Xo Manowar #19 discussion

[hunter_peterson]

Loved the art! The faces show so much more emotion with this style. The Wolf(?) class bots looked very cartoony but wow, everything else was fantastic. Like others, I'd like to see a little more color and the blues be a little deeper but I'm very happy with the issue.

Aric's line about a King doing what's best for his people fell a tad flat for me because that's exactly what Volo was fighting for as well... to use the rich resources the modern world has to offer rather than breaking their backs tilling soil. Aric has seen what the armor technology can do for him; can't he see that a tractor would do the same for his people?

Great issue!

That's a really good point, actually. You'd think that Aric would have a greater appreciation for technology than he does, given the circumstances. Hopefully he starts to recon the world's tech after this arc. Or, even better, makes a deal with Dorian to get modern supplies and infrastructure. It'd be nice to have an Orb presence in XO.

[BugsySig]

Loved the art! The faces show so much more emotion with this style. The Wolf(?) class bots looked very cartoony but wow, everything else was fantastic. Like others, I'd like to see a little more color and the blues be a little deeper but I'm very happy with the issue.

Aric's line about a King doing what's best for his people fell a tad flat for me because that's exactly what Volo was fighting for as well... to use the rich resources the modern world has to offer rather than breaking their backs tilling soil. Aric has seen what the armor technology can do for him; can't he see that a tractor would do the same for his people?

Great issue!

That's a really good point, actually. You'd think that Aric would have a greater appreciation for technology than he does, given the circumstances. Hopefully he starts to recon the world's tech after this arc. Or, even better, makes a deal with Dorian to get modern supplies and infrastructure. It'd be nice to have an Orb presence in XO.

I think Aric was referring to not leaving their land and becoming homeless wanderers, not about avoiding using technology. That is more of his own stubborn nature and desire to recreate the world/family/culture he has lost than an appreciation for what it can do.

[jmatt]

My previous comments notwithstanding, this title is moving like molasses in winter. Three issues in Romania and a Unity issue, and they're still fighting about farming.

[jmatt]

Hmm. Just reread. The issue opens with Ninjak taking the Unity job from Neville and ends with him reporting in to Harada.

Is MI6 linked to Harada?

[BugsySig]

Hmm. Just reread. The issue opens with Ninjak taking the Unity job from Neville and ends with him reporting in to Harada.

Is MI6 linked to Harada?

I believe Neville contacted the US Gov outfit that deals with extraterrestrials (forget the name) through Alexander. We then saw in XO #18 that Harada was in contact with the same agency. I believe that is how the two sides came into contact and began working together.

[jmatt]

Hmm. Just reread. The issue opens with Ninjak taking the Unity job from Neville and ends with him reporting in to Harada.

Is MI6 linked to Harada?

I believe Neville contacted the US Gov outfit that deals with extraterrestrials (forget the name) through Alexander. We then saw in XO #18 that Harada was in contact with the same agency. I believe that is how the two sides came into contact and began working together.

MERO. So I forget, is Alexander working for MERO? MI6?

[BugsySig]

Hmm. Just reread. The issue opens with Ninjak taking the Unity job from Neville and ends with him reporting in to Harada.

Is MI6 linked to Harada?

I believe Neville contacted the US Gov outfit that deals with extraterrestrials (forget the name) through Alexander. We then saw in XO #18 that Harada was in contact with the same agency. I believe that is how the two sides came into contact and began working together.

MERO. So I forget, is Alexander working for MERO? MI6?

Don't know. He calls MERO and said Neville was a mutual friend or something to that effect.

[leonmallett]

An okay issue, and story-wise one of the X-O issues I prefer, but that is probably due to Ninjak being in it as much as anything.

That said, nothing in the story felt especially fresh to me, from the contrived dispute between Volo and Aric, to Ninjak's method of escape; so nothing great in my opinion, but satisfying nonetheless.

The art has really raised mixed feelings for me. I think in some ways it is Nord's strongest work (characters and staging especially), but I found the washed out colour palette to be very irksome and distracting from the whole. I am not sure Nord is his own best colourist on the strength of this sorry to say. Yes there may be historical precedent for his approach, but the final effect just did not work to help me enjoy the whole issue more, instead it was quite off-putting I felt, but clearly there are fans of this new style as evidenced from this thread.

I am enjoying the current premise of X-O Manowar than the lead up from Planet Death, but with each step forward, the book seems to take another step back (e.g. the colouring in the issue). But mileage varies of course.