YMMV / All-New Wolverine

• Accidental Innuendo: In the Old Woman Laura arc, future Gabby is married to someone named Taylor. While writer Tom Taylor says that the name was picked out by the editorial because it was gender-neutral (thus making it ambiguous as to whether Gabby married a man or a woman), it certainly looks like Tom Taylor wrote a story in which he married his own fictional creation and started a family with her.
• Anvilicious: Laura's speech to Captain America about the recent spate of Hero vs. Hero conflicts. As noted below under Broken Base, it's often viewed as heavy-handed and preachy. However many readers and critics increasingly frustrated with the Gray-and-Grey Morality prevalent in Marvel's events appreciated the Take That!, and were glad to see it called out.
• Angst Aversion: Taylor's remarks on wanting to move Laura past her conflicts, such as by eliminating the trigger scent and Kimura or avoiding touching on her relationship with Warren, (specifically, not wanting to break them up despite the widespread support of seeing the relationship ended) because he doesn't want to see her suffer have become a criticism of the series by some long-time fans of X-23. This outlook is not, of course, universal.
• Awesome Art: One of the main points praised by critics is the artwork of David Lopez and (later) Marcio Takara, particularly their use of facial expressions and body language to convey and establish the characters' distinct personalities. Cabal's work on Orphans of X — especially his creative use of panels — has also drawn considerable praise.
• Base-Breaking Character: The Sisters. Some readers find the girls (particularly Gabby and Bellona) to be interesting, complex, and unique characters, and a welcome addition to the mythos. Others find them to be redundant with not enough to distinguish them, particularly because they're clones of another clone, leading to negative comparisons with The Clone Saga. And of course there are readers who already dislike X-23 to begin with, and find the idea of more of her even worse. Gabby's increasing prominence in the series has also begun experiencing push-back from readers, particularly after issue 19 leaked early, and featured an exchange where Gabby dismissed Logan as a "macho *** who probably had something to prove" without an objection from Laura.
• Broken Base: Although critical response is universally positive (and in fact stronger than the last several volumes featuring Logan as Wolverine), and the series has maintained solid sales in the 30,000 range, audience reaction is much more mixed on several points:
  • Laura taking over the Wolverine mantle and series' existence period. It's generally divided between:
    • Those who see it as a natural progression of her character, believe her to be a worthy successor to the Wolverine name, and are glad to see her in another solo series.
    • Those who are fans of X-23 and wanted her to have a series, but to have it under her own identity and didn't want her to take up the cowl. Most often in fear that her unique character and personality would be lost and that she would be written like Logan, rather than herself.
    • Those who outright hate X-23 as a character, and project it on the series.
    • Those who just would have preferred another character (IE Daken or Sabretooth) taking on the name.
    • Those who see Affirmative-Action Legacy as Political Overcorrectness, and attack any woman, ethnic, or LGBT character taking up the mantle of a straight white male.
    • Those who hate anyone else taking on the name, and want the "Real Wolverine" back.
  • Some accuse the book of being a ripoff of Orphan Black, even though it builds on plot threads that were established in the books long before Orphan Black first aired. Others acknowledge a similarity but note the above about it building on threads already developed in the books, and that it's going in its own direction. Others consider any such similarities as entirely superficial, and that they're two entirely different stories.
  • Another is the book's relatively low body count, and the fact that Laura, in keeping with her ongoing Character Development towards becoming The Cape, is making a conscious effort to not kill her enemies. While many fans are happy that Taylor is maintaining this development and allowing her to define who she is as Wolverine rather than what Logan made him, others believe that a Wolverine book should be dripping with blood, guts, and berserker rages.
    • Many detractors have taken this further by accusing the book of being "cutesy" and "for little girls." Supporters counter that the first arc was a very heavy, serious story dealing with illegal human experimentation, cloning, slavery, torture and abuse, and a callous disregard for human life. Six of the Sisters were murdered either as a direct part of Alchemax's experiments or for demonstrations in the back story, one committed suicide on-panel in the very first issue, Zelda was gunned down in cold blood despite being unable to defend herself, and Chandler was developing a weapon that could destroy entire armies in such a way that no one would even no why he intended to sell to the highest bidder. While issues 7-9 were substantially lighter in tone, defenders point out that the book still explored complex and deeper themes of Laura's struggles to come to terms with Logan's death, and the mistakes he made in her upbringing she was in danger of repeating with Gabby.
    • Defenders are also quick to point out that not even Logan was dark and bloody all the time, particularly where his relationships with his "Little Sister" figures were concerned.
  • The Take That! at the internet critics in issue 4. Some fans applauded the shots fired at the detractors, while others, who normally would, believe that too many writers have done the same thing already, so it's no longer as amusing as it used to be. Still others believe that writers should just "suck it up" and not respond to such criticism at all.
    • Another Take That! in issue 12, this time to Hero vs. Hero conflicts in general. Some readers appreciated the withering Kirk Summation Laura gives to Captain America over how the only thing heroes fighting one another accomplishes is to make the public that much more cynical, with her remarks seen as a perfect airing of their own frustrations over the recent spate of such conflicts. While others agreed, they found the presentation to be heavy-handed and Anvilicious, and out of character for Laura to go on such a diatribe at length. Still others felt it bordered on Author Tract and had no business being addressed within the book at all.
