X-O #14 discussion

[pixierosa]

Thoughts?

The war looked to be epic but we pulled from most of the action itself. I don't mind this - there's only so many times I can see Aric "paft" Vine. I did like the extrapolation of the council and their beliefs regarding Shanhara. Interesting about Axil. I was also glad to see Aric portrayed as a man, not just a warrior - such as in his scenes with the priest.

It all seemed a bit tidy, but the politics and ramifications of a new order could be entire series on its own. I wonder what exactly Aric had Saana tell the other slaves.
I'm sure we won't see the last of the Vine. Wonder how their hybrid agents on earth and other planets will react?

[somewhatlazy]

It all seemed a bit tidy,

I thought the same. I expected Aric's new allies to meet a similar fate his people in the Lost Land did during Unity in the original comic.

but the politics and ramifications of a new order could be entire series on its own. I wonder what exactly Aric had Saana tell the other slaves.
I'm sure we won't see the last of the Vine. Wonder how their hybrid agents on earth and other planets will react?

These will be the interesting bits going forward. It doesn't look like the Eternal Warrior will be glad to see Aric and new friends next issue.

[Zaphod]

Ummmm, he did say at the end that their destination is Dacia. So time travel into the past? I hope they explain this one in a satisfactory way.

I enjoyed the debate over whether Aric bonding with Shanhara fulfilled the destiny of their faith or whether their faith was fabrication to unite a people. Perhaps like the best debates, there was ultimately no conclusion to it. Besides severed heads and a new regime.

Meet your new boss, same as the old boss.

On the bright side, ultra-non-decompression in this issue...but not. This is the kind of story that a bit more time building the tension towards and outcome I would have preferred.

[BugsySig]

I really liked the issue. It was actually one of my favorite issues to date. Big, epic action plus some insight into Shanharra (looks like I may have been right that Shanharra came from the Faraway and was always worn by a human...possibly by Aric himself in an eventual twist).

A nice tidy ending, but isn't that what you want from an arc In many ways Aric still has a pretty simplistic view of politics and leadership and may not understand the real dynamics at play here. I have a feeling this is not the last time Aric will set foot on Loam.

Zaphod - I believe Aric is heading for what he calls "Dacia", the area that was once his homeland in present day central/eastern Europe. I don't think time travel is taking place (though I'd never rule it out either) as he is traveling at ultralight speed and there should not be any time dilation.

[cdgodin]

Good issue. Nice art, as always. Even though the ending was kinda spoiled due to solicits mentioning the humans living into the next arc, I still liked it. Hopefully we will get to see some of these Alien races again, they looked pretty cool. Also, glad that it's only a 2 week wait until next ish.

[MarkRoseHFX]

I'm thinking the remaining Vine are going to do something pretty crazy on Earth.

[swtor1091]

good issue... thought things were wrapped up really well... may fav xo comic so far I think. I'm hoping after the two issue gilad arc we get an arc where Aric has time to just chill and reflect so we can get more on his characther and his mind now that he is in this new world

[comicsyte95]

I really liked the issue. It was actually one of my favorite issues to date. Big, epic action plus some insight into Shanharra (looks like I may have been right that Shanharra came from the Faraway and was always worn by a human...possibly by Aric himself in an eventual twist).

A nice tidy ending, but isn't that what you want from an arc In many ways Aric still has a pretty simplistic view of politics and leadership and may not understand the real dynamics at play here. I have a feeling this is not the last time Aric will set foot on Loam.

Zaphod - I believe Aric is heading for what he calls "Dacia", the area that was once his homeland in present day central/eastern Europe. I don't think time travel is taking place (though I'd never rule it out either) as he is traveling at ultralight speed and there should not be any time dilation.

I think Aric going back to present day Earth with the hope of conquering it.I don't think that it will be as easy as a few issues to take "Dacia".

Maybe since the Vine is his now he might take its posessions on Earth (maybe Orb industries)?

[cdgodin]

good issue... thought things were wrapped up really well... may fav xo comic so far I think. I'm hoping after the two issue gilad arc we get an arc where Aric has time to just chill and reflect so we can get more on his characther and his mind now that he is in this new world

IIRC, the next arc is four issues, but only the first 2 feature Gilad. But what do I know?

[SJS4]

GREAT issue imho. Loved the art...might be Nord's best issue to date. Story was also very good, lots of action plus we learned a bit more about the armor and the Vine. Cannot wait to see the Eternal Warrior show up (again) next issue!

