X-23 #10 Is About The Family We Make (And Explosions)
by Tony Thornley
The evolution of Laura Kinney over the past five years has been fascinating to watch. When Marvel’s Secret Wars hit, she was a barely functioning ball of rage, but since then we’ve seen her grow and change into a complex and stable young woman. It’s an evolution that’s made her one of my favorite characters, and that continues in X-23 #10.
Mariko Tamaki, Diego Olortegui, Walden Wong, Chris O’Halloran, and Cory Petit wrap up the story of the Kinney sisters and their new family members. But it’s also a cover-to-cover action story that delivers what readers want.
Laura faces Alchemax alone, battling the army of cyborgs based on herself. Luckily at the last moment Gabby and their still unnamed sister burst in to the rescue. This leads to difficult and emotional decisions for everyone, and also all out war with the cyborg assassins…
I cannot get over how effective this series is at conveying emotional family themes of sisterhood and family, while also telling a story where its protagonists stab A LOT of bad guys. Tamaki has struck a great balance here. It results in a series that’s just plain fun to read, but also is a deeper experience for someone looking for that.
Olortegui and Wong have been a revelation in this arc. I went from not being aware of their work to being a favorite art team. They have a great grasp of action, with a sense of motion that makes moments almost jump off the page. They are also able to shift easily, literally going from one page full of explosions to the next being Gabby and Laura mourning a sister that they hardly knew, and was unfortunately dying from the moment they met.
Rumor is that this series wrapping up by the summer and I hope it’s not true. It has been and remains one of my favorites.
X-23 #10 is available now from Marvel Comics.
