These dates are worth keeping together because the Rogue and Rachel years can otherwise look much more settled in a roster list than they are on the page.

These dates are worth keeping together because the Rogue and Rachel years can otherwise look much more settled in a roster list than they are on the page. Rogue enters the team in Uncanny X-Men #171 in 1983. Rachel reaches the present-day cast in #184 in 1984, with her place among them developing in the issues that follow. Her arrival isn't the beginning of Rogue's membership, and neither newcomer replaces the entire established group. Storm loses her powers in #185. Her absence and return create changes in responsibility, including Nightcrawler's time directing the group. Scott's appearances belong to their own points in that sequence, rather than proving he is continuously leading throughout it. At #200 in 1985, Xavier leaves and Magneto takes on the headmaster role. The following issue, dated January 1986, settles the immediate Storm/Cyclops leadership dispute in Storm's favor. School leadership and field leadership are related, but they are not interchangeable jobs. Rachel's conflict with Wolverine in #207 and disappearance by #209 remove another central presence. Then the Mutant Massacre begins in #210 and devastates the surrounding cast. Nightcrawler, Kitty and Colossus suffer serious injuries, leaving the familiar field group unable to continue as it was. That is the stopping point for this spotlight. The replacements and rearrangements belong to the next team-era entry. Keeping that boundary makes room for this group's actual story: friendships becoming more complicated, new people being accepted at different speeds, and a household discovering how much can change before anyone formally declares that it is a different team.