[swtor1091]

good issue... thought things were wrapped up really well... may fav xo comic so far I think. I'm hoping after the two issue gilad arc we get an arc where Aric has time to just chill and reflect so we can get more on his characther and his mind now that he is in this new world

IIRC, the next arc is four issues, but only the first 2 feature Gilad. But what do I know?

IIRC?

[lorddunlow]

good issue... thought things were wrapped up really well... may fav xo comic so far I think. I'm hoping after the two issue gilad arc we get an arc where Aric has time to just chill and reflect so we can get more on his characther and his mind now that he is in this new world

IIRC, the next arc is four issues, but only the first 2 feature Gilad. But what do I know?

IIRC?

IIRC = if I recall correctly

[hunter_peterson]

I thought this was probably the best issue of the series to date.

The war was AWESOME, and really captured the epic scope of both the conflict and of Aric as a conqueror god. A lot of shots and descriptions of him really reminded hammered home that the "man as god" themes of Solar are now part of XO. The art in general was fantastic- the changes to Nord's style really found their footing here and the XO energy signature on his control-hand was wonderfully well used. There's a visual language for a Manowar book being built here in a similar way to JH Wlliams' Batwoman or Francis Manapul's Flash, which is always great to see in books stylistically.

The debate around the nature of Shanhara is interesting. I was thinking the same things as BugsySig when I read it- that it comes from the Faraway. But I was thinking that it actually comes from Rai's era or later and the Faraway is just the means of transition from one time to another. I'm also interested to see if the armor actually DOES work for all non-Vine... we've only ever seen it choose Aric and use Gafti to preserve Aric at his behest. I would really like to have an issue establishing the armor's sentience and getting into its "head"...

And the abductees are going to Dacia, which I think is in Romania now? Despite spoilers, still cool. It's great to have the big hero of this universe basically be Doctor Dooming it up, changing the face of the planet by giving it rings and just generally being a huge *SQUEE* deal. Can't wait to see how he settles in to the present day setting now that he's gotten his vengeance.

[hunter_peterson]

Also: only two weeks to wait?! *SQUEE* AWESOME!

[VEI Reborn]

Anyone notice the Solar-like image? Very cool stuff.

[Carson]

Anyone notice how we came full circle with the XO crucifixion pose from the Planet Death prologue?

Prologue:


Conclusion:


We are enjoying some beautifully illustrated, well thought out Valiant Comics.

I hope this goes on forever.

[erwinrafael]

Anyone notice how we came full circle with the XO crucifixion pose from the Planet Death prologue?

Prologue:


Conclusion:


We are enjoying some beautifully illustrated, well thought out Valiant Comics.

I hope this goes on forever.

I may be OVERTHINKING the art process again but does anyone also think that the art style went back to the style of the prologue (the clean(er) inks) because the rough inks to clean inks were supposed to symbolize going from the dark to the light? At first, I thought it was just Nord becoming more comfortable with the inking process but the prologue shows that he is comfortable with his inking process already. there is a transition from wide gutters with white space to wide gutters with balck space and bleeding art.

[BugsySig]

I have been loving the evolution of Nord's art during this arc. Not just his pencils and inks, but his panels and page layouts have become so much more creative. This issue in particular he did a magnificent job at that.

[Captain Craig]

I really enjoyed the wrap up to Planet Death.
Like some of you I found the discussion among the Vine Council and Priest concerning politics and religion to be most interesting.
I also liked that we have a bunch of new alien species, only two of which were given any face time. The boulder men and flying ones.

The armor originating in the Faraway is an interesting idea someone mentioned.

Here is a thought I didn't see. What if the Visigoths become the nation living in a ship high above the Earth in this VALIANT Universe.
I don't see them incorporating into 21st century life.

This is and has been my favorite title. Can't wait for Eternal Warrior next issue!!

[bygranddesign]

This was a great conclusion to planet death. It had all the elements you would want from an XO issue - over the top action, awesome alien battle scenes, Aric showing off the power of the XO suit in all its power and glory and some interesting religious and philosophical overtones that gave it a little bit of weightiness.

