Comic Book / X-23 (2010)

Both written by Marjorie Liu, X-23 ran for 21 issues from November, 2010, through May 2012. This series followed Laura on a journey of self-discovery in the aftermath of Second Coming and her stint on X-Force. Confused as to her purpose when Wolverine removes her from the team so she can finally try to heal from her dark past, Laura decides there are too many voices all telling her what to be, so leaves Utopia to find her own answers.

Although not part of this series, Liu also wrote a one-shot story featuring Laura released in May, 2010 which nonetheless was closely connected thematically. It finds Laura reuniting with Kiden Nixon, and fighting the influence of the Gamesmaster, who has decided to take up residence in her head.

Both stories are generally well-regarded, and did a great deal to advance and develop Laura as a character, particularly by expanding her beyond the influence of her creators, Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle. Liu's series codified many aspects of Laura's personality for readers, and this book is often now considered the standard by which other writers are compared. This has led to some fracturing of the fanbase over what Laura should read like, (particularly Liu's Spock Speak versus more naturalistic speech patterns) as well as mixed reactions once word of Liu's Creator Breakdown came out, leading to questions of whether she allowed her personal issues to affect the final few stories of the series.

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X-23 (2010) provides examples of:

• Aborted Arc: Because of the series' cancellation, there were several plot threads that have since been abandoned and not been revisited in other series. In particular the Hooded Woman from the Madripoor and Paris arcs, and Laura's destiny as heir to the Enigma Force.
• Animesque:
  • Issues of the Liu series drawn by Sana Takeda have a distinctly anime influence.
  • The covers for the first three issues of the same series are also heavily influenced by anime and manga.
• Author Tract: After Liu revealed she was undergoing something of a Creator Breakdown towards the end of the series, many readers began to reexamine the final arcs, particularly "Misadventures in Babysitting" and question whether it had become this.
• Asshole Victim: In issue #4 of volume 3, she meets a young girl who's forced to lure Laura into a trap. Laura, mistakenly believing the girl is a prostitute trying to recruit her for a pimp, doesn't fall for it. Instead she tries to help the girl, who flees instead. When Laura catches up she finds the girl has already been killed by her handler as punishment for the failure. She kills him in retaliation, and no tears were shed for him.
• Babysitting Episode: One arc of the Liu series focused on Laura taking care of Franklin and Valeria Richards for an evening. Given that the younger of the two inherited her father's brains and retained a three-year old's capacity for mischief....
• Badly Battered Babysitter: Laura is hired to babysit the Richards kids during her first series. Even though the kids summoned a huge dragon and got kidnapped by an intergalactic pack rat, she managed to rescue and get them in their PJs before Reed and Susan got home.
• Bar Brawl: Laura and Jubilee get into one with some of Zebra Daddy's ex-thugs while at a nightclub. It doesn't go well for the gangsters.
• Battle in the Center of the Mind: "The Killing Dream" arc of her first solo series largely consists of one of these: Hellverine torments Laura, as he desires her to lead his armies (and may just desire her period). He agrees to give her a chance to prove him wrong about being a mindless killer, with both her own soul and Hellion's in the balance.
• Big Damn Kiss: Julian attempts one in issue 19 of the Liu series. Once things are sorted with the Richards kids, he grabs Laura and pulls her into a kiss, believing it's going to smooth over the problems they had up to that point and lead to a Relationship Upgrade. And then she shoots him down, and they've not spoken since.^note December, 2011, to be exact.
• Call-Back:
  • When Hellverine is poking around Laura's mind during "The Killing Dream" arc of the Liu series, he runs across Gamesmaster, who has been inhabiting her consciousness since her one-shot (also by Liu, and preceding the ongoing series). Gamesmaster tried to drive him out but was defeated, and Hellverine presents him to Laura as a gift.
  • At the end of the first arc of the Liu series, Laura is left with a small mark on the palm of her hand implied to be connected to the Enigma Force. It comes up twice more in the series: The first time in the very next arc when Ms. Sinister questions why she has it despite her Healing Factor, and much more importantly during "Chaos Theory," when it's recognized by the Whirldemon King, and marks her as heir to the Enigma Force's power.
  • When Logan intercepts Laura before she could run away during "Touching Darkness," he assures her that it's really him and not the demon that was using him as a Meat Puppet in the first arc.
• Collector of the Strange: The Collector himself appears in "Misadventures in Babysitting." Apparently he considered Laura's adamantium claws quite the prize.
• Continuity Nod:
  • "Songs of the Orphan Child" has two significant ones:
    • Ms. Sinister is losing control of her body to Sinister due to an injury she received from Daken during his solo series.
    • Also, Sinister himself. His taking control of Claudine's body is the result of a Crazy-Prepared attempt to return from death after he was killed by Mystique during Messiah Complex.
