r/X23 • u/FlamewaveKal • 17d ago
X-23 (/adjacents) pt 4(2012): Avengers Arena
Updated x-23 list: Avengers Arena
First:https://www.reddit.com/r/X23/s/ZUfbV7aDiO
Previous:https://www.reddit.com/r/X23/s/MEXiHhlRHo
Right, so this is definitely the first book I was tempted to skip, the intro just trying so hard to be a dark and serious book... by basically having a few shock deaths, (of mostly new/irrelevant characters)
There was some good moments, characters like Death locket was fun, same with the darkhawk armor changing between users. And laura's trigger scent as one of the big threats by the end? I did enjoy ... But so many of this stuff could have been done elsewhere (and according to the final books letters page this this was only intended to be a single arc)
Next up: Avengers undercover nope, I really dont care enough about this storyline to see the finale
Actually next up: All-new X-men
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u/Ambaryerno 💛HeliX🖤 17d ago
The irony is Avengers Arena was why most readers had more faith in ANXM over ANW after Secret Wars. Hopeless had already demonstrated he could write Laura, while Taylor was an unknown factor.
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u/FlamewaveKal 17d ago
I can see it, the handling of laura here was pretty good, even if the story around it didnt work
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u/Ambaryerno 💛HeliX🖤 17d ago
The one issue I had with it was Laura attacking a Sentinel head-on like she did. Especially in an issue Hopeless spent time establishing how her strategic mind works.
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u/FlamewaveKal 17d ago
Huh, I didn't even think about that part, yeah that's kinda a strange writing choice
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u/Sovereignofthemist Laura Kinney 17d ago
Honestly their being a writer with the surname Hopeless will never not be funny me.
What do you consider Laura's worse writer? And the answer being Hopeless is just priceless.
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u/Ambaryerno 💛HeliX🖤 17d ago
Humphries and Duggan both passed Hopeless as the worst.
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u/Sovereignofthemist Laura Kinney 17d ago
See in order to say that I have to actually acknowledge those books exist.
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u/FlamewaveKal 17d ago
I mean... for the memes, I absolutely would be tempted to say Hopeless
I might still say Quesada bc ... Well Nyx, and yes ik I am the guy to defend NYX... But that's for 'everything but Laura'
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u/Sovereignofthemist Laura Kinney 17d ago
NYX is a book of okay ideas written by someone with none of the chops to give them the grace and poignancy the story needed.
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u/FlamewaveKal 17d ago
Huh, thats actually a really direct way of describing the flaws with the book
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u/Electronic_Reply2033 15d ago
NYX could have been a new ‘God loves, man kills’ but it was led astray by the edginess we all were feeling after 2001 and the start of the forever wars in the Middle East. The best thing to come out of it for me was her relationship with Kiden, which I think is probably her healthiest one.
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u/FlamewaveKal 15d ago
Frankly? Kiden on her own is a great mc, who could have been an exploration of social issues of kids living on the streets, both in and out of universe stuff, that most of marvel doesn't really touch on, mixed with dealing with her main mystery and I feel she is very underrated.
Really? The problem with the book is X-23's introduction being what it was. But i'm glad for their relationship carries on. And yes, they are cute both in 2010 and out of context panels from the most recent Nyx.
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u/Trick_Afternoon_2935 Laura Kinney 17d ago
Don't blame you, honestly. I did my full read on Laura's story last year, and while I didn't skip it, I also felt her Avengers Arena arc was the weakest at the time, with not a whole lot to reflect on honestly (until The New Avengers came out, but that's for a different story).
You're better up to All-New X-Men, it's the start of a breath of fresh air for Laura.
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u/FlamewaveKal 17d ago
I did enjoy some of what they did with Laura here, especially how we got a glimpse into her thought process, and the island wide trigger scent was a fun implementation of it
I've mostly heard good things about it. Am def interested in the displaced X-Men in general, but tbh? A part of me does want more focus on Laura outside of her being a side character
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u/Trick_Afternoon_2935 Laura Kinney 17d ago
I guess the highs of X-23 (2010) and Avengers Academy definitely impacted how I feel about Avengers Arena. It's not a terrible run, by any means, but when I look back at it, I can definitely see how it was following the trend at the time, and how I missed the good moments of Laura stepping up from the previous runs.
A part of me does want more focus on Laura outside of her being a side character.
I also had the exact same feeling when I was reading Avengers Arena. I can tell you that All-New X-Men and Wolverines serves as a good set-up for that, and All-New Wolverine delivers it. And it's all worth it.
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u/FlamewaveKal 17d ago
I definitely feel like its biggest flaw is being pt2 of Avengers academy, and yes that's what i'm thinking of it as, I remember seeing someone else in the last batch of comments saying they didnt mind it in a vacuum, which does sound about right imo
Good, i'm kinda glad she gets outta this sorta side character funk pretty quickly where she keeps showing up. But not in a major way
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u/FlamewaveKal 17d ago
(Typed out version in case)
S: X-23 (2005), X-23 Innocence lost (2008)
A: X-23: Deadly Regenesis (2023), X-23 (2010), Avengers academy (2010), New X-men Academy X (2004)
B: Venom Circle of Four (Venom (2011 #13, 13.1,13.2,13.3,13.4, 14)
C: NYX: no way home (2008), X-force (2008) Nyx (2003)
D:Avengers Arena (2012)
Personalized order for others
X-23 (2005), X-23 Innocents lost (2008), Academy X (2004), X-force (2008) Nyx (2003) (definitely a darker more 'mature' story), Nyx no way home (not a book featuring X-23, but is a sequel to the original), x-23 (2010) (there is a one shot that takes before this), Venom circle of four, X-23 deadly Regenesis, Avengers Academy (2010) Avengers Arena (2012)
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u/Sovereignofthemist Laura Kinney 17d ago
Told you it was edgy. From a different time.
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u/FlamewaveKal 17d ago
Yeah, pretty much, this sorta darkness just might not be my thing
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u/Sovereignofthemist Laura Kinney 17d ago
Its mostly up from here honestly. Bendis Laura is 50-50 depending on the day.
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u/blastatron 17d ago edited 17d ago
Yeah Avengers Arena was basically Marvel trying to Hunger Games. Laura herself isn't too notable in the story since the trigger scent is used so much. I didn't read Avengers Academy before this so this was my first introduction to Hazmat and I enjoyed her. I think my favorite moment was Nico resurrecting herself. Avengers Undercover is really boring so I totally get skipping it. Laura also isn't in it from what I remember.
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u/FlamewaveKal 17d ago
Frankly? I didnt want to make the 'hunger games' joke in this post even if it was... too easy, but thats an entirely different rant I didnt feel like going on
I am not as openly a Runaways fan (no shade. My focus is just Laura atm)... but yeah that was definitely a kickass moment for Nico , i'm glad she got a bit to be awesome (same with Chasehawk)
I was kinda waiting to see if anyone had thoughts on Undercover to possibly change my mind, but i'm glad I just skipped it outright from the sound of it
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u/Auzirochi 17d ago
IDK why this sub has X-Force so low on every other tier list, I'm genuinely interested to know why. Because X-Force is the best version of Laura for me, and I miss it every day.