Friday, July 29, 2011

X-23 Issue 13 Preview, and Marvel's Awkward Mistake.

X-23 issue 13 Preview is up at CBR for next week's issue of X-23's ongoing. It'll be released on August 3rd.

Marvel also recently made a funny but rather awkward mistake in an upcoming X-Men issue.


As Tabby would say when she's her normal cheerful bouncy self, "Awkward."
What's Reed want with all that come anyway? Does this explain the source of unstable molecules for their clothes? Did they stop dying the suits for the Future Foundation outfits? Why doesn't Marvel catch typoes this bad earlier?

Can you say re-call? The letterer forgot a 'to' in there which led to this awkward change over what was meant.

Yes, Reed really did just say "We'd like come. It's times like these we need to stick together."

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Marvel vs Capcom 3: 'ASSIST ME!' Featuring X-23 Part 2

Part 2 is up!



Be sure to check out part 1, and his youtube channel for others.

Character Spotlight: Kimura

I had said a long time ago there was something I wanted to write about.  Now with this month and next seemingly being light on X-23 news, I finally get the chance.  The character spotlights will focus on individuals that have had an impact on X-23 or her history into becoming who she is.

Who better to start with but the otherside of the coin that is the opposite to everything X-23 is.  Kimura.


Kimura
Real Name: Unknown
Known Relatives: Abusive Father, Negligent Mother, and Kind Grandmother(deceased)
Ethnicity: Hispanic (Direct details of race or ancestry have never been divulged.)
Known Affiliations: Formerly The Facility, Currently Unknown
Connection to X-23: Formerly Her Handler.

Kimura was created to be X-23's handler. The one person Laura couldn't harm or kill. How she was created is still a mystery as Dr. Rice who brought her in has never directly said he created her nor has he said how or when her powers manifested(X-23: Target X). With his string of failures, it's hard to believe Dr. Rice was the one who accomplished this.

Kimura was raised in an abusive home until her grandmother pulled her out of it, and tried to raise her right, but the damage was already done in turning Kimura into a sadistic bully. She regularly beat X-23 for any mistake, and just all around any reason she could make up to do it.

Kimura is part of the Facility strike force that attacks the Kinney household to recapture X-23, but fails. She's also the only Facility team survivor from this ordeal. (X-23: Target X #1-6)

Later, when Kimura comes to the Xavier institute for revenge, Emma Frost senses her and confronts her outside the school grounds. It's revealed by Emma Frost during this Academy X story how Kimura was raised as a child. As a way to punish Kimura, Emma erases the only good childhood memories Kimura had of a parental figure caring for her. Emma telepathically deletes the memories of Kimura's grandmother as punishment for the transgressions against the children of the Xavier Institute. This comes after Kimura kidnapped Mercury for the Facility's Predator X project, and Hellion with X-23 had stopped them. (Academy X: New X-Men #33-36)

Kimura is seen working with Madame Hydra later trying to sell Predator X units for the Facility. She is stopped by Wolverine and the Punisher but escapes. (Astonishing Tales Vol. 2 #2-6)

This doesn't hinder Kimura. As she returns later after the Facility has infiltrated Hammer to recapture X-23.

X-23 escapes again, and in a fit of rage about X-23's escape Kimura kills one of the Facility staff heads and swears a vendetta against X-23 and everyone she's ever met, loves, or has known. Kimura will hunt them all down and kill them. At this point the affiliation to the Facility becomes unknown as all contacts we were aware of Kimura had, she has since killed. (X-Force v3 #18-20)

Kimura has not been seen or heard from since. Presumably she's hunting down every person X-23 has come in contact with. Starting with Megan and Debra Kinney as she promised. Kimura's current whereabouts and methods of this are unknown.

Kimura is the only known survivor from the Facility besides X-23 and any shadowy higher ups that the comics foreshadowed were still out there.

