X-O Manowar #16

The Team
Writer Robert Venditti Artist Lee Garbett

Writer Robert Venditti has been hitting some interesting plot points with X-O Manowar lately. The Visigoth hero has just battled the Vine, who are a couple of evil aliens seeking to wipe out most of earth’s population. While Aric Of Dacia was right to take the battle towards the stronghold of the evil aliens in order to stop them from taking over the earth, he submitted to some of his deeper flaws and went to far in the process. Aric is now in charge of the what is left of the Visigoth people, and his leadership skills leave something to be desired. The Eternal Warrior made an appearance to call him out last issue that was really enjoyable. It is great to see a comic book with a writer that has the audacity to call their main character wrong. Last issue that was exactly what happened, unfortunately with the suit of armor equipped the wrong person has the leg up in terms of power.

The fight that ensues between two heroes in this issue is a really fantastic conclusion to the arc that has been set-up. Aric has made so many mistakes over the course of this series, pretty soon it seems that he will be paying for them. The end also teases an interesting character that has been long overdue to make a reappearance in the title. Watching the titular hero pine over his lost love, then continue to find a new one is troubling. It is a creepy note than Venditti was heading towards over multiple issues of this series. While it is disturbing, the prince of Dacia has to move on eventually. The planet in which he now controls seems as if it is ripe for the taking going forward. With only one person in protection, the Visigoths seem to be in immediate danger at virtually any second. The just announced Avengers esque Valiant title Unity has some teases as to where exactly this title comic is going.

Lee Garbett introduced some really great pencils that had a feel similar to Olivier Coipel. Sometimes his work can be scratchy with many lines in certain places, but that seems to be well suited to the tone of X-O thus far. The Eternal Warrior looks very intriguing mainly because his color scheme is so different from the armor. When the two figures clash, the pages can get really interesting in terms of layouts as well. The first page has an interesting way of blending background with the main story. Another wise choice in terms of the artwork is how the color scheme changes depending on which scene readers are enjoying. The flashback have an orange tint in the background that makes the story easy to follow. Garbett’s pencils are also very enjoyable to read because of how concise the story is. At times this book can be frustrating because of all the the different pencillers on the title. Hopefully in the future Garbett can become more prolific or remain on the comic.

X-O Manowar has another really great issue with some strange implications going forward. Eventually it seems like Aric will straighten out his astronomical personal flaws, but until then this title chronicles the arrogant. Hopefully there will be consequences for the actions of the character.