All-New Wolverine’s sister/clone Gabby finally got her own superhero name this week in the Marvel comics universe: Honey Badger. Gabby has become a major part of the ‘All-New Wolverine’ series, as the sister-clone and ward of Laura/X-23. She and their pet Wolverine (a gift from Marvel’s Squirrel Girl) have become an inseparable team, both with the same healing factor and even with claws. They’ve connected with Logan in the past (Old Man Logan, not the original Wolverine, obviously), and are now teamed up with Daken, the original Wolverine’s son.
In recent issues of Marvel’s ‘All New Wolverine’, things have not been looking good for the Wolverine family, though. Laura, Daken and Gabby are on the run from the Orphans of X, who now have the Murumasa blade and are using it to forge bullets that can actually kill those with the Wolverine healing factor. Wolverine doesn’t want to put the X-Men in danger, and unable to survive an attack from the Orphans with their new weapons, Laura, Gabby and Daken are on the run this week in All New Wolverine #28… and in the process, Gabby finally gets her very own superhero identity in the Marvel comics world.
Written by Tom Taylor and penciled by Juan N Cabal (cover art by Elizabeth Torque), the issue begins with Gabby, Laura, Aunt Debbie, Cousin Megan, and Daken headed to Japan, to seek out the creator of the Murumasa blade and try to find a way to survive it, when Gabby demanded that she get a name of her own. It was Daken who found her the perfect one: Honey Badger. Because she is sweet, and has claws.
That’s a great description of both Gabby and a honey badger, but there’s a lot more to this latest superhero name than that! As well as being reminiscent of a wolverine, and part of the same family of animals (that also includes otters, mink, and weasels), the honey badger was made famous by a viral video from 2011. The video involved hilarious narration over NatGeo footage of a honey badger taking on cobras, demolishing other animals, and generally being a furry badass.
This is, of course, not unlike Gabby herself. The cute little clone is incredibly violent when she needs to be, and can absolutely take care of herself. Like the famed honey badger, she may look cute, but she can take down enemies much bigger than herself, and she is a clawed creature that anyone should be afraid of.
It’s a perfect moniker for the youngest member of Marvel’s growing Wolverine family, and one that fits her personality and her age. Gabby herself is a big fan of the name, too, as she immediately starts imagining her own comic covers emblazoned with ’the Honey Badger’. Next week, as the Orphans of X track down the Wolverine family in Japan, it will be Wolverine, Daken, and Honey Badger that officially take them on…
Next: Comic Stories The X-23 Spinoff Should Adapt
The next issue of All-New Wolverine, #29 ‘Endangered Species’, will be released in January.