  • Both the one-shot and ongoing reference NYX, with Kiden and her gang appearing in the former, while Laura runs afoul of former members of Zebra Daddy's gang in the latter.
• Covers Always Lie: Issue 19's cover has Laura and Hellion entwined in a passionate embrace and leaning in for a Big Damn Kiss. While the issue does feature them sharing a kiss, it's a Forceful Kiss instigated by Julian, and rather than returning his affection she summarily ends their frielationship.
• Crossover:
  • "The Killing Dream" ties into the Wolverine in Hell storyline, specifically the period Hellverine is on Utopia. Curiously enough, Laura is the only member of the X-Men who notices something isn't right with Logan.
  • "Collision" plays out in both of Liu's series at the time: X-23, and Daken: Dark Wolverine.
  • "Chaos Theory" is a near-miss variety with NYX: No Way Home. Gambit and Laura arrive at Cecilia Reyes's apartment not long after Kiden and her gang had been staying there.
• Demonic Possession: Twice:
  • Hellverine hitches a ride on Laura's body during "The Killing Dream" as part of his gambit to seduce her to his side.
  • The Whirldemons in "Chaos Theory" possess Valeria Richards during their attempt to break free of their prison. Laura offers herself up in exchange, eventually enabling her to defeat them with the help of the Enigma Force.
• Driven to Suicide:
  • Laura takes a dive off skyscraper during her one-shot while trying to drive Gamesmaster out of her head. She survives thanks to her Healing Factor.
  • Although always depicted as a cutter, Laura cuts her wrists so severely during one issue of the Liu series that a waiter at the restaurant she and Gambit were patronizing at the time alerted his supervisor that it looked as if someone attempted to commit suicide in one of the bathrooms after she finished. Again, she survives due to her mutation.
• Eldritch Abomination: The Whirldemons during the "Chaos Theory" arc. Hellverine in "The Killing Dream" also counts, since he's a demon wearing Logan's body as a meat puppet.
• Enemy Mine: After Colcord double-crosses Daken, Daken decides to turn Laura loose, and they work together to shut down his Madripoor operation.
• Enemy Without: In the final issue of the Liu series, Laura is made to fight her own personified inner darkness by an Indian shaman.
• Emotion Bomb: The Hooded Woman during "Touching Darkness" is experimenting with the trigger scent, and seeks to develop a version that will work on anyone. She tests in in Paris, and manages to send both Laura, and a large part of the populace into a violent rage.
• Epiphanic Prison: Hellverine puts Laura through one during "The Killing Dream." It's unclear whether the prison is Hell or her own mind.
• "Everybody Helps Out" Denouement: At the end of one issue of her titular series, X-23 and her telekinetic friend clean up the rubble left behind by a dragon attack. Both are relieved when they finish before the parents she's babysitting for return.
• Exposed to the Elements: Laura strips down naked while running with the wolf pack in the final issue of the Liu series, even thought it's snowing, and there's already a good couple inches on the ground.
• Fanservice:
  • The infamous panty shot during the "Collision" crossover, and the panels of Ms. Sinister strutting around in a corset, cowboy hat, and booty shorts. The panel during "Touching Darkness" where Laura tries to tempt Jubilee into drinking her blood also provides a fetish for many readers.
  • Laura spends much of the last issue of the Liu series nude as part of a Vision Quest.
• Fire and Brimstone Hell: Hellverine's dimension straddles a line between this and Mordor.
• Forceful Kiss: Laura was on the receiving end from her (sort of) boyfriend Hellion in X-23 #19. She rejected him afterwards and ended their relationship.
• Full-Frontal Assault: Laura and her Enemy Without in the final issue duke it out starkers in the middle of a snowfall as part of her Vision Quest.
• Gay Paree: "Touching Darkness" finds Laura in Paris with Gambit, Jubilee, and Logan. The foursome wind up investigating an attempt to weaponize the trigger scent to a point where it affects anyone exposed to it, not just those specially conditioned as Laura was. In between, Laura goes shopping at expensive Parisian boutiques with Jubilee (Gambit and Logan foot the bill), and she and Jubilee both base jump sans parachute off the Eiffel Tower for kicks.
• Girl's Night Out Episode: After breaking up with Hellion during the Liu series, Jubilee takes her out clubbing, though Laura doesn't exactly get into it. Laura runs across one of Zebra Daddy's former thugs, and learns that the remains of his gang is still trafficking women. She takes it upon herself to free the girls.
• Groin Attack: While on a night out with Jubilee during her solo, Laura runs across one of Zebra Daddy's former minions at a club and the man recognizes her. He flippantly comments about how Daddy gave his boys discounts with the prostitutes, but he never got a chance to have Laura. Laura tells him he'll never have her, or any other woman, again, and then proceeds to ensure it's true.
