Rachel Summers/Grey Appreciation 2019

[RachelGrey]

This, and considering that the only thing the X-Office has done with /to her in the past two years has been mind control or being a hound it feels like they are trying to make this her status quo. Which is gross.

I am pretty pessimistic honestly, however, Rachel is definitely being portrayed as being under Stryfe's control, which means right off they are showing her as an unwilling ally which also means that it is possible for her to be freed from that control. The cover shows them taken down by Stryfe's team but I also noticed something else on the cover that Rachel is cradling Nathan's head, it's an interesting dichotomy to show Rachel holding Nathan in a way that looks like it could be she is trying to help him while having the evil grin on her face that matches Stryfe. I am going to be curious if when she attacks Nathan and links her mind to his if that maybe breaks her conditioning. Rachel and Nathan have a deep psychic bond and that is even without the Askani timeline because she bonded with him when he as a baby.

The only thing I do wonder about is if they are really going to write her out. It's telling they are in the future with Stryfe present, is this setting her up to become Mother Askani again and then writing her out of the comics.

I am going to keep my fingers crossed that she ends up on X-Force, and I don't even mind if she keeps going by Prestige, just please let her stay on with Cable, I would read X-Force just for the brother/sister dynamic being explored for a good run.

[ClanAskani]

At least they remembered she exist and she will probably interact with Cable, so it is good for me

Me too. I'm not going to jump to conclusions from the cover since they aren't always what happens in the issue. At least she's on it. Hopefully we at least get some good interaction or the end of this arc ends up in a postive direction. If that isn't the case, then I'll let the X-Office and Brisson have it.

[Havok83]

I am pretty pessimistic honestly, however, Rachel is definitely being portrayed as being under Stryfe's control, which means right off they are showing her as an unwilling ally which also means that it is possible for her to be freed from that control. The cover shows them taken down by Stryfe's team but I also noticed something else on the cover that Rachel is cradling Nathan's head, it's an interesting dichotomy to show Rachel holding Nathan in a way that looks like it could be she is trying to help him while having the evil grin on her face that matches Stryfe. I am going to be curious if when she attacks Nathan and links her mind to his if that maybe breaks her conditioning. Rachel and Nathan have a deep psychic bond and that is even without the Askani timeline because she bonded with him when he as a baby.

The only thing I do wonder about is if they are really going to write her out. It's telling they are in the future with Stryfe present, is this setting her up to become Mother Askani again and then writing her out of the comics.

I am going to keep my fingers crossed that she ends up on X-Force, and I don't even mind if she keeps going by Prestige, just please let her stay on with Cable, I would read X-Force just for the brother/sister dynamic being explored for a good run.

Yeah I also got the idea that she may stay in the future and not come back to present day with the team

[Askani's Flame]

I am pretty pessimistic honestly, however, Rachel is definitely being portrayed as being under Stryfe's control, which means right off they are showing her as an unwilling ally which also means that it is possible for her to be freed from that control. The cover shows them taken down by Stryfe's team but I also noticed something else on the cover that Rachel is cradling Nathan's head, it's an interesting dichotomy to show Rachel holding Nathan in a way that looks like it could be she is trying to help him while having the evil grin on her face that matches Stryfe. I am going to be curious if when she attacks Nathan and links her mind to his if that maybe breaks her conditioning. Rachel and Nathan have a deep psychic bond and that is even without the Askani timeline because she bonded with him when he as a baby.

The only thing I do wonder about is if they are really going to write her out. It's telling they are in the future with Stryfe present, is this setting her up to become Mother Askani again and then writing her out of the comics.

I am going to keep my fingers crossed that she ends up on X-Force, and I don't even mind if she keeps going by Prestige, just please let her stay on with Cable, I would read X-Force just for the brother/sister dynamic being explored for a good run.

