Laura Kinney has been a fan-favorite for a long time now, buy it’s been a minute since she’s had a clear path forward. While she continue to be a welcome asset to any team she’s a part of, it’s felt like she hasn’t had a real place within the world of X-Men and mutantkind to call her own over the past year. Enter Marvel’s Laura Kinney: Wolverine, a new ongoing series which sets about changing that and ultimately succeeds. By issue’s end Laura has a compelling end goal that plays into her strengths with some welcome mystery in the mix as well, getting this next chapter off to a stellar start.
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Many have struggled to find their way after the fall of Krakoa, though less well known is how those who never made it there are processing everything. Writer Erica Schultz shines a light on this throughout the issue, highlighting those who are genuinely trying to help and process things themselves as well as those who are using that grief and sudden isolation to their own ends. It’s a rather detailed picture of post-Krakoa society on a global scale, and a viewpoint we haven’t had a great look at thus far since that story concluded.
Schultz then utilizes that viewpoint to give Kinney some much needed direction, playing into elements we’ve seen from Laura in other books while also utilizing the extra time and space to lean into how Laura’s history shapes her distinct point of view and subsequent mission.
With the foundation in place, the talented art team of artist Giada Belviso, colorist Rachelle Rosenberg, and letterer Cory Petit get to let the claws fly and lean into the brutality that Wolverines are so famous for. When you have an unstoppable force like Wolverine, you have to think of inventive ways to deliver obstacles to their path, and the team does this in a number of ways throughout the first issue, including an acid in the eyes sequence that had me reeling.
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I probably could have used a bit more to this fight sequence, just because it was so well done, but I still enjoyed getting to see Laura on the hunt for a truly altruistic cause. It tees up a central mystery that’s compelling, and as the final page of the issue keys in on, also gives Laura reasons to interact with people outside of the normal X-Men sphere.
Laura Kinney has always been one of my personal favorites, so it’s nice to see her have a long term goal that feels important on an individual level while also exploring the various themes post-Krakoa from her unique perspective, and she’s a complete badass at every step along the way. This is the start of something great, so Wolverine fans owe themselves to jump in and see what all the fuss is about.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Published By: Marvel Comics
Written By: Erica Schultz
Art By: Giada Belviso
Colored By: Rachelle Rosenberg
Lettered By: Cory Petit
What did you think of Laura Kinney: Wolverine? You can talk all things comics with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb and on Bluesky @knightofoa!
