I like the writing team of Kyle and Yost, and I think this is possibly the best trade of this title so far, although it is a little disjointed since the Messiah War break happens right in the middle. The story is heavily focused on X-23, who is one of my favorite X characters, as well as the Legacy virus being used by the anti-mutant factions to further their agendas.

I liked the art here; Crain's style can be very dark, but he does a great job with the realism, and Choi and Oback are always a winning team.

However, I could have done without the "torture porn" scenes involving Laura. While graphic things rarely, if ever, bother me, there was just something about this scene that made me want to look away (I don't want to spoil anyone; if you've read the comic, you'll know what I'm talking about).

Wolverine's sudden concern about Laura's well-being seems misplaced; he is the one who pulled her out of Xavier's school for this mission, but it's not like being trained to become a member of the X-Men is much safer, and Laura IS a trained assassin. He also went off on Laura about protecting the types like Rahne in the last trade, while his and Laura's lives meant nothing compared to theirs - an order that Laura took quite literally. So I'm not sure why he's suddenly worried about whether Laura should be a part of the team. ( )