COMICS!! Review: X-23 #10

Heart to Heart

Thanks to some intervention from Daken, I've found myself finally completely on board with the X-23 series. After such a big event, you'd figure that Laura would need some time to decompress. Not so. Even as Laura moves towards finding atonement for her past sins, she finds herself opening old wounds.

X-23 #10 has Laura and Gambit in Paris. Remy tries to console a chronically depressed X, even attempting a birthday celebration for her. However, the knowledge she gained from her trip to Madripoor has forced Laura to retreat back within herself and the memories of her time as a living weapon. Deeply troubled by (and almost killed because of) Laura's current state, Gambit gives a call to Wolverine to come talk to his surrogate. But when Wolverine brings along Jubilee, who herself has recently gone through drastic changes, it forces Laura's own introspection into even more dangerous places.

The Power of the Soul

Seeing as Collision just finished up week or so ago, I truly expected this issue to take on the role of filler; as a way to set-up a future arc for X-23 whilst not providing much validity on its own. For all intents and purposes, #10 does seem to be the start of a transitional arc, but the level of character interaction is phenomenal. I once questioned Gambit's purpose for being in this book at all, but Marjorie Liu's writing in this issue reaffirms his purpose. Gambit here is just as much, if not more, of a father figure to Laura than Wolverine. While Wolvie attempts to lead by example, and let Laura find her way as he once did, Gambit is there to nurture, and there are really a lot of touching moments in this issue. Combined with the beautiful and ethereal artwork of Sana Takeda, this start down yet another dark road in X-23's is one that readers who enjoy comics that play on emotion will love.

Strangely, though, the one thing I find fault in is the appearance of the force that'll probably drive this arc, Jubilee. It made complete sense that Wolverine would show up and (in vain) try to get through to Laura. Heck, I even liked Gambit's questioning Logan for taking Jubilee so quickly under his wing and leaving Laura to fend for herself. Jubilee's appearance, however, seems forced. Liu doesn't give her much to say and the only reason she seems to be in the issue is for the final page suspense splash.

A No Brainer

That's a small gripe, however. It's also one I'll probably be proven to be way off-base with when ish #11 comes out. This is an emotionally charged story with one of the more humanly interesting characters in Marvel. The series will live and die by Liu's writing, but she's truly in her element here. Bolstered by great artwork, anyone with a passing interest in the character should pick this up.

X-23 #10 gets 4 stars out of 5.

Check out my most recent COMICS!! reviews:

Daken: Dark Wolverine #9 HERE

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters HERE