It has been 22 years since Marvel Comics released a series that introduced the perfect Wolverine replacement. Wolverine was introduced in the pages of The Incredible Hulk #181, where the Canadian government sent him to stop the Hulk, who had crossed the border. It didn’t take long for Wolverine to join the pages of the X-Men comics, and he has since become one of Marvel’s most popular characters. As with many characters over the years, Marvel looks to create legacy characters based on its iconic older characters. Miles Morales, Kamala Khan, and Riri Williams are great examples. However, Wolverine’s replacement arrived before any of them.
On February 1, 2004, Marvel Comics released the third issue of its series NYX, and in that issue, the company introduced a teenager known as X-23. While this obscure Marvel comic is a surprising debut for someone who became as popular as Laura Kinney did, it was a perfect introduction for Wolverine’s legacy character.
Marvel Comics Introduced Wolverine’s Replacement With X-23
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
NYX was a 2003 comic book series from Joe Quesada and Joshua Middleton. It followed homeless teenage mutant runaways in New York City (with the NY for New York and the “X” standing for District X in Marvel Comics). The first issue introduces Kiden Nixon, a teenage mutant whose police officer father was murdered, and who finds herself living on the streets. This leads her to meet Cameron Palmer, Kiden’s teacher, who tries to help the girl.
However, it was in the third issue that they met X-23, who they found in a room where it looked like she had killed a man with claws that had extended from her hands. They ended up meeting a fourth young mutant in Tatiana, and they found themselves fighting for their lives as a local criminal overlord (who turned out to be the man who killed Kiden’s father) is after the three og them, and especially X-23, who he has been pimping out.
Almost 10 months passed between the release of NYX #5 and #6, and during that time, X-23 went to kill Wolverine, believing him to be responsible for her years of torture and trauma. This led to her finally joining up with the mutants, finding a home with the X-Men, and getting off the streets.
Marvel even brought back NYX in 2024, but with much more popular characters, led by Kamala Khan. However, this was a much more sanitized version of the story, and the 2003 version remains one of the best-told stories about teenage mutants and the dangers they face on the streets from a society that hates and fears them. It was the perfect way to introduce someone as traumatized and conflicted as Laura Kinney, X-23.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!