It's potentially revealed in the X-23 ongoing that The Facility may have been a US government operation. Which may explain who the shadowy higher ups are, but doesn't explain some of their actions within Target X and Innocence Lost of corporate espionage, and selling their 'weapon' to the highest bidders. This raises the question of did Dr. Rice take this Government operation and go rogue with it after killing Dr. Sutter, or was the one reference in the ongoing simply used as a means to suggest to fans the story direction for the ongoing is staying away from that area. It could be an allusion to how X-23 is misremembering details from her childhood as well. This also fits with the allusions Ms. Sinister had made. Any connection between Mr. Sinister and Kimura have yet to be revealed if there are any.

Kimura is a sociopath. Her main goal in life is to get revenge on X-23 and turn X-23 into the same as her. Kimura repeatedly attempts to make Laura kill all those Laura may have a connection with, but has failed so far in the comics. Kimura's tactics are unknown, but based on her character she would do it by any means needed to do so. She is not above any underhanded tactic she could get her hands on to do this, or find out who and where these connections are.

Kimura's abilities are indestructable skin and hair(Epidermis layer, and the protein chains that make up her hair and toe/fingernails). How this hinders her outward appearance aging process is unknown. We have been given no sign that her hair or fingernails grow, or if they do, how she is able to cut them, or even if her epidermis layer is subject to the cell decay of the aging process(her powers do not apply on the inside, and she may indeed be subject to internal cell decay/rotting from the inside). Her physical body may be impervious to harm, but currently her organs inside and brain are not. The durability of her outward skin layers and hair prevents any form of puncturing her skin or attempt to malform its shape.

Appearances in story order:
X-23: Target X #1-6
Academy X: New X-Men #33-36
Astonishing Tales v2 #2-6
X-Force v3 #18-20

For more information refer to the Kimura wikipedia entry. Kimura

Next up in the spotlights: The Facility and its Doctors.

Monday, July 25, 2011

X-23 October 2011 Solicits

10/05/2011
Marvel Comics 50th Anniversary Variant


X-23 #15
Written by MARJORIE LIU
Penciled by PHIL NOTO
Cover by KALMAN ANDRASOFSZKY
Cover Price: $2.99
Marvel Comics 50th Anniversary Variant by PATRICK ZIRCHER
X-23 and the FF finally meet the new face of Chaos! With the world turned upside down, X-23 and her new teammates must find a way to work together to stop it before it’s too late – but what message does Chaos bring X-23 about her future, and can she bear to destroy it before she finds out?
32 PGS./Parental Advisory


10/19/2011


FEAR ITSELF: THE HOME FRONT #7 (Of 7)
Written by CHRISTOS GAGE, FRED VAN LENTE, HOWARD CHAYKIN & BRIAN CLEVINGER
Penciled by MIKE MAYHEW, ALESSANDRO VITTI, HOWARD CHAYKIN & PABLO RAIMONDI
Cover by STEPHANE PERGER
Cover Price: $3.99
FEAR ITSELF TIE-IN!
• Will Speedball cause a catastrophe bigger than Stamford?
• Will X-23, Power Man, Amadeus Cho, Thunderstrike & Spider-Girl form an all-new team of young heroes?
40 PGS./Rated T+



X-23 VOL. 1: THE KILLING DREAM TPB
Written by MARJORIE LIU
Penciled by WILL CONRAD, SANA TAKEDA, MARCO CHECCHETTO & DAVID LOPEZ
Cover by DANNI SHINYA LUO
Government-controlled killing machine. Child of the streets. X-Man. X-23 has lived many lives, but none of them have ever felt right. She knows she’s a killer, but she’s not sure she can be anything else. The X-Men offer her a home and help facing her demons, but she’s done being someone’s project. She wants to be her own woman, and she’ll do it on her own terms. Leaving the X-Men’s island home of Utopia on a mission all her own, she’s already found trouble. Even with the mutant thief Gambit at her side, her past haunts her. With new enemies rising, can X-23 trust herself not to succumb to her deadly ways? Or is it all just in her head? Free of her chains, can this killer finally taste true freedom? Collecting X-23 (2010) #1-6 and material from ALL-NEW WOLVERINE SAGA.
152 PGS./Parental Advisory
Price: $16.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4797-8

Friday, July 22, 2011

Marvel vs Capcom 3: Assist Me! Featuring X-23

Yes, the episode finally went live!