I read the cover differently (which is cool as art is subjective). Rachel is clearly still in her hound form, and her pose is reminiscent of the last pose she had when flocking to her master Ahab in Extermination. I see that pose on this cover as a menacing one where Stryfe has her on a leash to show his mastery of her and she is being shown as the one who has taken done her "dear brother". I don't think see her as an unwilling ally here as she's fully transformed into a hound and has been so for months at this point. Unlike her mental control by Cassandra, this hound programming runs deep and it seems she can't shake the hound persona like before. They are going to have to really do something grandiose to break her or she's staying a villain or villain pet.

I would like her to be relevant in the X-line again but that is going to be VERY hard with Jean and Hope back in action. So the likelihood of her remaining a pet to Stryfe, dying, or remaining in the future and leaving the books is very high in comparison to her joining a team.

[U.N. Owen]

You know, as the woman (partially) responsible for Stryfe, I certainly expected Rachel to be a better piece on the board, not a pawn.

[Vaishakh]

You know, as the woman (partially) responsible for Stryfe, I certainly expected Rachel to be a better piece on the board, not a pawn.

Your mistake was having any expectations regarding Rachel in the first place

[RachelGrey]

Your mistake was having any expectations regarding Rachel in the first place

Yeah, I have been anticipating this since Jean returned that they would find a way to sideline or kill Rachel permanently. I always loved her storyline right from her first appearance, but I also remember when she disappeared the first time in Uncanny X-Men years ago . Wolverine stabbed her in the stomach and left her for dead, she ran off with a dire injury and only her TK keeping her alive and was tricked into the bodyshoppe by Spiral and then gone to Mojoworld as a slave/hound for a long while. She escapes Mojoworld and joins Excalibur, she sacrifices herself to save Brian Braddock, and once again gone for several years this time. She pops up a bit in some comics that are linked to Cable as Mother Askani, then after the Twelve crossover she is erased from the future timeline. She shows up a while later in Cable's book and is rescued from the end of time and returned to the present. Then she disappears for a while, reserved as a backup character for Cable but not really used much until the end of the Sisterhood storyline. Then she disappears again and ends up coming back at the tail end of X-Treme X-Men. She has more or less been back since then, though I believe Rachel disappeared for nearly a year after War of Kings before they brought her back during Age of X as Revenant.

So yeah, they write Rachel out on a regular basis, and they often sideline her during major events probably because she is one of the more powerful mutants and sheesh she can go up against Thor and actually hold her own for a while.

I always wonder why they don't do something to explore how almost godlike she is, heck do a storyline with her realizing that she is the Starchilde, daughter of the Phoenix, and a demigod. Have her go over to Asgard because Odin has a rather soft spot for the Phoenix and might actually treat her like a daughter because of it. I would love to see Rachel go out on one of the cosmic books and just leave Earth altogether, she just gets sidelined in the X-books and I hate that there has to be a choice between Jean, Rachel, and Hope. I personally think there is room for all 3 and even a story telling with all 3 of them, but Marvel can't write a mother/daughter relationship if their lives depended on it so Rachel will always be sidelined when Jean is active as a character.

[Askani's Flame]

I always wonder why they don't do something to explore how almost godlike she is, heck do a storyline with her realizing that she is the Starchilde, daughter of the Phoenix, and a demigod. Have her go over to Asgard because Odin has a rather soft spot for the Phoenix and might actually treat her like a daughter because of it. I would love to see Rachel go out on one of the cosmic books and just leave Earth altogether, she just gets sidelined in the X-books and I hate that there has to be a choice between Jean, Rachel, and Hope. I personally think there is room for all 3 and even a story telling with all 3 of them, but Marvel can't write a mother/daughter relationship if their lives depended on it so Rachel will always be sidelined when Jean is active as a character.

No writer has been interested in doing so. Additionally they have been promoting other female characters as many editors and writers have viewed Rachel simply as "not Jean". And because she is so powerful they often send her away so that fans and readers aren't asking questions like they did during AvX. It's also why I feel they keep nerfing her all the time. And because Guggenheim had her become everyone's mind controllable hero, that's all she has done of note in the past two years. I don't think Brisson is going to do anything new with her unless it's a vehicle to further promote Wi-Fi. If she could be salvaged (which I would normally say no but characters like Bishop get passes) then she could go cosmic. But any hopes of a relationship with Jean sailed years ago, and those few Red panels are all we will ever get. Dems the facts of the matter.

