X-O Manowar #11 discussion thread

[iwantvaliant]

Fantastic issue. I loved the art the whole way through. The more violent the issue, the rougher the art.

[jmatt]

I think that particular pose is one of the reasons that the Ivar theory is a pretty good one.

Yeah, I see what you're getting at. I was taking the Vine creation story at face value, not through the prism of mythos.

I wonder if we figured out a story surprise that we weren't supposed to piece together for another 12 months. I can hear Dino now: "That's it! No more casual use of the word 'faraway'!"

The Ivar as Jesus thing has me a little perplexed, they can't possibly be going there...

As to other elements: Aric now has an opportunity to once again become a leader of the Visigoth people. What if he decides to turn Loam into Planet Visigoth? There's a Thor angle in there; a barbarian-ish Eden world where he's king and has the power to return to Earth whenever he chooses (assuming no time passes with ultra-light travel).

And it would seem that all things considered, the Vine clergy seem to be the only real 'good-guys' in the book since they have so far only preached non-violence, to the point where they believe if Shanhara wills it, the destruction of Loam is simply destiny.

You guys beating up on the artwork are nuts. Okay so the action sequence looked a little rushed but the rest of the book was beautiful.

[BugsySig]

On second viewing I have come to the conclusion that the coloring was the biggest issue with the art. Looking at Nord's inked pages on the Comixology digital exclusives, it looks way better. The colors were too flat and a limited palet outside those initial pages.

[Blood of Heroes]

I got goosebumps from seeing the Visigoths at the end. Great book.

Is it just me or are these new books blowing the originals out of the water?

[pixierosa]

I enjoyed the book overall, and yes, the mythos artwork was the better of the book, but the style and detail goes along well the esoterics of the Vine's "fairy tale".

I, too, thought it was interesting that they were born of their oppressors bodies. We know they were supposedly consumed by them. (They really are like insects, lol.) The end result is they behaved like their oppressors. Natural occurrence of a downtrodden people given power, or because of their "origin"?

I like the Ivar theory. From the description of the wanderer, it fits very well.

I did feel bad for the priests (excellent writing). However, theirs seems to be a caste system. The warrior? No remorse there. None of them seem conscripted into service - they're eager killing machines, using live human targets for practice, etc. They're owed some pain.

Love the revelation at the end!

[erwinrafael]

Fantastic issue. I loved the art the whole way through. The more violent the issue, the rougher the art.

Which is okay if we have not seen Nord do amazing polished art depicting a Vine garden. The contrast between the garden in issue 2 and in this issue is big.

[Bone-A-Fach-ee]

My first thought was, "it's over already?" This book seemed to go really fast for me. Now, that can be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it.
Loved the twist at the end, where they show the visigoths. Great twist/ cliffhanger.
Dug the Vine origin story, but I do agree that I was not too pleased with the art.

And to answer another question posted by someone else, yes VEI totally blows VH1 out of the water.

[erwinrafael]

And to answer another question posted by someone else, yes VEI totally blows VH1 out of the water.

Except for Shadowman.

[jmatt]

I got goosebumps from seeing the Visigoths at the end. Great book.

Is it just me or are these new books blowing the originals out of the water?

Not sure about that, but the scope is certainly more grand.

[erwinrafael]

How do I attach images? is that allowed here?

Because I was looking through Cary Nord's FB timeline and I saw that he posted some of the uncolored pagess of the second half of the book and they looked amazing. What the hell happened?

[Elveen]

I got goosebumps from seeing the Visigoths at the end. Great book.

Is it just me or are these new books blowing the originals out of the water?

It is certainly up for discussion.

Right now for me:

VEI Harby is better overall.
VEI XO is even
VEI Bloodshot is better (due to the last little bit)
VEI ARcher and A is not better (but really, how could it be? VH1 A&A 0-12 is one of the BEST comics can be)
VEI Shadowman is not better

[cavemold]

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i liked the action in this and the orign of the xo suit. Very mystical approach. The twist at the end is what im really interested to see. to me this felt like fast read though

[bygranddesign]

I got goosebumps from seeing the Visigoths at the end. Great book.

Is it just me or are these new books blowing the originals out of the water?

Not sure about that, but the scope is certainly more grand.

Not sure if I agree that the scope is more Grand now.

It's hard to get more grand then Unity, Rai #0 and the 4000 AD titles. Somebody created a timeline of that universe and Turok would weep with all the trees that will need to be cut down to print that whole thing out.

I love the new universe and each title is great within their own book but I'm not sure it's leading to the type of tight continuity and epic nature that was the original ... which is not necessarily a bad thing ... Too much continuity could be burdensome to a writer trying to do his own thing.

[SJS4]

I loved this issue. Thought Nords art was great, so glad to see him back on the book!

