X-23 Gets Cut

X-23, the female clone of Marvel hero and cash-cow Wolverine, was deemed worthy of her own solo series back in November 2010. A year later, X-23 is at issue #16 and is currently the only female character driven title produced by Marvel. Today, Marvel announced that the series will end in a few months at issue #20.

Marjorie Liu, undoubtedly the most acclaimed female writer currently working in the comic industry, has penned the series from the beginning. Being a successful romantic novelist, Liu has a natural gift for heart filled storytelling and poignant character depth. She was the perfect writer to bring to life the tale of a tragic character's struggles to find her soul. Liu's talents combined with the breathtaking yet subtle pencils of artist Phil Noto made the X-23 series a hit with critics and fans alike.

So why the sudden cancellation? Most will point to sales yet while X-23 wasn't a blockbuster hit, it was consistently ahead of books such as X-Factor, Thunderbolts, and its sister title, Daken: Dark Wolverine. So either Marvel made an odd decision of canceling their only female-driven series in favor of others or this is simply the first in a series of announcements about additional cancellations.

Some argue that Marvel never had much confidence in X-23 as a solo character to begin with. Throughout her twenty issue series, she hardly ever accomplished anything alone. The book usually came off as an X-23 team-up book rather than an X-23 solo series with its frequent guest stars ranging from the lovable Gambit to Marvel's finest family The Fantastic Four to fan favorite Jubilee and of course X-23's ubiquitous "father" Wolverine.

Luckily for fans, Marvel isn't completely giving up on the character yet. X-23 is set to become a member of the cast of Avengers Academy beginning next month.