Check it out.



Be sure to check out Maximilian's Youtube Channel for future episodes!
I'll try to remember to post any of X-23 relevance, but sometimes they do slip by.

Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3

This November, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 will be getting a new version.

The ultimate version... No really, it's called Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3.

It'll feature all the characters from MVC3, which means X-23 will be included. It'll also feature 8 new stages, and 12 new characters.

The new additions are... Right after the video.



The new additions are Ghost Rider, Strider Hiryu, Hawkeye(with antman), Firebrand, and 8 others yet to be revealed.

The remaining are rumored to be Vergil, Frank West, Phoenix Wright, Nemesis, Dr. Strange, Nova, Rocket Raccoon, and Iron Fist.

The control scheme has been refined.


If you pre-order this through Gamestop you'll get the Femme Fatale costume pack. This pack includes Chun-Li in her Street Fighter Alpha Costume, Storm in her morlock costume with mohawk, X-23 in her X-Men Evolution costume, and Morrigan in her plain clohtes attire. PS3 360


Capcom-Unity

SDCC 2011: X-23 Edition!

So if you were lucky enough to go to SDCC 2011 and you are an X-23 fan, you're probably wondering what there is to see.  Or if you weren't able to go, you probably want to know what you're missing.

Well that's where we'd like to help!

So far, just 3 bits of info for X-23 seem to have come out.

1.  Hasbro has X-23 in their display diorama for Marvel Universe.  They also have her 2011 wave 4 figure on display loose, as well as in package.  They've got a Gambit and Mr. Sinister comic pack coming in the pipeline, alongside an Astonishing X-Men/Avengers Wolverine.  Sadly still no word on an unmasked X-23 variant or her other costumes, and still no word on a Ms. Sinister variant for Mr. Sinister.

2. Kotobukiya has got a sweet display for Marvel statues.  One new one is an amazing X-23 but as yet unpainted.  It's a statue of her costume from Marvel vs. Capcom.  Definitely something to keep an eye out for.  They also have black cat, scarlet witch, mystique, Invisible woman, black widow, Rogue, among others.  Check them out at Toyark.  They've also got the X-Force multistatue display that includes X-23.

3. The artist behind Marjorie Liu's first X-23 comic book, the v2 issue 1 oneshot is in attendance, possibly even has a table for commissions or autographs.  Marjorie Liu herself will also be in attendance for 2 panels;  Year of the X-Men, and the Women of Marvel presented by Oxygen.

Hmm, you know while they are at it, Marvel should consider talking to Oxygen about certain licenses like Mockingbird, Ms. Marvel, X-23, or even She-Hulk.  All four of which would fit seamlessly into the Oxygen lineup, or a Lifetime lineup.  Granted I've been saying this for years, but schucks, whoever listens to me anyway?  One character that's pure costumed espionage, two characters all about self assurance, Self-control, self-confidence and self-respect(one of whom is even in the air force!), and one character all about self-discovery with a dash of giving yourself value in spite of what the world tells you.  All 4 of which kick major ass and could take the world by storm if handled correctly.  Oh comeon, you know you want to see She-Hulk take the Ally Mcbeal dive into primetime...  Ms. Marvel with a stargate/NCIS or Jag vibe...  Mockingbird with a Covert Affairs/Burn Notice spin...  Or even just X-23 with a Heroes/dollhouse/Buffy like spin.  Assuming of course they hire writers that can keep show canon intact and not have a repeat of the nose dive Heroes did in its last seasons with the writer shakeup.  (Seriously, it should be a pre-requisite for shows that you at least watch what you write for, so you don't ignore obvious scenes, or if you do acknowledge them, more than just some offhanded remark in the ending that suggests "Yes we know we screwed up.")

No direct pictures this time.  I don't have any of my own, and I don't want to steal any from other sites.
Feel free to turn to Bleedingcool, Comic Book Resources, Toyark, Marvelousnews or any other outlet you know of in attendance.

