Rachel Anne Summers (Grey) 2021

[Will Evans]

Outside of cameos, is Rachel is highest ranking X-Man yet to appear in adaptations?

[Celestialbodies]

Overall Gold was a mess. Every issue, or other, you can find the following: Rachel passing out from using her powers; Ororo shooting lightning bolts and calling everyone "My friend" (also getting knocked out); Piotr pinning over Kitty and carrying Rachel's or Ororo's unconscious body; Kurt being impaled by something but not dying; and Kitty being just awful to her friends and making poor decisions. The ONLY character that was given ok treatment was OML. Rachel's power upgrade was laughable, almost as good as when Claremont Emma "taught" Rachel a skill that Claremont himself had written Rachel doing 20 years earlier. She jobbed to everyone in the book, and that "Dark Rachel Saga" - girl please that was just bad.

It's interesting you brought up Gold in the Venomized series as I forgot that Rachel was excluded. It was probably during the time she was "sleeping" in the med bay and Cecelia Reyes was wondering what Rachel's houndmarks were. But I am sure there is a reason as Cullen Bunn (the writer) is a huge Rachel fan and wouldn't have excluded her unless the editors said she couldn't appear.



She could use her telepathy outside of the same room, become the comic version of TAS Jean, and jobb to every villain so she could be mind controlled in every arc. And the best part this was STILL BETTER than what was done to her in Extermination and the majority of X-Force.

I still feel like X-men Gold was a fever dream, Rachel's powers were upgraded TWICE in that run and you mean to tell me she couldn't take on MESMERO??! Keep Guggs away from the X-men proper in the future.

[Scott402]

Overall Gold was a mess. Every issue, or other, you can find the following: Rachel passing out from using her powers; Ororo shooting lightning bolts and calling everyone "My friend" (also getting knocked out); Piotr pinning over Kitty and carrying Rachel's or Ororo's unconscious body; Kurt being impaled by something but not dying; and Kitty being just awful to her friends and making poor decisions. The ONLY character that was given ok treatment was OML. Rachel's power upgrade was laughable, almost as good as when Claremont Emma "taught" Rachel a skill that Claremont himself had written Rachel doing 20 years earlier. She jobbed to everyone in the book, and that "Dark Rachel Saga" - girl please that was just bad.

It's interesting you brought up Gold in the Venomized series as I forgot that Rachel was excluded. It was probably during the time she was "sleeping" in the med bay and Cecelia Reyes was wondering what Rachel's houndmarks were. But I am sure there is a reason as Cullen Bunn (the writer) is a huge Rachel fan and wouldn't have excluded her unless the editors said she couldn't appear.



She could use her telepathy outside of the same room, become the comic version of TAS Jean, and jobb to every villain so she could be mind controlled in every arc. And the best part this was STILL BETTER than what was done to her in Extermination and the majority of X-Force.

Maybe it was during the time she was passed out in teh bay. That's a shame because a venomized Rachel would have been interesting to see.

I think Extermination was awful like everyone else here. It could have been so much better. How you have the main villain from that be Ahab and you just write Rachel off as another hound.... again. Speaks to a lack of creativity. I didn't mind the X-Force that followed., yeah she was treated poorly at teh start but we got a big pay off at the end when she wiped the floor with Stryfe.

I always forget just how deeply despised the Gold run was on here LOL. Sorry everyone.

Going to move on to her appearances in Wolverine and the X-Men next. Re-read that stuff and see what I think.

[Askani's Flame]

Maybe it was during the time she was passed out in teh bay. That's a shame because a venomized Rachel would have been interesting to see.

See that would have been fun and it could have been incorporated into what became the year of trashing Rachel's character but in a good way. At least from my perspective.

I think Extermination was awful like everyone else here. It could have been so much better. How you have the main villain from that be Ahab and you just write Rachel off as another hound.... again. Speaks to a lack of creativity.

There were several issues with Extermination, and the writing was a big part of it. With Ahab being the main villain, we knew (even if we hoped differently) that Rachel would likely become a hound again. The fact that she had been controlled in so many books leading into Extermination we knew that was part of the (poorly executed) plan for her. Given that she was his #1 hound, once she turned I would have expected to see her become his "Number One" so to speak. But instead, EVERY OTHER HOUND was given lines and had the ability to express themselves. Rachel became a drooling and snarling slave with no urgency or motivation other than Ahab. And she couldn't say anything other than "die mutants". No other hound was denigrated to that. Just her. The problem then became why do this to Rachel when the story is actually supposed to be about the O5.

I didn't mind the X-Force that followed., yeah she was treated poorly at teh start but we got a big pay off at the end when she wiped the floor with Stryfe.

The end didn't feel satisfying for me given her treatment leading to it. Rachel was enslaved to a man she had tried to kill before, and had previously broken from his control twice before (if we're counting the momentary slip in Days of Future Present). She would have rather died than allow that to happen to her again. And those close enough to her WOULD have known that. But they did nothing. She was gone and out of sight out of mind. No Kitty. No Kurt. No Ororo. No Storm. None. I *GET* why that decision was made (once Extermination 2 came out they offered Brisson an X-Force ongoing and he made the decision to have Rachel be collateral damage and a 'motivator' for Wi-Fi) but it stung nonetheless. So the writer proclaims that Rachel's story isn't over and she's a big part of X-Force.....except she isn't even mentioned until the ending of issue 4, and then doesn't appear again until issue 6 in which she is nearly mute and frothing at the mouth like a rapid animal. Even here it shows that the other hounds have more freedom and urgency than her. And then it just continues degrading her until finally her Mother Askani self frees her. She goes from being Ahab's frothing hound to STRYFE'S frothing hound. And trafficked through time. The assault on her character only got worse. It's like Brisson had to tear everything down to make her look ok. Sure, the resulting scenes were great but she was reduced to a worse-than-useless liability the entire time she was under Brisson's pen until the last pages of X-Force 9 and in 10.[/QUOTE]

I always forget just how deeply despised the Gold run was on here LOL. Sorry everyone.

