A review by trike
X-23: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 by Felipe Andrade, Craig Kyle, Jay Faerber, Marjorie Liu, Mike Choi, Francis Portela, Christopher Yost, Billy Tan
4.0
The average of four stars are due primarily to the origin story, which is easily one of the best superhero origins I've ever read. Fortunately, the first two tales comprise the bulk of this collection.
X-23 is a female clone of Wolverine, another attempt at the Weapon X program. Her code name comes from the fact she is the twenty-third attempt. The lab's new hire is a brilliant geneticist, Dr. Sarah Kinney, who realizes after many attempts that making the clone female is the only way to produce a viable offspring following so many failures over the years. The internal politics and power struggles of the lab ends up with McKinney given no choice but to be the host. So now we're done with the first few pages.
Innocence Lost - ★★★★★ written by: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost, art by: Billy Tan - This is absolutely brilliant on every level. The story structure, the plot, the characters... it all lands perfectly and works as a whole. This is one of the best versions of the theme of "sins of the father" (and mother, in this case) that I've ever encountered. From its brutal beginnings it flows logically through to its tragic conclusion. A true and worthy successor to Barry Windsor-Smith's brilliant [b:Wolverine: Weapon X|267792|Wolverine Weapon X (Marvel Premiere Classic)|Barry Windsor-Smith|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1298522946s/267792.jpg|259609] story, a pivot point in Marvel's history that is the equivalent to DC's [b:Batman: The Dark Knight Returns|59960|Batman The Dark Knight Returns|Frank Miller|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327892039s/59960.jpg|1104159]. These books altered the course of comics, and the fact that X-23 can stand alongside them is impressive. Also, the art is amazing.
Billy Tan's cover of issue 2 sums up the character. A trapped, yet lethally dangerous, child.
Target X - ★★★★★ written by: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost, art by: Mike Choi - Here we have X-23 (now using the name Laura) on the run, seeking out the only family she has left, her creator's sister and daughter. Kyle and Yost fill in a bit more of her training and backstory while simultaneously pushing the story forward. Naturally, the organization which created X-23 isn't going to just let her walk away, so Laura is forced to exercise all her considerable skills and training in order to evade them. The art is spectacular.
I was really impressed with how seamlessly they wove new characters into the tale, especially the assassin Kimura, who wasn't even hinted at in the first story. One of the key elements to Innocence Lost was the creation of the trigger scent which causes X-23 to go into a berserker killing rage. The solution to that here was clever and logical. I love stories which set up a premise and then find wiggle room within it while not violating the internal rules, and Kyle and Yost do that perfectly here. This is a masterclass in structure and building both a world and a character.
We also get Captain America and Daredevil wrestling with important issues of Laura's guilt or innocence as they interrogate her about what happened, and Laura finally gets closure on her mother's thoughts when she confronts Wolverine, who has a copy of the letter Sarah sent to both of them.
Check out this piece by Mike Choi and Sonia Oback. This, to me, is THE definitive depiction of X-23, Laura Kinney.
Double Threat - ★☆☆☆☆ written by: Jay Faerber, art by: Francis Portela - This is a section of the Captain Universe cross-over, of which I know nothing. This just lays there, adding nothing to the character of Laura. This is pure filler. Just before this is a page detailing all sorts of other adventures X-23 has, including traveling to The Savage Land, one of my favorite Marvel locations, but alas, we just get this pointless story instead. The art is serviceable.
x-23: Women of Marvel - ★★☆☆☆ written by: Marjorie Liu, art by: Filipe Andrade & Nuno Alves - This bounces between weirdo dream sequences and Laura returning to her old stomping grounds in New York City, where she meets up with some of her street urchin pals. Apparently Laura was a prostitute for a while for some inexplicable but no doubt misogynistic reason. We're spared that nonsense here, but this feels like we're reading reading chapter 8 of a larger story, so it feels incomplete and out of place. The art was not to my taste and gets in the way of the story sometimes.
The Killing Dream - ★★☆☆☆ written by: Marjorie Liu, art by: Will Conrad with Sana Takeda - More dream sequence stuff... or is it? Dun dun dun. Laura goes to hell, literally, as my least favorite aspects of the Marvel Universe make their presence known: demons. These guys are generally one-trick ponies who chew the scenery and cause anguish for no reason than to do so. This is a mess of a story, frankly, and I have no idea what the point is supposed to be here. Laura defeats - I guess? It's completely unclear - the demon by choosing herself, I maybe she's merely allowed to think that. These stories are aggravating because they feel like a college sophomore in Creative Writing 101 trying to be deep and failing. I'm also annoyed by weirdness for weirdness' sake. The art is fine.
Judgment - ★★★☆☆ written by: Si Spurrier, art by: David LaFuente - This one is a short story where Laura meets Ghost Rider and she sees his "Penance Stare" in action. She wonders if it will work on her, because she's not sure if she has a soul. This one is actually a nice little character moment for X-23, as she grapples with her past in a tangible way. The existential questions she has follow naturally from her experiences, so it was nice to see this examination of her dilemma. Particularly after the clunkiness of the previous stories. The art is a bit too stylized for my taste, but it's satisfactory.
