Uncanny X-Men #185 (Sep 84): Public Enemy!Creative Team: Chris Claremont, writer; John Romita, Jr. & Dan Green, artists; Tom Orzechowski, letterer; Glynis Wein, colorist; Ann Nocenti, editor; Jim Shooter, editor-in-chief, the Uncanny X-Men, stars
Starting Line Up: Storm, Nightcrawler(DNA), Wolverine (DNA), Colossus(DNA), Sprite (DNA), Rogue, Rachel
Guest Star: Cyclops
In New Mutants #19:
Psyche fights for her life in surgery; Warlock and Magus fly past the Starjammers, who realize they are heading for Earth; Magik starts to manifest armor; the Demon Bear attacks again, transporting the New Mutants and two prisoners to his own dimension.Synopsis: In Washington, Gyrich is adressing a security council at the Pentagon about Rogue's wanted status by SHIELD. He goes over her known history. He then reveals he has acquired a prototype of Forge's super power neutralizer gun, which he plans to use on Rogue. Mystique as Raven Darkholme bursts in and demands to get the gun back. It's still untested and Forge does not want it used until then. Valerie Cooper agrees with Gyrich that they should use it. Mystique wants to protest, but the orders came from the White House. Back at the mansion, Storm alerts Xavier that Rogue has disappeared. Storm knows it's becaus Rogue's powers were driving her crazy. Xavier uses Cerebro to scan for her. Rachel goes through Xavier's phone book and finds Cyclops' number. She calls him, but can't bring herself to speak. When he hangs up, she cries and calls him "daddy". Back at the Pentagon, Mystique worries about Rogue's fast while Destiny tries to console her. A distruption in the timeline (Rachel) has caused Destiny's precognitive abilities to become ubstable, so she cannot foresee Rogue's fate. Gyrich, Cooper, and a troop of soliders prepare to take off and hunt down Rogue. Mystique contacts Forge and tells him Gyrich has a prototype of his gun and plans on using it. Forge is so upset he calls the president and threatens to stop arms production for the country. He then takes off to intercept Gyrich. On the banks of the mighty Mississippi, Rogue is swimming and having fun. Storm finds her. Rogue tells Storm part of her childhood, aborbing her boyfriend's powers by mistake, running away from home, being raised by Mystique. Storm realises all of Rogue's experience with her powers have been negative. Storm willingly lets Rogue touch her so she may experience life through Storm's eyes for a bit. Storm is knocked unconscious, but because there was no struggle, she is able to control the elements without trouble. Rogue is then shot in the back by Gyrich. The gun was on a low level, so Rogue loses her absorbing power, but keeps Storm's powers until it wears off. The troops try to attack her, so Rogue creates a hurricane to get rid of them. But that puts a riverboat into trouble. She goes to save them and find though her own powers have returned, Storm's have worn off and she can't get rid of the hurricane. Storm revives and comes to her aid. The try to flee. Gyrich raises the gun's level to full power and aims for Rogue. Forge arrives at the last minute to try and stop him, but is too late. Storm, however, pushes Rogue out of the way and takes the shot for her. It causes Storm's powers to explode then disappear. Both X-Men are knocked into the water. Forge goes in and saves Storm. He then berates Gyrich for using an untested weapon, possibly causing the X-Men to turn against the government. They are being watched by the Dire Wraiths of the current epic ROM storyline who see Forge has duplicated ROM's weapon which is the only thing that can hurt them. They decide Forge must be killed.
Yeah, but is it good? The intrigue deepens. Gyrich has easily become the most hated villain in the series in quite a while, and he's just a government official. And somehow Mystique, a terrorist, has become likeable. She's now trying not only protect her people and her foster daughter, but protect them for their own government. There's a really nice build to whereabouts of Rogue and who's going to get there first. Storm and Rogue finally come to an understanding with each other and bond a little. I put Rachel on the roster even though there was never an official moment she joins and she doesn't get a codename for a while. She just starts going into battle with the X-Men. And we get the big shocker that Cyclops is her father. With the red hair, we can probably guess who her mother is. And the huge Dire Wraith story arc from the ROM series crosses over here. The problem is that storyline was wrapped up months ago, but we're supposed to believe it's happening concurently with the stories in X-Men. I suppose that isn't a major problem since the upcoming stories in X-Men don't have a direct coralation with the main plot in ROM. I'm noticing that the X-Men stories as of late havn't featured the whole team together, but just one or two being focused on. It helps get a better understand of a perticular character, but sucks if it isn't your favorite one.
Significata: Storm loses her powers. The Dire Wraiths plan to kill Forge. The US government has a strike force out to capture, or kill, Rogue. Rachel reveals Cyclops is her father.