[RachelGrey]

No writer has been interested in doing so. Additionally they have been promoting other female characters as many editors and writers have viewed Rachel simply as "not Jean". And because she is so powerful they often send her away so that fans and readers aren't asking questions like they did during AvX. It's also why I feel they keep nerfing her all the time. And because Guggenheim had her become everyone's mind controllable hero, that's all she has done of note in the past two years. I don't think Brisson is going to do anything new with her unless it's a vehicle to further promote Wi-Fi. If she could be salvaged (which I would normally say no but characters like Bishop get passes) then she could go cosmic. But any hopes of a relationship with Jean sailed years ago, and those few Red panels are all we will ever get. Dems the facts of the matter.

Yeah, I think there are 5 possible options going forward:
1. Rachel stays as Stryfe's slave/hound indefinitely.
2. They kill Rachel off during the conflict with Stryfe.
3. They rescue Rachel in the future and just leave her there to write her out of the comics.
4. They rescue Rachel and bring her back to join X-Force.
5. They rescue Rachel and she stays with kid Cable as his partner going forward.

My prediction is that Marvel will go with 1 to 3 as a way of writing Rachel out. With all the characters they seem to be killing off in Uncanny then their plan for Rachel is either death or abandonment in the future.

My preference is #5, she gets rescued and she joins up specifically with kid Cable. That way if he is going to get his own book she can go with him as his sister and partner. Since Marvel seems to hate the idea of exploring Rachel's relationship with her parents, then go all in on her relationship to her brother.

[Vaishakh]

Yeah, I think there are 5 possible options going forward:
1. Rachel stays as Stryfe's slave/hound indefinitely.
2. They kill Rachel off during the conflict with Stryfe.
3. They rescue Rachel in the future and just leave her there to write her out of the comics.
4. They rescue Rachel and bring her back to join X-Force.
5. They rescue Rachel and she stays with kid Cable as his partner going forward.

My prediction is that Marvel will go with 1 to 3 as a way of writing Rachel out. With all the characters they seem to be killing off in Uncanny then their plan for Rachel is either death or abandonment in the future.

My preference is #5, she gets rescued and she joins up specifically with kid Cable. That way if he is going to get his own book she can go with him as his sister and partner. Since Marvel seems to hate the idea of exploring Rachel's relationship with her parents, then go all in on her relationship to her brother.

Personally, her leaving X-Men would be the best option currently. She doesnt have a place in X-Men or its spinoffs. Her going Cosmic or her joining another team would be great as long as any writer would be bothered to do it. Best way to write her off would be an off-screen death which allows for her to return by fake death excuse

[Askani's Flame]

Personally, her leaving X-Men would be the best option currently. She doesnt have a place in X-Men or its spinoffs. Her going Cosmic or her joining another team would be great as long as any writer would be bothered to do it. Best way to write her off would be an off-screen death which allows for her to return by fake death excuse

I feel the same way. The X-Office has damaged her almost beyond repair, at least for this office. Sending her to the Guardians, Bunn, or maybe even the Avengers might be redeeming as she really doesn't have a place in the X-Men with Jean back and Hope being featured. No shade to Jean, it's just a fact.

[RachelGrey]

I feel the same way. The X-Office has damaged her almost beyond repair, at least for this office. Sending her to the Guardians, Bunn, or maybe even the Avengers might be redeeming as she really doesn't have a place in the X-Men with Jean back and Hope being featured. No shade to Jean, it's just a fact.

I remember I stopped reading comics after Rachel disappeared from Excalibur all those years ago. She was my favorite character and then suddenly she is just gone. I was so happy when they brought her back, even though they kind of de-aged her a bit after her initial return in Cable. In Cable she was portrayed looking a bit older, almost mid-twenties. When she returned to the X-Men after Elias Bogan I felt that they kind of put her about 18 or 19 and slowly aging from there.

