X-23, aka Laura Kinney, aka Wolverine, gets her own miniseries this week set during the Utopia days of the X-Men. That puts this book’s continuity before 2017, so Laura hasn’t taken on the name Wolverine, met her clone sister Gabby, or found a path she’s currently on. It’s a compelling time in her life with plenty of room to explore, with Erica Schultz and Edgar Salazar raising the character’s heroism.
As the preview shows, this issue shows us Laura’s many lives. The concept is maximized with well-placed flashbacks to her days running with Wolverine or connecting with friends. These flashbacks are juxtaposed with Laura helping people escape a burning building. Salazar shows off Laura’s incredible abilities and heroism in this sequence, showing how selfless she is, yet later when questioned, Schultz reminds us she’s not exactly easy to talk to.
And why should she be, since she was treated like an animal or worse? A chunk of this issue is devoted to the types who used her, including a woman named Kimura. She was Laura’s handler who created her and assigned her missions. It appears she’s not happy Laura ran off and has a new weapon to use against her. One can see she’s no friend to Laura by the desire to make her feel pain once she’s found, and the setup here firmly establishes a new threat Laura should be worried about.
Laura has walked a long path.
Credit: Marvel
That threat goes by the name Haymaker, who was introduced in a teaser a few weeks ago. Schultz does well to introduce him through flashbacks and his ability to fight. His rage is being used to manipulate him as a weapon similar to Laura, but we find out he has a good reason to hate Laura specifically. It sets up a tricky situation for Laura, who knows she’s killed people who didn’t deserve it and, at this point, might admit she deserves any punishment they bring. Or maybe not – that’ll be interesting to explore as the series continues.
For an extra-sized issue with the potential for a lot of story, this issue goes by quite fast. The first half is devoted to the burning building, and while the flashbacks to Laura’s other identities over the years are clever, it feels a bit thin. Some panels have a little to no dialogue, making the pages breeze by.
X-23: Deadly Regenesis #1 sets up the complexities of Laura Kinney in a clever way, establishing who she is before a new threat emerges. Schultz clearly understands this character, while Salazar keeps the detailed art entertaining, making for a strong start.
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