Its come to my attention as I type review that this is the last issue of X-23 as the series is being cancelled. I don’t know if writer Tamaki knew this ahead of time but this issue does feel like an endcap to an arc if not the entire series.
The comic gets you up to speed with both a notation on the origin of the main character as well as a paragraph that catches ne readers up on the story arc in progress. In this case Laura and Gabby (Honey Badger) have been involved in dealing with a corporation that has been exploiting their mutant genes to create mutant assassins among other projects. The conflict of this arc has been less about the ongoing battle with Med-X-Tronics and more about the relationship between Wolverine’s clones as siblings living together and their approach to dealing with this dilemma. Tamaki is an established author in the Young Adult genre and she brings her expertise and experience to this comic series. For her the main focus in own how the girls feel and deal with each other and their extraordinary lives more so than the expected superhero battles and drama and it shows.
Laura’s take is very much in the vein of what her parent clone Wolverine would do, find the bad guy and shut him down by any means possible, while Gabby being younger and perhaps because of her inability to feel pain reacts in a far more emotional way. She feels a connection to anything that shares her DNA considering it part of her larger family even if this idea is flawed. There is some merit tp this idea and its worth exploring and fleshing out the differences between the girls but its often handled in a clumsy fashion. Gabby comes across as emotionally much younger than her elven years and once again I have to wonder if this is on purpose. Is Tamaki considering the side effects of being unable to feel pain, something that would normally create a lack of empathy. Is Gabby overcompensating so that she doesn’t become an emotionless monster? Am I giving the author too much credit or is she secretly brilliant. I can’t honestly say for sure but without the certainty of this knowledge it makes it difficult to take some of the dialogue and situations seriously. Both characters overreact to the extreme sharing mood swings that would make a bipolar person blush and this can make them difficult to relate to as characters.
Outside of comic book traditions the action takes several pages to start and the issue does not start off with a bold and interesting splash page to get the reader invested in the opening of the book. This is a critical mistake. The first page is the most important page of the comic, it must hook the reader in immediately, make them want to turn to the next page. Starting the book with a couple of pages of Laura moping about is an awful start. You can hook the reader in with a bold first page and then slow things down building to the excitement promised in the opening. I understand what Tamik is trying to do her, building to a potentially funny and dynamic reveal but I find it to be a bit misplaced and worse her humor just often falls flat in this series.
ART
The great majority of the art chores are handled well here. Everything is well drawn and colored. The pages flow nicely and the layouts make sense. There are a few exception in the action sequences where I think the order of the panels could have been arranged for a greater sense of drama and impact.
FINAL THOUGHTS
X-23 is a YA book dressed up in superhero tights. It might garner some interest among fans of that genre as there are some interesting ideas applied but I think it fails overall as a superhero book. Tamaki should look to Terry Moore for how to blend slice of life with drama and action. 3 out of 5.
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
X-23 12
Writer:Â Mariko Tamaki
Art:Â Diego Olortegui
Inker: Walden Wong
Colors: Chris O’Halloran
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