X-23's Mark in the Palm of her Hand

I'd said awhile back I'd cover exactly why I personally like this mark on X-23. That was ages back, but yup I said I'd do it, so here it is.

There was a Paper Cuts strip I had done, that mirrored my thoughts on this. The funny thing being it was written long before I was aware they were even going to do this with X-23, but it still holds true in comparison. Besides the obvious why I like snowflakes used in relation to X-23, it does have a lot of potential.

Snowflakes are things of individuality. No two are the same is what we're told from childhood on. This is something that works magnificently with X-23. Her opinion of herself when she's down on herself being just that, she's a carbon copy of Wolverine. Whereas other times she's defiant about this. She is herself. That moment of clarity in issue 3 where this appeared was just that. Her defiance in the face of those that would tell her she's simply a copy of a killer. Her refusal, and the mark's usage screams to the high heavens in a whisper "I choose me, I'm different." This mark being tied to her inside soul is interesting considering the circumstances that created it. It's a mark that's ripe with potential and exploration, but for now will just act as a reinforcement to her about that moment. Even reinforcements though can't often keep one from backsliding. How the mark will react to her backsliding I don't know, but that's the interesting aspect to snowflakes. They melt, reform, and come back again.

It's simplistic and effective, but also deep. In real life, the simplest things often hold the most weight, the most meaning. Overtly complex metaphors can be lost on an audience, mostly because in the end it becomes a writer just reaching for the stars but instead falling flat by becoming snide or 'bitchy' about something they don't grasp. This wasn't that. This was beauty in simplicity and a message that can carry itself. It doesn't need the arrogance of a creator taking swipes at fans because they think the fans didn't understand. Often enough we do, we just see the pure arrogance in what was said and done, and how lackluster it truly is without being blinded by being too close. This on the other hand was the exact opposite. Perfection. Something X-23's comic continues with as the series progresses. Perfect characterization, stories, and usages that make a reader think, but also doesn't come across as pretentious and arrogant. Simplicity being the thing a true master wordsmith is capable of. It's so subtle and simple, yet symbolic and capable of saying much more than any loaded symbolic miniseries or monologue ever could.

Then again, maybe I just have a bias towards snowflakes to begin with.

All of this of course is assuming it is a snowflake. It could very well be a star of guidance, like the stars seen in what we were led to believe was her soul. Like the stars she wept under over her mother's body in the origin mini as she knelt in the snow. It could also be akin to a compass star. Though those typically have eight points. Any of these would be strong metaphors. I just obviously personally lean on the snowflake preference.

What does it mean to you?