Re-Reading: X-O Manowar #63

[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 #63

[magnusr]

Aric's been beating up stupid brutes issue after issue. Here he meets a true villain, one of the best Valiant villans ever, Master Darque. And Aric's *SQUEE* gets kicked. There's something missing, somehow it just doesn't feel like Aric nor Darque, but it is well crafted. It's not like the good old days, but this story could stand up against stories from the middle period.

/Magnus

[Todd Luck]

This was the first Accliam issue of X-O I read.

It's X-O to...the extreme . It took five minutes to read it.

Aric looks really dumb with a ponytail. I have no idea who the people are he's with or what he's doing now, nor do I care.

And Darque. Sear's cartoonish take on him is less than flattering. What's up with the eye shadow and the viens popping out of his head? And why is he brown?

But getting past the design work, the art is good for what it is.

The story doesn't seem related one bit to what's been done before with Darque. He'ld never challenge X-O to a one-on-one fight. It's way out of his character. We see necromatic energy doing things it shouldn't be able to do...agian (and why isn't Aric's armor going crazy when he's hit with it,like it did when he fought Shadowman?)

And the reason Darque says he wants the armor makes no sense. He's been beaten too often when he's drained after using his powers? Huh? He's never been beaten because of that in any story we've seen!

But even if this is a dumbed-down brawler in Master Darque's body the fight he puts on is great. For a reader who no clue what the character's really like this would be a decent issue. A 6.

[Daniel Jackson]

Compared to what we've been reading, this is not a bad book really. It's refreshing to see a quality supervillain like Darque come back instead of the horrible ones Aric has had to fight lately.