Rachel Summers/Grey Appreciation 2019

[Vaishakh]

Hope won't be Phoenix either with Jean around.

Really, what's wrong with Rachel's current powerset. If Guggenheim hadn't ruined her she'd be perfectly fine. Even at the beginning of his run he had her take down the Minotaur.

There is nothing wrong with her powerset but it is pretty much weaker version of Jean's powers. Unlike other Psychics, she does not have a distinct characteristic which separates her from Jean in terms of powers. Earlier, it was her time based powers,which has been retconned so it makes her seem as weaker and incompetent version of Jean. Giving her some differentiating factor, even a minor one like her unused time powers would do her good.

[ClanAskani]

Any news about Rachel yet?
No....?
Just checking to see if i should start buying X-books again yet...

Next week's X-Force could possibly have something, but she's not in the preview:

https://graphicpolicy.com/2019/03/07...iew-x-force-4/

[WallStreeter]

There is nothing wrong with her powerset but it is pretty much weaker version of Jean's powers. Unlike other Psychics, she does not have a distinct characteristic which separates her from Jean in terms of powers. Earlier, it was her time based powers,which has been retconned so it makes her seem as weaker and incompetent version of Jean. Giving her some differentiating factor, even a minor one like her unused time powers would do her good.

Well Jean can go through time too if she wants, especially as Phoenix.

I mean Rachel did not seem weak during AvX when she took down a bunch of Avengers, including Thor. She did not seem weak at the beginning of the Guggenheim run when she took down Minotaur.

The problem is the writers decided she has no psychic defense and have her mind controlled by everyone. All she has to do is rebuild her psychic shields.

And please, the writers are forgetting she broke Ahab's control over her, ripped him apart and they could not reassert control over her, and this was without the Phoenix.

[Vaishakh]

Well Jean can go through time too if she wants, especially as Phoenix.

I mean Rachel did not seem weak during AvX when she took down a bunch of Avengers, including Thor. She did not seem weak at the beginning of the Guggenheim run when she took down Minotaur.

The problem is the writers decided she has no psychic defense and have her mind controlled by everyone. All she has to do is rebuild her psychic shields.

And please, the writers are forgetting she broke Ahab's control over her, ripped him apart and they could not reassert control over her, and this was without the Phoenix.

I am not saying that she is weak, but she is weaker than Jean and on top of that she does not have anything to separate her from Jean in terms of power. Even Madelyn has a different powerset than Jean and she is literally her clone

[WallStreeter]

I am not saying that she is weak, but she is weaker than Jean and on top of that she does not have anything to separate her from Jean in terms of power. Even Madelyn has a different powerset than Jean and she is literally her clone

Weaker than Jean does not make a character weak. All Rachel needs is a good writer!

She was fine till Guggenheim decided to redo the Hound story and until they decided to have her brainwashed into being a hound again by Nova and next time by Ahab’s pet twins.

[Vaishakh]

Weaker than Jean does not make a character weak. All Rachel needs is a good writer!

She was fine till Guggenheim decided to redo the Hound story and until they decided to have her brainwashed into being a hound again by Nova and next time by Ahab’s pet twins.

Before Guggenheim, nobody bothered to write her in the first place

[AJpyro]

Speaking of Rachel, how did everyone view her under Brubaker during the RaF of Shiar and when she was rescued from space?

[RachelGrey]

Speaking of Rachel, how did everyone view her under Brubaker during the RaF of Shiar and when she was rescued from space?

I liked the rapport that Rogue and Rachel had during the rescue and the final battle with Friendless. I thought they did well together as a team. Of course I also liked that Magneto got some father/daughter time with Polaris in that rescue too, I always like when Polaris and Magneto are partnered as allies.

[Havok83]

Speaking of Rachel, how did everyone view her under Brubaker during the RaF of Shiar and when she was rescued from space?

VAST improvement over Claremont. Brubaker helped make Rachel seem like a legitimate character again as opposed to some novice Jean wannabe that kept whining about her mommy

[phoenixzero23]

So i read X-force and Cable was in fact looking for Rachel the whole time but the transian military took her from Ahab and they don't know where she is.

it was cute seeing kid Cable looking for her

[RachelGrey]

So i read X-force and Cable was in fact looking for Rachel the whole time but the transian military took her from Ahab and they don't know where she is.

it was cute seeing kid Cable looking for her

Well that sounds hopeful that they aren't going to write her out since Cable was actively searching for her, it sounds like there is possibly a chance she will stay on X-Force or partner with Cable directly after the end of this story with Stryfe.

