X-23: Target X

This book catches everybody up on what happens to Laura after she leaves the Facility.  Laura seeks out her aunt & cousin.  This book shows just how hard it is for her to fit in with normal people, especially at school.  The one person that she does seem to be able to open up to is her cousin Megan.They talk about everything from Laura's training & killing to Megan's abduction.  It turns out that Debbie Laura's aunt, her boyfriend also works for the Facility.  He became involved with a Debbie after the abduction of Megan in case X-23 ever returned to them.  He plans to use the trigger scent to make X-23 kill Megan & Debbie however this backfires & he becomes the first victim of the blood rage that X-23 is sent into.  Megan & Debbie run upstairs as Debbie still has the scent on her they hide in the bathroom with the shower on trying to wash the scent off meanwhile X-23 is coming through the door like a deranged serial killer.  She gets through the door just as they have washed the scent away it is a beautiful scene as you see Laura's eyes clear from that rage she was previously in.  A new character is introduced in this book who is ultimately a foil for X-23 she was her tormentor & handler at the Facility.  Kimura is another creation of the Facility someone to keep Laura in check it is never really explained what her powers are just that Laura can't hurt her, she has unbreakable skin.  Laura & her family escape blowing up the house in the process, she escorts her family to the Canadian border & then heads off to find the man who made all of this possible.  

X-23 tracks down Wolverine in New York but she can't get close to him cause he is surrounded by telepathic mutants.  Wolverine leaves & heads out to the New York / Canadian border he knows she is following even before she gets there.  X-23 has come to kill Wolverine.  The fight is quick but expertly portrayed as X-23 attempts to stop Logan's healing factor from working during the fight.  She wants to kill Wolverine & herself because they are weapons.  Wolverine has come to terms with this but is unwilling to let Laura kill herself.  Their fight is cut short by S.H.I.E.L.D. & Captain America.  Steve Rogers & Matt Murdock are interrogating Laura to find out how much she is accountable for.  Most of the story is told in flashbacks from this point.  Steve Rogers is unwavering in his belief that X-23 is guilty but Matt Murdock comes to view her as the victim.  It is only at the end of the story that Captain America puts her on a bus back to New York to go to Wolverine because he can help her have a normal life.  

This book takes place in between New X-Men by Grant Morrison & the House of M story-arc  This book has several great character moments.  It is really quite touching that Logan received a letter from Sarah Kinney about X-23 existence & he even tried to find her but he apparently didn't look to hard but he could have if he really wanted to.  Logan has always taken pity on girls who are orphaned or given a hard time in life.  Laura is Logan's spiritual & physical successor but only time will tell how he will treat her as a daughter.  The two girls who have that type of relationship with him are Kitty Pryde & Jubilee.  Currently Laura has taken up the mantel of Wolverine after Logan's apparent dearth but once he returns who knows what will happen.

X-23: Innocence Lost

I have loved X-23 since I saw her debut on X-Men: Evolution.  So I figured it was time I delved into her comic debut.  This book focuses on the origin of the character & is a really great introduction to her.  She barely says anything this entire book the real main character of the story is Doctor Sarah Kinney.  After reading Wolverine: Old Man Logan & then piling this on top makes Logan an even more emotional ride because this is an equally emotional story with a very tragic ending.

Sarah Kinney was brought into the facility to help recreate the Weapon X Program she is working alongside Zander Rice who is the son of David Rice one of the scientist who died when Wolverine escaped the original facility.  She runs into a road block in the original genetic code so instead of trying to recreate the Y chromosome she instead clones the X chromosome to create a female clone.  Zander does like her from the moment she is brought on board so he keeps challenging her.  It gets so bad that the only way she can prove that a female clone would be just as good as the original is to carry the clone to term herself.  So she becomes the surrogate mother to X-23.  But due to this situation Zander has started digging himself into a hole as well  since he started having an affair with his bosses wife.   Sarah became emotionally involved with X-23 because she gave birth to her & her niece was trying to connect with her.  Once her X Gene manifested they started sending her on missions as an assassin all over the world.  I would really like to see a story where she goes up against the Winter Soldier.  Zander leaves her for dead during a mission but she comes home anyway.  Sarah uses her to rescue her niece from a kidnapper which gives X-23 her first taste of heroism.  In the end Zander is trying to clean up the hole that he has been digging himself into all this time by sending X-23 to kill the facilities boss & family.  This would allow Zander to take over the project & run things the way he sees fit.  Zander sets plans in motion to get rid of Sarah Kinney while she is making plans of her own to have X-23 kill Zander & destroy the facility.   As X-23 is coming to meet Laura she smell the trigger scent on Sarah & kills her.  The whole books is quite a fast read & it pulls on the heart strings in just the right way.  In terms of her appearance on the page & on the screen I can honestly say that Mindy McCready aka Hit Girl has nothing on Laura Kinney aka X-23.

