X-O Manowar #4

X-O Manowar #4
Then & Now
Valiant Entertainment
August 29th, 2012
Robert Venditti, Cary Nord, Stefano Gaudiano, Moose Baumann

Aric of Dacia never lost hope. Not after the death of his father. Not after his beloved wife was kidnapped by the Roman pigs. Not even when he was taken by a hideous, treacherous race of aliens known as The Vine.
After years of torture aboard the Vine’s space craft, Aric led a group of slaves in a desperate attempt to escape the spider aliens grip and recovered the alien’s most prized artifact; the X-O Manowar class armor, and used it to as a tool of vengeance against his captors.
But how much longer can Aric hold on to that hope after using the X-O Manowar armor to escape from the Vine and return to Earth, only to find himself flung hundreds of years into the future? And what of the true intentions of the Vine?
While the Classic Valiant Universe lacked an indepth backstory for it’s version of The Vine, Venditti uses the aliens to their fullest potential as masterminds of deception and infultration. You remember that a Vine child was planted in Aric’s camp during the series’ debut issue? Imagine how much deeper the Vine’s tendrils would bury themselves into our society after sixteen thousand years of deception. And poor Aric. How will he handle knowing that everything he held close to his heart; the reason he fought to survive for so many years, has been buried in the sands of time?
With the fourth issue of Valiant Entertainment’s flagship title, Venditti and Nord continue to craft a story worthy to be on every nerd’s pullfile list.
I’m being totally serious with all of you. The new Valiant Universe is amazing. The stories created within these pages hold their own against those that other companies are desperately trying to maintain. Do you think it’s a coincidence that two major companies have decided to reboot their lines since Valiant Entertainment announced it’s return? While each has it’s own established fanbase, it’s Valiant that has brought together a brilliant creative team who care for these characters as much as we all do.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; If you’re not reading X-O Manowar and Valiant’s other titles, you’ll be kicking yourself by this time next year.

5 out of 5 for X-O Manowar #4.