XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

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XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by grendeljd »

If anyone would like to hear our OTV:VCR podcast discussing/reviewing this issue [and Bloodshot Reborn #0], please follow the link;

http://onlythevaliant.com/episodes/vcr109/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks to any who listen in :thumb:
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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by Dallow Spicer1 »

Great start to the new series, epic new world for Aric, plenty of action and lots of new characters. Intriguing to see how his relationship with the armour has changed and that it now openly talks! :o And not forgetting the stunning art!

Dinesh and the crew totally delivered, great promotional campaign, pre order option was a masterstroke, and the book itself on quality paper stock! All the stops well and truly pulled out, what more can readers ask for?

Roll on issue #2

5/5 :clap:

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by TheeBaldMoose »

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by Phoenix8008 »

Loved it! I was especially intrigued by the inside front cover actually being the first page of the comic! No 'explanation page' to help ease you in. You just get thrown right into the deep end with a beautiful splash page that has no words on it besides the name of the planet. A great way to start the story, I think.

I didn't even catch that the armor was actually talking verbally now till someone mentioned it above. I guess if Aric isn't allowing the armor to interface with him at all, then it has to talk to communicate with him instead of just 'mind-melding'?

A very good start to the new series, and I can't wait to see where it goes from there.
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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by nonplayer »

I wonder if the armor speaking out right was cause and affect of the Torment experience.
I am very curious to know if this guy Jason's crazy theory is correct. Did Aric bring the blue people back to earth. And that's who we see in war mother.
Great issue 4.5 out of 5
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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by TheeBaldMoose »

Curious foreshadowing, but does anyone think that even though he has called the armor (at the end of this book), that it will reject him, much like he has rejected the armor in the past? Show a refusal to do Aric's bidding?
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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by jmatt »

A solid beginning with great art. There are a few tropes in there; the landing is reminiscent of the D-Day invasion (US Rangers at Pointe du Hoc) and the "take the weapon of the fallen soldier beside you" is straight outta the battle of Stalingrad. You can fire a ship off to invade but you can't even provide these guys with a knife or a spear? Not a biggie.

There were some cool moments, like crossing the minefield by walking on dead bodies, and Aric taking out the big monster/tank. The dialogue is reasonably realistic throughout.

It's a little jarring to see Aric talk so dismissively about his time on Earth, assuming he's referencing Saana. And he cut the armor with a mere hatchet? And what's up with him putting Shanhara on a shelf? That will require an interesting explanation.

All in all, very enjoyable.

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by Sunlight on Snow »

Very good beginning and exactly what I was hoping for - an epic space adventure with fantastic art.

The most intriguing element is the interaction between Aric and Shanhara.

XO 2017 is off to a great start.

Schon reminds me of [Zoe Saldana's character in Avatar] especially with the story about her (invisible!) tail.

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by jmatt »

Sunlight on Snow wrote:Schon reminds me of [Zoe Saldana's character in Avatar] especially with the story about her (invisible!) tail.
Same here.

I'm digging the other-worldiness of the book with multiple moons, etc. I wonder what motivation they have in mind for having him leave Earth.

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by grendeljd »

I'm feeling really torn about this book. It is a spectacular start to a Heavy Metal style sci-fi epic story... Love that vibe to it, the art is impeccably gorgeous in all regards & I'm drooling all over every page of it.

I love that Shanhara speaks vocally here - that was something I thought was a missing element in the first 50 issues. Very happy to see that.

But is this a good *XO* story?

I'm less certain of that - while the continuity of Vditty's run is intact, it is intentionally ignored/severed here. We've skipped ahead past a series of serious unknown events which have been suggested (and I'm sure will eventually be fleshed out) that have clearly changed the status quo to suit the story that Kindt wants to tell. Time will tell.
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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by jmatt »

grendeljd wrote:But is this a good *XO* story?

I'm less certain of that - while the continuity of Vditty's run is intact, it is intentionally ignored/severed here.
I'm of two minds about this. Is it a good X-O story? It is. In fact in some ways it mirrors his VEI origin. We see him, once again, engaged in pitched battle without the use of the armor, much as we did when he was a captive aboard the Vine colony ship.

We will get to see him once again move up through the ranks, winning the loyalty of his men as he did with the Visigoths once they had returned to Earth. Much of Aric's story has been about his ascendance to a pinnacle of power; even the V1 storyline followed that arc with his takeover of Orb Industry.

But like you, I feel it's a little disconcerting to see his character arc reset so we can watch him do it all over again. It somewhat feels like his own little Stalinverse, an alternate timeline designed for the specific purpose of not having to invent a storyline back on Earth, with all its backstory baggage.