• Human Weapon: Colcord's workshop in Madripoor is dedicated to churning these out.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Logan and Jubilee do this with Laura during "Touching Darkness," while she's under the effects of the trigger scent. It mostly relies on them absorbing the punishment she can dish out until they're able to reach her.
• Journey to Find Oneself: The overarching plot of the ongoing consists of this as Laura goes "walkabout" in the aftermath of her stint on X-Force, in large part triggered by questions over whether she has a soul after an encounter with Hellverine. She leaves Utopia because she feels there are too many voices trying to tell her who she is, and wishes to find her own answers. It's relatively brief, and ends with Laura deciding to attend Avengers Academy after an invitation from Black Widow. During this time, Laura makes substantial progress in at least coming to terms with herself, even if much of her emotional damage remains.
• Male Gaze: During the infamous panty shot in "Collision," the panel is centered directly on Laura's butt when she exposes the top of her thong.
• Mob War: Daken stirs one up in Madripoor as part of his plot to gain control of the island from Tyger Tiger, pitting several lesser bosses against one another in a fight to the death.
• Mordor: During the "Killing Dream" arc of her first solo, Hellverine draws Laura into a Battle in the Center of the Mind in a realm somewhere between this and Fire and Brimstone Hell, presented in her nightmares and in "reality" as a blasted, desiccated wasteland.
• Noble Wolf: Laura encounters a wolf pack in the final issue of the Liu series. After running with them for a time they lead her to the pack leader, a great white wolf that transforms into an Indian shaman, and kicks off a battle with Laura's Enemy Without.
• No-Dialogue Episode: The entire last issue of the Liu series is told strictly visually, with no dialogue by Laura.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Cyclops gets this with the Facility in her first solo series. Emma Frost lampshades that including Laura in X-Force, the X-Men's black ops hit squad, is just asking her to do the same thing the Facility forced her to do.
• Or Was It a Dream?: The final issue of the Liu series opens with Laura sleeping naked and surrounded by wolves. When she awakens again, she's fully clothed and alone. Later in the issue she's crashing at a trailer park after giving one of the locals a lift when she's awakened by the howling of wolves outside. Laura follows them, and comes across the same pack of all-black wolves from her dream. She chases after them, eventually stripping naked, which ultimately leads to a battle with her Enemy Without. At its conclusion she snaps out of the vision and finds herself naked in the snow, while the trailer park residents are out looking for her. Whether the incident with the wolves actually happened, or was all just in her mind, is left ambiguous.
• Our Dragons Are Different: A giant purple alien dragon — much like Lockheed but much bigger — flies off with Val and Franklin Richards during "Misadventures in Babysitting," forcing Laura and Hellion to chase after it to get them back.
• Protagonist-Centered Morality: The book intends the reader to side with Laura over Hellion during their final fight in "Misadventures In Babysitting." While Julian certainly did lose his temper with her and say some hurtful things, however the book ignores the fact that Laura also treated Julian very badly throughout the arc; She brushed him off when he just tried to talk to her about his Heroic BSoD at the beginning of the arc, stonewalled him when he just needed her friendship while trying to cope, and generally treated him like The Load while trying to rescue the Richards kids from the Collector.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Daken and Laura take turns delivering this to each other during their rampage through Colcord's base. Daken tries to call her out on her empathy for others, believing that her skills as a killer make her better than everyone around her, and that her heart only forces her to hold back. Laura flatly tells him that she doesn't fight because she has something to prove, but for something bigger than herself. She then turns this around on him, asking why he holds back by not taking the risk of allowing himself to actually care for anyone. Daken doesn't really have an answer.
  • Julian lays one on Laura in issue 19, after she rejects him. Angry over the way she has brushed him off for the entire "Misadventures in Babysitting" story, he finally loses his temper and accuses her of really not having feelings after all. Laura responds that she does, she just doesn't feel anything for him.
• Rescue Romance: Although they never get past Will They or Won't They?, Laura's infatuation with Hellion begins after he saves her life during the fight against Nimrod.
• Retail Therapy: Jubilee attempts this on Laura in Paris, taking her shopping at very high-end fashion boutiques in hopes of getting her to lighten up. It largely fails, as Laura is a bit bemused by the experience, and isn't particularly fond of the bright, fashionable dresses Jubes picks out for her.
• Retcon: As noted above, the Liu series retconned Laura's sparing of Henry Sutter. Prior to this series, Laura was established to have never failed to complete an assignment. However in "Chaos Theory" Laura goes to confront a child whose parents she murdered, and was supposed to kill him as well. Rather than Henry Sutter, however, Liu instead introduces another individual entirely, as well as establishing that there were even more cases where she refused to carry out her orders.
