So how do Rogue's powers work?

I could be wrong, but I thought Rogues powers worked by absorbing the X-gene. But I saw this image - I have no idea what the context was - of Rogue who, apparently, absorbed Wolverine's claws.

But the claws are clearly coated with Adamantium, which was given to Logan by weapon X, not the X-gene.

Now, this could just be bad writing, or a failure of communication between the writer and the artist, but I'm curious.

Could someone help clear this up for me?

Those are bone claws. I know they look shiny, but really, they're bone. The cover of Uncanny Avengers #14 clears up any confusion:

I had something similar happen to me when the previews for the new X-Factor came out and they showed Gambit with normal blue eyes, white sclera and all. It freaked me out something awful but thankfully in the issue, his lovely ebony and scarlet ones were shown instead.

I really dislike when mistakes like these are made. :/

Rogue doesn't copy the x-gene.

If she did, then her powers wouldn't work against non-mutant, which they do.

As for how they actually work... Not sure about all the details, but there is a telepathic aspect to them, as seen in the issue where Joseph managed to temporarily turn them off, by creating a dome that turned off any kind of telepathy inside it.

@sirmethos: @lykopis:

Okay, good to know. Thanks for clearing that up, guys.