X-O Manowar 10 Discussion

[grendeljd]

I dropped X-O after the Ninjak arc. This issue convinced me that was a mistake. I'll be reading this series in trades from now on so my impatience doesn't get the better of me.

Dude!

When you wrote that you had previously dropped XO in an earlier post, I was all like wtf? How could you?

At least you have seen the error of your Wheys

Haha well I hate to say it, but I am one of those fans who does not love the decompressed direction of the new book. At least, not in single issue form. I love how much Venditti has been setting up his story since the very beginning, as it seems like everything that happens in this story matters. I am just not patient enough to consume the story in single issues, so I'll have to wait until the Planet Death trade comes out to fully appreciate the story he's telling.

I was just messin' with ya

I've said this before, I think - I find personally that I enjoy re-reading all the Valiant books so much, I end up re-reading each story arc at least once through each time a new individual issue comes out. Makes a big difference for me in enjoying the story much more while waiting month-to-month until the last part arrives...

[greg]

Very exciting issue!

Just a quick thought about the armada defeat... Shanhara took the weapons offline and drained the engines.
I'd say Shanhara destroyed the ships with their own energy... not necessarily any "battery power" from Gafti.

[bribri]

This panel reminded me of BWS...just a little bit. Something about the face.

[BugsySig]

Very exciting issue!

Just a quick thought about the armada defeat... Shanhara took the weapons offline and drained the engines.
I'd say Shanhara destroyed the ships with their own energy... not necessarily any "battery power" from Gafti.

On second read, I was thinking the same thing. The blue light swirling around was the energy being drained from the ships, not energy being released by Shanhara. But is Gafti dead, then? One would think the armor would be able to protect him from the blast.

Also to address two other issues people have mentioned with my thoughts:

1. Trill - Trill is not dead or, as someone mentioned, we would have seen it on panel. I think Trill as defacto leader of the Vine plantings on Earth would make for an excellent villain in the future.

2. Gafti & Shanhara - Some found it puzzling that Gafti was able to just put on the armor, and that this diminishes Aric's specialness. I saw it as Shanhara being asked/ordered/begged to go to Gafti by Aric in order to heal him. I also have little doubt that Shanhara then used the situation, and Gafti, for its own purposes. Gafti said Shanhara told him what to do...she (is she still a she?) wanted to destroy the fleet, but couldn't do so without sacrificing Aric. Gafti provided a means to do so. I think we will (re)learn that Shanhara is an intelligence herself with an agenda, and this is why she chose Aric and not the Vine to bond with.

[grendeljd]

Very exciting issue!

Just a quick thought about the armada defeat... Shanhara took the weapons offline and drained the engines.
I'd say Shanhara destroyed the ships with their own energy... not necessarily any "battery power" from Gafti.

On second read, I was thinking the same thing. The blue light swirling around was the energy being drained from the ships, not energy being released by Shanhara.

Agreed. It is specifically mentioned in the dialogue that power is being drained from the fleet vessels. I think that is what we are seeing in that panel.

But is Gafti dead, then? One would think the armor would be able to protect him from the blast.

I think he is - it would seem to me that the vast amount of energy Shanhara drained from all of the fleet in order to redirect it back would be too much for any organic occupant of the suit to handle. Theorizing from a 'semi-realistic' slant on this fictional situation, I think the sheer intensity of heat buildup that would be generated from handling the equivalent of a rapid, massive power surge would be enough to kill Gafti, never mind burning him to an instant cinder [drawing from my electrical background here, I've seen a 2400v substation burn up in an electrical fire - it happens quick and metal melts really fast]. I can buy the idea that a fictional alien alloy could handle it, but certainly not the person inside...

1. Trill - Trill is not dead or, as someone mentioned, we would have seen it on panel. I think Trill as defacto leader of the Vine plantings on Earth would make for an excellent villain in the future.

Agreed, on both counts!

2. Gafti & Shanhara - Some found it puzzling that Gafti was able to just put on the armor, and that this diminishes Aric's specialness. I saw it as Shanhara being asked/ordered/begged to go to Gafti by Aric in order to heal him. I also have little doubt that Shanhara then used the situation, and Gafti, for its own purposes. Gafti said Shanhara told him what to do...she (is she still a she?) wanted to destroy the fleet, but couldn't do so without sacrificing Aric. Gafti provided a means to do so. I think we will (re)learn that Shanhara is an intelligence herself with an agenda, and this is why she chose Aric and not the Vine to bond with.

