LAURA KINNEY #1

Recap
Laura Kinney was bred to be the ultimate assassin as X-23. She's long left that life behind, but as she encounters mutants being forced to use their powers against their will, WOLVERINE takes it upon herself to right these wrongs - no matter who stands in her way!
Review
She’s the best at what she does and what she does is take things upon herself and get the job done. Laura Kinney is back in her first modern day solo outing since before the Krakoan era and the creative team doesn’t disappoint. I reread writer Erica Schultz’s previous outing with Laura: X-23 Deadly Regenesis which explored a piece of Laura’s past, in the run up to this new series and the thing that sticks in my mind about this opening salvo, is that Schultz understands this character perfectly. Now take that understanding and combine it with the gorgeous art of the Italian born Giada Belviso, finished off with colors by Rachelle Rosenberg and you’ve got yourself a damn fine Wolverine comic. Let’s get into it.
When Laura discovers that mutants are being taken and used for their gifts it triggers Laura to immediately get involved and sends her off solo to Dubai. The creative team open with a drop you deep into the action first page as Laura slides down the side of a glass building before rolling you back to set up the how. From there the story follows Laura as she tracks down her missing mutant only to discover to her horror that it’s another mutant taking advantage of several young mutants for financial gain. There are some call backs to classic story lines like the Mutant Massacre and the creative team make the whole first outing feel cohesive and complete as Laura is confronted with the ugly reality that selfishness and exploitation of her kind is not just something humans do but her own kind too. Several never seen before mutant characters feature, one being acid wielding Morlock Cybelle, who’s the obvious villain of the piece, the young mutant siblings Ivan and Emery, and also a very interesting young woman in Dubai named Polly who runs something called OASIS, a refuge for mutantkind. While Polly plays what seems to be a rather passive part of the narrative, I can’t help but think that Polly, her ability to find mutants, and her unnamed benefactor funding OASIS are going to become important later. Shultz isn’t afraid of some heavy action of Laura doing what she does best, with the internal narrative and emotive part of the story balanced keenly against Laura slicing and dicing her way to rescuing young Ivan. What I really like about issue one is that it feels like a natural continuation of Laura’s story and that’s exactly what I was hoping for with this series.
Giada Belviso and Rachelle draw and color an absolutely gorgeous Laura Kinney. A long long mane of blacker than black, unruly hair that often hangs over her face, dark eyebrows, dark eyes and lips, Belviso’s Laura is wonderfully brought to life. Don’t get me wrong, this version of Wolverine isn’t just someone pretty to look at, Belviso’s Laura is feminine but still hard as nails and Belviso shows of how well she can draw Wolverine looking vulnerable but also indomitable as she slashes her way past anyone who tries to get in her way. There is plenty of action for the action fans in this one as Rachelle Rosenberg makes sure there is dayglo acid and crimson blood spatters aplenty here as Wolverine fights her way through the often gold colored opulence of an upmarket luxury Dubai apartment building to the finish. Cory Petit is flawless on lettering rounding of a very well put together first issue from the entire art team with a nice little cliffhanger ending that has me fully in on the whole series.
Final Thoughts
Laura Kinney: Wolverine #1 is exactly what a debut issue should be, awesome bloody action and thrills balanced with emotional depth by an excellent script and fantastic art. This is the kind of solo Wolverine book we deserve.
Laura Kinney: Wolverine #1: Deadly Dealings in Dubai
- Writing - 9.5/109.5/10
- Storyline - 9.5/109.5/10
- Art - 9.5/109.5/10
- Color - 9.5/109.5/10
- Cover Art - 9.5/109.5/10