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    X-23: Target X #6

    X-23: Target X » X-23: Target X #6 - Part Six released by Marvel on July 1, 2007.

    Short summary describing this issue.

    Part Six last edited by aphillips17 on 02/09/24 07:27PM View full history

    The Facility has taken everything from X-23… her mother, her new family, every chance for a normal life… but now, X-23 is going to make it all stop. She’s going back to the beginning, to the man whose DNA led her down this path, the man she blames for it all… Wolverine.

    Spoilers

    Captain America continues to interrogate X-23, asking her if she went to the Xavier institute to find Wolverine. She says yes. Matt Murdock is going over some items connected to X-23 and finds a book. He asks her if the book is Pinocchio and if it belongs to X-23. Laura says that it’s Pinocchio but that it belonged to her mother who used to read it to her, but she’d never tell her why. Matt picks up a blood-covered letter next to the book and asks her what it says since the blood prevents him from reading it. Laura says it was a letter her mother gave to her, but she can’t read it either because the blood washed the words away. Captain America gets back to his questioning and asks what happened at the Xavier Institute. X-23 tells him.

    At first she couldn’t find Wolverine because there were too many scents from other mutants. When she finally did find him, ten days later, he was with someone else. By day twenty-four she had been able to get close to him, avoiding the schools telepaths by waiting until they were focused on other people. She didn’t actually reach him though, because the wind shifted and gave her away. That night, he left the school and she followed him. She tracked him (or he led her) all the way to the US/Canadian border where he set up a campfire and waited. She got in close, but he already knew she was there. He told her to stop messing around and she attacked. He tried to talk her down, but she kept coming at him. At first, he didn’t fight back, just avoided all her attempts to slash and stab him. She managed to cut him with the claw in her foot and he tried to tell her that he’d just heal like she would, but she used her other claws to cut his throat. After that, he got mad and unsheathed his own claws, telling her that he’d make her listen. They traded slashes but every time X-23 stabbed Wolverine, she took some dirt and smeared it in his wound. After a few stabs, Wolverine realized what she was doing.

    She was using the dirt to stop the wounds from fully healing so he would bleed out. By the time he figured it out though, he was feeling the effects of the blood loss and he was slow and disoriented. She got him down and had claws to his throat and her own head. She told him that they were both weapons and that they had to be destroyed. In response, Logan said that if she wanted to kill him, that was fine, but he wouldn’t let her kill herself. He moved her other hand from her head to his own but she kept saying that they both had to die. He said that he might, but that she had had no choice in her actions and they weren’t her fault. He also said that Laura’s mother had sent him a letter telling him everything that had happened, and that it wasn’t her fault. Laura stood up and bought away her claws and started to cry and told Logan that they made her kill her mother, and he got up off the ground and said he was sorry.

    A little later, Laura had stopped trying to kill Logan and they were sitting by the campfire and talking. Logan told her that her mother had sent the letter in case she didn’t make it out, and by the time he’d gotten it, Laura was already gone from the facility. He told her that she had a choice, the letter her mother had sent was in Logan’s jacket. She could find out what her mother had said if she wanted. Logan then told her that she could stay at the Xavier Institute and that Professor X could help her like he’d helped Logan. As they were talking, they both heard the sound of helicopters and immediately sprang to their feet. X-23 thought it was the facility, but Wolverine knew better. It was SHIELD. Wolverine jumped into the line of fire and took some bullets for X-23 while telling her to run. She ran, but not fast or far enough. Captain America took her down with his shield and placed her under arrest. In New York City, Daredevil swung into his house just as the phone rang. Captain America was calling Matt Murdock and asking him for a favor.

    Back in the present, where X-23 is being questioned, Matt Murdock tells Captain America that he should have left the girl with Wolverine and that by arresting her, he had taken away her best chance for some sort of normal life. Captain America justifies his actions by pointing out that Laura has killed hundreds of people. Matt lifts up the letter that Logan had given X-23 from her mother and tells Captain America that in the letter Sarah takes the blame for everything, all the murders, even the executions of other guilty parties at the facility. Steve says that means nothing, but Matt says that it does because everyone Steve is after is dead and Laura is just as much of victim as the people she killed. Steve says that X-23 has to be held accountable and Matt responds by saying that SHIELD won’t hold her accountable. They won’t put her on trial or in jail, they’ll just use her like a weapon. Steve says that the conversation is over but Matt tries to stop him from taking X-23 in. Steve says that he only needed Matt to see if the girl was lying and now that she’s confessed, he can make her face justice.

    Twelve hours later, Captain America is driving X-23 to a SHIELD substation and telling her that he has to take her in. Along the way though, he realizes that Daredevil was right and has a change of heart. At a greyhound bus station, Laura asks him why he’s letting her go and he tells her that he doesn’t want people to keep using her as a weapon and he wants her to try to build a normal life if that’s possible. He tells her to get on the bus and go to Logan so he can help. On the bus, Laura overhears a mother looking at animal flash cards with her son. The mother holds up a picture of an eagle’s claw and asks the boy what it’s called. The boy says, “talon.” X-23 opens her bag and pulls out her mother’s letter so she can read it.

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    Creators

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    Story Arcs

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    4.3 stars

    Average score of 2 user reviews

    Conclusion = Satisfactory 0

    A lot of this issue felt a bit unnecessary. It seems largely like a drawn out attempt to tie up all the remaining loose ends; loose ends that really don't warrant an entire issue to resolve but that the writer didn't have enough space to take care of in previous issues. It also feels a bit anticlimactic. The big fight between 23 and Wolverine takes place, but I can't help feeling that Kimura was the true "last boss" and that this is just kind of tacked on. How Captain America and Matt Murdock be...

    3 out of 4 found this review helpful.
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