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.

Wolverines Vol. 4: Destiny

The final volume of Wolverines turns up the intensity which isn't saying much for this series.  Mr. Sinister has ambushed Mystique's team to get revenge for what they did to him in the first volume.  Characters die in this volume which helps to clear the board a little of all of the Paradise characters with the exception of Shogun.  They were never fully fleshed out & their deaths seem trivial compared to some others.   Mystique's plan is finally revealed when she turns on everybody to bring it to fruition only to be fooled by the very person who set her on this path.  Destiny who Mystique was trying to resurrect was really moving Mystique to resurrect Logan.  Most of the characters have lost their healing factor by the end of this story & Mystique has chosen to walk away instead of bringing Wolverine back.  Destiny knew even when she had this vision that the world needed a Wolverine but it was doing fine without her.  It was nice to see Man-Thing show up in this final volume I hope Marvel is going to give him a big push the way DC gave Swamp Thing a number of years ago.  In the end this is really a Mystique & enemies story but it ends to quickly.  I would have enjoyed seeing another issue to show some repercussions of the actions taken by the different characters on the team.  then have a splash page cliffhanger to show the looming threat of Secret Wars.  I am excited for All-New Wolverine though but that wasn't brought on by this series.

Wolverines Vol. 3: The Living & The Dead

The third volume of the Wolverines finishes off the Fang story arc.  Ogun & Lady Deathstrike are conspiring to take control of Shogun's body.  Mystique is playing everybody to her own ends.  This series has still not wowed me the way other Marvel series have, I am now three quarters through & still feel like its going nowhere.  Blade appears in this story as well taking one some vampires but there is a comment made that he takes out monsters.  I really hope that alluding to this upcoming Blade series.  Fantomelle meets her client that is having her steal all of this Wolverine paraphernalia.  Turns out Deadpool is one of Wolverines greatest fans & tries to fill the void left by Wolverine's death.  The high point for this volume is Fantomelle sneaking back aboard the Changeling to deliver a Wolverine uniform to Laura.

Wolverines Vol. 2: Claw, Blade & Fang

This second volume of the Wolverines picks up the the pace a little but it is still wandering all over the place plot wise.  After the events of the first volume the X-Men are in possession of Wolverines remains.  Fantomelle is off on another adventure retrieving a series of items for the Collector.  Shogun's team of misfits is scattered with some siding with Sinister after the dust had cleared.  Mystique has taken control of the band now while Lady Deathstrike has her eyes set on Shogun.  This really starts to shine when Fang shows up & starts playing devils advocate with the team by taking different members on a little side trip.  That part of the story alone makes this worth the read.

Wolverines Vol. 1: Dancing with the Devil

This first volume of Wolverines sees the partnership of the experiments from Paradise teaming up with former experiments of the Weapon X program.  All of these individuals are working to retrieve Logan's body, half so they can find a medical miracle & the other half to learn their trigger words.  Overall this isn't a great read & the art is only OK there are a few character moments that are really nice like Sabertooth having moral outlook on life is just hilarious.  Mystique really shines in her limited screen time but it looks like she could be a double agent.  The big bad is revealed rather early on as Mr. Sinister.  I'm not sure what Sinister's power set is but damn can he dish out the punishment.  Why hasn't he been put in a movie yet.  Other than Mr. Sinister this volume also gave us the first appearance of Fantomelle.  She is kind of a mystery like Fantomex but she is pretty cool it would be nice to see are in an upcoming New Mutants or Young X-Men book.  So far everything that has been happening on the Wolverine front since Logans Death has been mediocre.

Death of Wolverine: The Weapon X Program

This series is a direct follow up to the Death of Wolverine story-arc & features the experiments that Logan found in the Paradise facility that was a revamp of the Weapon X Program.  These characters are on the run from a mysterious government agency who is bent on recapturing them dead or alive.  All of these characters with the exception of Skel are not who they claim to be they each have a secret past which comes back to haunt this misfit crew in some way.  The biggest reveal in this story is that Sharp is really the new host for Ogun.  The overall story-arc The Weapon X Program is only OK again I have not been wowed by Charles Soule but the back up story Life After Logan in which the reader gets to see how various X-Men deal with Wolverine's death is great look at some of the characters who knew him best.

