X-23 (2nd series) #21

Issue Date: 
May 2012
Story Title: 
Girls Night Out – part 2
Staff: 

Marjorie Liu (writer), Phil Noto (artist), VC’s Cory Petit (composite), Kalman Andrasofszky (cover art), Jared K. Fletcher (designer), Sebastian Girner (assistant editor), Jeanine Schaefer (editor), Nick Lowe (group editor), Axel Alonso (editor-in-chief), Joe Quesada (chief creative officer), Dan Buckley (publisher), Alan Fine (Exec. Publisher)

Brief Description: 

X-23 travels through the American northwest on her motorbike. She takes along a Native American hitchhiker and stays with his family for the night. The howling wolves tempt her out into the winter night. With the wolves, she finds a white she-wolf who turns into a shamaness who makes her confront her berserker personality. Laura learns not to fight that part but accept it. Afterwards, the family finds her. The next day, feeling better she leaves.

Full Summary: 

Laura lies naked on the snowy ground, surrounded by sitting wolves. She awakes from her dream. She’s been sleeping outside and was awakened by the falling snow.

The next day, she travels on through the American northwest on her motorbike. She takes along a Native American hitchhiker, who invites her to stay with his family for the night.

In the night, a howling wolf wakes Laura up and she steps outside, looking at the falling snow. When she walks outside into the forest, she sees a pack of wolves and follows them. As she runs after them, she drops all her clothes until she is naked. Finally, she and all the other wolves stand before a white wolf that looks at Laura.

The wolf turns into a shamaness, who in her hands holds a white and a black staff. She points with the white one towards Laura and stamps the black one to the ground. Where she has done that, a more feral, vicious version of Laura, essentially her killer personality, arises.

She rushes towards Laura and the two of them fight. The feral Laura seems to overwhelm her when Laura stops fighting and gives the other her hands. The feral version calms down and only Laura alone is left sitting in the snow, surrounded by the howling wolves.

She notices lights coming from torches. The Indian family has been looking for her. The wolves run away. One member of the search party loses his footing and almost falls down the ravine but Laura catches him and drags him back. Pensively, Laura looks after the wolves.

The next morning, she says goodbye to the family. Riding away, she sees the white wolf one last time and waves goodbye to her.

Characters Involved: 

X-23

Native American family

Shamanness / white wolf

wolves

Story Notes: 

This is the last issue of the series.

The whole story is narrated without any words.

X-23 next joins the Avengers Academy with issue #23.

Marjorie Liu still writes Gambit and Cecilia Reyes in Astonishing X-Men (3rd series) starting with issue #48.

Had the series continued, X-23 would have met the characters from NYX again. Also, the Black Widow would have become her mentor.

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