rogue story, and you see this on a Discounted Trades pile, you should flip through it and see if it interests you.