Orphans of X Part 2
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Juann Cabal
Colors: Nolan Woodard
Cover Art: Terry Dodson
Published: October 25, 2017
Well, this issue answered why Daken has a weird third claw that is on the underside of his wrist and what it’s useful for. It’s a tool for surprising evil scientists who want to dismember you (but is it more useful than Laura’s foot blade from Logan). Anyway, after Daken was taken down by the Orphans of X in the previous issue this one opens with him locked in an underground bunker, missing an arm, and being tortured before he uses that sneaky third claw to escape. Elsewhere (spoiler: maybe not elsewhere) Laura has been reunited with her mother who is recuperating from her time suspended in a big tank filled with liquid which appears to have prevented her from aging. Laura, Gabby, and their mother Sarah (Gabby insists on calling her mom because Laura was cloned from Sarah and Gabby was cloned from Laura so by the transitive property maybe…) have gathered at the home of Laura’s aunt and cousin to allow Sarah to recuperate. This all happens in the first ten pages or so as the story seems to quickly move away from the well trodden ground of Wolverine fighting evil scientists at the facility where she/he was trained. Laura and Gabby are usually surrounded by busy or exotic locales, so dropping them into suburbia, even for a short while, is an interesting decision. Some really good issues have started with Laura and Gabby hanging out in their apartment so its nice to see them get back to that. The peace couldn’t last though as Daken, having escaped from the bunker, finds himself in someone’s living room. He is chased outside and down the street by his captors, who are wearing Orphans of X masks. Laura hear’s gunshots outside and goes to check it out but discovers Daken speeding down the street chased by no-one.
After last issue and the possibility of covering some familiar Wolverine ground this issue takes the orphans storyline in an unexpected direction. People having problems with mutants isn’t new, but these people seem to be specifically targeting the lineage of Logan. Daken, before escaping the house, discovers a woman spying on Laura and Gabby though a secret camera installed in Laura’s aunts’s house. Also the sword that Logan received at the beginning of the previous issue also comes up again and might play an important role in this story going foreword. The art was again solid and Juan Cabal’s style suits this book well. The scene with Daken is appropriately gruesome, but then he does a great job drawing Hank McCoy (Beast) hanging out in someone’s living room. The final action scene where Daken escapes the bunker and steals a car is kind of fun (he throws a dog at someone) and ends with Laura doing a back flip over the car he’s driving. Artistic consistency is needed on this book and just based on these first two issues hopefully he is sticking around.
This book has some momentum back after limping into Marvel Legacy a bit. The stuff with Laura’s and Gabby’s mom is interesting and the Orphans of X are an intriguing enemy for Laura and Daken to face. For anyone who fell off when Gabby turned into a giant insect, it might be worth giving this book another chance.
(Subjective) Score out of 10: 7
Comicsly 