Once known as X-23, Laura Kinney is today known as the Wolverine. She originally adopted the name to honor Logan after his death but continued to use the name after his resurrection. However, the events of NYX #2 see Laura honoring her genetic father with another alias.
Written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, with art by Francesco Mortarino, NYX #2 finds Laura going undercover. The first issue of the youth-focused series saw the new Wolverine investigating the disappearances of young, unhoused Mutants. The trail leads Laura to a small gang leader, himself a Mutant, who goes by the name Local.
Laura’s efforts to infiltrate Local’s gang quickly run into a roadblock. While Local is looking for new muscle, he also knows someone like Wolverine has been attacking his men. This pushes Laura to improvise a new identity on the fly.
Laura’s Scratch ID is a tribute to Wolverine’s Patch
Laura introduces herself as Scratch and denies any connection to Wolverine. As unlikely as it seems, this mollifies Local, who doesn’t draw a connection between the young hero and the clawed vigilante interfering in his business. This seems to pay tribute to a classic X-Men storyline, where Logan adopted an equally improbable alias.
Wolverine’s Patch persona first appeared in Marvel Comics Presents #10 in 1988. Logan had to go undercover in the crime-ridden city of Madripoor. This led him to create the Patch persona, which was basically Logan with an eye patch and a fancy suit.
It was a terrible disguise, but it was so terrible that those who recognized Patch concluded it couldn’t be a disguise, and there had to be two short, hairy, bad-tempered men with claws. Laura’s new identity in NYX seems to take inspiration from the same audacious scheme. Yet, somehow, it works.
NYX #2 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