The story itself was very good as well. Loved seeing the creation story/myth surrounding the vine and the x-o armor. Very curious to see what happens with the captured Visigoths on Loam...

Can't wait for more planet death!

[BugsySig]

How do I attach images? is that allowed here?

Because I was looking through Cary Nord's FB timeline and I saw that he posted some of the uncolored pagess of the second half of the book and they looked amazing. What the hell happened?

I'm telling you, it's the coloring. I think it's been a week point in the book since day one. Nord's style requires a more deft touch with the coloring, not heavy handed, heavy palet coloring.

I'll have to go back and check, but I didn't have the color issues as much in the Ninjak arc or prelude, was that the same person coloring? If it was, then just reinforces my point about Nord's style.

[Donovan]

Conspiracy of the week: the Hara vine is two letters shy of being the Harada vine.

Did Harada go back in time and don the Shannharada?

(Not being serious, btw...)

[Donovan]

I loved Nord's art in the second half - it reminded me of they style Stuart Immonen was doing in the early 2000s with Wade Von Grawbadger. Some nice, heavy blacks.

I also liked the fact that the 'flashback' story as told by the priest was done in a different style than the 'current time' moments.

[Newton]

Loved the vine back story. Adds so much depth to XO and Valiant to make the vine more interesting than VH1 version.

Cary Nord is one of my favorite artists, but the 2nd half did seem noticeably rushed. I think I'd take rushed Nord art over a lot of artists though.

[depluto]

I like the books like this that provide background, although it would probably work better in a TPB. But that twist at the end was great, can't wait to see how this storyline develops.

[kevinbastos]

I got goosebumps from seeing the Visigoths at the end. Great book.

Is it just me or are these new books blowing the originals out of the water?

It is certainly up for discussion.

Right now for me:

VEI Harby is better overall.
VEI XO is even
VEI Bloodshot is better (due to the last little bit)
VEI ARcher and A is not better (but really, how could it be? VH1 A&A 0-12 is one of the BEST comics can be)
VEI Shadowman is not better

Agreed.

Kinda.

VEI Harby - BETTER. YES.

VEI XO... Even. If I can choose the issues. 1-45-ish... Yes. Include the sins starting about 45... VEI better.

VEI Bloodshot... I tend to agree. But some of old stuff was a little better, some a little worse. Overall, yes.

A & A... Not better than 0-12. Agreed. But include 13-26? VEI - WAY better.

VEI Shadowman... My jury is still out, but I tend to agree. Only one arc so far... And the second arc is much better so far.

[manga4life]

This issue (art aside) was simply amazing. The writing was......I mean.......from the sermon to the action it was perfect, outstanding and endearing. I was totally captivated by the way the story unfolded and the ending revealing more Visigoth's were alive and enslaved on the Vine's planet, everything was just stunning. The art was simply okay at best, not the best colorist was chosen on this particular issue of the book and I felt overall the visuals were a bit flat, the story more than made up for it though.

The Priest is becoming a sentimental favorite of mine as this series progresses, he's totally going to help Aric in some form as this story unfolds and I hope he sticks around because he is kinda cool.

[jmatt]

The Priest is becoming a sentimental favorite of mine as this series progresses, he's totally going to help Aric in some form as this story unfolds and I hope he stick around because he is kinda cool.

+1

[jmatt]

The Priest is becoming a sentimental favorite of mine as this series progresses, he's totally going to help Aric in some form as this story unfolds and I hope he stick around because he is kinda cool.

+1

[erwinrafael]

How do I attach images? is that allowed here?

Because I was looking through Cary Nord's FB timeline and I saw that he posted some of the uncolored pagess of the second half of the book and they looked amazing. What the hell happened?

I'm telling you, it's the coloring. I think it's been a week point in the book since day one. Nord's style requires a more deft touch with the coloring, not heavy handed, heavy palet coloring.

I'll have to go back and check, but I didn't have the color issues as much in the Ninjak arc or prelude, was that the same person coloring? If it was, then just reinforces my point about Nord's style.

I think you are correct. Nord's art works best when the coloring style is like the one he uses on his covers so that his play with blacks would pop.

I loved Nord's art in the second half - it reminded me of they style Stuart Immonen was doing in the early 2000s with Wade Von Grawbadger. Some nice, heavy blacks.

I also liked the fact that the 'flashback' story as told by the priest was done in a different style than the 'current time' moments.

Yay for Stuart Immonen art during the Shockrockets / Superman: Secret Identity era!

[lorddunlow]

I really liked this issue, and most of my thoughts would just be repeating what's been said already. Am I the only one who was expecting more from this issue? I think I would have enjoyed it more if it hadn't been hyped so much by Valiant. I went in expecting the best VEI issue to date. It was good, but I'd put it at #4 out all 5 books this month.