Re-Reading: X-O Manowar #23

[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 #23

[Todd Luck]

More Tarzan stuff with Aric and Randy gets more pathetic.

I think it was a big story telling mistake NOT to show the Wolfbridge Affair on panel and just give it mainly lip service and say how horrible it was over and over. If we wanted to really feel Randy's trauma we needed to understand why she was traumatized. We don't actually see what they're talking about until much, much later.

And again this isn't the exactly the most exciting use of the armor. Again we're fighting guys who don't a chance against here (yeah, she dodges some missles but we know from previous issues they wouldn't have made a scratch). I guess that's part of the point since she's abusing her power (picking on those weaker than her) but it's another rather boring use of the power. The twist that it was her former allies in the camp is interesting but not enough here.

Aric's plotline on the other hand...well remember the trick they used in Turok 1 to destroy the village he stayed with that we saw a slight variation of X-O 1? Heck I even saw it in an X-Men cartoon once. Yep that old cliched trick is used again to destroy yet another primitive village.

Aric finds them and charges in for revenge. But the twist here is he doesn't get it. Somehow these guys can actually hit things with their guns and even Aric's Visgoth mojo is no match for a bunch of armed men. It's a nice surprise here (wow, semi-realism!) and at this point I actually start to care about Aric and what's going on.

The twist at the end, though it might be predictable, is very ironic and well done. A 7.

[Daniel Jackson]

Man, seeing the suit with dreadlocks and spiky fingers is disturbing. This story was below average. The best part is the whole Aric “King of the Jungle” storyline has hit its ironic end. Aric finds out his company is responsible for the demise of the very people he was trying to protect.

[magnusr]

The contrasts between Aric's "honor" and modern life, in a way Aric's modern life, are put to their extreme. And Aric fails. Randy gets even less worthy of the armor and in the end she fails. Not completely boring, but lots of space between the good parts.

/Magnus

[Zardoz]

I thought the White King subplot was a good thing especially the discovery that Reese was employed by Orb. Does Aric ever find this guy, I don't recall it ever happening in future issues. I might be wrong.

The whole business of the armor's appearance being subject to the operators psyche is interesting but doesn't jive with what we know about the XO armor. It slowly evolves over time and retains a pretty uniform shape. An example of this is the XO armor that the spider alien lies interred in on Saturn. It looks exactly like the armor before Aric went into hibernation. I did like the spiked knuckles though on Randy.

[Todd Luck]

I thought the White King subplot was a good thing especially the discovery that Reese was employed by Orb. Does Aric ever find this guy, I don't recall it ever happening in future issues. I might be wrong.

The whole business of the armor's appearance being subject to the operators psyche is interesting but doesn't jive with what we know about the XO armor. It slowly evolves over time and retains a pretty uniform shape. An example of this is the XO armor that the spider alien lies interred in on Saturn. It looks exactly like the armor before Aric went into hibernation. I did like the spiked knuckles though on Randy.

He searches for Reece in a plotline just after Choas Effect. Aric doesn't get him but we do find out who he's reporting to and who really runs Spektar. And then...I'm not sure. I don't have the last issue of Gonzalez's run that was actually supposed to do something with that subplot.

And I assume the armor adapted to Aric as early as X-O 10 or 11. I missed those issues but I assume the sword and "streamlining" itself to look more like Earth armor was the armor adapting to Aric. It did so over a 1600 year period but I'm not sure if it took that long to make the actual changes (since I missed those issues)

[jedimarley]

The whole business of the armor's appearance being subject to the operators psyche is interesting but doesn't jive with what we know about the XO armor. It slowly evolves over time and retains a pretty uniform shape. An example of this is the XO armor that the spider alien lies interred in on Saturn. It looks exactly like the armor before Aric went into hibernation. I did like the spiked knuckles though on Randy.

To me. Aric treated the armor like a tool/weapon. Never like a living being.
Randy did the opposite. Living being then weapon.

At first anyway.

Maybe Randy had a stronger bond with the armor?

[Todd Luck]

Maybe Randy had a stronger bond with the armor?

Her subconscious did.

The whole point is that someone with a more deep and complex mind couldn't use the armor without warping it. I don't know if I particularly care for that care for that idea. Just becuase Aric's society was simplier, I don't think it really makes him emotionally simplier.