Of course keep on the look out for X-23 cosplayers too!

I Am Second Best At What I Do by ~KitsuneSweetheart on deviantART

Friday, July 15, 2011

X-Men: Schism #1

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

The Mighty


Marvel let loose some images related to Fear Itself. This one in particular caught my attention. It depicts The Mighty. Warriors with enchanted weapons to take on The Worthy.

In previous interviews, we've heard that X-23 will be in Fear Itself the homefront because she's 'worthy'. Could this be why?

From left to right: Ms. Marvel, Iron Fist, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Unknown (probably Red She-Hulk), Wolverine, Unknown ( X-23 is my guess considering the combat knife weapon, but it could be Black Widow or Mocking Bird too as other fans are guessing.  I feel pretty certain it's X-23 though considering previous comments and Iron Fist being there too.), Hawkeye, and Spider-Man.

Most are guessing the big sword lady is Valkyrie.  I immediately thought Red She-Hulk as the Hulk is one of the worthy, and it'd make sense that she'd move heaven and earth to save him.  Which would make her an obvious choice for the mighty.  Valkyrie is a sword wielder though, which atuomaticly moves her out of the running for the more combat knife oriented other woman.  Combat knives being something more akin to Black Widow, Mockingbird, or X-23.

So is the mystery woman behind Wolverine X-23?  Or do you think it's someone else?  If so, who?

Personally, I lean heavily on X-23 as the demeanor, the weapon, and the previous comments all seem to suggest it.  X-23 is the type of character you'd expect to have a mystic combat knife, or dual short blades of such nature.


*UPDATE*
Turns out the Worthy are Red She-Hulk, Doctor Strange, Spider-man, Wolverine, Iron Fist, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Ms. Marvel.

The one I confused for X-23 is indeed Black Widow, but at least my Red She-Hulk guess was right.  Black Widow makes complete sense with her recent loss of Barnes.  Plus X-23 using dual daggers would be kind of odd since Wolverine himself got enhanced claws.  So yup, my reasoning was obviously flawed from the start by dissmissing that fact.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

X-23 v3 Issue 12 - 3 Questions and 4 Theories

Hmm, okay so the newest issue revealed a few things.

I am going to dance softly, so don't worry no spoilers. Well sort of. I guess you could call them soft-spoilers.

This issue has raised a few questions.

1. Mystery Lady isn't Kimura, or so it seems? This mystery lady is somewhat nice to Laura, plus from the looks of the art she has white hair. Kimura has black hair, and generally speaking isn't all that nice to Laura... Ever. So that completely refutes that theory. She does have a scent that X-23 recognizes though. Questions questions. Who the hell is this woman? It's got me scratching my head. Which I gotta outright admit is a first for Marvel. Marvel tends to be predictable with their stories. This isn't whatsoever.

2. A new previous mission has been shoe-horned into X-23's past. This another one of those fixing her past type missions it seems. Previously in the origin minis there were only 2 kids that X-23 saved. Megan Kinney, and the Sutter child. The Sutter child being after Laura saved Megan, so she was more apt to save him by the actions of the Facility themself. Which made Sarah Kinney's proclamation about Laura showing good on her own seem rather like a mother turning a blind eye to reality. Whereas this on the other hand seems more like maybe there were several instances of actions like this. Or maybe this is the Sutter child after he was adopted when he was orphaned. Highly promising story angle either way. Preferably I hope it's not the Sutter child as it would add a better dimension to X-23 as sparing the lives of children even without the accidental Facility reinforcement. That reinforcement being that Kimura didn't abuse her for saving Megan or the Sutter child. If this is the Sutter child, it'll be interesting to see how he's since grown after what Laura did, and how he's coped.