• Roaring Rampage of Rescue: During "Girls' Night Out" Laura encounters one of Zebra Daddy's old friends, who took over a chunk of his empire following his death in NYX. After inflicting a Groin Attack when they guy gets mouthy about Laura's past, she drags Jubilee along on a rescue mission to liberate the trafficked girls. We don't actually see much of the fight, aside from Laura taking a Menacing Stroll among a few crumpled bodies, but it's highly unlikely the gang gave up their merchandise quietly...
• Ruthless Modern Pirates: Laura and Gambit run afoul of a band while on their way to Madripoor, with Gambit getting dumped into a Shark Pool for their trouble.
• Send in the Clones: Laura gets entangled in a plot by Ms. Sinister during her solo series. Seeing as cloning is pretty much Sinister's hat, it goes without saying that clones play quite a big part in the plot:
  • Claudine herself is fighting a Clone by Conversion process, as virus ravaging her body is slowly turning her into a clone of Sinister as part of a Crazy-Prepared gambit to return from death. She wants Laura's body to escape this fate.
  • All of Claudine's "children" are clones created by Sinister in one of his labs. One, Alice, figures heavily into the plot. One of whom becomes the new host for Sinister himself after Laura critically wounds Claudine.
• Sex Slave: Laura and Jubilee break up a sex trafficking ring during "Girls' Night Out," saving many girls and women from this fate. It's Personal for Laura because she was a former prostitute herself, and the gang they attack was made up of members of her pimp's organization.
• Shark Pool: Gambit gets tossed into one in Madripoor. Laura dives in to get him out, even though she has trouble swimming.
• Sheathe Your Sword: How Laura defeats her Enemy Without in the final issue of the Liu series; rather than giving in to her killer instincts when she begins to lose their fight, she sheathes her claws and reconciles with her darker side.
• Shoot the Dog: "The Killing Dream" reveals she was forced to do this literally by the Facility as part of her Break the Cutie Training from Hell. When they decided Laura still had too much empathy for others, she was given a puppy with orders to kill it within a set amount of time and was then left alone to carry it out. She played with it instead, and when her handlers returned to find the puppy still alive threatened to torture it as punishment for Laura failing to follow orders, before relenting and offering her "another chance."
• Shout-Out:
  • The Hooded Woman quotes Hunter S. Thompson during the "Touching Darkness" arc of the Liu series to cryptically hint that the two are somehow connected.
    "As you were, I was. As I am, you will be."
  • One story arc is called "Misadventures In Babysitting."
• Stuff Blowing Up:
  • Hellverine blows up a homeless shelter as part of his gambit to seduce Laura into serving him during "The Killing Dream."
  • Claudine's lab gets blown up by Laura and Gambit after critically damaging some equipment.
  • Laura and Daken blow up Colcord's lab in Madripoor to put an end to his experiments.
• Small-Town Tyrant: Claudine Renko is in control of the local police around the town where her operation is set up, and uses them to bring Laura and Gambit to her.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The "Chaos Theory" arc of the Liu ongoing opens with Laura seeking out the son of one of her victims, a boy she was ordered to kill with the others but chose to spare...and who was not Henry Sutter.
• Threatening Shark: You can't have a Shark Pool without one.
• Trouser Space: During "Collision," Laura tucks some documents into the waistband of her pants. Despite the fact they're painted on, there's not an unsightly bulge in sight.
• Trojan Prisoner: In order to get close to the albino gangster Fade, whose powers allow him to become invisible to the naked eye and even technological tracking devices, Laura masquerades as Kingpin's "niece," Samantha. Fisk then feeds information to Fade via a mole in his organization leading the gangster to kidnap her, bringing her right where she needs to be to pick up the trigger scent-laced letter her target was slipped as part of the plan.
• Vision Quest: The final issue of Liu's series has elements of this, with Laura finding herself running with wolves, and fighting her own inner darkness.
• Wham Episode: X-23 #6 features the return of Mr. Sinister, following his death at the end of Messiah Complex three years earlier.
• What the Hell, Hero?: The rest of the New X-Men (mainly Surge) gang up on Laura over her participation in X-Force in issue 1 of the Liu series. Hellion and Dust are the only ones who defend her.
• Will They or Won't They?: Laura and Julian's tense frielationship comes to a head during "Misadventures in Babysitting." They don't, though Laura admits to Gambit she does still care for Julian.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Hellverine pulls one in the Liu series when Laura attacks him in the hospital knowing that he's not actually Logan. By chance, Hellion comes to visit her right after she skewers him, and Hellverine immediately plays it up to convince Julian that Laura isn't in her right mind.
• Wretched Hive: Madripoor, in all its gritty glory, is the main setting of Collision. Under Tyger Tiger it actually wasn't that bad, as she largely had the gangs under her control, and put an end to the drug and human trafficking that made up the worst of the city's criminal elements in the past. Unfortunately by the time Laura and Gambit arrive, Daken has muscled in as Tyger's Man Behind the Man, and Malcolm Colcord is kidnapping innocent people off the streets for his experiments.

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