Laura Kinney was once trained as the assassin X-23, but now she’s the Wolverine, and her mission is to protect mutantkind above all else. She’s been taking that mission seriously, working on her own and trying to operate in the shadows as much as someone wearing bright yellow can, but in doing that she’s been away from one of the greatest side characters in all of comics; her little sister Gabby. The loveable little clone was missing from the first several issues of Laura’s new run, and has been missing from an actual role in Marvel for quite some time now. But as of Laura Kinney Wolverine #9, the drought is over, and Gabby is back! Unfortunately, she’s back with a pretty terrible problem.
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Gabby Is Melting?
The end of the last issue saw Laura going back to her apartment to find Gabby sitting on the front porch, the skin on her face half melted off her face. After Laura and Gabby helped Xarus, the son of Dracula, defend the world from the rampant vampire problem that popped up during the “Blood Hunt” event, Gabby decided to hang around the half-vampire and take down some more supernatural threats. The team took their undead-butt-kicking specialty to the Ossuary in Paris, where they battled the witch Strega and her legion of demon-vampire drones. To Strega, the transformed tourists were like her children, and the insult of Gabby trying to take them was unforgivable. Strega and her ilk vanished, but not before leaving a curse on Gabby, which led to the whole skin rolling off her face business. Worse yet, the curse was spreading even as her healing factor fought it off, taking her arms next.
Laura, for her part, blew up at Xarus for getting her little sister into this mess, and mentally declared that Gabby only needed her to look after her. She was openly hostile to the son of Dracula, but Gabby insisted that he only wanted to help her and that he wasn’t to blame. Laura begrudgingly accepted this, and declared that she knew who could help cleanse Gabby of whatever this was. Leaving the adorable Jonathan the wolverine (the animal) to guard their home, the trio took off for the Sanctum Sanctorum to talk to Clea Strange. The former Sorceress Supreme brought the Kinney sisters inside, but said that the Sanctum would not allow Xarus to cross its boundary. Once within the halls of the Sanctum Sanctorum, Clea cast a spell to purge the curse from Gabby, but warned her that the dark magic that infected her could easily hold some kind of complication. That complication was immediately revealed as Gabby coughed up gunk that transformed into more demon-vampires and Strega herself.
Trouble in the Sanctum Sanctorum
Clea called out that Gabby’s curse must have been Strega using her as a host, which let her and her pawns pass through the protective barriers. Strega and her goons attacked, but their enemies were two Wolverine clones and a Sorcerer Supreme, which is the last group I’d ever want to be on the bad side of. They clawed apart Strega’s forces, but the old witch herself was only using them as a distraction. She found the mysterious artifact known as the Sphere of Shooyen, which unleashed magical strands that restrained the heroes, growing tighter the more they struggled. Strega then declared that for the crime of trying to take her children away, she would take Gabby to feed her children with her fast-replenishing blood. Hearing the commotion and deciding to heck with vampire rules, Xarus burst into the room, but not quickly enough to stop Strega from disappearing with Gabby in tow.
Just like that, Gabby is taken away from us once again, possibly permanently. This issue was a lot of fun, any issue with Gabby and Jonathan is, but it definitely felt a tad melodramatic at times, especially with how angry Laura got when thinking of Xarus taking care of her sister. And I am a little confused how Xarus got into the Sanctum Sactorum, especially when the issue of him not being able to enter a building without the resident letting him in was brought up, but it was still fun overall. I’m definitely going to be picking up the next one to see how they rescue Gabby.
Laura Kinney Wolverine #9 is on sale now!
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