3. Trigger scent wears off on its own? Okay this is slightly new. Usually it only wears off once the smell has dissipated. This might be the same but shorthanded. It's rather unclear. Does this new triggerscent only act at initial contact? Or is it constant so long as the smell is present? Seems to only act on initial contact since Laura's clothes were sprayed with it, and she was able to snap out of it. This is definitely a new kind of trigger scent not based on the previous one that used torture and abuse to invoke a blind berserker rage. Where original trigger scent was more towards something like Pavlov's dogs, this one seems more akin to some sort of initial reptillian center of the brain based reaction. Curiouser and curiouser the rabbit hole goes. (My apologies for dancing around the real term, but it's early in the morning, and my brain is saying all sorts of curse words at me for forcing it to think.)

All in all, an interesting issue with a great ending. It does leave me wondering though as to what's going on, which I also praise as that rarely if ever happens to me with Marvel comics. (That isn't meant to pick on Marvel with that comment, DC and comics in general have the same problem of being too obvious with the foreshadowing as well. That tends to happen with any book or story though once you've just simply read too much literature. Which is why genuine surprises to me at least, are a great thing when a writer can do it and has always meant it that way. Unlike last minute changes because the readership has already guessed.)

So new guesses for mystery lady!

My personal current theories are:

X-24 - Did another backup project exist after Dr. Kinney succeeded? It would seem plausible when you consider that kind of money involved would probably run a backup experiment from the findings of the first concurrently to the one they are using at the main Facility lab. Something Dr. Sutter may have taken to his grave, as Dr. Rice may not have even been aware of it.  Assuming Dr. Sutter knew about at least, he may not have either, this being something those above him may have done too without his knowledge.  Like how he acquired the initial blood sample from Weapon X.

Kimura - Has she mellowed with age? Has whoever truly created her started tweaking her powers and messing with her head? Is this something new to cover why it seems her hair doesn't grow and the fact it's as impervious as her body and fingernails? Fingernails also being something that seemingly don't grow because of her Facility given powers. I'm going to keep Kimura in the theories for now just because as of the previous history, she was the only one left that we the reader are aware of with any kind of Facility connection.

Alice Sinister - While previously we've only known of Kimura being the sole Survivor from the Facility she was created at.  Recently Mr. Sinister was added to that.  So he would have some of the notes and information in question.  Could this be the further evolution of his new female body?

??? - Or is she something new and completely original? This is what I hope for. Ms. Liu having a literature background makes me lean more towards this.

Who or what do you think this new Mystery Lady is? What did you all think of the issue?

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

X-23 v3 Issue 12 hits shelves today!

X-23 v3 issue 12 hits comic shops today. Be sure to pick your copy up as it continues the fantastic Jubilee guest appearance arc "Touching Darkness."

Hanna & X-23: A Full Comparison

If you haven't seen Hanna yet, you may want to turn away now. Since it has finally left theaters, and the DVD release is still unknown, I thought I'd go ahead with this comparison piece. Spoilers ahoy! Since this is a comparison piece there will be many spoilers between the two if you haven't read the origin minis of X-23, or seen the movie Hanna.



Hush.  You were warned about spoilers.



Originally I was going to wait for the movie to hit DVD, and let this piece go forward on that date, but let's be honest here. I'm an impatient asshole at times. So on with the show!

How they are the same:

Fields of Snow - It's used in both as to where they are trained, and raised. A reflection of the innate cold needed to train children as weapons, as well as a stark contrast of colors that convey innocence and monster in one fell swoop. Whether it's the animal Hanna kills in the beginning or Laura's Mother X-23 killed at the end of Innocence Lost, the contrast of blood on snow in the midst of chaos works well for both.

Parental Unit Teaching - X-23 and Hanna are both taught things by their respective parents. Hanna's father teaches her from a book by a fire, and X-23 was taught the art of war and read Pinnochio from her mother.

Training - Both were taught multiple languages, cover stories, and combat techniques. This includes all manners of subterfuge, and usage of terrain.

Purpose - Hanna and X-23 were both raised with a purpose.

Free Will - Both were taught how to freely adapt to a mission or scenario to attain a set goal. Essentially both were taught "adapt or die."

Awareness of Surroundings - Both were taught to hear, see, and use their surroundings to their advantage or to accomplish a goal.

Genetics - Both have a geneticly manipulated background.

