Sunday, January 8, 2012

A few Random Thoughts about Avengers Academy Issue 24

Okay, so last time I got a bit carried away in wanting to comment on all the characters which kind of shifts the point of this place. So instead let's just focus on the elements of X-23 that can be gleamed from this great title.

1.) X-23 and Finesse Sparring.

I hope this becomes a regular occurence. These two are interesting together with all that could be covered. There's a ton of potential here to explore.

2.) The kids still not quite grasping what trigger scent is.

I have a feeling this is going to be a common occurence until they finally get used to it, or X-23 explains to them how it works.

3.) X-23 rushing off to protect the kids at the first sign of danger.

Another interesting point that comes back to what I was saying before as X-23 as sort of a teacher's aid/Counselor. Granted here, it also shows her lack of training in dealing with certain areas of the unknown. She recognized danger, but rushed off without a plan or strategy in how to deal with this unknown threat. (Dire wraiths are entirely new to X-23.)
The emotional instinctual reaction plays up to what was just said by Black Widow to X-23 in her ongoing. That X-23's emotions make her get sloppy with how she reacts. It also plays up to the elements of the character that have no care for her own well-being. After everything we've seen in the ongoing though with how X-23 can lock out telepaths and even overpower dimensional entities trying to possess her, it makes me wonder how long the dire wraith will be able to control her. It could be argued that the power from all the people there has heightened the wraith's powers, including X-23's healing powers and the invincible kid's, but it does bring to question the power levels of those presences she's dealt with before. Of course this could also be thanks to the little telepathic parasite in X-23 who seems to want to see her blood thirsty and attack others. If he were the cause of the other blockings besides Laura's own will, he could also be the reason the Dire Wraith is getting such a strong hold on Laura. (Comic book science... Oh how I loathe thee.)

6 comments:

  1. My thoughts on the new issue of Avengers Academy.

    1. Not trilled with the new uniform X-23 is sporting, greatly prefer the X-Force uni, or the all black look from before.
    2. Felt the same as you with her getting mind controlled. Let's see it took Emma Frost months to figure out what was going on in her head harkening back to her original appearances with the X-Men. Was even able to fend off the Gamesmaster to some extent, and he is probably the most powerful telepaths in the Marvel universe. Then again Hybrid is pretty damn powerful. So anything is possible; and it is a comic after all.
    3. Overall, it seemed like a pretty sloppy issue after the promise of the previous issue. Also, the whole Hybrid premise coming to the Avengers Academy bugs me. I would think they would have some kind of background checks before letting anyone in there. Hell, they did their homework on Laura. Probably been monitoring her for a long time, as verified by Black Widow. Captain America has known about X-Force's activities. Still waiting for that shoe to drop, that might play a part in the Avengers vs. X-Men crossover coming soon.

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  2. Have they acknowledged Rogers knows about X-Force? I know he knows about X-23 from the Target X miniseries. With Black Widow's history it doesn't surprise me she's been keeping tabs on X-23 too. (Natasha and Laura both were raised as weapons from early childhood. Just Laura was created, and Natasha had Enchantress help via a retcon. So I could see Natasha monitoring programs that turn children into weapons, plus the facility could have tried to market themselves to former KGB etc.)

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  3. Then again, a lot of that could be solved if it turns out Agent Morales is on the Avengers Academy extended staff too. Since she knows the X-23 file inside and out, and has first hand experience with X-23 and X-Force. AFAIK though she was going to keep it all quiet, but it'd make sense if she no longer trusted shield/hammer thanks to how they were infiltrated.

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  4. I would love to see a return of Agent Morales(aka Michelle Rodriguez)!

    I don't know if it is considered canon in the Marvel Universe; but in Heroic Age: Super Heroes, it gives a twist on the old Marvel power rankings, but voiced directly from Steve Rogers. Here is what he says about our friend Cyclops.

    "Cyclops has become a man I barely understand, moving his followers to an island, sanctioning the deaths of their enemies, and seemingly willing to sacrifice even his most trusted allies for a "greater good".

    and X-Force

    "Hand selected and assigned by Cyclops to wipe out the X-Men's deadliest threats with extreme prejudice. Not capturing or involving the authorities, but intentionally murdering them in bloody, savage fights.
    He goes on to say that he is "shocked and appalled that an international terrorist like the Vanisher and a genetic weapon like X-23 have been placed on a team with such a dark purpose."

    Steve Rogers also says that if knowledge of this group goes public, the results could be catastrophic.

    It would make sense that Rogers would know about this stuff, he would certainly be privy to any sort of top secret intel or briefs in day to day operations as a member of the Avengers. The X-Men were for a long time under overt observation from O.N.E. The government has never trusted the mutants; obtaining knowledge that a group like X-Force exists wouldn't give any government official a warm and fuzzy. That seems pretty realistic even in comic book land.

    I just hope X-23 is handled well for future X-Men stories, I think Marjorie Liu got the character immediately. She will be missed badly, but excited to see her writing Astonishing X-Men.

    Although very sad to see X-23's solo title canceled I am very curious what team she ends up on in Utopia. Having her on Cyclops' security team with Warpath, Psylocke, Jubilee, and Domino would be pretty sweet. Or if I was Cyclops and he still had no regard for her well-being, put her in an assassin role once again, but solo. If we are being honest, that is what she was trained to do better than anything.

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  5. Hmm, that might explain why I missed it, though with secret avengers, it'd make sense why he tries to keep it quiet anyway. Not sure on that for canon or not. Good point. I tend to ignore the info books lately because they honestly seem rather pointless and rarely accurate or comprehensive enough.

    I'm pretty sure from the info so far it looks like the choice is going to be neither and she's going to be with Avengers Academy for awhile. The ongoing did kind of push a Cyclops with a strong distaste. The recent interview with Gage seems to push this too with how X-23 is going to be caught in the middle of Avengers vs X-Men for Avengers Academy. Then again, the information from interviews can change over time like we saw with how Laura went to Avengers Academy in its issue 23 where it referenced Wolverine sent her there after apparently Black Widow told her about it. On that note though, other than reining in her emotional reactions, I'm not sure what kind of training Black Widow can really give Laura. Laura is already trained in hand to hand, subterfuge, weapons, and much much more.

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  6. Reining in her emotions also includes her self-sacrificing nature I'd assume with how she puts herself in harm's way to get a job done if needed.

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