    • And again in issue 19, when Gabby calls Logan a "macho ***" with no objection from Laura. Some fans agreed that Logan had become the poster boy for Testosterone Poisoning in comics, while others viewed it as a blatant attempt by Taylor to prop up Laura at Logan's expense. Still others simply objected to the fact that it's Gabby — who never met the main universe Logan — making these observations, and that Laura didn't say anything in his defense, since this is the same series that retconned that the two had a strong bond. And of course various combinations of the three.
  • Squirrel Girl's appearance in issue 7. Some enjoyed the Breather Episode after the heavier action of the first arc, and found it cute, silly fun, balanced by the deeper emotional plot of Laura's relationships with Logan and Gabby, comparing it to Tom Taylor's usage of Green Arrow and Harley Quinn in Injustice: Gods Among Us. Others considered it meaningless fluff and Filler, with Doreen's presence and action centered around a lost squirrel being tonally out of place for a Wolverine book.
  • The announcement that the third arc of the series would be a spiritual sequel to Wolverine: Enemy of the State at SDCC 2016 proved instantly divisive. Some immediately called it a rehash and demanded Marvel provide more original stories. Others were concerned to learn that it would involve Laura being manipulated into murdering innocents, something she has fought against from the moment she escaped and being akin to punching the reset button on her character. However, that the series would be touching on past stories, particularly X-23: Innocence Lost and Target X was received quite positively, while other fans are taking a much more "wait and see" approach rather than jumping to conclusions.
  • The costume drew a significant amount of this, between those who liked the variation on the Classic Yellow suit, and those who thought it just didn't suit her. Many readers expressed a preference for a variation on her X-Force costume, particularly the gray-and-black color scheme. Some liked that Laura finally had a modest costume after years of midriff-baring outfits and other Stripperiffic designs, while others thought it was a part of her visual look and ought to be retained. The manner in which her hair flowed from the back of the cowl was not particularly well-received by anyone, with most preferring either her X-Force-style Domino Mask, or a face mask similar to that worn by Wild Thing in MC2.
    • The revamped costume revealed to debut in issue 19, however, drew almost universal praise for its basis in Laura and Logan's X-Force costumes, while incorporating body armor to finally avert abuse of Good Thing You Can Heal. Though there are a few dissenting voices who actually liked the gold and blue.
  • As noted under Angst Aversion above, some X-23 fans are put off by Taylor's desire to move Laura past her historical conflicts, or avoid introducing new ones such as by breaking up the unpopular Laura/Warren relationship. Either they feel the lack of inner conflict makes her much less interesting as a character in general, or that removing those specific conflicts fundamentally changes her character. Further still, there are those that would've been fine with Laura moving past her angst if Taylor actually addressed it, rather than initially skip past them like Brian Michael Bendis was criticised for doing. Others argue that many of Laura's internal struggles — particularly her difficulties connecting emotionally with others, and her almost suicidal drive to help people even at her own expense — still remain. Many cited the over use of those very same conflicts above as a Reset Button that had prevented her character from developing, and moving her past them better prepares her for new challenges.
  • The parade of guest stars. While some appreciate seeing Laura interact with more characters outside the X-Men as a way of establishing herself in the larger Marvel universe, others found the end result is that Laura has become the least interesting character in her own book.
• Catharsis Factor: Admit it, you loved the death of Kimura.
• Creator's Pet: Although initially an Ensemble Dark Horse, Gabby's increasing importance in the book has begun to lead to accusations of this. Particularly her significant role in helping Laura break free of the trigger scent, along with the fact she calls Logan a "Macho ####" without being corrected by Laura, her convincing Laura to wear body armor, and her ability to maintain a chipper and upbeat personality despite the crap she was put through. The announcement that she would be appearing alongside Laura in X-Men: Red (also written by Taylor) has only contributed to the backlash.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Gabby has quickly become this, due to her quirky Deadpan Snarker personality and being utterly adorable.
  • Bellona to a lesser extent, particularly for her Heroic Comedic Sociopathy.
  • Jonathan, simply for being the first actual wolverine in a Wolverine comic.
• Fandom Rivalry: With readers of Old Man Logan. A great deal of criticism of the latter series comes from fans of Old Man Logan, particularly disparaging remarks about Logan being closer to the "Real Wolverine," while calling X-23 a rip-off or a pretender. The fact that All-New Wolverine has Laura swearing off of killing altogether, even further fuels arguments against the book. Others are point Old Man Logan's high sales as an indication that readers want "Real Logan" back and that X-23 can't sell a book. After ResurrXion announcements revealed that Old Man Logan would be appearing prominently in two team books (X-Men Gold and Weapon X) along with his continuing solo series, while Laura would only be appearing in All-New Wolverine. An increasing point of contention among X-23 fans was the anticipation that taking on the Wolverine name would raise her profile in the comics and lead to increasing exposure, while in practice Old Man Logan has instead received the attention, particularly in events. This has led to some backlash against the ResurrXion lineup, and even Logan appearing prominently in a teaser for the 2017 Secret Empire event. The announcement of a third ResurrXion team book prominently featuring Logan has not helped matters.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • A substantial part of the first arc sees Laura dealing with four clones created by Alchemax Genetics, using genetic material somehow stolen from the Facility. This isn't the first time four clones of X-23 appeared together: Four unnamed clones help Logan against Master Mold in episode 25 of Wolverine and the X-Men (2009), six years before All-New Wolverine was released. Strangely enough, Laura herself never properly appeared on the show, and had only a small role in the Hulk vs. film.
