This is a review that I should have written a long time ago, as this is the book that got me back into reading Marvel after many years reading Image, Top Cow and 2000 AD publications. Maybe it was the idea of a strong female character that has flaws and a dark side that appealed to me so much, as the character of X-23 was slightly reminiscent of the lead females in the Top Cow publications Witchblade and Aphrodite IX, which I had been reading at the time. Whatever it was that drew me to the story, I am so happy I gave it a read as none of the magic has diminished over the years.
If I had one minor niggle it would be that I’ve never been keen on X-23’s foot claws. I’ve always found them a bit out of place and silly looking. This is just my own personal opinion and I feel like they work to an extent. It’s by no means a major negative to anything to do with the story; I would have just preferred the character to just have the elegant twin claws on each hand.
After rereading this six issue series I am reminded of why it reignited my true love for Marvel comics. It’s a phenomenal masterpiece of storytelling and is as close to perfection as you can get in both story and art. For me this is the comic that all others aspire to be like. I would even go as far to say that this is my favourite comic title of all time. It is no surprise that I would recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a good story and an amazingly good time. Check it out, you won’t regret it.
The characters are as equally well crafted, each with a purpose driving them forward in the story. This allows for some true emotion to run through the pages that never feels forced or out of place. I’d argue that the lead character of the story isn’t, as one would expect, X-23. Instead it’s more about Dr Sarah Kinney and her observations and feelings towards her daughter. The story is told from her point of view, from the point of view of a mother watching her daughter being crafted into a monster. The narration feels much like it is directed at X-23 with Kinney explaining the reasons for what’s been done to her and how truly sorry she is. Seeing the story through Kinney’s eyes adds so much emotion and power to what’s going on, it’s hard not to get caught up into her pain and suffering.
X-23/Laura Kinney is such a brilliant character. This being her first solo series, it was made to turn her into a strong relatable individual and in that it succeeds. Prior to this she made her first appearance in the X-Men Evolutions animated series, with her first comic debut in issue 3 of the series NYX. She made such an impression in these two small appearances that it was only natural for Marvel to try her out in her own series. One of the things I truly love about her is how she’s been crafted from a mental stand point. She murders people because she’s told to, but at heart she knows it is wrong. Since she was born, she has been manipulated into this monstrosity and there is little she can do to escape it. It’s a side of human psychology that isn’t often touched on in mainstream comics in this amount of detail. The people in the labs see her as a monster they can use, when at heart she is a troubled teenage girl struggling with real issues and some quite deep depression. She feels so fleshed out and three-dimensional that she could easily be a real person.
Before reading this, I had never read a comic where I had felt that almost all of the characters could be real people. If you could get away with the claws, X-23 could easily be a person that would perfectly integrate into today’s society and youth culture.