[Cerridwen]

OMG I love it. Finally!

[Askani's Flame]

Well Jean can go through time too if she wants, especially as Phoenix.

I mean Rachel did not seem weak during AvX when she took down a bunch of Avengers, including Thor. She did not seem weak at the beginning of the Guggenheim run when she took down Minotaur.

The problem is the writers decided she has no psychic defense and have her mind controlled by everyone. All she has to do is rebuild her psychic shields.

And please, the writers are forgetting she broke Ahab's control over her, ripped him apart and they could not reassert control over her, and this was without the Phoenix.

1) Jean requires the full white crown of the Phoenix to go through time. Rachel's unique powerset does not. It's her unique secondary mutation that is different from Jean's inherited ones. Just writers felt they didn't understand them so they were removed by editorial (per Yost) or limited in scope or usage. It's one of the few things that helped separate Jean and Rachel powerwise so personally I would prefer it kept that way. I liked it when the psychics all had their specific niches, vs now they can do everything and anything.

2) Rachel was allowed to be awesome in that side issue of AvX because it was literally a side issue and had no consequence to the main story. That's the reason why she was allowed to kick ass. Plus Aaron was a fan and knew if she didn't do something during AvX readers would be upset. Yeah, Rachel was starting out ok in Gold, but the constant knocked out by issue 5 was when I knew bad things were a foot. Plus the "power upgrade" allowing her to talk to someone a state away when she's communicated across a galaxy previously is no power boost. Guggs was worse than 2nd time Claremont.

3) Yes, eff the editorial mandate that she has no shields. Esp. considering SHE TAUGHT PSYCHIC SHIELDING AT THE JGS.

4) Writers didn't know what to do with her so they went to the "oh she's easily mind-controlled" trope. Which might not have been as terrible if 3 WRITERS IN 3 BOOKS DIDN'T USE IT WITHIN A 4 MONTH SPAN. Just saying. And yes, how convenient that "back issues matter", but not when it comes to showing Rachel can repel Ahab's control on her own.

Before Guggenheim, nobody bothered to write her in the first place

Eh I disagree. Wood and Bunn did a decent job. I appreciated Aaron's attempt, which was thwarted by Bendis.

Speaking of Rachel, how did everyone view her under Brubaker during the RaF of Shiar and when she was rescued from space?

It was decent when I look back on it now. I mean other than the no means yes bit between Korvus. He wrote her as powerful and cocky. Able to hold her own. But the Korvus forced romance was bad. I appreciated Yost's writing of her time he reset her back to 811 standards (per the X-Office), and thought she was decent with Carey (except Rogue had to be the most important character and show rachel how to use her powers better??).

Meanwhile I haven't read X-Force today as I wasn't anticipating her being mentioned by Bable. I might need to pick it up now.

[Havok83]

Meanwhile I haven't read X-Force today as I wasn't anticipating her being mentioned by Bable. I might need to pick it up now.

she was mentioned throughout the issue. She sort of drove it without being there and it was clear setup for her return. We even got her imagery when Nate thought of her

The one thing I dindt like was how nonchalant Domino was about Rachel being abducted. "yeah I was there". That rubbed me the wrong way. It came across as either being a bitch to KId Cable, not caring about Rachel or a mix of both. Either way, she was a bit insensitive

[Askani's Flame]

she was mentioned throughout the issue. She sort of drove it without being there and it was clear setup for her return. We even got her imagery when Nate thought of her

The one thing I dindt like was how nonchalant Domino was about Rachel being abducted. "yeah I was there". That rubbed me the wrong way. It came across as either being a bitch to KId Cable, not caring about Rachel or a mix of both. Either way, she was a bit insensitive

Cool, I'll need to get it now. As for Dom (having not read it yet), I would assume that it's just a dig at Bable. As she knew how much Rachel meant to her Nate, so I would assume it's just a dig at him. Or the writer making her a b*tch.