The overall arc didn't quite blow me away (even though everything else gets blown away on planet death). I think the revelation that the Hara Vine might come from somewhere else mysterious (ahem.. Faraway) and that the character depicted in the "origin story" was never a member of the vine (and human from the beginning) is cool and interesting but not shocking. We pretty much were on top of this from the issue #11 discussion thread viewtopic.php?f=33&t=39647&hilit=faraway" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The overall arc was tasty and fun ... but I wished there was a little more meat on the bone to chew on.

The art though was unbelievably fantastic this issue ... Cary Nord went all out. It was beautiful. The panels were creative and the actions scenes were intense. No muddled panels that look half done .. everything was nice and detailed and clean.

I give this issue 9/10
Overall Arc ... 7.9/10

[jmatt]

While I agree with a lot of these posts, I'm gonna play Devil's Advocate for a second. I just reread issues 11-14.

1) The title of the arc is quite an overstatement. I was never quite sure if it is meant to convey "planet of death" or "death of a planet", but it was neither, by a very enormous margin. Every issue I kept expecting the book to erupt into a world ending war with smoldering cities and millions of dead. I suppose I don't mind that it didn't, but customer expectations are important.

I liked the issue and the arc but I think my expectations left me feeling like I never got what I was promised. They could have simply titled this arc something like "Reunited" and I would have felt more fulfilled.

2) I vacillate on Nord's style. Some pages are terrific and others leave me wondering what this all might look like if Clayton Henry did it. In this issue, the panel where we see the Vine army headed for the slave encampment was weak. And thank goodness he's laying off the heavy cross hatching from last issue.

3) The Vine apparently never went up against anything but primitive worlds: They are horrible tacticians. Twice we've seen them just bum rush unarmed slaves and get defeated. In a prior issue, Aric leads them into woods and then sets it on fire. A Vine general comments "In all my wars, I have never seen anything like this." He's never seen burning trees? No wonder they got fooled.

4) Okay, so what's the deal with the green flash from the right hand? I think we saw it three times in the first few pages. Is it merely a visual device to make a panel look more grandiose? Or does it have some actual significance?

5) And lastly, while the title is certainly more operatic than it's original namesake, it has none of the charm the VH1 version has. Aric is a cookie-cutter warrior with little characterization or personality.

I dunno, maybe I'm in a funk tonight. I like the title but not as much as I hoped I would.

[erwinrafael]

5) And lastly, while the title is certainly more operatic than it's original namesake, it has none of the charm the VH1 version has. Aric is a cookie-cutter warrior with little characterization or personality.

VH1 Aric is so full of offensive stereotyping of a supposedly primitive uncivilized culture that I am glad that that has not translated into the VEI version.

Also, there is a lot of character in the VEI version of Aric. Venditti just preferred to show it through the actions, decisions and words of the character instead of through extensive use of thought balloons/captions. I think he just trusts the readers more that they will actually create an image of Aric's personality without all the narration.

[Knightt]

2) I vacillate on Nord's style.

Me too. Twice a day, three times on Sunday.

[BugsySig]

5) And lastly, while the title is certainly more operatic than it's original namesake, it has none of the charm the VH1 version has. Aric is a cookie-cutter warrior with little characterization or personality.

VH1 Aric is so full of offensive stereotyping of a supposedly primitive uncivilized culture that I am glad that that has not translated into the VEI version.

Also, there is a lot of character in the VEI version of Aric. Venditti just preferred to show it through the actions, decisions and words of the character instead of through extensive use of thought balloons/captions. I think he just trusts the readers more that they will actually create an image of Aric's personality without all the narration.

I just re-read issues 1-4 and suddenly I picked up on all sorts of characterization and small elements to Aric that weren't clear until now. VDitti really mapped the story out well in advance when you look at it now: Aric's natural leadership and ability to inspire his people (both in the battle with the Romans and the slave revolt on the colony ship), his fighting style, anger and determination to keep fighting, and his desire to reclaim a homeland for his people.

I think too many people look back with rose colored glasses on VH1 sometimes. I wonder if all this characterization people refer to was actually there on an issue to issue basis or only after having read all the issues and taken in the whole story...

[grendeljd]

good issue... thought things were wrapped up really well... may fav xo comic so far I think. I'm hoping after the two issue gilad arc we get an arc where Aric has time to just chill and reflect so we can get more on his characther and his mind now that he is in this new world

IIRC, the next arc is four issues, but only the first 2 feature Gilad. But what do I know?

IIRC?

IIRC = if I recall correctly

He would know that if he read the old stuff... Wait... No, that doesn't apply here. Ah well.