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5 Minute Marvels!

I wish I could say I discovered it on my own, but it was brought to my attention by site co-creator Tim Miner.

5 Minute Marvels began simply with Tim’s six year old daughter Grace drawing superheroes every night before bedtime.  Once she asked her dad to join her, something he hadn’t done in nearly twenty years, a new tradition was born.  Every night for five minutes before bedtime Tim and his two daughters Grace (6) and Cate (4) draw superheroes, and in that five minutes a lot of quality time happens, not to mention some pretty great results.

Grace and Cate’s Scarlet Witch is my personal favorite:

I love how Grace got Wanda’s curly red hair, and Cate’s creative use of the pointy red aspect of Wanda’s headpiece…it’s actually fascinating I think to see her inclusion of it into the face.  Great stuff ladies!

Tim’s story of how this all got started, and his invitation for everyone to get involved can be found here.

I don’t actually have any kids to draw with, but Tim and his lovely girls agreed to draw my favorite heroine from when I was a kid, Rogue, so that I could participate remotely.  Below are all of our Rogue versions.  I have to say, it was the most fun drawing (even without a child present) that I’d had in a long time.  I’d recommend this to anyone that has kids (or even if you don’t)…and if you do try it out, make sure to send your results in to Tim so he can post them on 5 Minute Marvels.

Tim mentioned that Cate (far left) saw Rogue’s white stripe as a star, but noted that she was too tired to draw a star, so she just went with a cross.  Hilariously cute!  Here’s my Five Minute Rogue…an old school (sorta) punky Rogue version:

Thanks for letting me participate you guys –  I had a great time!  Spread the word everyone…let’s get a whole new family tradition going.

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I was so excited to see the solicit image for the cover to X-Men Legacy #234.  It features my girl Rogue and is not only beautiful and awesome, but is a far cry from the costume bullshit she’s been putting up with lately.  Unfortunately however, my joy was short lived, because I then went to read the accompanying solicit text.

Before I post the solicit text let’s all agree on what this cover is suggesting.  To me, this cover is Rogue saying (both with her hand gesture and her expression), effectively “Bring it on.  I am a badass and I will take on all comers.” Something to that effect.  I assume because she is gaining control of her powers and becoming an even more powerful superhero (one of the most powerful) this is her, showing off a bit.  I love it.  And then here’s the solicit text for the issue (and if you’re not familiar with Rogue, until recently she was unable to touch another human being flesh to flesh without injuring or killing them).

Solicit For X-Men Legacy #234: Rogue has survived a lot in her day, but can she survive the men warring for her heart? It’s not the first time several men have courted the Southern Belle, but it is the first time she can actually do anything about it.  Who will she chose? You’ll be shocked!

Okay, so now we have a problem.  Because the cover suggests ‘bring it on – and I’ll take on all comers’ and now we find out that the issue is about Rogue’s romantic and sexual relationships…which puts a whole other super icky porno spin on the cover.  I mean maybe I’ve just seen way too much porn in my life and so I’m going to a place that not everyone will go to (I certainly hope that’s the case) but I’m hard pressed to see what else this cover is supposed to suggest than ‘open for business boys.’  Which is just…icky.

So I’m really disappointed in this.  I just don’t know how there aren’t people in some kind of quality control position at Marvel who can look up and go, “Guys…we’ve got a problem…”

Apparently my angry cries of foul on Rogue’s bullshit new costume that is constantly unzipped to her navel have fallen on deaf ears.  The evidence?  The X-Men Legacy cover #232.  SIGH.  Oh comics.  I don’t know why I continue to love you when you treat me so.  I’m just glutton for punishment I suppose.

x-men legacy 232

Brian Cronin over at CBR has been doing a Top Five Most Iconic Covers for individual characters, and it’s a really great idea (read: I wish I’d thought of it first).  Like most idiots with an opinion I have often been disagreeing with some of his picks, but having learned first hand how hard it is to pick a “top” anything, I’ve been keeping my mouth shut.  But he featured my girl Rogue this week and I can no longer be silenced!

Here are Cronin’s picks.

The list isn’t even that bad, I think in my own list (see below) I have to use three of the five he uses, however the use of that Paul Smith cover as number one is just criminal.  That cover is completely a Wolvie cover, not a Rogue cover and while the actual issue marks pretty big developments for the character and her evolution, the cover does not relay that same message.  Epic fail.

