X-Men: To Serve and Protect # 2

Cover Artist: Giuseppe Camuncoli

Published: Feb. 2011

Original Price: $3.99

Title: "Judgment"

Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: David LaFuente
Letterers: Dave Sharpe & VC's Joe Sabino
Colorist: Marte Gracia
Assistant Editor: Jake Thomas
Editor: Nick Lowe
Editor-In-Chief: Joe Quesada

SYNOPSIS
At a small diner out in the desert, a group of anti-mutant bikers called "The Brotherhood of the Pure Propeller" arrive to confront X-23, the young clone of Wolverine, who they accuse killed some of their brothers. X-23 walks out of the diner to confront the gang, but the bikers are startled by a new arrival: the Ghost Rider. X-23 and Ghost Rider begin to make short work of the Brotherhood while Blaze explains to the young girl how the Penance Stare can burn one's soul. She asks Blaze to turn it on her, so she can learn if she has a soul - because she is a clone and has been bred to be a killing machine, people have told her that all of the murders she has committed were not her fault. She needs to know if she is indeed guilty and if she should be punished. Though surprised by her request, Ghost Rider continues fighting the gang, but he is stopped by X-23 just as he's about to strike one of them. X-23 saved the biker, in reality just a scared boy, from the Rider's wrath; in return, Blaze agrees to give her the Penance Stare. At the last moment, X-23 changes her mind and turns away, realizing that it was her decision and judgment that saved that boy's life. Therefore, she is accountable for her actions, soul or not. Ghost Rider transforms into Johnny Blaze, and before riding away he tells her that it's not up to him whether she has a soul or not, only she can decide that.

ANNOTATIONS
"To Serve and Protect" was an X-Men anthology mini-series that featured four stories per issue, with each story showcasing an X-Man teaming up with another hero. The X-23/Ghost Rider team-up was the fourth story in this issue.

Ghost Rider last appeared in Wolverine (2010) # 6 and makes his next appearance in Heroes For Hire (2011) # 2.

Though Blaze has met Wolverine on multiple occasions, most recently in Wolverine (2010) # 2-6, this is first encounter with X-23.

X-23 will encounter both Blaze and the Ghost Rider again during the "Circle of Four" storyline that begins in Venom (2011) # 13, though at this time the Spirit of Vengeance will have a young woman named Alejandra as its host. X-23 learns that she does indeed possess a soul during that same storyline, in Venom (2011) # 13.2.

REVIEW
X-23 gets to team up with Ghost Rider in a short little vignette that's more about character than carnage, but is saddled with some highly inappropriate artwork.

I've always really liked X-23 from her days as a cast member in New X-Men and X-Force. Due to the control of her creators, Chris Yost and Craig Kyle, she became more than just "Wolverine as a school girl" and developed into an intriguing character away from the hero from which she was derived. So when I picked up this comic I had fairly high expectations for what an X-23/Ghost Rider story should be, and on strictly a story-based analysis it certainly holds up. Blaze is a perfect choice for a team-up, given the "do clones have soul" plotline that X-23 had been moving through around this time, and it made a great way to connect the two. The reasons for the team-up are inconsequential, and that's exactly what the "Brotherhood of the Pure Propeller" are; they're not in the story to provide a challenge to the heroes, they're there to set-up the more important interactions between them. This isn't the first time a character has requested the Penance Stare to judge their guilt (notable examples: Hannibal King and the Punisher), and I was surprised to see X-23 change her mind at the last moment. But it honestly makes for a better ending. Instead of being judged and punished by a higher power, X-23 decides to do it herself. I like that, its a damn fine ending.

Simon Spurrier was an obvious choice as writer, considering he had only recently written a Ghost Rider Annual and the Ghost Rider: Danny Ketch mini-series. However, like in the awful awful Annual, Spurrier goes way overboard with Blaze's speech patterns and accent. Much like the way Rob Williams writes Johnny, the poor guy sounds like an idiot. I did get a chuckle out of the "didn't you use to be a hairy Canuck fella?" bit, though. Overall, Spurrier handles the character beats well, and as I said I thought it had a nice ending.

Now, for a story such as this, the last thing I would request would be an artist with an obvious manga influence. So, of course, they put David LaFuente on the story to make everyone look ridiculous. Actually, now that I think about it, LaFuente's goofy rendition of Ghost Rider kind of matches the terrible dialogue written by Spurrier, so maybe there was a synchronicity that I'm only now picking up on. LaFuente's interpretation of the motorcycle just plain doesn't work, though I commend him for attempting to use Roland Boschi's cycle design. But as I suspected when I first saw that version of the bike, it only really works when Boschi is the one drawing it.

This certainly isn't a story that I'd recommend anyone hunt down. It's decent enough, I suppose, and if you catch it on sale one day through Comixology maybe give it a read and see what you think.

Grade: C+