Robert Venditti has spun a tale of a man out of time gifted
with powers he could hardly understand and hunted by the beings that made it,
enslaved him, and want the armor back and him dead. Worse yet his best friend thought dead now
hangs in the grip of his enemy almost dead.
It is a familiar situation seen over time in comics, Television, and
movies. And it plays out much like you
think it would, what makes this better is the connection the two main
characters here have with one another. Well established from the series start that
Aric and Gaft were always close and would do anything for each other.
It is a human moment in an otherwise amazing Sc-Fi adventure
going on currently around them. But, of course that doesn’t stop Trill from
being the bad guy that he is. The whole sequence leads up to show us that Aric
may have been holding back how powerful he really is. The just full hatred he
has hidden within him seeing his once thought dead friend almost end up that
way again, Trevor Haisine seals that notion though his art and the anger and
pain brought on by all of this on Aric.
We also get a better look that Aric is still the warrior he
was when first introduced, he may have the X-O armor now and having pretty
solid control over it. We are still shown that without it, he can at least hold
his own using more of his wits than shoving a sword though whatever the problem
may be. Helping heal his friend and then talking him down has Gaft dawns the
armor was the main story that leads to a sad conclusion, but the set up to Planet
Death making it us realize it isn’t Planet Earth that will be the place Planet
Death take place on.
Which is something I am happy to see frankly, Earth
invasions while fun, can feel played out here seems to be the reverse of the
situation a human setting course to return to the alien world planet as the
invader is a fresh take on the whole idea.
Looking forward as Planet Death we are left with a lot of
different questions and some concerns, the first is how will the race respond
to Aric coming in and will he turn the home world into the planet of death ever
so hinted at? I know Aric will be looking for revenge but will he loose himself
in it? All of these is why readers are coming back to this book.
X-O Manowar takes what should be considered cliché and
boring and is able to make it fun and exciting, a test sometimes other comics
fail to pass. Here we are getting a new level of sci-fi action as Planet Death
approaches and looks to take our hero a journey to face off with the alien
force that has changed his life so much. It is time to get on the bandwagon now
of Valiant Flagship title, otherwise you will be sad you missing this series.
OVERALL: 9.0 out of 10
Bryan "BAC" Clendening is a comic book reviewer and sometimes video producer. Follow him on Twitter @BAClend
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