This article contains spoilers for New Mutants #19.
Marvel’s X-Men comics just killed off a fan-favorite member of Wolverine‘s family — Gabrielle Kinney, better known as Honey Badger or Scout. All the world’s mutants have gathered on the living island of Krakoa, hero and villain alike. Unfortunately, some young mutants have been struggling to adjust to life on Krakoa — and the island has some predatory mutants who are more than happy to take advantage of this.
The Shadow King lives among the X-Men now, Professor X’s oldest enemy. Amahl Farouk was a telepathic mutant who lived in the sixteenth century, and who bonded with an interdimensional entity in order to become a force of nature. The Shadow King has always loved to corrupt others, and in truth that’s pretty much what he’s been doing with a group of disaffected young mutants. Only one person has identified him as the true threat – Gabrielle Kinney, the young clone of Laura Kinney. In New Mutants #18, Gabby confronts the Shadow King on the eve of the Hellfire Gala.
New Mutants #19, by Vita Ayala and Alex Lins, reveals the heartbreaking consequence of this confrontation. Farouk reveals he is more in control of himself than he has been since he first bonded with the Shadow King entity in the sixteenth century, and he is unwilling to allow Gabby to damage the relationships he has built. “There will come a time when we will have to face the world again,” Farouk prophesies. “I will not have you poisoning them against me before I can teach them what they will need to know.” Horrifically, a little while later, a group of Gabby’s friends discover her body.
The X-Men have conquered death, using a synergy of mutant powers and Cerebro technology, but there is one crucial problem in this case; Gabby is a clone. Krakoa’s ruling Quiet Council have decreed that no clone can be resurrected, and they’ve enforced this rule in spite of pressure from Havok to bring back Madelyne Pryor. It’s even possible that, given she is outside the Resurrection Protocols, Cerebro hasn’t been taking a scan of Gabby’s mind. This fan-favorite mutant — beloved since Tom Taylor created her in the pages of All-New Wolverine — may well have been really killed.
One thing’s for sure, though: anyone who attacks Wolverine’s extended family is going to regret it. Making matters worse for the Shadow King, Gabby left a note for Laura with her pet wolverine Jonathan, telling her sister that she was going to confront a man whom she feared was corrupting her friends. It won’t take long for the Wolverines to figure out who did this to Gabby, and they’ll get payback. The Shadow King may well come to regret messing with these particular X-Men.