I have no problem with the idea of Shanhara bonding with Gafti - I think part of the secret in why it choose Aric may have simply been his genetic makeup. Shanhara is capable of bonding with human beings... and maybe not with the Vine. I think its possible that the ancient warrior in the Vine mythos was not necessarily of the Vine species...

[Xtianhardy]

I've said this before, I think - I find personally that I enjoy re-reading all the Valiant books so much, I end up re-reading each story arc at least once through each time a new individual issue comes out. Makes a big difference for me in enjoying the story much more while waiting month-to-month until the last part arrives...

That's a great point. I've been meaning to re-read the entire first arc of Shadowman ever since #4 came out.

[iwantvaliant]

Very exciting issue!

Just a quick thought about the armada defeat... Shanhara took the weapons offline and drained the engines.
I'd say Shanhara destroyed the ships with their own energy... not necessarily any "battery power" from Gafti.

Why would that have killed Gafti?

[hawkeyeps]

2. Gafti & Shanhara - Some found it puzzling that Gafti was able to just put on the armor, and that this diminishes Aric's specialness. I saw it as Shanhara being asked/ordered/begged to go to Gafti by Aric in order to heal him. I also have little doubt that Shanhara then used the situation, and Gafti, for its own purposes. Gafti said Shanhara told him what to do...she (is she still a she?) wanted to destroy the fleet, but couldn't do so without sacrificing Aric. Gafti provided a means to do so.

I think we will (re)learn that Shanhara is an intelligence herself with an agenda, and this is why she chose Aric and not the Vine to bond with.

I have no problem with the idea of Shanhara bonding with Gafti - I think part of the secret in why it choose Aric may have simply been his genetic makeup. Shanhara is capable of bonding with human beings... and maybe not with the Vine. I think its possible that the ancient warrior in the Vine mythos was not necessarily of the Vine species...

I think the reason the armor bonded with Gafti is because that is what Aric asked it to do, perhaps he could have pulled the armor off of Gafti but chose not to as he knew Gafti would die.

After Gafti's breakdown when he slummped to his knees he was pretty much done, he's been saying "kill me now, let me die" for a long time.

Maybe Shanhara sensed that and said "well if that's the case I have a way we can take out the fleet".

Hey Grendeljd, I'm a 4th class power engineer I've seen stuff and you ain't lyin. If you want to see some really scary stuff go to youtube and search "Arc Fault".

[swtor1091]

I just a bloodshot style story telling at some point... Gafti said he heard the suit talking to him... I kinda want to hear what the suit acts like, how it talks. Much like we get from the nanobytes in Bloodshots bloodstream... Is it just me or would you guys like to see that as well? Or maybe they feel if they did that it would be too Iron Man like

[jmatt]

Wow, absolutely.

This panel reminded me of BWS...just a little bit. Something about the face.

[Phoenix8008]

I have no problem with the idea of Shanhara bonding with Gafti - I think part of the secret in why it choose Aric may have simply been his genetic makeup. Shanhara is capable of bonding with human beings... and maybe not with the Vine. I think its possible that the ancient warrior in the Vine mythos was not necessarily of the Vine species...

Or that Shanhara prefers to bond with people who are being oppressed in order to help them in their struggles. In the past, that applied to the Vine, but not anymore...

[jmatt]

The more I sit on it, the more troubling I find the quickness of the armada defeat. This was the crescendo of 1500 years of Vine presence on Earth and it was over in a flash and without a fight and without Aric even in the suit.

VH1 was orders of magnitude more epic when Solar and X-O battled the Spider-aliens.

I mean, great issue, but seriously, the climax to this impending invasion we've been reading about for 6 issues now was a letdown. Gafti flies into orbit, grunts once and it's over. And now we know that pretty much nothing can defeat the armor. What if they sent TWO armadas? Two grunts.

[Donovan]

What if they sent TWO armadas? Two grunts.

Credit where credit is due - I laughed really hard at this!

I think it's a valid criticism of the story. That invasion seemed built up to be so much more.

I still enjoyed the issue, though - the entire series really.