<sigh> I am so pessimistic that they are going to write her out again. The other thing I am worried about is that if they do keep her in the X-books that they won't fully explore the psychological impact of being a hound again for months. At the very least Rachel should be going through severe PTSD after she regains control of herself. My biggest hope is that she does it on her own, that she starts to resist the hound programming after downing Cable because of the mind link with Cable reminding her who she really is. It would be kind of great if she breaks her own conditioning and rescues them all from Stryfe, but I doubt Marvel wants to make her look like a hero in this, they want her to be a victim right to the bitter end.

[Askani's Flame]

I remember I stopped reading comics after Rachel disappeared from Excalibur all those years ago. She was my favorite character and then suddenly she is just gone. I was so happy when they brought her back, even though they kind of de-aged her a bit after her initial return in Cable. In Cable she was portrayed looking a bit older, almost mid-twenties. When she returned to the X-Men after Elias Bogan I felt that they kind of put her about 18 or 19 and slowly aging from there.

<sigh> I am so pessimistic that they are going to write her out again. The other thing I am worried about is that if they do keep her in the X-books that they won't fully explore the psychological impact of being a hound again for months. At the very least Rachel should be going through severe PTSD after she regains control of herself. My biggest hope is that she does it on her own, that she starts to resist the hound programming after downing Cable because of the mind link with Cable reminding her who she really is. It would be kind of great if she breaks her own conditioning and rescues them all from Stryfe, but I doubt Marvel wants to make her look like a hero in this, they want her to be a victim right to the bitter end.

But NO ONE has discussed the psychological impact of being Ahab's hound. That is a HUGE issue for me with the X-Men right now. I'd say 40-50% of the X-Men were turned into temporary hounds during Extermination. Nightcrawler, Shatterstar, Gabby, and a few others longer than most. NONE of their conditioning or the after effects have been discussed anywhere. You would think, of ALL PEOPLE, that Kurt would be concerned for Rachel's well being after experiencing a slice of the trauma that she went through. Or brought up how they were turned. I expect Shatterstar, and hopefully Tabby if she joins during this run for real, will say something when they come across Ahab in X-Force. But they won't address Rachel until she appears, and they certainly will treat her like a villain and not their friend/colleague/sister.

And this lack of repercussions or discussions of them is what I hate about the current format of storytelling. You go from event to event or event into new storyline. No "filler" issues to discuss the ramifications of the event. the assumption is on the reader to infer that they talked about things in between the issues. Which is just poor story-telling. I'd rather have an extra issue of a story to flesh out the characters reactions to things than this quick pace of "it's over and done moving on".

[Panic]

In the days when the X-Men was one of my favourite comics (back in the Claremont/Smith/Romita JR era), Rachel became my favourite member of the team, in fact one of my favourite Marvel heroes period, and it was because she was so complex psychologically. We got to spend a lot of time in her head, so even when she was making reckless decisions we understood exactly what was driving her to make those choices. I miss that level of complexity and detail in the writing, and the level of balance that Claremont was achieving (imo) in the team at the time, with no character feeling particularly short-changed. Though my enthusiasm for her waned during Excalibur, I still think she was one of the most interesting X-Men ever.

[ClanAskani]

You know, as the woman (partially) responsible for Stryfe, I certainly expected Rachel to be a better piece on the board, not a pawn.

Lately, there's been a lot of articles making it seem like there's been so much progress in comics in the last decade to protray strong female characters. But honestly, that's a load of bunk. Back in the 80s and 90s, there were far better female characters. Rachel creating Stryfe was a mistake but it makes sense in context of the lengths Rachel would go to save Nathan Christopher. In Inferno, she nearly killed all of her Excalibur teammates when she flew off to save him.

I'm hoping for the best, and fearing for the worst since Rachel being enslaved and subjugated by Stryfe is just... how is this happening in 2019? Seriously, editors would approve this? Are Jordan White and Ed Brisson secretly ComicGate supporters?