X-23 is a female clone of Wolverine, another attempt at the Weapon X program. Her code name comes from the fact she is the twenty-third attempt. The lab's new hire is a brilliant geneticist, Dr. Sarah Kinney, who realizes after many attempts that making the clone female is the only way to produce a viable offspring following so many failures over the years. The internal politics and power struggles of the lab ends up with McKinney given no choice but to be the host. So now we're done with the first few pages.
Innocence Lost - ★★★★★ written by: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost, art by: Billy Tan - This is absolutely brilliant on every level. The story structure, the plot, the characters... it all lands perfectly and works as a whole. This is one of the best versions of the theme of "sins of the father" (and mother, in this case) that I've ever encountered. From its brutal beginnings it flows logically through to its tragic conclusion. A true and worthy successor to Barry Windsor-Smith's brilliant [b:Wolverine: Weapon X|267792|Wolverine Weapon X (Marvel Premiere Classic)|Barry Windsor-Smith|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1298522946s/267792.jpg|259609] story, a pivot point in Marvel's history that is the equivalent to DC's [b:Batman: The Dark Knight Returns|59960|Batman The Dark Knight Returns|Frank Miller|http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327892039s/59960.jpg|1104159]. These books altered the course of comics, and the fact that X-23 can stand alongside them is impressive. Also, the art is amazing.
Billy Tan's cover of issue 2 sums up the character. A trapped, yet lethally dangerous, child.
Target X - ★★★★★ written by: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost, art by: Mike Choi - Here we have X-23 (now using the name Laura) on the run, seeking out the only family she has left, her creator's sister and daughter. Kyle and Yost fill in a bit more of her training and backstory while simultaneously pushing the story forward. Naturally, the organization which created X-23 isn't going to just let her walk away, so Laura is forced to exercise all her considerable skills and training in order to evade them. The art is spectacular.
I was really impressed with how seamlessly they wove new characters into the tale, especially the assassin Kimura, who wasn't even hinted at in the first story. One of the key elements to Innocence Lost was the creation of the trigger scent which causes X-23 to go into a berserker killing rage. The solution to that here was clever and logical. I love stories which set up a premise and then find wiggle room within it while not violating the internal rules, and Kyle and Yost do that perfectly here. This is a masterclass in structure and building both a world and a character.
We also get Captain America and Daredevil wrestling with important issues of Laura's guilt or innocence as they interrogate her about what happened, and Laura finally gets closure on her mother's thoughts when she confronts Wolverine, who has a copy of the letter Sarah sent to both of them.
Check out this piece by Mike Choi and Sonia Oback. This, to me, is THE definitive depiction of X-23, Laura Kinney.
Double Threat - ★☆☆☆☆ written by: Jay Faerber, art by: Francis Portela - This is a section of the Captain Universe cross-over, of which I know nothing. This just lays there, adding nothing to the character of Laura. This is pure filler. Just before this is a page detailing all sorts of other adventures X-23 has, including traveling to The Savage Land, one of my favorite Marvel locations, but alas, we just get this pointless story instead. The art is serviceable.
x-23: Women of Marvel - ★★☆☆☆ written by: Marjorie Liu, art by: Filipe Andrade & Nuno Alves - This bounces between weirdo dream sequences and Laura returning to her old stomping grounds in New York City, where she meets up with some of her street urchin pals. Apparently Laura was a prostitute for a while for some inexplicable but no doubt misogynistic reason. We're spared that nonsense here, but this feels like we're reading reading chapter 8 of a larger story, so it feels incomplete and out of place. The art was not to my taste and gets in the way of the story sometimes.
The Killing Dream - ★★☆☆☆ written by: Marjorie Liu, art by: Will Conrad with Sana Takeda - More dream sequence stuff... or is it? Dun dun dun. Laura goes to hell, literally, as my least favorite aspects of the Marvel Universe make their presence known: demons. These guys are generally one-trick ponies who chew the scenery and cause anguish for no reason than to do so. This is a mess of a story, frankly, and I have no idea what the point is supposed to be here. Laura defeats - I guess? It's completely unclear - the demon by choosing herself, I maybe she's merely allowed to think that. These stories are aggravating because they feel like a college sophomore in Creative Writing 101 trying to be deep and failing. I'm also annoyed by weirdness for weirdness' sake. The art is fine.
Judgment - ★★★☆☆ written by: Si Spurrier, art by: David LaFuente - This one is a short story where Laura meets Ghost Rider and she sees his "Penance Stare" in action. She wonders if it will work on her, because she's not sure if she has a soul. This one is actually a nice little character moment for X-23, as she grapples with her past in a tangible way. The existential questions she has follow naturally from her experiences, so it was nice to see this examination of her dilemma. Particularly after the clunkiness of the previous stories. The art is a bit too stylized for my taste, but it's satisfactory.