Embedded Files
Two years after the initial outbreak, I finally find myself isolating with covid. Taking some time off work (my co-workers are amazing) and struggling to get anything done even at home. I took this opportunity to read some comics that have either been piling up on the side or have been on my list for many years. Of these, All-New Wolverine by Tom Taylor was one that I had not read any of, but had seen pages of through the social media, or had heard friends talk about in passing. Originally, I had planned on picking up the trade collections as I came across them. However, the omnibus was half price, and I’m stuck in bed trying not to go crazy. Seems like a perfect opportunity. Coincidentally, the omnibus that arrived alongside this, Spider-Gwen, happens to have a cross-over issue between the two titles. Doubly appropriate.
My knowledge of Laura Kinney at the beginning largely comes from small pieces I’ve picked up, and the Logan film. She was an experiment created using the DNA of Wolverine and born to Sarah Kinney, who named her Laura. She has the same healing factor and claws as Wolverine, but with two on her hands, and one in her foot, which are all also covered in adamantium. She was a child assassin raised to kill for the highest bidder, until the day she escaped and decided to be her own person. She used to have the codename X-23, and in recent years, she has supposedly been accepted by Logan as his daughter.
I imagine there are some other details, which I will now need to investigate, but those basic details seem to be a good grounding for jumping straight into the Tom Taylor run.
Taking place after the death of Logan, All-New Wolverine sees Laura Kinney taking up her father’s codename and costume to continue her quest for redemption. Laura has previously been used as a child assassin, born, and trained only to kill for the highest bidder. As an adult, and one who has fought to gain control of her life, Laura’s run as Wolverine is one centred around both redemption and personal growth. Laura is intensely aware of her past, a contrast to Logan who largely had forgotten his past until the 2000s. It’s very clear that it weighs heavily in Laura’s mind and does either inform the story arcs of the run or is related to how she reacts.
The opening story, and the events that introduce us to the series primary sidekick, Gabby, involves Laura now going up against clones of herself, created as her replacements. This storyline does give us a very direct and thorough understanding of Laura’s situation and background and sets the tone for the book moving forward. The clones, Zelda, Bella and Gabby, are created for the same purpose as Laura, only now created from her DNA, rather than Logans. Unlike Laura however, they lack a proper healing factor, claws, or the ability to feel pain. Or so we are led to believe. The story works as Laura telling the reader, through these clones, exactly who she is, why she is taking Wolverine’s place, and why she is perhaps stronger than Logan. We see her reason with Zelda and Bella and try to show them a better way of living, rather than just killing for the sake of revenge. By the first stories end, Gabby is now in Laura’s care, and might be closer to Laura than she realises.
The following story arcs include short segments with Squirrel Girl, which gives us Jonathan the actual Wolverine, as well as short adventures with SHIELD as they take on Fin Fang Foom. Each of these arcs move into each other well, as they tend to relate to run off a small thread left behind by a previous story. The occasional addition of Spider-Gwen in the All-New Wolverine Annual #1, and even Deadpool do make for fun interludes without overstaying their welcome. Deadpool in particular is surprisingly charming and sweet in his appearances, especially in his interactions with Gabby.
Because the series takes place after The Death of Wolverine, Logan does not actually appear. Though the Generations tie-in Generations: Wolverine does feature a younger Logan briefly meeting Laura. Due to Laura both taking on the costume and codename of Wolverine, Logan does essentially haunt the series. Early on, this takes the form of flashback sequences. Laura remembering how much she wanted to stay with Logan when she was Gabby’s age or remembering advice he had given her that she is now passing on. However, Logan haunts the series in a second way through the form of Old Man Logan. A tie-in to Civil War II does force Old Man Logan into the picture, though it is primarily to point out how he is not the Logan she knows. That while he’s older and has a similar history, he is not HER Logan. Primarily, Old Man Logan is used just to reveal to Laura that Gabby does have a healing factor and has claws, something which does change the dynamics between them.
In terms of ‘Wolverine’, Laura does greatly differ from Logan under the mask. Laura is far more carful and calculating in terms offensive power, but if anything, this makes her far more deadly. The concept of Logan’s berserk power being controlled and focused on a single point could make Laura one of the deadliest members of the Marvel Universe. This is something that is frequently commented on by other characters such as Doctor Strange, Jean Grey, and Logan himself during the Generations issue.
It would be very tempting to make a big spectacle about how the name ‘Wolverine’, a signifier of the most masculine and brutal Marvel character, is now being used by a female character. That this version of Wolverine is stronger because it’s a woman, but the series sidesteps this by focusing on Laura as the clone/daughter of Logan. A person created as an assassin, who has done horrible things in her past but wants to atone for them, and now takes the codename of her deceased father as a full circle moment.
The relationship between Gabby and Laura does take centre focus throughout the series, especially as it is Laura teaching Gabby how to be a good person. Surprisingly, it’s the appearances by Daken that create the most compelling scenes between the three. It’s clear that prior to this, Laura and Daken have had their fair share of arguments and fights, but at the point we see them here, they are at least of speaking terms. Adding Gabby into the mix as the youngest sister surprisingly brings a very sweet side to the three as siblings. Gabby spends a portion of the series wanting her own code name, primarily because she feels Gabby is a stupid name to shout in battle. While mentioning this to an injured Daken, who immediately responds with “Honey Badger”, commenting that Gabby is cute, sweet and has claws. The moment does not treat Daken as an annoyed older brother just trying to shut up his youngest sibling. He genuinely thinks it’s a name that suites her, and one she clearly appreciates.
With Laura, Daken’s most genuine moment comes from his final appearance. The last thing he does for her in the book is one that perhaps no one else had thought of, giving her mother a funeral and letting Laura say goodbye. Given the circumstances surrounding this incident, it is surprising that Daken would suggest it, but also one that shows he truly does care for Laura as a sister. A lesser choice for the series would have been to create conflict between Daken and Laura regarding who gets the codename and costume. Instead, we see a genuine sibling connection between the three, and one that does manifest in a very literal way towards the end.
One of the weakest points of the series is how it deals with Laura’s past training and specifically the Trigger Scent. A strong and promising storyline does involve someone trying to activate Laura as a weapon through the trigger scent, causing Laura to confront that part of herself along with Warren, Gabby, and Jean. This set up is fantastically done, and even forces Laura to either kill Gabby or fight the trigger. The execution of this point, however, feels incredibly rushed. This is perhaps due issues now having to be paced to fit to a trade. That dedicating an extra issue to extend this point would have messed up the eventual trade paperback release. It’s a sad reality of the comics industry, but one of the few pacing missteps of this series.
The series is fairly newcomer friendly, but the more you know about the X-Men books, and especially the Wolverine characters, the more you will get out of the series. It’s a very entertaining and action packed read, one with a moral compass at the centre and a strong sense of direction. It would have been fantastic to have had more of the series, especially with Laura as Wolverine, but this is a strong and enjoyable omnibus as well as a complete story arc.
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