The issue opens with Laura walking down a street in Minneapolis as in the preview, with Laura's thoughts drifting to her past. Her introspective is interrupted by the smell of smoke; a fire is destroying a local apartment complex, and Laura springs into action. She pulls a disabled woman from the fire (and we learn that she apparently speaks Somali. Given the long history of conflict in Somalia I guess it makes sense she had missions there and needed to know it) before going back in when she learns one of the firefighters is trapped, safely rescuing him, as well.
A news crew attempts to interview her, but the camera in her face makes Laura uncomfortable, and she angrily pushes it away.
Unfortunately, the exact wrong people turn out to be watching the news report. Laura is identified by members of an unknown company, who are now bankrolling Kimura. And it's here that we're first introduced to Haymaker, an ex-MMA fighter whose career was in the tank, and apparently Laura had something to do with it. They're hopped up on a new variation of MGH, and is Kimura's prized asset. Just who is running the show and what their actual goals are are unrevealed, but they want Laura, alive, and Kimura dispatches Haymaker to bring her in.
The next morning, Laura wakes from a nightmare, and on her way out from the safehouse she's been staying in is confronted by Haymaker, who doses her with some sort of gas that neutralizes her mutation, setting the stage for their first fight as the issue draws to a close.
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This is a very introspective issue, dealing a lot with Laura's personal thoughts and reflections on her past. There's some great nods to continuity, including some things that haven't been mentioned in a long time. I was especially thrilled to see Kingpin appear in one of Laura's memories, a plot point that hasn't been touched on since Target X, and the Mercury Falling arc of New X-Men, and is frankly something worthy of exploration. Fisk ties into Laura's past with Haymaker and the incident which derailed his career as a fighter, which I suspect also involves the death of Jordan's brother. Another flashback shows Laura running with Kiden Nixon, whom we haven't seen at all since the No Way Home miniseries a decade ago. So for those who hated NYX: Sorry, still canon.
We also have a moment that helps to contextualize the breakdown of Laura's relationship with Hellion in Misadventures in Babysitting, as she reflects on her uncertainty about how she feels, and that Julian also expects more from her than what she's capable of giving back. It doesn't make Liu throwing him under the bus better, but it does more to frame the situation with one panel than Liu did with an entire story arc. It's also something that could be used to address the situation if any writer ever decides to ACTUALLY explore their relationship in the present day.
So far we don't really have a lot to go on with Haymaker, however the dialogue suggests that Jordan could actually be non-binary, as Kimura and others frequently use "they" rather than "him." It's almost certainly their brother Laura killed in the Fisk flashback, as he tried to explain that was the only reason he was there before she cut him down, and it appears he was about to say "Jordan" as he was dying.
I get we've had a VERY low bar for Laura stories in the Krakoa era, but this is definitely one of the better depictions of late. It leans a little too much into Liu's Robo-Laura stilted speech patterns for my taste, but any time Laura isn't growling and snarling her dialogue is a vast improvement. Kimura's voice seemed a bit off, but I found it interesting the difference in how she interacts with Haymaker, offering them encouragement and praise in a manner that actually seems genuine, contrasted with how she addresses Laura in a Facility-era flashback which comes across as disingenuous.
All in all, this issue highlights that Laura DESPERATELY needs to have a solo book, and that she's wasted in team books.