X-O Manowar #6

by lucstclair on October 18, 2012

Defeated at the hands of Ninjak, wounded & unconscious, Aric’s body, along with the armor of Shanhara are moved to the hired mercenary’s ship, where they are to be delivered into the hands of the alien invaders known as the Vine. But as Alexander, one of the Vine’s “plantings” here on earth explains, Ninjak’s alien employers have a hidden agenda that’s bigger than simply capturing Aric & his armor.

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 Doug Braithwaite & Patrick Zircher. Published by Valiant Comics.

The Pros

One thing about this series is that the action never stops, it might slow down on occasion, but then kicks into high gear again. This is round 2 between X-O and Ninjak, but this time Ninjak is the one being hunted, as Aric goes all out Visigoth style on the stealthy assassin for hire. Aric’s one man fish out of water story seems to be veering towards a story on a much larger scale, as the Vine start talking about annihilation (don’t most invading aliens do?). There are some very cool moments throughout this issue. One in particular involves Ninjak deploying little spherical tracking devices to locate Aric & Alexander, the guy has more gadgets than Boba Fett. Another is Alexander’s defiance towards his own people that will create an unusual alliance with Aric I suspect.

I’m really starting to appreciate illustrator Lee Garbett’s drawings, he has a sort of old school type of style that works, I kept getting a strange Iron Man & West Coast Avengers vibe, particularly the comics from the early eighties. Stuff from illustrators, like Al Milgrom & Bob Layton spring to mind.