X-O Manowar #5

by lucstclair on September 11, 2012

As the cold & hard reality starts to set in for Aric, The alien Vines “plantings” make their move on him with plan A and send a special ops team with one mission : seek, destroy & return Shanhara intact. However, plan B is standing by and his name is Ninjak!

The Team

Written by Robert Venditti ( The Surrogates Vol. 1, Blue Bloods : The Graphic Novel, The Homeland Directive), illustrated by Lee Garbett (Outsiders : The Deep, Spider-Man : Danger Zone, Batgirl : The Flood), inked by Stefano Gaudiano & coloured by Moose Baumann. Cover by Mico Suyan. Published by Valiant Comics

The Pros

After he’s been to hell & back, the story becomes a fish out of water story, as Aric is a man alone & out of his time & element. You can’t help but feel sympathy for the guy, here’s a character who’s lost his people, his home & his family. What’s great about this series is that the action doesn’t stop, Aric’s always flying and blowing stuff up, without losing sight of an interesting plot. The Vine are starting to tighten their grip on Aric, as deadly & ruthless mercs are sent to deal with the lost Visigoth. Ninjak makes his re-appearance to this new world of Valiant, as he is also hired to take care of Aric. Ninjak had his own series back in the old school days of Valiant, but re-introducing him in this light is a bright move, what with all the new titles coming out from Valiant, you don’t want to be over saturated with too many titles too quickly.

 

Not since the first time when Aric was a slave aboard the Vine mother ship & before his possession of Shanhara, has writer Robert Venditti portrayed him as a little bit vulnerable and that spells trouble for Aric. Illustrator Lee Garbett takes the reigns as new penciller and I like what I see. His illustrations remind me of another penciller who coincidentally has the same first name, I’m taking about Lee Weeks (Daredevil), like Weeks, Garbett has this unique style that’s not too flashy, but works great for this series. This issue also has a nice cliff hanger ending, that will make you count the thirty days until the next issue.

The Cons

It’s true I will miss Cary Nord’s awesome illustrations, but from what I’ve seen so far, Lee Garbett is a fine replacement.

The Outcome

Valiant’s flying knight in shining armour explodes out of every panel, as this series gets better with every issue.

 

Our Score:

9/10

A Look Inside