Marvel’s X-Men boast a unique history compared to many of Marvel and DC’s other most popular titles and heroes. The late sixties cancellation and mid-seventies, Phoenix-like resurrection of the Uncanny X-Men comic stands out for many fans, but just as notable is an aspect that often goes undiscussed. If you take a look at the world of Batman or Spider-Man, many of their most iconic friends and foes debuted within a few years of the hero’s first appearance. By the end of the first decade of Batman or Amazing Spider-Man, those worlds were more or less codified. Not so for the X-Men, which continued to innovate for decades after launch with new characters we’re still talking about today. Much of this is thanks to Chris Claremont’s landmark (still unsurpassed) tenure as the writer of Marvel’s X-Men titles, and few of his creations have had the lasting impact of a villain he would introduce in the pages of Avengers Annual #10: Rogue.
Any real X-Men fan can tell you that Rogue debuted as a villain, her in-universe origin makes for one of the most compelling evolutions in Marveldom. But few are familiar with the complex, years-long history that set Rogue on this journey: she only exists because of Claremont’s defensiveness of characters he wrote or created. Almost fifty years later, Rogue is the fan favorite character to emerge from Claremont’s comics career, with her tragic powers and dynamic personality setting her apart in the hearts and minds of comic book fans. Decades of adaptations have certainly helped, putting Rogue in the spot-light of era-defining animated series like X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men: Evolution. All of this coelesces to make her first appearance one of the biggest Marvel keys of the eighties, valued north of $1k — even if she is buried on the issue’s cover, tucked behind Blob and Pyro in a group-shot of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. This week, Hakes is set to auction a Near-Mint 9.8-graded sample, with the bid already past $500.
Concurrently to Uncanny X-Men, Chris Claremont was writer on Miss Marvel, the title that turned longtime Captain Marvel supporting character Carol Danvers into a super-heroine. Claremont wrote all but two issues of the series, and felt a sense of ownership over the character of Carol Danvers. He was appalled by the still-controversial Avengers #200, where she is non-consensually impregnated and taken away to space by the resulting child, which grows up into its own father. Thought reports of exactly how this happened are apocryphal, fans and comic historians agree that Claremont demanded Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter (Avengers #200’s co-author) let him write an Avengers storyline in response to the issue. As Claremont was the author of Marvel’s best-selling comic, he got what he wanted, and the result was Avengers Annual #10, which exists basically just that Claremont can meta-referentially yell at the Avengers for letting this happen to Carol. The issue is literally called “By Friends — Betrayed!”
Rogue was a means to an end, Claremont’s way of tying Carol Danvers (and the X-Men) into the annual’s story. She and Mystique track Carol to San Francisco, Rogue absorbing Carol’s powers as part of a plan to free the other members of the Brotherhood from Ryker’s Island. However, Carol resists Rogue’s attack, and forces Rogue to absorb not just her powers, but her entire self. It also has the effect of making the absorption a total, permanent transfer. Rogue gains all the abilities of the most powerful Avengers, but is also now plagued with the memories and psyche of Carol Danvers. After the depowered Carol regains her memories, she quits the Avengers officially, appearing subsequently as a supporting character in Uncanny X-Men (where she regains super-powers and becomes “Binary”). Though functionally a plot device in her first appearance, Claremont decided there was more he could do with Rogue, seeing the dramatic potential in her mutant ability and her relationships with the members of the X-Men. Claremont would also explain in interviews that this was motivated by a vested interest in making sure other writers couldn’t alter her character or characterization. Wonder why he was concerned with that.
She returns as a villain in Uncanny X-Men #158, which serves as a direct follow-up to Avengers Annual #10. It establishes Carol Danvers’ friendship with Wolverine (through their time in the military), giving Wolverine a deeply motivated hate of Rogue, something he’s forced to overcome when she joins the X-Men in #171. Rogue would need years to build the trust of the X-Men and the interest of fans. She remained with the team for the duration of Claremont’s time on the title (concluding with #279), and for years after, only officially departing from the X-Men for the first time in 1996’s X-Men #45. Her departure was motivated by the relationship fans associate Rogue with the most: her tumultuous love story with Gambit. After kissing Gambit for the first time, Rogue absorbs a portion of his memories, learning of his past with the villainous Mister Sinister before joining the team (MCU fans take note — with the characters already confirmed for Marvel Studios’ X-Men, this plot point is more than likely to make its way to the big screen soon).
Rogue couldn’t stay away from the X-Men for long, rejoining the team just a couple years later. Since then, she’s led her own offshoot of the team, married Gambit, and been a fixture in virtually every adaptation of the X-Men in film, animation, and video games. Some of this could be said to be a result of Rogue being in the right place at the right time: she was a member of the iconic Jim Lee-drawn X-Men #1 team, the basis for X-Men: The Animated Series‘ line-up and still the best-selling comic book of all-time. But that’s not giving Rogue enough credit. It’s the character herself that keeps people coming back. The central tragedy of her powers is one of the most compelling origins ever given to a hero — especially when taken into account that at first, it made Rogue into a villain. She embodies the prejudice and the fear that mutants face, and when she fights alongside the X-Men, a reader knows what she’s overcoming, both to stand at their side and to fight for the human race. Rogue represents the Marvel Universe at its best, a place where people can rise above, find their best selves, and make the world a better place.
Avengers Annual #10 is one of those first appearances that represents the tangible first step in a comic book character’s journey. Even if you manage to spot Rogue on Al Milgrom and Irv Watanabe’s crowded cover, you would have know the breadth of that history to know who she was. The hooded, sinister villainess depicted on its cover is hardly recognizable as the grinning, two-fisted southern belle we all know and love as Rogue today. That doesn’t stop fans from making this Avengers issue into one of the most collectible X-Men key issues of the past five decades, with a record sale price of $4.8k. Perhaps a fluke, that price was attained by another graded 9.8 copy of the issue — a far cry from the $500-700 closing price estimate Hakes has in mind for its Avengers Annual #10. With days left to bid at the time of writing, it remains to be seen just how high this copy will finish at, though it already looks poised to surpass Hakes’ own estimate.