Family Dynamics - Both observe how families act before making their presence known. Both try to protect said families.

Clothing - Both were taught how to use any outfit on hand. Both also have a moment of 'closet raiding' so to speak from their respective families to fit into everyday life.

Life - Hanna is exposed to life through the daughter of the family she's with, including dancing, and music. X-23 was also exposed to life through the daughter of the family she's with, which includes clubs and music.

The Confidant - Both end up trusting the daughter in the family to which they've been observing. They tell their respective confidants some of their history to which got them to where they are, and about the bad people out to retrieve them. Both Hanna and X-23 are given a charm of sorts of remembrance.

Fathers - Hanna's father is an unstoppable ex-CIA operative. X-23's father is an unstoppable former government operative.

Spirituality - Neither were ever taught about spirituality in any sense of their respective regimes.

Sacrifice - Both have to sacrifice being with the families they meet in order to protect them. In both, the confidant witnesses what the protagonist is capable of.

Birth - Both were born in research facilities.

How they are different:

Schooling - Hanna was taught everything by her ex-CIA father, whereas X-23 learned everything from authorities on each subject, constantly monitored by psychologists.

Affection - Hanna was raised with constant affection from her father, as well as happy pictures of her mother. X-23 was only given sparse moments of affection from her sensei who she killed, and her mother, who she also killed. Hanna had human contact and comforts, whereas X-23 was never allowed true human contact or comforts. The sparse moments X-23 did have, she was told not to do that by her mother in fear of being caught by guards for showing Laura kindness.

Training - Hanna was trained by her ex-CIA father with compassion, love, and support. X-23 was trained through strict regimes, and anyone who disobeyed by showing her compassion or kindness was killed. Usually by her forced hand. X-23 was also taught every way possible to kill her targets, that runs the gambit of toxins, pressure points, and much much more.

Treatment of Animals - Hanna was raised on how to hunt for survival and use every part of the animal she killed and not be wasteful. X-23 was raised by the Facility with killing animals as test subjects to prove how much of a killer she was, including their usage of torture to incite a reactionary berserker response to a smell for things she otherwise would refuse to kill. (Her sensei, her mother, and the puppy her mother gave her all being test subjects, or usages of it.) Hanna also adores the dogs they keep for the dog sled, feeds and pets them. The only dog X-23 was given, she was forced to kill later in life.

Where they were raised - Hanna was raised in the wilderness by her father. X-23 was raised in a cold sterile facility. Hanna had books and photos to reflect upon at will. X-23 had an empty white room that was was initially kept at a high temperature to accelerate growth through duress. Until X-23's powers were activated at least. At which point she was kept in the same sterile room, but there is no mention or need of such temperature manipulation.

Purpose - Hanna's purpose was to exact revenge on her father's CIA handler, and X-23's purpose was to be an unstoppable assassin for any mission or situation.

'Graduation' - Hanna was able to choose and prove her choice was correct about when she was ready to take on her purpose. X-23 was given her first mission when those who 'owned' her felt she was ready and wanted to make a profit on their investment.

Technology - X-23 was taught all manners of technology and how to evade and or use them to her advantage. Hanna having lived in the wild is alien to much of technology outside of weapons. She gets great joy and excitement from seeing a plane for the first time, and doesn't know what a tracking device is that her father brings out after she proves she's ready for her mission. Hanna's father did teach her about cameras and other devices without any on hand to show her. She does recognize cameras and other things such as planes and cars from photos, though she has never experienced them herself until the events of her mission. This includes even simple things like light switches too as she was raised in an off the grid cabin in the middle of the woods. Even tv is alien to her and amazing. The movie covers all manners of exposure to everyday things.

Sounds of the World - Hanna takes great joy in all the subtleties of life. The sound of planes, cars, and music being the most obvious. X-23 has experienced all these in her training and missions. How she feels about them has never been discussed, but for tv and music it could be assumed they were considered distractions she should not indulge in(as living in a modern world and lab would mean she was regularly exposed to normal technology and sounds).

