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quirkycatsfatstacks's review
5.0
The latest reboot of X-23 made me painfully aware of just how far behind I am in reading up on this fascinating character. So I decided to go crazy and read everything about her that I could. The first stop, naturally, had to be the Complete Collection Vol. 1.
I’m actually pretty sure that I could have read all of these on Marvel Unlimited if I had wanted to, but in this case it was easier to get the collection all arranged for me. Plus the price was reasonable, and it’s always nice to support a series, even and older one, by buying it.
This volume covers a huge chunk of X-23 (aka Laura’s past) from her origin story up through the 2010 reboot of her series. Some of the events are standalone issues, and thus have a page or two of context before hand, to help give a better idea of what is going on. I found this to be incredibly helpful, and am glad that somebody thought to add it.
Warnings first: Okay, this really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody, but X-23 has some fairly graphic scenes in it. I mean, we’re talking about a young girl that was genetically created, and then raised, to be a killer. So it isn’t going to be pleasant all the time. There are also some animal deaths that happen. You can see them coming though, so just skip a couple of panels and don’t think about it too much.
Before reading this volume, I knew the basics about Laura and her creation, but that was about the extent of it. Since I’ve been reading the latest round of her comics, naturally I became curious about more of her past, especially since it keeps getting mentioned. I’m not there yet (for example I haven’t hit the clone conflicts she’s referred to), but this one volume made a huge dent in what I didn’t know about her.
I thought I knew that Laura was a tragic character before this…but now I know just how badly I underestimated that. Laura is one of those characters that just seem to get kicked down again and again and again. Not all that dissimilar to Peter Parker, when you stop and think about it. It’s just the way they’re beat down that’s different.
I have to give her character so much credit for pulling through the messes again and again, while still doing everything possible to maintain her humanity. We can argue all we want about that, but the truth of the matter is that for as long as she worries about it, she is in fact still human enough to care.
There were a few characters in this series that I would have loved to kick a few dozen times, but they were obviously designed to make me feel that way. Still, they did a great job of pointing out some obvious morality questions. These people believe that mutants are less than human, while they themselves act like monsters. The irony appears to be lost on them, which isn’t terribly surprising.
I think my favorite of the collection so far was probably the original X-23 series, where her origin was laid out. It was tough to read, of course, but it was still fascinating. I liked everything else as well, but for different reasons.
Despite liking the first series the best (so far) my favorite scene/event wasn’t in any of them. I absolutely loved the scenes involving Captain America. How he was forced to face his own biases based on his past, and how it was causing him to repeat the same mistakes as everyone else in Laura’s life. It was incredibly well done. I don’t think this would have worked nearly so well if they had chosen any character other than Captain America (being that he’s fully capable of admitting when he’s wrong, even if it does take some time to sink in).
I could go on to the next X-23 Complete Collection next, but I think I’m going to follow the advice I was given and read Wolverine: The Road to Hell next. That one sounds interesting, and it’ll fit chronologically with what I’ve already read. So win-win.
I’m actually pretty sure that I could have read all of these on Marvel Unlimited if I had wanted to, but in this case it was easier to get the collection all arranged for me. Plus the price was reasonable, and it’s always nice to support a series, even and older one, by buying it.
This volume covers a huge chunk of X-23 (aka Laura’s past) from her origin story up through the 2010 reboot of her series. Some of the events are standalone issues, and thus have a page or two of context before hand, to help give a better idea of what is going on. I found this to be incredibly helpful, and am glad that somebody thought to add it.
Warnings first: Okay, this really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody, but X-23 has some fairly graphic scenes in it. I mean, we’re talking about a young girl that was genetically created, and then raised, to be a killer. So it isn’t going to be pleasant all the time. There are also some animal deaths that happen. You can see them coming though, so just skip a couple of panels and don’t think about it too much.