[BugsySig]

I have no problem with the idea of Shanhara bonding with Gafti - I think part of the secret in why it choose Aric may have simply been his genetic makeup. Shanhara is capable of bonding with human beings... and maybe not with the Vine. I think its possible that the ancient warrior in the Vine mythos was not necessarily of the Vine species...

Or that Shanhara prefers to bond with people who are being oppressed in order to help them in their struggles. In the past, that applied to the Vine, but not anymore...

That was my thought as well.

The more I sit on it, the more troubling I find the quickness of the armada defeat. This was the crescendo of 1500 years of Vine presence on Earth and it was over in a flash and without a fight and without Aric even in the suit.

VH1 was orders of magnitude more epic when Solar and X-O battled the Spider-aliens.

I mean, great issue, but seriously, the climax to this impending invasion we've been reading about for 6 issues now was a letdown. Gafti flies into orbit, grunts once and it's over. And now we know that pretty much nothing can defeat the armor. What if they sent TWO armadas? Two grunts.

It did KILL the wearer...it's not like he could just snap his fingers and "poof".

I also wonder how adept at war the Vine are? They say they plant their seedlings and move on, leaving the plantings as caretakers. Not that that is an excuse, but a lack of experience, combined with overconfidence in their technology can lead an army into disaster.

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

I'm so sorry to be that guy, but I couldn't get past the art on this book. Aric looked like some Image Comics character from the '90's the whole time. It just angered me so much, it took me out of the story. I'll re-read it with a different perspective, but had a hard time with the art.
After reading the boards on this, I can see that everyone really dug the story, and all the new things we witnessed, and questions to be answered. I'll try to re-read with all those things in mind.
Bring back Lee Garbett!

[BugsySig]

I'm so sorry to be that guy, but I couldn't get past the art on this book. Aric looked like some Image Comics character from the '90's the whole time. It just angered me so much, it took me out of the story. I'll re-read it with a different perspective, but had a hard time with the art.
After reading the boards on this, I can see that everyone really dug the story, and all the new things we witnessed, and questions to be answered. I'll try to re-read with all those things in mind.
Bring back Lee Garbett!

Yeah, very inconsistent from last issue where the art was solid if unspectacular. Seemed rushed here, sloppy. Looking forward to Nord's return on Planet Death!

[manga4life]

I've been slacking, I need to get my butt to the comic book store to catch up on this weeks (and last weeks) Valiant releases ASAP. I've been waiting for Planet Death to kick off for months now, I NEED to sit down and experience this.

[hawkeyeps]

I'm so sorry to be that guy, but I couldn't get past the art on this book. Aric looked like some Image Comics character from the '90's the whole time. It just angered me so much, it took me out of the story. I'll re-read it with a different perspective, but had a hard time with the art.
After reading the boards on this, I can see that everyone really dug the story, and all the new things we witnessed, and questions to be answered. I'll try to re-read with all those things in mind.
Bring back Lee Garbett!

Yeah, very inconsistent from last issue where the art was solid if unspectacular. Seemed rushed here, sloppy. Looking forward to Nord's return on Planet Death!

Well if there is one thing Nord's art won't be it's rushed

[BugsySig]

I'm so sorry to be that guy, but I couldn't get past the art on this book. Aric looked like some Image Comics character from the '90's the whole time. It just angered me so much, it took me out of the story. I'll re-read it with a different perspective, but had a hard time with the art.
After reading the boards on this, I can see that everyone really dug the story, and all the new things we witnessed, and questions to be answered. I'll try to re-read with all those things in mind.
Bring back Lee Garbett!

Yeah, very inconsistent from last issue where the art was solid if unspectacular. Seemed rushed here, sloppy. Looking forward to Nord's return on Planet Death!

Well if there is one thing Nord's art won't be it's rushed

Ha! He's had 6 months to work on Planet Death...unless he's been working on some super secret projects...

[grendeljd]

Hey Grendeljd, I'm a 4th class power engineer I've seen stuff and you ain't lyin. If you want to see some really scary stuff go to youtube and search "Arc Fault".

Cool, man! I'm a maintenance tech/ industrial electrician, myself (by day, illustrator by night ). I've known a few engineers over the years... Super smart chaps, but don't ever ask them to actually install anything.