Lol don't worry about it. I think there are only a few people on CBR who loved Gold. Otherwise it was nearly universally panned.

Going to move on to her appearances in Wolverine and the X-Men next. Re-read that stuff and see what I think.

I'll be interested to hear your take!

[Triniking1234]

I still feel like X-men Gold was a fever dream, Rachel's powers were upgraded TWICE in that run and you mean to tell me she couldn't take on MESMERO??! Keep Guggs away from the X-men proper in the future.

The only person who didn't get jobbed in that book was the dying old guy. Bless up.

[Askani's Flame]

Outside of cameos, is Rachel is highest ranking X-Man yet to appear in adaptations?

Maybe not highest ranking but yes she's not had a push outside the books. She's only appeared in TAS briefly as one of the telepaths captured by Apocalypse with no lines. Otherwise she's appeared in 3 video games: X-Men II - Fall of the Mutants, X-Men: Battle of the Atom, and Marvel Future Fight. Her stories have been used to prop up others though (they gave her backstory to Bishop in TAS, she was almost going to appear in DoFP but was written out as she was too complicated, etc). I'd say the other older characters also haven't got a push would be Sunfire and Thunderbird. But almost all the other characters before her and many after have had pushes in media due to them being around during the X-plosion in the 90's or relevant characters to storylines in the animated shows.

The only person who didn't get jobbed in that book was the dying old guy. Bless up.

Seriously. ONL and Ink were the only ones, and Ink was a Guggs creation so you know he wasn't jobbing.

[Phoenixx9]

Maybe not highest ranking but yes she's not had a push outside the books. She's only appeared in TAS briefly as one of the telepaths captured by Apocalypse with no lines. Otherwise she's appeared in 3 video games: X-Men II - Fall of the Mutants, X-Men: Battle of the Atom, and Marvel Future Fight. Her stories have been used to prop up others though (they gave her backstory to Bishop in TAS, she was almost going to appear in DoFP but was written out as she was too complicated, etc). I'd say the other older characters also haven't got a push would be Sunfire and Thunderbird. But almost all the other characters before her and many after have had pushes in media due to them being around during the X-plosion in the 90's or relevant characters to storylines in the animated shows.



Seriously. ONL and Ink were the only ones, and Ink was a Guggs creation so you know he wasn't jobbing.

Yeah, I wish Rachel and the other psychics shown briefly in the 4-part "Between Good and Evil" TAS episode had some lines or at least were shown being captured. Instead of that wacky character playing with Bishop that used up a lot of time and got on my nerves, they could have used those minutes to show us some of the others in action using their powers.

[Will Evans]

Maybe not highest ranking but yes she's not had a push outside the books. She's only appeared in TAS briefly as one of the telepaths captured by Apocalypse with no lines. Otherwise she's appeared in 3 video games: X-Men II - Fall of the Mutants, X-Men: Battle of the Atom, and Marvel Future Fight. Her stories have been used to prop up others though (they gave her backstory to Bishop in TAS, she was almost going to appear in DoFP but was written out as she was too complicated, etc). I'd say the other older characters also haven't got a push would be Sunfire and Thunderbird. But almost all the other characters before her and many after have had pushes in media due to them being around during the X-plosion in the 90's or relevant characters to storylines in the animated shows.



Seriously. ONL and Ink were the only ones, and Ink was a Guggs creation so you know he wasn't jobbing.

Thunderbird starred in The Gifted TV show with Polaris and Blink.

[Askani's Flame]

Thunderbird starred in The Gifted TV show with Polaris and Blink.

There you go, I forgot about that. So Sunfire.

[rhaenylis]

The only person who didn't get jobbed in that book was the dying old guy. Bless up.

From what I remember his Rogue was surprisingly not that bad

[Askani's Flame]

From what I remember his Rogue was surprisingly not that bad

It was interesting that most of the non-cast members that came in for a few issues here or there were written far better his actual cast. I thought Rogue, Iceman, and Armor were decently written.

[Will Evans]

There you go, I forgot about that. So Sunfire.

Is Sunfire more popular than Rachel?

[Triniking1234]

Is Sunfire more popular than Rachel?

I hope not. Is he still energy tho?

[Askani's Flame]

It was interesting that most of the non-cast members that came in for a few issues here or there were written far better his actual cast. I thought Rogue, Iceman, and Armor were decently written.

Is Sunfire more popular than Rachel?

Outside of the X-line I would say yes. He has had more commercial exposure with appearances in various animated shows as well as his time as an Avenger. Plus his look from AoA was inspiring. He's been in as many if not more game platforms than Rachel and has more toys out than she does.

[Slicknickshady]

X Men Gold was and still is the best X Men series in years.