X-O Manowar Volume 3

So this one continues the plot, the alien Vine species invade, trying to take Arik's armour back. They use inferior Commando class armours, they lose. Arik beats them, and uses his armour to try and save Gafti, the only other survivor from his clan (so far, they'll probably all be fine somehow) It heals him, but then he attacks Arik, blaming him for their deaths. Gafti then flies up, into space, and uses a power Arik doesn't know about, to affect gravity, causing their ships to crash into each other. The armour returns to Arik, on Earth, because the effort killed Gafti. The Vine are then given a backstory, where they were originally enslaved, the same way that they enslaved humans, until the last Hara Vine created the XO Manowar suit as a fruit (this is a religious story, so who knows if it's accurate) to liberate the aliens who would then call themselves the Vine. This is their religious belief system, or at least an interpretation of it. The armour also created/allowed the Vine species access to the metaphysical plane that allows them to speak (telepathically?) despite physical distances, instantly. This is used to govern their empire. Arik takes one of their ships back to the Vine homeworld of Loam (get it? Vine, Loam, plant references) kills some priests, the last one tells him that the descendants of his people are on the planet, so they go there. Confusion ensues, Arik tries to take out the Vine as a whole, it doesn't go well. Arik and the armour are seperated, and the Vine leaders intend to wipe out the humans, to remove the chance of Arik escaping into a crowd. As the aliens attack, Arik manages to summon the armour to him, and he manages to destroy a large portion of the elite battalade. He is then told of other species enslaved by the Vine, and basically does an epic uprising, though the Vine plan to basically just blast them from orbit. Arik basically sues for peace, succeeds, the priest Vine guy ends up ruling Loam. Arik takes his visigoths home to Earth, and releases the other species to their homeworlds.

Where we left off: X-O Manowar and Ninjak put aside their differences to face the threat of a more serious foe – The Vine/Human hybrids that have infiltrated our world’s governments. Their assault on the Vine headquarters of England’s MI-6 spurs the Vine leadership into action, and the go command has been given for an invasion of Earth. Vol. 3 of X-O Manowar clocks in at a whopping six issues, and serves as a mini-event for the title. The first two issues serve as a prelude, detailing the Vine fleets arrival and invasion attempt, while the remaining issues deal with Aric deciding to travel to the Vine home world of Loam and bring the fight to them, even if it means destroying their entire planet. However once he arrives… well… let’s just say I did not see that one coming. Robert Venditti crafts a truly engaging story, especially once Aric arrives on Loam. Here we get to explore more of the mythology of the X-O armor, especially in the form of its religious significance to the Vine as depicted in some amazing artwork by Cary Nord. It is here that we can see Nord starting to stretch his artistic muscles, as the scenes relating the story of the armor are filled with almost liturgical flourish. Truly beautiful stuff. This volume marks a turning point for the series, both in regards to Aric’s quest of vengeance for what the Vine did to him, as well as his role in the Valiant Universe. When read together with the first two volumes, you can get the sense that this is the end of “Season 1” of X-O Manowar, and sets events in motion for an explosive Season 2!

X-O, c'est un peu mon plaisir coupable façon film de SF à gros budget où tout est prétexte à détruire le décor. La série enchaîne les scènes d'action hollywoodiennes débridées (et très réussies) dont on sait à l'avance qu'Aric en sortira vainqueur sans gros bobos, mais les contrebalance aussi par des questionnements sur le bien-fondé des actions du "héros" (qui est avant tout un gros bourrin dont l'objectif principal est d'éradiquer des civilisations entières pour une vengeance personnelle...). Pas de grosse révolution dans ce tome, donc, mais un happy-end qui clôt admirablement ce premier arc en rendant tous les personnages un peu plus sympas que dans les tomes précédents.

The third story arc in the XO Manowar series has both some ups and down. The overall storyline – Aric visit the Vine homework to exact vengeance, is a good one, and well done. The fact that he rescued some of his people was great, and I especially loved the interplay between him and the Vine “religious” figures that now view him as the “chosen one”. (I really hope they will return – I always like it when the “bad guys” are not shown as one dimensional). While the actual battle with the Vine homeworld seemed a little abbreviated (oddly a different impression than I got in the very extended introduction to Aric in the first TPB), the battle scenes were good, and we did seem to learn a little bit more about the XO Manowar battlesuit (although I ended up even having more questions). One thing that I found out of place was the 10th issue, which brought back Aric’s friend Gafti. His reintroduction seemed a little forced, and I am not sure why it was there in the first place. I also really hope that we haven’t seen the last of Alexander, the Vine/Human mix that helped Aric against Ninjak. There are a few minor quibbles (like how does Aric learn about space travel and other planets, when he still seemingly has difficulty grasping concept like the fact he has been gone for so long and the Earth has changed) but all in all, this was a very enjoyable read. I can’t wait to see what Aric does when he brings his newly freed companions back to Earth.

If you are a lover of history, warrior culture and sci-fi then X-O Manowar is the title for you. If you have not read volumes 1 & 2, then I recommend you do so before reading this title or it will have significantly less meaning for you. Plus they're awesome and this third volume is the perfect ending to the story arch started in issue #1 of the series. This book has lots of action, lots of momentum and a satisfying helping of insight into the world of The Vine and the history of the Shanhara armor itself. Put simply, if you love a shared universe of no holds barred storytelling that isn't Marvel or DC, then Valiant is exactly what you're looking for. Not only is the storytelling excellent here in this book, it is in their other titles as well. As a comic book publisher I can tell you that Valiant comics, including this title, are high quality in every sense of the phrase down to the paper it's printed on.