Reviews
X-O Manowar, Volume 1: By The Sword, by Robert Venditti, Cary Nord, Moose Baumann, Stefano Gaudiano
kavinay's review against another edition
2.0
Pretty straightforward. Not bad but not particularly great either. Still the pulpy premise--space Conan!--has always intrigued me about X-O. BTW, the art is great, there just isn't a lot more than a by the numbers origin story here.
trike's review against another edition
4.0
I quite enjoyed this book. It's a fairly lightweight action story which combines ancient Rome with alien Iron Man-type armor and invading insectoid aliens. The hot-headed Visigoth warrior Aric leads the charge into battle against Roman legions, as the alien Vine are using the confusion and disarray of war to infiltrate humanity by planting sleeper agents and abducting human slaves.
It's an interesting mash-up of a premise that promises some wide-screen space opera in future installments, but we get precious few answers in this book. We don't really know why the Vine are invading and infiltrating, nor why they need slaves to work in the gardens of their gigantic spaceships, and we don't know anything about the Manowar battle suit, mainly because the Vine don't know anything about it, apparently.
I'm kind of hoping this is all going somewhere and the fact that even these powerful aliens don't know how some of this tech works means that they aren't its creators.
I don't really expect great revelations or tremendous storytelling, but for a fun action sci-fi story, it does the job nicely.
It's an interesting mash-up of a premise that promises some wide-screen space opera in future installments, but we get precious few answers in this book. We don't really know why the Vine are invading and infiltrating, nor why they need slaves to work in the gardens of their gigantic spaceships, and we don't know anything about the Manowar battle suit, mainly because the Vine don't know anything about it, apparently.
I'm kind of hoping this is all going somewhere and the fact that even these powerful aliens don't know how some of this tech works means that they aren't its creators.
I don't really expect great revelations or tremendous storytelling, but for a fun action sci-fi story, it does the job nicely.
delaneybull's review against another edition
3.0
This was my first comic experience EVER, and it was mixed. I am so used to reading words, so I had a hard time paying full attention to the scene as a whole, not just reading the words and moving on. I liked the storyline, would have liked more time before the huge time jump to get more familiar and connected with the characters, but I figured it out as I went along. Very traditionally moral hero, which was fun.
evione's review against another edition
4.0
Ez egy kellemes kis sci-fi képregény, ami arról szól, hogy egy vizigót harcost, Aric-ot - a rómaiakkal folytatott háború pillanatnyi szünetében - néhány társával együtt elrabolja egy idegen faj, nevezetesen a Vine, akiknek Aric és társai csupán rabszolgának kellenek. A Vine-ról azt kell tudni, hogy egy különleges páncél, az X-O Manowar képezi imádatuk tárgyát, melyet hitük szerint csak az arra legérdemesebb harcos tudja viselni. Ennek köszönhetően bizonyos időközönként a páncél el is fogyaszt egy-két harcost. Aztán na, találjátok, ki, hogy vajon mi fog történni! :) De attól függetlenül, hogy az egyik főbb fordulat gond nélkül kitalálható, a másik azért szolgált némi meglepetéssel, és biztos, hogy folytatni fogom a szériát, mert nagyon kíváncsi vagyok, hogy mi fog ebből kikerekedni. Bár azt nagyon remélem, hogy a következő részekben nem lesz ennyire kapkodós a sztori.
A rajzolás nekem bejött, igazából semmi extra. A borítók viszont nagyon jól néznek ki.
A rajzolás nekem bejött, igazából semmi extra. A borítók viszont nagyon jól néznek ki.
intorilex's review against another edition
4.0
Find this and other Reviews at In Tori Lex
I was pleasantly surprised by how great this time traveling, alien adventure is. It was funny, engaging and full of action. Aric is a wonderful protagonist who wants to defend the Visgoth people and his honor at all costs. When the story begins in 400 AD, Aric is Visgoth Warrior leading his men to battle. Despite being quickly captured by aliens and facing technology he has never seen before, he was able to adjust to his circumstances and rise up to escape the grasp of The Vine Alien's. The action while non-stop is accompanied by a fast paced plot, that hints at more mystery and intrigue to come.
This first volume included characters to love, plots to remember and well done art work. The Vine alien's are intelligent but uncaring towards humans. They enslave Aric and other Visgoth people they capture so that they can care for their extensive revered gardens. I'm excited to learn more background and history, about the Visgoth and The Vine in later volumes.
