Welcome to Comic Book Legends Revealed! This is the six hundred and twenty-fifth week where we examine comic book legends and whether they are true or false.

Just like the last few months, one legend today, one tomorrow and one Sunday.

Let's begin!

COMIC LEGEND:

X-23's name was inspired by an old issue of "Wolverine"

STATUS:

False

X-23, also known as Laura Kinney, made her debut in the cartoon series, "X-Men: Evolution," created by writer Craig Kyle...

Before making her way to the Marvel Universe, where she has become a standout character who is currently starring as the new Wolverine in the appropriately titled, "All-New Wolverine"...

Earlier this week, actually in response to a question ABOUT Laura, I did a piece explaining how the adamantium used on Wolverine's skeleton was special and would actually not impede the normal functions of Wolverine's bones. I theorized that Laura would likely be in the same boat as Wolverine because of the fact that she is a genetic clone of Wolverine.

In any event, the issue where this unique function of adamantium was explained was "Wolverine" #80 by Larry Hama, Ian Churchill and Al Milgrom (this was early in Churchill's career and it looks like Milgrom had to do more finishes than inks, hence it not really looking like a prototypical Churchill page). And the sample of Wolverine's tissue that was used? It was labeled Logan X #23!!!

That's a crazy coincidence, right?

Reader Alexandre J. was curious whether it WAS a coincidence. Did Craig Kyle seriously name X-23 after an obscure moment in a mid-1990s issue of "Wolverine?"

In a word, nope.

I asked Kyle about it, and he explained that it WAS, in fact, just a coincidence. He noted, though, " Unfortunately, over the last 13 years many opportunistic comic resellers have tried to pass that issue off as the first appearance of X-23, but I've never even read that comic."

Oh, you clever re-sellers!

So there ya go, Alexandre! Thanks for the question!

Thanks so much to Craig Kyle for the information! This has got to be up there with one of the all-time comic book coincidences (like the "Byrne" curse, when things would seemingly happen after Byrne did a comic about them, like he had a blackout in an issue of "Marvel Team-Up" right before the famous New York City blackout, stuff like that).


Check out some legends from Legends Revealed:

Was a Scene Removed From the Film “The Program” Because People Were Killed Reenacting It?

Was the Cookie Monster Originally Invented for a Cheese Snack Commercial?

Did the Museum of Modern Art Hang a Matisse Painting Upside Down for Over a Month?

Was the Who’s “My Generation” Banned by the BBC for Being Offensive to Stutterers?

Check back Saturday for part 2 of this week's legends!

And remember, if you have a legend that you're curious about, drop me a line at either brianc@cbr.com or cronb01@aol.com!