X-O Manowar #5
September 12th, 2012
Valiant Entertainment
Finally, with the release of Venditti and Garbett’s 5th issue of X-O Manowar, one of my Dungeons & Dragons dream comes true; Barbarian vs Ninja.
While Aric is starting to come to terms with the new world he’s suddenly found himself in, The Vine recruit the world’s foremost weapons master, Ninjak, to return their most prized artifact; Shanhara, the XO Manowar armor. The time lost Aric has no intentions of going down without a fight, though and must once again prove he is worthy of the armor. This issue also reveals a slightly softer side of our hero. As Aric uses the armor to pear through thousands of years of accumulated dirt and rock, I can imagine the hopelessness sinking in to his heart as he sees the bones and discarded weapons of his long ago fallen Visigoth brethren. Aric’s brief conversation with an Italian child proves his concerns are true; His people are now just a memory nearly erased by the sands of time. Before leaving, Aric takes a relic of his own, a broken Visigoth sword. Seeking solace in this strange world, Aric then finds himself in Peru, at the headwaters of the Amazon River. But The Vine will not give up so easily and soon dispatch their own hired mercenaries to bring back “the weapon”. Lee Garbett’s artwork perfectly depicts the brutal battle that follows and introduces us to yet another fan favorite character from the classic Valiant Universe, Ninjak. Yet The Vine’s deception and infiltration into Earth’s society runs so deep, I doubt even Ninjak knows who he’s really working for. Venditti continues to craft and amazing story and the addition of Garbett as artist proves that Valiant is determined to gives it’s fans only the best.
Rating 9/10