Sense of Self - X-23 was denied any form of sense of self. Hanna was allowed to speak freely with her father, smile, laugh, and even tell him things like she wished he'd add white lies to some of history to allow for a happy ending. Early space flight tests for example, and how animals were just left in space to die.

Free Will - Hanna was allowed to make her own choices. When she was ready for her mission, whether she'd hunt with her father or not. X-23 was only allowed to make choices during missions and what best suited the mission at hand to keep her from failing. This granted X-23 some creativity with adaptability during missions, but the limitations after the fact were always strongly in place.

Genetics - X-23 shares a genetic link to Wolverine, as well as her mother in the quest to create the perfect weapon. Hanna was born through a program that manipulated embryos to make them naturally stronger, faster, smarter and more resilient. Different means to reach albeit similiar but different ends.

Fate of their Mothers - Hanna loses her biological mother as a baby at the hands of the CIA. X-23 kills her own biological mother because of manipulation by the Facility.

Birth Certificates - Hanna has one that she's never seen, but she knows her birthday. X-23 has seven, all fake. X-23's real date of birth is unknown even to herself, but may be in a file about her somewhere that survived the facility explosion.

Modern Society - X-23 was taught all manners of cultural identity, vocabulary, vernacular, and even about gender identities and how different people can be so that she could handle any mission or situation. This was something Hanna's father overlooked, having been in the wild with his daughter since 1994 or so.

Exposure to Family Dynamics - Hanna inadvertantly meets the family early on and befriends them before she starts observing them. She may have been raised by her father, but she never experienced what a real 'normal' family was like in all its glory until she went forth on her mission. X-23 was exposed to a real family unit through her Aunt and Cousin when she went on the run from the Facility after her mother's death. Hanna uses the family she meets as the means to an end secretly, but along the way learns a lot about them and cares about them. X-23 on the other hand after an initial observation period makes her presence known and allows herself to be included into a family. A family she knows of from a previous mission that wasn't allowed to formally meet except for her cousin briefly at a young age which has caused the cousin's memories to be repressed. The family X-23 joins is dysfunctional and she inadvertantly brings the family back together. The family Hanna observes is a happy one, albeit eccentric.

Vehicles - X-23 was taught how to drive and use any vehicle. Hanna has learned about them, but never been exposed to them until her mission.

Life - X-23 was exposed to rollercoasters, shopping, pet stores, and theaters where you actually watch the movie instead of your target. Hanna was exposed to boys and dating. Where X-23 is learning how to just be a normal girl, Hanna is learning how much the world has to offer for a normal teenage girl not living in the wild to experience. Different focuses of the same aspects. X-23 on just what normal girls do like shopping, friendship, having fun, and what family means, whereas Hanna experiences things normal teenage girls do like dating and the awkwardness of dealing with your first date and crush.

The Confidant - Hanna's confidant she's not related to, and kisses. As seen in the Target X miniseries, X-23's is her cousin and obviously does not have the same connotations or suggestive questions associated that Hanna's does.

Fathers - Hanna was raised and trained by her father. X-23 didn't meet her biological father until she attempted to kill him of her own accord.

Spirituality - Hanna is confronted with the aspect of spirituality during her journey. X-23 doesn't even have the notion brought up in her origin minis. Thankfully it is finally being approached in the current ongoing thanks to Marjorie Liu. Not that it's a bad thing X-23's origin doesn't cover it. With everything else in the minis, I'm not sure it could have fit anyway.

Crisis of Conscience - Hanna's father had to free the child he felt responsible for as he couldn't take the experiments anymore and atrocities they were committing in the pursuit of the perfect soldiers and how they would raise this baby. So he fled with Hanna before they could. X-23's mother came to the same conclusion albeit after they had already spent over a decade making her daughter a weapon in the program. Both girls created for their respective programs, but Hanna wasn't raised within it. X-23 was, and did many missions for them before her mother realized the error of her ways. An error shown to her by X-23 when she refused to kill a child of her own free will.

