First Appearance of X-23: X-Men: Evolution and NYX #3

X-23 first appeared on television, in the X-Men: Evolution episode "X-23", which aired on August 2, 2003, voiced by Andrea Libman. Her first comic appearance is NYX #3, cover-dated February 2004 (Wikipedia). She was created by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost, so she began in the cartoon and reached the comics about six months later. For a comic collector, NYX #3 is the key.

Laura Kinney was made as a female clone of Wolverine at a covert facility. The scientist Sarah Kinney carried her as a surrogate and later revealed that she was Laura's biological mother; Laura killed her while under the effect of a trigger scent. Wikipedia says Sarah's dying words, "her name is Laura", gave the weapon called X-23 her first real identity. Craig Kyle described the character as a samurai sword trying to become a real little girl. Her younger sister Gabby, another clone, became Honey Badger.

PriceCharting values retrieved September 25, 2026:

• Ungraded: $433.00 (about two sales a week)
• Graded 4.0: $261.93 (rare)
• Graded 6.0: $320.99
• Graded 8.0: $366.21
• Graded 9.2: $414.27 (about one sale a month)
• Graded 9.8: $1,175.00 (about one sale a week)

The latest 9.8 sales PriceCharting shows were $1,400.00 (September 6), $1,300.00 (September 9) and $1,250.00 (September 18, 2026). The ungraded average sits above the 9.2 figure on the same date, so for a raw copy compare completed sales in your copy's condition instead of relying on the average.

• X-23: Innocence Lost (2005): her first miniseries.
• All-New Wolverine (2015): she takes the Wolverine name.
• Logan (2017): film debut, played by Dafne Keen.
• Deadpool & Wolverine (2024): Dafne Keen returns in the MCU.

All from Wikipedia. For Wolverine's own first appearance, see our Wolverine page.

• Indicia: the small print on the first page or inside cover gives the title, issue number, date and publisher; reprints and facsimiles say so there.
• Cover price and barcode: a price or barcode that did not exist in the cover year means a later edition.
• Paper: decades-old newsprint tans at the edges; bright white pages on an old date are a warning sign.
• Restoration: color touch, trimmed edges and replaced covers are common on expensive keys; a grading service such as CGC can detect them.

Shoot the front cover flat and straight on in even light, then the indicia and the back cover. NYX #3 is a 2004 book, so condition drives the price; photograph the corners and spine closely as well as the cover. ComicLens reads the title, issue number and cover art from the photo, and there are free scans every day.

Research and drafting were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed on this page. Prices are the figures shown by the named source on the date given; they change with the market, and a grade that trades about once a year can move a lot on a single sale.