X Gonna Give It To Ya

Comic book art and Laura Kinney.

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Unboxing my commissions from Lake Como Comic Art Festival 2019. The pieces are (in order of appearance): 14x20 pencil piece by Pepe Valencia 17x22 painting by Dike Ruan 12x18 painting by David Mack

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On the day that the final issue of X-23 comes out, I just so happened to get a package in the mail from none other than X-23 cover artist Ashley Witter! Here's a quick unboxing video of a really epic mail call 😁🤘

Inside were the original covers to X-23 issues 11 and 12 along with a fantastic 11x17 commission of Laura, Gabby and Jonathan the actual wolverine. A real family portrait in other words. If you like the looks of it, you may be happy to hear that Ashley is currently coloring it and will release it as a print in the near future ❤️

Many, many thanks to Ashley for the wonderful art and just for being super nice and awesome in general. 😊👊

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X-23 and Honey Badger leaping into action! The only thing heard over the snikting is the sound of Gabby going "wheeeeee".

This awesome commission was done for me by Marvel artist Nathan Stockman. 11x17 inks and grey tones. The last image is a version with quick digital colours done by Dee Cunniffe.

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Mail call from X-23 creator Craig Kyle? Is it a vial of trigger scent? No, it’s a custom Laura Lego minifig! 🔥 

Accessories included are a pair of adamantium claws, a vial of trigger scent, and a printed brick representing the letter Laura received from her mother Sarah Kinney. The letter's even got a small bit of blood spatter on it, and if you're familiar with X-23's origin story Innocence Lost, you'll know why... 😭

[renaroo]

I would give anything for Marvel to capitalize on the power couple that is right there. 

To my favorite X-Girl(friend)s

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Happy #XMenDay ❌ For the occasion I thought I'd share the third original cover I was able to pick up from the awesome @ashleymwitter 's cover run on X-23. Unfortunately, it's the last issue of the series, but Ashley is going out with a bang with probably her best cover of the lot. She did tell me that knowing it was going to be the last one, she wanted to make it special. And it is ❤️

The book comes out later this month and I can't wait to read it. I think it's going to be a good one!

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This is pretty special. It’s a 12x18 cover quality studio commission by David Mack. That’s not something he offers very often, but in preparation for the Lake Como Comic Art Festival this year he opened a small list and I was able to get on it.

And I love the result 😍 I dig the strong “X“ pose, and the movement in Laura’s hair and the glint of intensity in her eye elevates it. This X-23 is a badass, just the way I like her.

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I've wanted to add an X-23 by Omar Dogan  to my collection ever since I came across a sketch he did of her on DeviantArt years ago. Unfortunately (for me), Omar is not fond of doing commissions, preferring instead to draw whatever he wants and then sell the completed pieces on a first-come, first-served basis through his Instagram. Even so, he's still done several drawings of Laura over the years, but unfortunately (again, for me) he usually posts them in the middle of the night my time due to time zone differences so I've never been able to get one. Earlier this week I lucked out, though, as he posted this X-23 a little later than usual and I was able to pounce on it. A great way to start the day! In my humble opinion, this is also one of his best X-23 pieces, so I guess it all worked out for the best in the end 😁✌️

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This was an eBay win from a few months ago, an 11x17 piece with lineart by Carlo Pagulayan and colours by Jose Varese. 🔥🔥🔥

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Sorry if this is super personal, but what do you do for a living to be able to afford all this Laura art? That must burn a pretty big hole in your wallet! I would love to be able to afford comic art but it’s always so expensive.

Yes, it’s definitely an expensive hobby. The upside is that, especially in the case of published art, it’s also an investment. If you want to, you can sell it later and make your money back. That’s not something that can be said of all expensive hobbies.

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It looks like Mariko tamaki’s x-23 series is ending after issue 12. I’m not happy about that.

Yes, it’s almost certainly ending with #12, at least for now. There’s always a chance it will relaunch with a new creative team, but there haven’t been any hints of that happening yet so it’s just wishful thinking for the time being.

