dcommet's review
4.75
Liu does a wildly good job soldifying everything that had been done for Laura as a character to this point and bringing her into much more dimensional place. Such an incredible book, love the way she takes Laura through a tour almost of the different sides of the Marvel universe - grounded mysteries, supernatural phenomena, and fantastical science fiction abound. Through it all though, Liu never loses sight of Laura and what she needs. I love her blunt resolve and I love the relationships that get built here, particularly her relationshop to Jubilee and to Gambit. Only knocked it a bit down because it requires some context that I did not have, such as her relationship with Hellion. Like I mentioned before, this is what solidifies Laura as a character in the Marvel Universe - but also this is what has solidified her as another Marvel favorite of mine. Really great stuff.
mjfmjfmjf's review
4.0
Inconsistent. And with some bad art. But the grand majority of it handled Laura quite well. And though some of it was work I'd seen before, most of it was new. Even Gambit and Jubilee didn't detract from this book much. And Logan was written subtle and understated. In this one we continue to see Laura figuring out who she is at the same time the reader can see who she really is.
captwinghead's review
3.0
This was... fine. I guess?
At times, it was brilliant! The issues with Daken and Jubilee were fantastic! Even the issues with Valeri and Franklin were pretty great.
What didn't work:
I was bored out of my skull during a lot of this. The Mr. Sinister clone issues were boring. I don't know much about Gambit but, while I appreciate that he's a big brother figure for Laura here, I just wasn't super invested in 75% of the issues with him. I am definitely not a fan of the anime art. It makes the characters look like video game characters which sucked because most of Jubilee's parts in this book had that art.
What worked:
Marjorie Liu seems to focus a lot on Laura's sense of self and autonomy. I'm not sure how much of the prostitution storyline Liu was involved with but all of her issues focus on Laura helping save other women from slavery. She's consistently reading the signs of abuse and controlling behavior in her surroundings and rescuing other women. It's a powerful, feminist aspect of this character and that should be celebrated. Especially when some writers and some idiotic artists continue to sexualize Laura.
The issues with Daken were fantastic. Although, the quality was better when it was the issues from Daken's series. The art is better, the writing is better and I really got an understanding of why Daken was acting the way he was. There is a part where Daken refers to Laura as family and he commends her skills. They even talk about their different viewpoints on violence. It was so nice to see! I would gladly read more about them.
The issues with Jubilee were great, as well. Jubilee is a vampire in these issues so it's a clear parallel between her and Laura. Laura was made to kill and is trying to move past that part of her life. Jubilee is currently a creature that lives to kill and is trying to live with that part of her life. Jubilee is a literal ray of sunshine and she exists to try to bring Laura out of her shell. Amongst Gambit who's trying his best to bring her out of her shell and Logan who, let's face it, doesn't know what the hell to do with Laura, Jubilee is just a great friend. She's trying to show Laura that she's still human. She's still a person with wants and needs and life of her own. I would gladly read more about their friendship.
There's a Captain Universe storyline I didn't care about with the Fantastic Four but I loved seeing Laura with Valeria and Franklin. She's so protective of children even if she's really awkward around them. Which, #relatable.
The Phil Noto art was fantastic!
Anyway, this is not a huge recommend the way vol. 1 of this collection was. There was a lot more miss than hit for me but, if you just want to read about x-23 and you've exhausted the Craig Kyle stuff, feel free to check this out. I think the X-23 series had some pretty good issues. Just single out the ones with Noto's art.
3 kind of meh stars.
At times, it was brilliant! The issues with Daken and Jubilee were fantastic! Even the issues with Valeri and Franklin were pretty great.
What didn't work:
I was bored out of my skull during a lot of this. The Mr. Sinister clone issues were boring. I don't know much about Gambit but, while I appreciate that he's a big brother figure for Laura here, I just wasn't super invested in 75% of the issues with him. I am definitely not a fan of the anime art. It makes the characters look like video game characters which sucked because most of Jubilee's parts in this book had that art.
What worked:
Marjorie Liu seems to focus a lot on Laura's sense of self and autonomy. I'm not sure how much of the prostitution storyline Liu was involved with but all of her issues focus on Laura helping save other women from slavery. She's consistently reading the signs of abuse and controlling behavior in her surroundings and rescuing other women. It's a powerful, feminist aspect of this character and that should be celebrated. Especially when some writers and some idiotic artists continue to sexualize Laura.
The issues with Daken were fantastic. Although, the quality was better when it was the issues from Daken's series. The art is better, the writing is better and I really got an understanding of why Daken was acting the way he was. There is a part where Daken refers to Laura as family and he commends her skills. They even talk about their different viewpoints on violence. It was so nice to see! I would gladly read more about them.
The issues with Jubilee were great, as well. Jubilee is a vampire in these issues so it's a clear parallel between her and Laura. Laura was made to kill and is trying to move past that part of her life. Jubilee is currently a creature that lives to kill and is trying to live with that part of her life. Jubilee is a literal ray of sunshine and she exists to try to bring Laura out of her shell. Amongst Gambit who's trying his best to bring her out of her shell and Logan who, let's face it, doesn't know what the hell to do with Laura, Jubilee is just a great friend. She's trying to show Laura that she's still human. She's still a person with wants and needs and life of her own. I would gladly read more about their friendship.
There's a Captain Universe storyline I didn't care about with the Fantastic Four but I loved seeing Laura with Valeria and Franklin. She's so protective of children even if she's really awkward around them. Which, #relatable.
The Phil Noto art was fantastic!
Anyway, this is not a huge recommend the way vol. 1 of this collection was. There was a lot more miss than hit for me but, if you just want to read about x-23 and you've exhausted the Craig Kyle stuff, feel free to check this out. I think the X-23 series had some pretty good issues. Just single out the ones with Noto's art.
3 kind of meh stars.
harmony's review
4.0
I really felt like Liu found Laura's voice in this second collection. I enjoyed it much more than the first, including the awesome mentor relationship she had with both Gambit and Wolverine, which are loving and supportive without being creepy.
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