Re-Reading: X-O Manowar #2

[xoken]

I thought we could do a book a day (that way people can read one every day or catch up on weekends), talk about it on its own, in the context of whats next, in regards to what expectations it creates and vote on how good it is. I don't have to be the one that posts everyday. If I miss a day or if someone wants to take over please do

For voting think of your single favourite comic book (not just VALIANT) as the benchmark - thats a 10 - and grade according to that.

Make sure to mention what you like'd about the book, what you didn't, what you wish they would have done, your favourite panels, lines of dialogue, little bits of trivia etc.

X-O Manowar #2

[magnusr]

A very good story. Especially the reactions of the characters are well thought through. It's just that there's a bit too much happening. The first two issues of XO could have made four issues worth of story. Some unclarities on the history of the aliens. Ken talks about their ship in singular while Solar shows a fleet. That's mainly a detail compared to how muddled the spider alien origin became later.

/Magnus

[Daniel Jackson]

Very good story, lottsa action and interesting characters. I really like the artwork as well.

[jedimarley]

Very good read. Great art. And the spider aliens kick *SQUEE*. 9

[Todd Luck]

All the good stuff I said about last issue goes for this one two.

There's a nice sense of urgancy and energy in the fight scenes even if most of the things they throw at Aric can't kill him in the armor. We get finally Aric's origin. Ken even gets to kick a little *SQUEE* himself. Lydia lays a nice trap. We get a nice happy ending.

Good issue . A 9.

Continuity Note: You'll notice a bit of difference in Aric's origin here and later after Shooter left. They retroactively got rid of the "keeping him in stasis during space travel" thing to something about time moving relatively slower during space travel (so they put him to work in slave camp in X-0 0).

[x-omatic]

A very good story. The first two issues of XO could have made four issues worth of story.
/Magnus

Valiant gives you twice the story!

I love this line.

"That seduced me?"

[Todd Luck]

Some unclarities on the history of the aliens. Ken talks about their ship in singular while Solar shows a fleet. That's mainly a detail compared to how muddled the spider alien origin became later.

/Magnus

The implication here is that the group of aliens Ken worked for (Lydia, ect) came to Earth on a ship (wether it was part of a fleet or ended up joining one, it was still a ship). This could be a bad choice of words or an incorrect statement by someone not in their inner circle (Ken is, afterall, "prey") but that's the implication.

Interesting that thing about them wanting to use the X-O to create a new ship was actually mentioned (very briefly though). It's handled here very mysteriously (Ken doesn't understand it himself). It seems kind of dumb when it comes later in more detail in the Solar issue we've already read (but it was just a bad story).

I don't understand why they aliens needed an extra reason to get the X-O. It's the most powerful weapon in the universe and it's in the hands of a human who wants to kill them all. Seems like good enough motivation to me.