And to elaborate a bit on why I think it’s ending, the first thing is obviously that it’s been two months without a new issue being solicited. I also have information that it’s the last issue for the current interior and cover artist. Then there’s the fact that #12 is a natural stopping point because trade paperbacks usually collect six issues, and that other series like West Coast Avengers are also ending around this time. Finally, it’s the fact that ever since X-23 was dropped from the monthly solicitations, fans have been speculating and asking creators and editors if it’s ending and no one has denied that it is. That speaks volumes.

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Collaboration piece by Garrie Gastonny (lineart) and Irawan Prabowo (colors) which Garrie offered to me because he knows I'm a big X-23 fan and obviously I was powerless to resist even though I've got two other collaboration commissions in the works from him. This one has Laura and a wolf friend seemingly out on the hunt and you better stay clear if you know what's good for you.

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So it turns out…Laura Kinney is gay. At least according to her creator Craig Kyle who revealed the truth on Twitter. I guess it shouldn’t be a big surprise given that her clone Gabby has already been revealed to be gay. Makes sense.

[eric-coldfire]

Laura is gay in XME aka X-Men Evolution… I could buy that, shame they never got to explore it, show was awesome.

[corhore]

Making Laura gay wouldn’t really work now since she’s currently dating young Angel unless they make her bi or explain that she’s been confused or something. 

At this point it doesn’t really matter. 

[eric-coldfire]

Again, current 616 Laura isn’t gay. He’s talking about Laura in the X-Men Evolution cartoon.

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It applies to 616 Laura as well. It’s pretty clear from the way he phrased the original tweet, but he also clarified it in a later reply.

The fact that he mentions both the comic book version and the movie version indicates that he sees it as pretty core to the character.

[olivermajor226]

I was not surprised by this. Not. at. all. Even 616 Laura. It makes so much sense. 

[xce23]

So it turns out…Laura Kinney is gay. At least according to her creator Craig Kyle who revealed the truth on Twitter. I guess it shouldn’t be a big surprise given that her clone Gabby has already been revealed to be gay. Makes sense.

[eric-coldfire]

Laura is gay in XME aka X-Men Evolution… I could buy that, shame they never got to explore it, show was awesome.

[corhore]

Making Laura gay wouldn’t really work now since she’s currently dating young Angel unless they make her bi or explain that she’s been confused or something. 

At this point it doesn’t really matter. 

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Was looking through the notes on this post as someone recently reblogged it, and just wanted to answer the comment above by saying that many people don’t have a clear read on their own sexuality until later in life. Or they deny it or try to ignore it, because it’s oftentimes easier and more accepted to be straight.

Put it like this, if someone in your life comes out as gay in their late teens or twenties, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t tell them that “it doesn’t really work to make yourself gay now, because I remember you once dated a member of the opposite sex”.

Claiming that Laura being gay goes “against canon” isn’t a good argument then, because real people don’t always have one “canon” sexual orientation through their entire lives. And to anyone arguing vehemently and at length that Laura can’t or shouldn’t be gay; I really question your motives.

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This comic book cover is so rare that you’ve probably never seen it before. There’s a reason for that: It doesn’t exist. This is just me slapping a logo on my latest X-23 commission, because I think it would have made a fantastic cover.

Laura looks like a total badass here so I’ve given the commission the title “The King is dead, long live the Queen”, because come on.

This A3-sized (11x17) piece is done in colour pencils by the talented Pepe Valencia and it is absolute 🔥 🔥. I predict you will see Pepe doing official Marvel covers sooner than later.

Finally, I’d just like to say that I’m currently slightly obsessed with Laura’s boots here, because the boots that go with her comic book spandex Wolverine costume often end up looking a bit too Peter Pan. These boots, on the other hand, have a wicked design and the leather texture to her pants and boots is *chef’s kiss*.

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It’s not every day you receive a package delivery from Mike Choi, so I figured that warranted an unboxing vid. Let me know if you enjoy these kinds of videos and I may do more of them.

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Look at this 🔥 

Davi Go drew Laura Kinney being a bad bitch for me, and I love it.