That said, I'm very confident that this will be a very entertaining year-long arc for X-O Manowar.

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by Sven the Returned »

Sunlight on Snow wrote:Very good beginning and exactly what I was hoping for - an epic space adventure with fantastic art.

The most intriguing element is the interaction between Aric and Shanhara.

XO 2017 is off to a great start.

Schon reminds me of [Zoe Saldana's character in Avatar] especially with the story about her (invisible!) tail.
We did not see space yet. I hope we do.

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by Sunlight on Snow »

Sven the Returned wrote:
Sunlight on Snow wrote:Very good beginning and exactly what I was hoping for - an epic space adventure with fantastic art.

The most intriguing element is the interaction between Aric and Shanhara.

XO 2017 is off to a great start.

Schon reminds me of [Zoe Saldana's character in Avatar] especially with the story about her (invisible!) tail.
We did not see space yet. I hope we do.
In the Pre-Order Edition Kindt says the Cadmiums have spaceships and control the space surrounding Planet Gorin.

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by jmatt »

Sven the Returned wrote:We did not see space yet. I hope we do.
Big time. But I don't think we'll see it in this arc.

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by Keith »

The wife was not happy Aric has left Saana behind and shacking up with some space chickee. Not happy at all.
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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by greg »

Keith wrote:The wife was not happy Aric has left Saana behind and shacking up with some space chickee. Not happy at all.
Aric looks like he's 20 or 30 years older. He said he left Earth because he was tired of death and destruction. Seems likely that Saana's death was in that mix.

Decades later, widowers aren't 'shacking up'.

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by Sunlight on Snow »

greg wrote:
Keith wrote:The wife was not happy Aric has left Saana behind and shacking up with some space chickee. Not happy at all.
Aric looks like he's 20 or 30 years older. He said he left Earth because he was tired of death and destruction. Seems likely that Saana's death was in that mix.

Decades later, widowers aren't 'shacking up'.
Saana is still alive in the BOD one-shot.

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by greg »

Sunlight on Snow wrote:
greg wrote:
Keith wrote:The wife was not happy Aric has left Saana behind and shacking up with some space chickee. Not happy at all.
Aric looks like he's 20 or 30 years older. He said he left Earth because he was tired of death and destruction. Seems likely that Saana's death was in that mix.

Decades later, widowers aren't 'shacking up'.
Saana is still alive in the BOD one-shot.
So is Livewire.

Clones, I tell ya!

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by Sunlight on Snow »

greg wrote:
Sunlight on Snow wrote:
greg wrote:
Keith wrote:The wife was not happy Aric has left Saana behind and shacking up with some space chickee. Not happy at all.
Aric looks like he's 20 or 30 years older. He said he left Earth because he was tired of death and destruction. Seems likely that Saana's death was in that mix.

Decades later, widowers aren't 'shacking up'.
Saana is still alive in the BOD one-shot.
So is Livewire.

Clones, I tell ya!
:lol:

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by jmatt »

greg wrote:Clones, I tell ya!
Always the perfect comic book 'out'. :lol:

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by jmatt »

grendeljd wrote:If anyone would like to hear our OTV:VCR podcast discussing/reviewing this issue [and Bloodshot Reborn #0], please follow the link;

http://onlythevaliant.com/episodes/vcr109/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks to any who listen in :thumb:
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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by agent_graves »

I thought this a a great beginning to what looks to be an epic space saga by Kindt.

Now if I could just find a pre-order edition for #1, (told my shop to late, but they got the memo now) all will be well. :lol:
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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by agent_graves »

Phoenix8008 wrote:Loved it! I was especially intrigued by the inside front cover actually being the first page of the comic! No 'explanation page' to help ease you in. You just get thrown right into the deep end with a beautiful splash page that has no words on it besides the name of the planet. A great way to start the story, I think.

I didn't even catch that the armor was actually talking verbally now till someone mentioned it above. I guess if Aric isn't allowing the armor to interface with him at all, then it has to talk to communicate with him instead of just 'mind-melding'?

A very good start to the new series, and I can't wait to see where it goes from there.
I thought that was dope!
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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by mateo107 »

After a lot of thought, my problems with this book are the flaws that go with shelving a character and then taking him out again. The last series gave us years of continued character development, much of which has been inexplicably lost in the 6 month between volumes. While I'm sure it will all get explained, it does seem like a lazy way to move the character into a new scenario without actually developing him.

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Re: XO Manowar [vol.2] #1 discussion

Post by 400yrs »

I don't get how this is much different from volume 1. Well, aside from not being able to tell what was going on with the ring and something later in the book. I had problems with the art storytelling.
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