This short volume ends introducing a story arc set in present day. I can't wait to see how Aric adapts and maneuvers in present times while facing time traveling enemies. I noticed the diversity of the individuals illustrated in present day. I would recommend this comic to readers who enjoy science fiction, action and historical fiction.
I was pleasantly surprised by how great this time traveling, alien adventure is. It was funny, engaging and full of action. Aric is a wonderful protagonist who wants to defend the Visgoth people and his honor at all costs. When the story begins in 400 AD, Aric is Visgoth Warrior leading his men to battle. Despite being quickly captured by aliens and facing technology he has never seen before, he was able to adjust to his circumstances and rise up to escape the grasp of The Vine Alien's. The action while non-stop is accompanied by a fast paced plot, that hints at more mystery and intrigue to come.
This first volume included characters to love, plots to remember and well done art work. The Vine alien's are intelligent but uncaring towards humans. They enslave Aric and other Visgoth people they capture so that they can care for their extensive revered gardens. I'm excited to learn more background and history, about the Visgoth and The Vine in later volumes.
This short volume ends introducing a story arc set in present day. I can't wait to see how Aric adapts and maneuvers in present times while facing time traveling enemies. I noticed the diversity of the individuals illustrated in present day. I would recommend this comic to readers who enjoy science fiction, action and historical fiction.
vishal7arora's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
subhamroxx's review against another edition
3.0
This was such a great volume!
It picks with this guy named Aric of Dacia as he is a visigoth and they are fighting the romans when he loses his close ones and even more surprisingly they get abducted by the aliens called Vine and they are forced to work as labor but one day they make plans for escape and he stumbles upon the Armor of Shanhara and using it he knocks them down and loses his companions and returns to earth only to see a changed world.
Its a great volume and is a great origin start for the character and I love the simple writing style which shows this world and how its different but yet familiar and showing a man whose so much out of time and lost so much thanks to these vines and we learn the aliens secret motive and their affiliation with Earth and its intriguing. I like where its going and a mysterious man in the end. Plus the art was so good. Nord knows how to get into the heart of the characters and shows them wonderfully and the colors compliment it really well.
It picks with this guy named Aric of Dacia as he is a visigoth and they are fighting the romans when he loses his close ones and even more surprisingly they get abducted by the aliens called Vine and they are forced to work as labor but one day they make plans for escape and he stumbles upon the Armor of Shanhara and using it he knocks them down and loses his companions and returns to earth only to see a changed world.
Its a great volume and is a great origin start for the character and I love the simple writing style which shows this world and how its different but yet familiar and showing a man whose so much out of time and lost so much thanks to these vines and we learn the aliens secret motive and their affiliation with Earth and its intriguing. I like where its going and a mysterious man in the end. Plus the art was so good. Nord knows how to get into the heart of the characters and shows them wonderfully and the colors compliment it really well.
tmaluck's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed the pulpy, action-adventure mix of historical origins and sci-fi hero's quest - "an ancient nomadic warrior Aric is abducted by aliens and turns out to be worthy of their superpowered suit of armor just in time to come back to earth in the modern day," with all the trappings of Aric missing his old way of life and not understanding what's happened since then. Between The Force Awakens and this book, I've seen a lot of space-age claymores. Nord's artwork is up to the task of showing off the disparate settings (ancient field of battle, alien jail & plantation, modern-day Colosseum), and the action satisfies in all four issues collected here.
However, this book has a problem with women, and it's particularly bothersome because of how this book frames itself within the Valiant universe. A foreword (and lots of marketing) points to X-O Manowar as a launch point for the Valiant universe, a shot fired across the bows of Marvel and DC. Good for them! Show the big two the errors of their ways! Subvert some cliches and show us what superhero comics can really do! When Aric has a flashback to his passionate nights with his wife then wakes up and mourns her absence, I can almost let the trope slide. He's not just fighting for his freedom, he's fighting... for love! ...Or he would be, but his flashback shows that she only existed to love him physically (when he's away in battle, she "thinks of new tactics" to use on him, nice fantasizing there Venditti). Is Aric the ancient nomad warrior only aware of murder and sex? Is he the equivalent of a caveman crossed with Iron Man's armor and a lightsaber?