Wolverine: Old Man Logan

This is one of the best Wolverine stories ever written.  No scratch that this is one of the best alternate reality takes on the Marvel Universe.  After seeing Logan in theaters this is a refreshing read.  I really like this take on him as the old family man farmer who hasn't popped his claws in fifty years.  Logan takes a job that is offered to him by Clint Barton who comes on by looking for help.  Logan has to take the job to get money to pay the rent to the Hulk gang or else they will collect in other ways.  As they are traveling  Hawkeye & Logan talk about the war in which the villains rose up & took out all of the heroes.  Their travels take them all the way across the United States.  During their journey Wolverine finally tells how the villains broke him of his violent ways & it truly is horrifying.  The only other story to come as close is the Wolverine Goes to Hell story-arc by Jason Aaron.  His tale really brought the emotion.  Finally our heroes get to New Babylon which has replaced Washington DC.  When Logan finally does pop his claws it is so satisfying.  

The final showdown between Logan & Banner is not as spectacular as it could have been but it does echo their first meeting but it just doesn't live up to it.  The original Hulk vs. Wolverine fight is often imitated, referenced but never duplicated.  This is Unforgiven in comic form.  With this book Mark Millar has crafted a vision of the Marvel Universe that is filled with easter eggs left & right compared to House of M or Age of Ultron by Brian Michael Bendis this is a far superior read.  I haven't read the new Wolverine, Old Man Logan series that Marvel is putting out but this has certainly made me want to look into it.

Saga Vol. 7

It has been awhile since I've read Saga & without picking up volume 6 or looking back at my previous reviews of the other volumes; I just wasn't feeling as emotional about this one as I was supposed to.  I will definitely be rereading this series as a whole when it's finished.  This volume was only OK for me as there's a lot that happens in this collection.  There is a time jump of six months & the story takes place entirely on the comet of Phang.  This is by far the saddest entry into the series as several characters die but in some cases the deaths don't have the same amount of emotion as some of the characters who have been around for a while.  This collection has about the same amount of death as The Walking Dead.  

From here on (SPOILERS!) abound, Hazel & her extended family are coasting through space when they discover they are running out of fuel.  Petrichor who came with Hazel from the prison instead of grandma has sort of replaced her role in this family.  Their ship has to make an emergency refueling stop on Phang an inhabited comet flying through the blackness of space.  Phang is war torn & full of refugees in fact I would say that this is Brian K. Vaughan's cosmic version of Aleppo, Syria.  Phang is the birthplace of Sophie is still off with Gwendolyn & Lying Cat.  Lying Cat is still one of the greatest comic creations of the 21st century.  On Phang our family comes in contact with another family of small rodent like characters not as cute as Gus but just as likable.  Kurti & his family are a great addition to the book.  Throughout this book we see the extended family grow as Alana becomes a mother to all while she is going through her second pregnancy.  Petrichor warns Marko of these refugees that they have taken in saying that they are not what they appear.  All of this alludes to the fact that Kurti's family are religious fanatics who will go so far as to participate in suicide bombings against at least one side of the conflict.  Marko stands up for them saying that you can not judge a race based on the actions of a few.  Izabel & Hazel get into an argument which prompts Izabel to offer to help out Prince Robot IV.  Meanwhile The Will  with Sweet Boy tracks down Gwendolyn to get the band back together so they can continue hunting down Marko & Alana only to find out that his bounty hunter status has been revoked.  Izabel runs into a new bounty hunter The March she tries to run but they capture her & kill her, permanently. There is a really touching story where Hazel & Kurti are talking remembering Izabel,  Hazel tells this story about her past & the feather fairy it is really a touching story.  Gwendolyn goes on a mission for Wreath High Command to meet with a representative from Landfall.  Prince Robot IV gets high & comes close to crossing the line between raping Alana & committing suicide.  Right when The March finds Marko & Alana's tribe, Petrichor finds out why so many people have deserted Phang.  The showdown between The March & our group ends in Marko once again taking a life to save his family.  The Last issue of this collection sees the death of Sweet Boy & supposedly The Will by an unknown assassin.   Hazels family escapes Phang just as it is being destroyed but do to some turbulence Alana is knocked down & it is speculated that she has lost the baby boy she was carrying.  Kurti & his family refused to go with them preferring to remain on Phang believing that their faith will protect them from the time of trouble ahead; all were lost.