Sacrifice - Hanna is witnessed killing a man who is trying to retrieve her by her confidant. Which in turn freaks her new friend out. X-23 had related all her history to Megan beforehand, so Megan isn't freaked out about it, but helps X-23 maintain composure when the time comes. Megan, X-23's confidant, finds it extremely cool.

Other Experiments - There are 22 attempts that failed to produce a viable embryo for Laura Kinney/X-23. There were 20 other children and mother's besides Hanna and her mother. They were all killed while Hanna was 2 when the project was scrapped. Hanna escaped this mass murder as a 2 year-old thanks to her father's intervention. X-23's project was moved forward and she was raised within it.

Fairy Tales - Hanna tends to bounce around on the fairy tale front, going from old story to old story including little red riding hood, sleeping beauty, Hansel and Gretel, among many others that relate except for Pinnochio as Hanna was always raised as a real girl.  X-23's story only focuses on the Pinnochio relation as Laura was never raised like a real girl and it's what her mother wishes she could be.


Conclusion:

While both of these share many aspects down to even focusing on a female antagonist, they both go different directions with the same idea. Where Hanna was raised with Love, X-23's tale is borderline devoid of it. Where Hanna decides she doesn't want to kill anymore and is tired of it all, X-23 doesn't even think about it. It is what it is to X-23. While many will draw comparisons to these two rightfully so, they are two different stories of the same initial concept of genetic manipulation. They take different paths though they intertwine in many of the same areas needed to convey such a story. They use different aspects of the same text book notions and psychology with different results. While they are both tales of girls discovering life outside of what they've known, they also carry different undertones. Hanna always thought of herself as a real girl and child, whereas X-23 was raised to be a weapon and escapes to become a real girl. Both of these aspects lead the protagonist to experience life out in the world, but their histories reflect how they cope and handle the real world differently.

For the forseeable future, Hanna will be the closest to an X-23 feature we may get. Which is not a bad thing. In spite of their differences, and it pains me to say this, Hanna is written better than X-23's origin tale. The usage of imagery and symbolism throughout is amazingly above and beyond. From the usage of decrepit dinosaurs, swans, the symbolic entering the belly of the beast, to even graphiti of a certain raven haired girl, and fairy tales. This movie carries within it massive Oscar potential. That's before even getting into the masterfully done camera work, eye for detail the director has, and immensely powerful acting from Bana(Hanna's Father) and Ronan(Hanna).

That's not to say X-23's story couldn't either though. The origin story only needs a few minor tweaks to reach on par with this story, while it remains different with the aspects it already is different in. The only thing that was truly hampering Hanna at the box office was brand recognition. As amazing as it is, it didn't have the draw of being tied to a license that many adore outright as the X-Men franchise does. It was a brand new IP, which tends to not always do well at box offices, but then booms on the dvd front as word of mouth spreads. Hanna will easily go down in history as a masterpiece and a cult-classic. One can only hope such justice is done to X-23's origin to keep the audiences from crying foul that they've seen this story before. As X-23's tale is different enough to exist alongside Hanna within the scifi genre with minimal source material changes(mostly just minor added dialogue in spots to magnify the audience emotional response). One can only hope that Fox isn't allergic to money and decides to take such action for release on Oct. 23, 2013 ( the year of X-23's ten year anniversary, a date that reflects her name, plus it's a Wednesday). A move with the right cast that could break the box office wide open during a time no one would expect it, and could give us the first real Marvel Oscar contender if handled right like Hanna was.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

MVC 3: Assist Me! Tutorial Series to Feature X-23



Thanks to the MVC3 Facebook group for the heads up.

Be sure to check out Maximilian's Youtube page for more and you can follow him on this new fangled thing called twitter at Twitter.com/maximilian_.

Remember this is for comedy's sake. So you'll have to excuse the tattoos, and other discrepencies obviously. It's all in good fun. They've previously done Wesker, Dr. Doom, and a few others.

Hasbro's MU X-23 Up for Preorder!

Big Bad Toy Store has single carded X-23s up for pre-order now. They are due to hit their store in October.

X-23


She's part of MU 2011 series 4, and will be figure number 20.