At the end of the book, the perspective shifts to a new character (I suspect Ninjak, Valiant's equivalent of Bruce Wayne) who's watching the news of Aric's arrival on Earth while two women pine for him in bed, observing that perhaps it's the "other" ladies' turns with him. He steps out of his bedroom and there's a whole waiting room of young women waiting for their number to be called to sleep with the billionaire playboy. Watch out, Aric the bold warrior who challenged the Roman empire, you're about to go toe to toe with... some lothario? I appreciate the division of characterizations, but there's a side effect that I hope was unintentional:
Unless I missed a background cameo, these scenes tell me that the only roles for women in the series are "fondly remembered nympho wife" and "prostitutes for the male rival." This element of the story is a cringeworthy blind spot that should be addressed in later volumes. As it stands, based on the first book, this pulpy adventure hits some fun beats but is not at all what I would recommend to people interested in trying out the Valiant universe beyond seeing "Who's Manowar? Okay, back to the great stuff."
However, this book has a problem with women, and it's particularly bothersome because of how this book frames itself within the Valiant universe. A foreword (and lots of marketing) points to X-O Manowar as a launch point for the Valiant universe, a shot fired across the bows of Marvel and DC. Good for them! Show the big two the errors of their ways! Subvert some cliches and show us what superhero comics can really do! When Aric has a flashback to his passionate nights with his wife then wakes up and mourns her absence, I can almost let the trope slide. He's not just fighting for his freedom, he's fighting... for love! ...Or he would be, but his flashback shows that she only existed to love him physically (when he's away in battle, she "thinks of new tactics" to use on him, nice fantasizing there Venditti). Is Aric the ancient nomad warrior only aware of murder and sex? Is he the equivalent of a caveman crossed with Iron Man's armor and a lightsaber?
At the end of the book, the perspective shifts to a new character (I suspect Ninjak, Valiant's equivalent of Bruce Wayne) who's watching the news of Aric's arrival on Earth while two women pine for him in bed, observing that perhaps it's the "other" ladies' turns with him. He steps out of his bedroom and there's a whole waiting room of young women waiting for their number to be called to sleep with the billionaire playboy. Watch out, Aric the bold warrior who challenged the Roman empire, you're about to go toe to toe with... some lothario? I appreciate the division of characterizations, but there's a side effect that I hope was unintentional:
Unless I missed a background cameo, these scenes tell me that the only roles for women in the series are "fondly remembered nympho wife" and "prostitutes for the male rival." This element of the story is a cringeworthy blind spot that should be addressed in later volumes. As it stands, based on the first book, this pulpy adventure hits some fun beats but is not at all what I would recommend to people interested in trying out the Valiant universe beyond seeing "Who's Manowar? Okay, back to the great stuff."
arf88's review against another edition
4.0
This has been described as Conan the Barbarian meets the Iron Man armour, and well, I can't really argue with that.
This was a promising start. Aric comes off a bit too stupid to live in some places, but I assume his character is going to have some growth. The Vine are an interesting villain, although they veer into evil caricatures sometimes. They story is mostly set up, but it was interesting set up, that left lots of questions I'm desperate to have answered.
As for the art, I didn't really have any strong opinions one way or another. There wasn't any panels I hated, and there were a couple I quite liked, so I'd say it's more a strength than a weakness.
This was a promising start. Aric comes off a bit too stupid to live in some places, but I assume his character is going to have some growth. The Vine are an interesting villain, although they veer into evil caricatures sometimes. They story is mostly set up, but it was interesting set up, that left lots of questions I'm desperate to have answered.
As for the art, I didn't really have any strong opinions one way or another. There wasn't any panels I hated, and there were a couple I quite liked, so I'd say it's more a strength than a weakness.
all_hail_grimlock's review against another edition
4.0
Visigoths in space.
I mean, it's more complicated than that, and includes aliens, abductions, and sacred living weapons. It's a bit brutal, but I honestly sometimes crave that in my reading: it can be cathartic for me and I was in a stressful enough place that I needed that catharsis.
I mean, it's more complicated than that, and includes aliens, abductions, and sacred living weapons. It's a bit brutal, but I honestly sometimes crave that in my reading: it can be cathartic for me and I was in a stressful enough place that I needed that catharsis.