So here’s MY list:

5.  Andy Kubert

096 Andy Kubert

As discussed on my Best 100 Covers post, as an adult and as an artist, I kind of hate this cover for a lot of reasons, but as a 16 year old girl, my heart literally went all ‘pitter pat’ in my chest and didn’t stop for, like, YEARS.  And independent of my personal feelings, this relationship was a major part of Rogue’s 90’s storyline, and affected her character hugely both at this point in time and (for good or ill) pretty much the rest the character’s life thus far.

4.  Walt Simonson

X-Men 171 Walt Simonson

Cronin is right that this cover is iconic because of the “hope you survive the experience” homage that at this point had become classic and iconic on its own, but perhaps it’s even more iconic because in Rogue’s case it was a more accurate statement than ever before.  Although, perhaps they should have changed up the meme to read, “Welcome To The X-Men Rogue…Hope The X-Men Survive The Experience” considering the fact that the entire team tries to quit on principle when Xavier lets her in.

3. John Romita Jr.

X-Men 185

This is a great cover, and a great issue, that was a huge development in Rogue’s growth as a character.  It foreshadowed great things for the character and managed to be a milestone issue for both Rogue and Storm.  Neither of them would ever be the same after this issue – and that is the mark of a great comic – and this cover conveys that feeling – which is the mark of a great cover.

2.  Marc Silvestri

079 Marc Silvestri

This Genosha storyline was a big turning point for Rogue, both emotionally as she battled the unexpected side effects of losing her cursed powers; and perhaps even more importantly, it spotlighted the relationship with the Carol Danvers personality living inside of her.  This was the first arc (if I recall correctly) that Rogue and Danvers agreed on an uneasy peace, if only for their combined survival.  And it kicked off a fantastic ongoing storyline about their constant battle for control of Rogue’s body.

1.  Jim Lee

02 Jim Lee

And here’s where control of that body comes to a head, more than thirty issues later.  This milestone issue featured the final and long awaited separation of Carol Danvers and Rogue with surprising results after Rogue was shot through the Siege Perilous by Dazzler (you bitch Dazzler).  This issue is important both because it truly highlights how much our heroine has changed, and because as a result of this issue, there are new rules for Rogue and Danvers.  They’ve been permanently separated, but Rogue has retained the powers.  For good or ill this changed Rogue’s direction and is a critical arc in her evolution.  It’s also gorgeous, but you guys know I’m a fan.

Ironically, I think that this cover to X-Men Classic #77…

Xmen Classic #77

…really proves my point about why Cronin’s pick of X-Men #173 is a real miss.  The cover above, a re-imagining by Adam Hughes of the original Paul Smith X-Men #173 cover is a pretty great example of a Rogue cover…with the positions reversed like this (i.e. Rogue in front instead of back) it works as a Rogue cover, but would you ever in a million years put this on a list of most iconic Wolverine covers?  No way.  Now of course Wolvie has more iconic covers out there than just about any other Marvel character, but still, I’m sure you can see my point.

Just for fun here are a few of my other favorite covers featuring Rogue.  I wouldn’t call them all iconic, but I would call them all awesome.  It’s a little bit shocking actually, how few powerful and truly moving covers Rogue has, she’s been a fan favorite for a long time, and it’s really not evident in looking up her covers…

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rogue wtf

From X-men Legacy Annual #1 – which promises a BOLD NEW DIRECTION!

Bold new direction my ass.

Looks like the same old misogynistic bullshit to me.

I mean, SERIOUSLY?  I am so tired of this shit.

Just because a girl got some control of her borderline deadly skin touch, does not mean she’s all, “OH, YOU KNOW WHAT? I WILL SERIOUSLY UNZIP MY NEW OUTFIT TO SOMEWHERE BELOW MY BOOBS…FOR THE ENTIRE ISSUE!”

C’mon people, it’s shit like this that makes me wonder why the hell I’m still bothering with superhero comics.

Also, as I’ve discussed before in my Catwoman post this outfit is like physically impossible.  I know comics require a certain suspension of disbelief, but this is the kind of crap that just pushes me over the edge – that zipper would have to be governed by otherworldy forces or some kind of magic to stay in that position for one panel, let alone the whole issue.  The pressure of those massive boobs on a zipper?  Just going to unzip the whole damn thing. Which is maybe the point, which is even MORE annoying.  Also, there’s a difference between an outfit designed a bit low cut or showing some cleav, and one that the character actively CHOOSES to wear ZIPPED DOWN TO THEIR STOMACH.  C’MON!!!!

Hey comic book artists!  These are the kind of things that make people think you’ve never touched (or even seen?) real boobs. Get a freaking clue.

This crap keeps setting us back.  Marvel, please take a note, are you ready?  UR DOING IT WRONG.

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