Before reading this volume, I knew the basics about Laura and her creation, but that was about the extent of it. Since I’ve been reading the latest round of her comics, naturally I became curious about more of her past, especially since it keeps getting mentioned. I’m not there yet (for example I haven’t hit the clone conflicts she’s referred to), but this one volume made a huge dent in what I didn’t know about her.
I thought I knew that Laura was a tragic character before this…but now I know just how badly I underestimated that. Laura is one of those characters that just seem to get kicked down again and again and again. Not all that dissimilar to Peter Parker, when you stop and think about it. It’s just the way they’re beat down that’s different.
I have to give her character so much credit for pulling through the messes again and again, while still doing everything possible to maintain her humanity. We can argue all we want about that, but the truth of the matter is that for as long as she worries about it, she is in fact still human enough to care.
There were a few characters in this series that I would have loved to kick a few dozen times, but they were obviously designed to make me feel that way. Still, they did a great job of pointing out some obvious morality questions. These people believe that mutants are less than human, while they themselves act like monsters. The irony appears to be lost on them, which isn’t terribly surprising.
I think my favorite of the collection so far was probably the original X-23 series, where her origin was laid out. It was tough to read, of course, but it was still fascinating. I liked everything else as well, but for different reasons.
Despite liking the first series the best (so far) my favorite scene/event wasn’t in any of them. I absolutely loved the scenes involving Captain America. How he was forced to face his own biases based on his past, and how it was causing him to repeat the same mistakes as everyone else in Laura’s life. It was incredibly well done. I don’t think this would have worked nearly so well if they had chosen any character other than Captain America (being that he’s fully capable of admitting when he’s wrong, even if it does take some time to sink in).
I could go on to the next X-23 Complete Collection next, but I think I’m going to follow the advice I was given and read Wolverine: The Road to Hell next. That one sounds interesting, and it’ll fit chronologically with what I’ve already read. So win-win.
moosaysmoo's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
annettenis's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bradley_jf's review
4.0
Everything except the X-23 Women of Marvel One shot are awesome. The one shot is horrendous. The writing is terrible and the art is worse. I’m a little confused about where to find the stories that were mentioned in the page after the Captain Universe section. Probably the X-Force series?
kir's review
2.0
I'm ignorant of most of the Marvel canon, but I think I agree with other readers that the first two were the strongest in this collection.
pantsyreads's review
3.0
X-23 (2005) #1-6 -- 4 stars
X-23: Target X #1-6 -- 4 stars
Captain Universe/X-23 #1 -- 2.5 stars
X-23 (2010 One-Shot) -- 2 stars
X-23 (2010) #1-3 -- 3 stars
Rounded up, I give the overall collection 3 stars.
The first two arcs (Laura's origin stories) were excellent and I really enjoyed them. The remaining collection was meh, though it ended on a higher note with the Killing Dream arc.
I'm a bit disappointed that nothing from NYX or X-Force was included. I appreciate that there were some textual interludes that explained these parts of X-23/Laura's life, but it would've been much more satisfying to just read them imo (and this is supposed to be the "complete" collection after all). I'm curious if there was a particular reason why these weren't and/or couldn't be included.
X-23: Target X #1-6 -- 4 stars
Captain Universe/X-23 #1 -- 2.5 stars
X-23 (2010 One-Shot) -- 2 stars
X-23 (2010) #1-3 -- 3 stars
Rounded up, I give the overall collection 3 stars.
The first two arcs (Laura's origin stories) were excellent and I really enjoyed them. The remaining collection was meh, though it ended on a higher note with the Killing Dream arc.
I'm a bit disappointed that nothing from NYX or X-Force was included. I appreciate that there were some textual interludes that explained these parts of X-23/Laura's life, but it would've been much more satisfying to just read them imo (and this is supposed to be the "complete" collection after all). I'm curious if there was a particular reason why these weren't and/or couldn't be included.
sentunderscore's review
4.0
I really liked this collection. My favorite section was "Women of Marvel" by Marjorie Liu.
captwinghead's review
4.0
4 stars.
This started out so great! I didn't want to put it down as heartbreaking as it was. Then it went downhill about 70% in.