Saga is still one of the greatest series on the shelves right now I love how Brian K Vaughan is able to balance writing multiple books at the same time.  I haven't read Paper Girls yet but that he is currently writing along with this one.

Scalped Deluxe Ed. Book Five

The last book in the Scalped series is quite satisfying as an ending but at the same time I still had some problems with it.  The opening issue is a great reflection on how far the series has come since it was first started.  Bad Horse & Falls Down are looking for Catcher since he killed Gina & tried to kill both of them.  Meanwhile in the wake of Medicine Rock's heart attack Red Crow has been tearing down his own meth houses.  Wooster Karnow has wised up as a law man & is taking matters into his own hands.  All of these changes seem very organic in the way they are executed in this final book.  

The teaser at the end of the last volume doesn't lead anywhere since Belcourt doesn't wake up next to Catcher in the hospital but instead Catcher winds up in jail with Wade.  During a fire fight in which some meth dealers in Nebraska were trying to kill Shunka.  Wade gets hit with a stray bullet & as he is dying Catcher admits to killing Gina which leads to Wade & Catcher choking each other.  I really wish Catcher had died here but it was not to be.  Sheriff Karnow takes on a meth house by him self after all of his back up deserts him.  Nitz finally arrives but it to late Karnow after being shot multiple times tries to reason with one the criminals wearing a gas mask but get shot anyway.  As the gangs runs away it is revealed that the guy with the gas mask is Dino who the sheriff let off with a warning earlier in this collection.  Shunka & Bad Horse have their showdown that has been teased since the very beginning and it is great but it still proves that Shunka would have one if it hadn't been for the most unlikely person.  Red Crow shoots Shunka at which Dashiell turns the situation around & puts Red Crow under arrest  Meanwhile Catcher makes it to a field where he comes upon his old horse.  Upon recognizing him the horse attacks him & while about to stomp a mud hole in him Catcher shoots the horse & it collapses on him.  If the series had ended here it would have been fine but no this is only the halfway point of the story.  

Red Crow is in jail Nitz is happy as hell & Bad Horse is viewed as a hero Dashiell starts up a relationship with Maggie Medicine Rock who seems to be a good fit for him but I was really rooting for him & Carol since they have so much shared history.  Dino manipulates things behind the scenes with Red Crow's lawyer which leads to Lincoln being released & Dashiells reputation in ruins.  Dash is on the run from the F.B.I. while someone is killing the tribal council.  Diesel's body turns back up putting further evidence against Dash.  The final fight is in the closed casino between Dino's gang of former Red Crow employees & Red Crow.  It turns out that Catcher is still alive & that he is behind the tribal council murders.  Nitz finds out that Catcher is really the one who murdered the F.B.I. agents back in 1975.  So everybody is converging on the casino.  Dino flees with a lot of money making his full criminal transformation.  There is a whole Mexican standoff thing that happens between Red Crow, Bad Horse & Catcher.  Bad Horse shoots both, while Catcher is stumbling away Nitz runs in & tackles him into the fire where they both burn.  Dash carries Red Crow outside.  Red Crow makes him an offer but Dash refuses.  By the end of the story Falls Down is made sheriff of the reservation Maggie is elected leader of the the tribal council.  Carol has officially replace Granny Poor Bear as we witness Granny's funeral.  There is a new drug kingpin on the reservation in Dino.  Red Crow is living secluded outside of town just trying to get back to his roots & Dash is hitching a ride out of the reservation because he is still wanted for the murder of Diesel.  This is not a happy ending book but it does have definite closure.  If you liked 100 Bullets or Y the Last Man you will love this I haven't read D.M.Z. yet but I have a feeling it is in the same vein as these other titles.

