This was a great issue for a comic that's quickly finding its footing again.
Sadly there were no X-23 appearances, but that was to be expected as the core team is interacting with the Runaways in this story. Gage had made comments before suggesting this would be the case as he didn't know at the time X-23's comic was getting canceled. We still might see something about her training with Black Widow, but that might have been an idea rationalized after the fact and too late to insert into this story. Not his fault on that either as the communication just wasn't there for him to be aware of that at the time.
Coming up after this arc will be AvX though. There we will have a larger focus on X-23 with her opinions on the X-Men and whether or not she would truly choose a side. There, it will hopefully dive into her thoughts about turning children into soldiers, and if the Avengers are making the right choice or just forcing her to be stuck in the middle between friends. Something I hope is punctuated with a usage of Mercury and their friendship, but also uses Surge and her hypocritical ways.
Her absence could be explained by her being busy with helping to keep hell off of earth though.
ReplyDeleteVery true. Sometimes it's hard to tell when various stories take place in her timeline.
DeleteLike how X-23 issue 20 was her recruitment into avengers academy that we saw back in Avengers Academy issue 23.
Might be safe to say you're right though. I just kind of wish Marvel was a bit more clear on these things for fluid transitions. Something that could have been solved if they gave X-23 until issue 22. That way 21 could have been the spillover into her deciding where to go, and 22 could have been the silent ode to X-23's self-discovery and personal acceptance. Which could have made Avengers Academy issue 23, an impromptu X-23 issue 23 so they merge at appropriate numbering and makes the character flow into her more open awareness she displays there.
Makes it really hard to place a timeline or read order though. Would issue 21 be after circle of four or before CoF? If it's before CoF and avengers Academy, why is she so angry in CoF moreso than normal?
I guess it can be rationalized as issue 21 takes place before AA and CoF, but the events in AA from being controled by Hybrid makes her leave briefly to try and center herself from being manipulated yet again which leads into CoF. The book she's reading during AA could explain her overtly poetic usage in early CoF too.
If I can find time, I've got a lot I want to go back over on CoF though that doesn't seem to make sense in the early half of it.
X-23 issue 21 really plays well into her joining AA though. That's why I lean on it being before issue 23 of AA. Her actions to save a life even though it'll draw her back to the chaos of human emotions instead of the purity of a noble wolf pack and the instincts to keep the pack strong and safe, reflects an interesting idea of why she would go to the Academy and how she seems to evoke a very guidance counselor almost type persona as sort of a new white alpha wolf protector that supports the pack, keeps them safe, and on the right track. Something that seems to be a repeated theme with her. She helped Megan and Debbie repair their mother daughter bond in Target X, was the alpha protector for NYX, did the same for the Academy X kids, and many more repeated examples of this pattern.
And this just turned into its own entry almost that should be made. It's a topic I've been thinking about and just haven't had time to come back to yet. Like another entry on CoF as a wrap up, an entry on Julian and Laura, an entry on the mystery woman, and an entry on the full X-23 solo series run with follow up on wow it feels marvel canned this prematurely due to some unknown reason other than sales they seem to be staying mum on.
Maybe 21 took place between AA and CoF. She was on the road afterall. Heading west. Not hard to imagine her passing through Vegas and finds clues that a sample of her blood was being used to create Blackhearts thingies, maybe she was ambushed there, and her stopping long enough to take care of it. Uughh...I just wished they had cancelled AA, never liked dinosaurs and all the PC sh*t going on there gay coming out's with press conferences whining about hispanic superheroes gimme a break, and a couple of X titles instead of Laura's series.
ReplyDeleteI miss her...*weeps bitterly*