Electricity is just the strangest thing. Absolutely invisible until you disrupt the flow, then it just goes insane! Arc faults are not pretty. Kind of crazy that we all rely on something that is so dangerous, even in our homes at relatively low voltage.

[hawkeyeps]

Hey Grendeljd, I'm a 4th class power engineer I've seen stuff and you ain't lyin. If you want to see some really scary stuff go to youtube and search "Arc Fault".

Cool, man! I'm a maintenance tech/ industrial electrician, myself (by day, illustrator by night ). I've known a few engineers over the years... Super smart chaps, but don't ever ask them to actually install anything.

Electricity is just the strangest thing. Absolutely invisible until you disrupt the flow, then it just goes insane! Arc faults are not pretty. Kind of crazy that we all rely on something that is so dangerous, even in our homes at relatively low voltage.

Hell yeah bro, I had contactor on a 600 Volt MCC go in my face, the tip of my screwdriver was melted and I saw "champagne super nova" for about 2 minutes.

It was good lesson to learn, I definetly took a step back after that. It's a long story that involves blown emergency buss ducts and mangement's order to try the main switch again in spite of me saying don't f'n do it it won't work. They tried any way and the switch just tripped right away (of course) but not before it sent a a nice dose of single phase power out to my mccs and motors. It was hell for months because you didn't know what would pack it in next.

Screwdriver face melt was a result of the boiler pumps packing it in on a -40 C day, it was a panic

[manga4life]

Nnnnnyyyaaaahhhhhh!

This issue was painfully good! Seriously, X-O Manowar is really fighting and climbing up my "favorite comic book of all-time" chart and it's not even a year old......that is simply amazing. This issue had awesome art, I loved the way the artist depicted the armor while being worn by Gafti and I just love the style of art he uses, it's just phenomenal. Poor Gafti, I'm sad that he is truly gone this time but at least he went out a hero, and not just a hero but he went out a good man. Could you ask for anything more? My god......this book......

Bring on Planet Death!

[manga4life]

I'm really hoping Trill isn't dead.......this would be the second villain I've really taken to from Valiant who has met their end should Trill's death be true....... (Mr. Twist).

Also, I was hoping for a more epic encounter between Trill and Aric.

[jmatt]

It did KILL the wearer...it's not like he could just snap his fingers and "poof".

Yeah, but it wasn't much more than a snap. I guess I would have felt more fulfilled if there was another page or two of battle buildup before the crescendo. Some dialogue between Gafti and the armor while they jinked about the firing spacecraft as they probed for a weakness and a strategy, firing back in return.

"The armor senses they are operating at full energy capacity in battle mode. Ho, they're just pouring dilithium crystals straight onto the atomic piles! Look at the gamma flows they're venting!"

"Shanhara wants to absorb the flows and feed them straight back into their overload fail-safe switches. Let's fight our way into the center of the armada formation..." Pew pew pew!

"It's working! The fail-safes are down and the piles are uncontrolled! Absorb more Shanhara! Yes, I know I won't survive this but I cannot let our people... my family, go unavenged."

Cut to a tender flashback with wife and kids, a tear in his eye, seen through the visor.

"Now, Shanhara. Now! Release it all!"

Grunt. Kablooey.

Or sump'n like that.

[erwinrafael]

It did KILL the wearer...it's not like he could just snap his fingers and "poof".

Yeah, but it wasn't much more than a snap. I guess I would have felt more fulfilled if there was another page or two of battle buildup before the crescendo. Some dialogue between Gafti and the armor while they jinked about the firing spacecraft as they probed for a weakness and a strategy, firing back in return.

"The armor senses they are operating at full energy capacity in battle mode. Ho, they're just pouring dilithium crystals straight onto the atomic piles! Look at the gamma flows they're venting!"

"Shanhara wants to absorb the flows and feed them straight back into their overload fail-safe switches. Let's fight our way into the center of the armada formation..." Pew pew pew!

"It's working! The fail-safes are down and the piles are uncontrolled! Absorb more Shanhara! Yes, I know I won't survive this but I cannot let our people... my family, go unavenged."

Cut to a tender flashback with wife and kids, a tear in his eye, seen through the visor.

"Now, Shanhara. Now! Release it all!"

Grunt. Kablooey.

Or sump'n like that.

With that amount of dialogue / speaking aloud one's thoughts, it would have read like a 1970s/1980s comic book.