The first half is Laura's origin story. We know the story: she was cloned from Wolverine to be the perfect weapon. I'd only read about her after she'd been away from the Weapon X program for a while so this was all new to me. I didn't know that they wanted her to be a male clone but it would've taken about a decade longer to do that. I didn't know about her mother who tried to distance herself but eventually did the right thing and tried to free her. I didn't know there was a scientist that resented her and although I thought they'd give him too much background initially, the book balances it very well.
Laura has been through so much! She reminds me of Cassandra Cain because they were never treated like children and they carry their guilt with them for the rest of their lives even though they were made to hurt others. Both of them decided to be heroes in the end and that's so admirable.
The last scene Laura has with her mother made me cry. As did the scene where her mother figured out she was self mutilating. I loved seeing her with Megan and her aunt but I knew that would end soon. Unfortunately.
One complaint I have is that Laura is meant to be in her early teens and sometimes she's drawn in a way that's a little too mature for her. The Women in Marvel issue had terrible art, as well. Overly sexualized and infantile at times.
Honestly, it's a wonder if there are any female x-men that didn't have their sexuality used against them. Laura spent a portion of her life as a prostitute and most of her story centers around her not having agency. Odd because, while Wolverine had the same issue with being used as a weapon, there's no implication (as far as I know) that he was also used sexually by others. I'd say it's a testament to how different women are treated compared to men but I don't know how much planning went into it.
I wish they'd done more with her relationship with Logan. There's a lot of references to it but not a lot of it in this collection.
Anyway, the first half makes it a recommend but it goes downhill from there.
This started out so great! I didn't want to put it down as heartbreaking as it was. Then it went downhill about 70% in.
The first half is Laura's origin story. We know the story: she was cloned from Wolverine to be the perfect weapon. I'd only read about her after she'd been away from the Weapon X program for a while so this was all new to me. I didn't know that they wanted her to be a male clone but it would've taken about a decade longer to do that. I didn't know about her mother who tried to distance herself but eventually did the right thing and tried to free her. I didn't know there was a scientist that resented her and although I thought they'd give him too much background initially, the book balances it very well.
Laura has been through so much! She reminds me of Cassandra Cain because they were never treated like children and they carry their guilt with them for the rest of their lives even though they were made to hurt others. Both of them decided to be heroes in the end and that's so admirable.
The last scene Laura has with her mother made me cry. As did the scene where her mother figured out she was self mutilating. I loved seeing her with Megan and her aunt but I knew that would end soon. Unfortunately.
One complaint I have is that Laura is meant to be in her early teens and sometimes she's drawn in a way that's a little too mature for her. The Women in Marvel issue had terrible art, as well. Overly sexualized and infantile at times.
Honestly, it's a wonder if there are any female x-men that didn't have their sexuality used against them. Laura spent a portion of her life as a prostitute and most of her story centers around her not having agency. Odd because, while Wolverine had the same issue with being used as a weapon, there's no implication (as far as I know) that he was also used sexually by others. I'd say it's a testament to how different women are treated compared to men but I don't know how much planning went into it.
I wish they'd done more with her relationship with Logan. There's a lot of references to it but not a lot of it in this collection.
Anyway, the first half makes it a recommend but it goes downhill from there.
vacantteeth's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
one of my favorites, such a beautiful story
ubergusterfan's review
5.0
One of my favorites.
One of my favorite comic books that I've read. It was an incredible story of suffering and rising above what we have been taught to become who we are. Are we a product of our upbringing? Or can we become something other than what we have been raised to be? The struggle against how we are raised is real. It's difficult. But it's not impossible. And this collection demonstrates that beautifully.
One of my favorite comic books that I've read. It was an incredible story of suffering and rising above what we have been taught to become who we are. Are we a product of our upbringing? Or can we become something other than what we have been raised to be? The struggle against how we are raised is real. It's difficult. But it's not impossible. And this collection demonstrates that beautifully.