Generation X-23 #1: Time After Time Problems

The Kinney sisters are back and right in the thick of it as usual! Jody Houser, Jacopo Camagni and Erick Arciniega drop us straight into the action. While defending a mutant from an angry mob, Laura and Gabby experience a weird time dilation which messes up Laura’s senses and healing factor. It’s a mystery that must be solved especially because the weird time dilation reminds Laura of her oldest friend Kiden’s powers! Houser slips very comfortably into the back and fourth between the two sister’s while deftly giving us a believable and in character inner voice for Laura.

It’s a very well paced, linear, no nonsense setup which Houser balances with a mysterious short lived character and a cliffhanger ending which leaves Laura as puzzled as the reader. Houser includes requisite nods to Laura’s past and the Weapon Plus programs that led to her existence while also spending time exploring the dynamic between Laura and Gabby. I’s great to see the Kinney sisters taking things on as a team even though Laura secretly tries to spare her younger sibling certain things while also trusting in Gabby’s abilities to handle things herself.

Jacopo Camagni is on art duty and with Erick Arciniega on colors. Camagni’s character and foreground art is excellent. The characters are expressive in every panel, there’s emotional weight to the character interactions and there’s an absolutely glorious double splash where he gets to show off Laura moving through the time dilation in different costumes and eras from her past to now. The action and movement is good and there’s a very cool splash of Laura and Gabby fighting robots meant to be rip offs of Laura herself. Camagni’s backgrounds are a little basic in my opinion but that character drawing is top class and that sells the art page after page. Arciniega has fun with the colors for the time dilation effect and there are some really great blood splatter effects which also give the book a feel of a classic Wolverine book, while the slightly toned colors for the panels with no background work at all keep the your attention sharply focused on the characters and Laura’s experience in the moment. VC’s Ariana Maher’s lettering are perfectly on point with fantastic placement, emphasis on key words and some fun sound effects.