Scalped Deluxe Ed. Book Four

This is the second to last collection as Scalped is starting two wind down.  This book feels much more like an anthology as it includes several side stories.  I absolutely love issue 35 which opens up this book it is a beautiful one & done story about Mance & Hazel.  Next up we learn about Carol’s past as she comes to the realization that she is pregnant with Dashiell Bad Horse’s child.  She winds up torching her house & going to live with Granny Poor Bear.  Granny helps get Carol off of drugs & by the end it looks like Carol is turning her life around.  Dashiell’s father Wade has returned to the reservation & he wants to see his son.  Everybody is always giving Wade a hard in this book & I understand that he really doesn’t stand up for himself but he is at least trying to make an effort & is his past with all of the characters is murkier than anyone can guess.

The Native American sweat lodge comes into play in this book a lot as it is used to ween Dash off of drugs & even for prayer or meditation.  Other side characters get their chance to shine as Wooster Karnow from Nebraska keeps reminiscing about how he used to be such a big shot & a war hero until he starts chasing down a guy wanted by the US Marshalls office.  This is issue was also quite amazing & is setting up something for the final book.  The other character who really get some page time is Nitz.  Agent Nitz has such a fall from grace when his superior comes in from Washington fires him for incompetence & getting his partner killed.  Nitz is in a drunken rage goes to confront Red Crow who basically has his men beat the crap out of him but not kill him.  Nitz trying to find a way to end it so he goes to a meth lab hoping that the tweaking junkies will kill him in a fire fight.  But do to his luck things don’t work out the way he was expecting them to.  The whole Unwanted storyline is about regrets & bad decisions. 

The next story-arc in this book is called You Gotta Sin to Get Saved.  This is a very Red Crow centered story.  Lincoln is coming up against a rival for chief of the tribe & his rival is the man who raised him.  As Red Crow is dealing with this new threat Dashiell & he have become quite close.  Meanwhile Dino Poor is developing a major crush on Carol that balances on the very edge of creepy.  The character that I have lost all respect for in this book is Catcher.  In this collection Catcher proves how messed up & sadistic he really is as he tries to kill Officer Falls Down & Dashiell Bad Horse.  I can’t wait for him to wake up in the last book & see who is in the same hospital room as him.  This series has gained a lot of respect from me as I have continued reading it but it is not an easy series to get into.  But once it has its hooks into you be prepared you are in for a wild ride.

Scalped Deluxe Ed. Book Three

A lot happens in this volume of Scalped with the High Lonesome storyline.  This introduces us to a con man by the name of Wesley Willeford & he has a secret that even he doesn’t know until he sees Dash Bad Horse; he knows that Dash works for the F.B.I.  Dash is going through his own problems throughout this entire volume in fact he comes real close to losing his grip on reality.  He has turned to drugs, sex & alcohol to just ease the pain & burden that he is living with every day.   Finally Dash does confess to Carol that he is working for the F.B.I.  As the world is closing in on him Dash sobers up pretty damn quick really just in time to talk Diesel into double crossing the F.B.I. & then double crossing Diesel on the evening that he is released from prison.  The justice that Dashiell Bad Horse rains down on him quite literally in fact is too extreme & doesn’t make me sympathize with him anymore than I already do. 

Officer Falls Down is piecing everything together rather quickly in the case of the murdered F.B.I. agents from 1975.  Lawrence Belcourt who sits in prison wrongly convicted of this crime knows who the real murderer is hell everybody that was there that day knows who it is.  It is finally revealed to us in this volume, it was Catcher.  By the end of this volume Falls Down knows that Catcher killed Gina Bad Horse but he doesn’t know why.  Reveals himself to Dashiell again after swearing on Gina’s grave that he will protect her son.  Catcher has this old sage presence in this series he just pops here & there in the story & reveals major plot points he is becoming one of the most enjoyable characters to read along with Granny Poor Bear only appears briefly in this book. 

The second half of this book is very Red Crow centric as Lincoln does something brash when he shoots Mr. Brass in the head while he is on the phone with Johnny Hmong.  This causes the Hmong’s to come down to the reservation in force.  They are expecting to have a war with Red Crow & his men right outside the police station.  However Red Crow changes the game & goes out to meet them himself unarmed.  The Hmongs don’t kill but instead beat him senseless as example.  While all of this is going on there is a witness on the loose that can either seal the fate of Lincoln Red Crow for murder to the F.B.I.  or Dashiell Bad Horse to Red Crow or the F.B.I. for drug use.  But in the end everything is good the witness is killed to protect Dashiell & Red Crow flies to the city to deliver some Godfather style retribution to Johnny Hmong & his gang which is quite satisfying to see.  This book was the halfway point for the series if you have made it this far there are only two books left.