  • Squirrel Girl brings a live wolverine to Laura's apartment in issue 7, under the mistaken belief that she's an Animal-Themed Superbeing like her, and is therefore able to communicate with wolverines. Laura quickly points out she can't. Come issue 24, when Jonathan gets a universal translator...
• Like You Would Really Do It: Deathstrike, Sabretooth, and Old Man Logan are executed by the Orphans of X in issue 28, while Daken sacrificed himself in the following issue. No one reading the issues took the deaths seriously.
• Lost in Medias Res: A complaint about the first issue is that it begins with Laura Kinney in Paris in the midst of trying to stop an assassination, with no context for who she was protecting, why they were a target, or who the assassin was. It's not until the second issue that these details start getting filled in.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Twenty-Five with Chicken, or more particularly the noodles component, has become memetic among detractors of the book beginning with previews for issue 8, as if it were a recurring plot elements despite only coming up in that issue.
  • Upon being given the codename "Honey Badger", Gabby instantly became attached to the "Honey Badger Don't Care"/"Honey Badger Don't Give a Fuck" meme.
• Never Live It Down: While still a new series, detractors have already jumped on the book for being about nothing but eating noodles and taking selfies. Even though both were one-off gags (and Laura herself didn't even eat the noodles or take the selfie). See Memetic Mutation above.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The way Gabby can switch from Cheerful Child, to threatening you with severe bodily harm, then right back to Cheerful Child again is downright unnerving. Doctor Strange may have pronounced her an innocent with the Eye of Agamotto, but it just serves to remind the audience that beneath that friendly demeanor is a potentially lethal killer with all of Wolverine's training.
  • Strange using the Eye on Laura becomes an In-Universe example: he sees her experimented on, tortured, killing her sensei, pushed into prostitution and forced to be a merciless assassin. The really unnerving part for the Doc is how even with all that she can somehow still keep it together.
• Squick: Gabby's future spouse in "Old Woman Laura" being named Taylor was met with this reaction by some readers. Especially when Creator's Pet is taken into account.
• Tough Act to Follow: Enemy of the State II, which comprised the book's third arc was the follower. The original Enemy of the State was a highly-regarded story that drew in multiple players from across the Marvel universe. This set high expectations, with the use of the name fueling much of the criticism of the arc and inviting negative comparisons between the two stories in response to the story's mixed reviews.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Laura's relationship with Logan. Many X-23 fans dislike how Taylor makes Logan a prominent, loving mentor for her. Or at least, that it retconned their relationship to make it closer than what it actually was, rather than allowing it to evolve naturally.^note Although the Liu book started the process by revealing Logan's intent to adopt her via flashback.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • The main criticism of the Civil War II tie-in was that very little was revealed about the nature of the relationship between Old Man Logan, Laura, and Gabby in Logan's home reality. The book established Laura and Gabby killed each other, and that Gabby appears to have been the antagonist of the conflict, but otherwise failed to define the circumstances of the event. This has led critics in issue 12 to note that the events of the issue have much less of an emotional punch than they should have had.
  • The funeral for Sarah Kinney at the end of issue 30 was a heartrending and touching ending to "Orphans of X," as Laura lays her mother to rest surrounded by her family and friends. However many fans lamented not getting to see the reception afterwards, considering the tense relationships between the attendees:
    • Gambit doesn't get along with either Hellion or Daken.
    • Hellion was once badly wounded by Daken.
    • Word of God established that Hellion and Laura were not on speaking terms during the recent Phoenix Resurrection book, with no indication that they have made any attempts to repair their relationship since then.
    • Jubilee was pretty down on Hellion after Julian and Laura's frielationship broke down, as well (though seemed to have reversed her opinion after seeing his Barely-There Swimwear in Adjectiveless).
    • Warren, who Laura may or may not still be dating, is attending the same event as Julian, Laura's kinda-sorta ex.
    • And of course, putting Daken and any Logan together in one room is bound to be asking for trouble. To say nothing of the fact that Daken and Old Man Logan haven't interacted on-panel at all since Logan arrived in the main 'verse.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not Symbolic?: After destroying Gabby's headstone in a flashback, the only legible pieces are the words "Gabby" and "Lies". Until the end of issue 12, Gabby had been lying to Laura about her powers, which was a source of conflict between Gabby and Old Man Logan.
• The Woobie: The Sisters share much of Laura's woobiness, having been put through much of the same torture, abuse, and experimentation as she was. Even worse, they're dying when she meets them as a result of one of those experiments.

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