"Power Play"
writer
Steve Seagle
Joe Kelly
artists
Chris Bachalo
Benjamin Ryan
What if there was a machine that could erase homosexuality inside a person? Or could make dark skin white? Or could turn a woman into a man? Or could make an ugly person beautiful?
Or in Rogue’s casem what if there was a procedure that could remove the gene that causes mutation? Mutations that can be a blessing or a curse.
Throught the years, the X-Men have usually stood against it. X-Force confronted this with Martin Strong, a deformed mutant who created an institute for this procedure, calling it “your salvation, my damnation” (X-Force Annual 2). But no matter how many machines and institutes get stopped or destroyed by X-Men or other mutant groups, the idea can’t be killed. (X-Men of all people should know how resilient an idea or a dream can be).
In “Powerplay,” Rogue makes her decision, which affects many other mutants for better or for worse.
I think that while some people would protest to a procedure like this, most wouldn’t try to stop it. That’s one thing that makes X-Men so appealing. They may have their moments of weakness (Rogue in this issue is understandable), but in an age of relativity, here’s a group of people who choose to stand for something. Whether they’re right of waiting to hear an opposing argument, they have the courage to defend their stance to the death.