X-23 Vol. 3: Don't Look Back

This is the final volume of the latest X-23 series in a way it ends on a perfect note with the Nuff Said issue.  I really liked this volume it is on par with the previous one.  As a whole Laura has been on a journey to find herself ever since she left X-Force.  Its nice to see Jubilee return in this volume even if it was only for an issue but the real gem of the final book is the babysitting story.  This is due in part to who the sitter is & who the children are, what could possibly go wrong.  The real surprise of that story is The Collector.  If he acts anywhere close to that in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie then we are in for a real treat.  This has been at great journey of the self discovery for Laura the only problem is that the first book feels out of place compared to the rest of the series in art as well as writing.  I hope X comes back to the forefront of stories in the near future.  

X-23 Vol. 2: Chaos Theory

This is the X-23 story I've wanted to read since this series started.  Laura & Remy arrive in Paris to meet up with some old friends while tracking down the trigger scent from the Collision story-arc.  Seeing the reunion between Logan & Laura is touching because it gives you a sense of how much he cares for her; at the same time this story shows the contrast between X-23 & Jubilee.  Over the years Wolverine has adopted several young mutants.  Jubilee is probably the one that is portrayed as the closest thing to have a true daughter / father relationship with Wolverine.  X-23 & Jubilee couldn't be more different but the common factor is their relationship with Logan.  Probably the greatest thing about this story is how Laura and Jubilee become friends Jubilee brings out the girl in Laura & introduces her to world she has never known.  Laura also breaks down what it means to live with a killer instinct.  This story takes place after the Curse of the Mutants story-arc in which Jubilee became a vampire.  The second story in this book introduces Laura to the Future Foundation which broadens her friend circle in the Marvel Universe.  Showing Laura interact with the Storm's children is enlightening & deepens her character.  I know this is the penultimate book of the series but this is so far the strongest entry in Laura's latest series.  

Daken, Dark Wolverine vs. X-23: Collision

This is the second book in both the Daken, Dark Wolverine & X-23 series.  This is a great read & displays both the of the lead characters in top form.  In all fairness though this feels more like a Daken story than an X-23 story.  The previous X-23 volume just didn't provide enough of of a lead in to this particular story.  The previous volume of Daken, Dark Wolverine connects flawlessly to this story.  I have to say I am rapidly becoming a Daken Akihiro fan.  Another plus to this story is that X-23 has shown some real character growth in this story-arc so much so that it makes me look forward to her next volume.  The two lead characters weren't the only characters to shine in this story Gambit & Tyger Tiger who both of whom stood out as great supporting characters.  Gambit's showdown with Daken is awesome on par with the two title characters showdown.  Tyger is a really complex supporting character which would make a great addition to future Wolverine-Family related stories.

X-23 Vol. 1: The Killing Dream

This is the first volume of the X-23 series that started with the Heroic Age alongside Jason Aaron's Wolverine series.  The first story-arc in this book ties in with the Wolverine goes to Hell arc.  X-23 is one of my favorite mutants in the X-Men ever since she was introduced in X-Men: Evolution.  I really liked how this book started out but the second story-arc was only OK.  I don't know if it is just me or did the artist Will Conrad model his interpretation of Laura Kinney off of writer Marjorie Liu.  This series is a perfect jumping on point for fans of the character it takes place after X-Men: Second Coming which puts an end-cap on her X-Force activities.  One of the redeeming things about the second story in this is origin of the relationship between Laura & Gambit but also the return of Mr. Sinister who supposedly died back in X-Men: Messiah Complex.  Marjorie Liu is kinda like Marvel's answer to Gail Simone over at DC, however that title may soon be given to Kelly Sue DeConnick for her Captain Marvel series.  I know this is a short series since it only lasted for a little of twenty issues,  but I'll enjoy every bit of it.