X-O Manowar #8 Review- The Boiling Point

Review by Nolan P. Smith

Writer: Robert Venditti

Artist: Lee Garbett

Publisher: Valiant Entertainment

Website: www.valiantcomics.com

The Valiant universe came back in 2012 to a extremely strong showing. X-O Manowar led the charge, showing the world why the gold and blue hero has remained a pop culture icon since the previous Valiant run. This current run has reintroduced the world to Aric of Dacia, an old world warrior with the most advanced weapon in the universe, the X-O Manowar suit. The current storyline has been building with The Vine, the alien race that worships the X-O Manowar armor and took Aric away from his home, now gearing up a full scale invasion of Earth, one that will wipe humanity off of the planet. With sleeper agents in M-16, the stage is set for one epic showdown, which is right here in issue #8!

X-O Manowar is bringing the war to The Vine as he attacks M-16 headquarter, with a little help from another hero from Valiant’s past, Ninjak. The differences between the two are like night and day, as one is a thinking man and the other is a smash heads, ask questions later kind of guy. What we get is all out action in the Valiant way, which showcases two of Valiant’s top heroes. The issue provides a great end to the current storyline, while gearing up for the epic Planet Death saga.The writing remains strong, as the visuals steal the show with such an explosive issue. At the end of the book, you will no doubt see X-O as the flagship character he is, and you will be wondering why Ninjak doesn’t have his own book yet. An amazing read, I give X-O Manowar #8 a solid @@@@ out of FIVE.