Things fall apart.
Creative Staff:
Story: Matt Kindt
Art and Colors: Issue #7: Clayton Crain; Issue #8: Clayton Crain and Renato Guedes and Khari Evans; Issue #9: Clayton Crain and Khari Evans
Letters: Dave Sharpe
What They Say:
Issue #7: The ultimate turning point! A war has been won, a victory has been decided…and, now, an entire alien world kneels before the throne of their new leader: the unstoppable X-O MANOWAR! He has traded his armor for a crown and a new age now begins…even as an extraterrestrial invader readies an interplanetary attack that could pull Aric of Dacia from the newfound safety of his imperial palace and back into the blood-sodden battlefields where his conquest began.
Issue #8: War has returned to the world of Gorin – but, this time, the planet’s ravaged armies face a threat from the stars, not within! Now, as the intergalactic assault reaches a critical peak, it falls to Gorin’s newly coronated emperor, Aric of Urth, to fortify not just a kingdom, but an entire world! With his sentient armor to aid him, the earthborn warrior once known as X-O Manowar will confront the conquering force known as the Mono Men on the field of battle…but if he doesn’t act fast, his reign will end just as quickly as it began!
Issue #9: With his throne attained and his enemies defeated, Aric of Dacia is not only the undisputed emperor of the war-shattered world of Gorin… He is one of the most feared warlords in the known galaxy! But as this former hero of Earth grows more confident with each brutal campaign, he’ll soon discover that his greatest enemy is…himself. Can Aric and the ultra-powerful X-O Manowar armor that he wields peacefully sustain such unyielding amounts of power…or will the thirst for war inside him consume everything he’s fought for?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
There’s a pattern to Matt Kindt’s writing. His stories come out the gate strong, with an intriguing concept that immediately draws in the reader. Typically, the first few issues roar along, but there reaches a point in the story where it just plain loses steam. It’s like a horse that goes hell-for-leather starting out, but expends too much energy too early and can’t make the finish line. That’s X-O Manowar: strong start, but weak follow through.
The issue solicitations are a bit misleading in that they make it sound like Aric is already emperor by the start of issue seven. He’s not. It also makes the Mono Men sound like a huge threat whose threat will last several issues. They aren’t. Issues seven and eight deal with Aric defeating the Mono Men and taking the fight to the corrupt Azurian Emperor. He doesn’t become emperor until the end of eight and nine illustrates the fallout of his rise to power.
In a way, issue nine saves this series, because up to this point, X-O had been working from the white savior template of storytelling, and that just doesn’t fly anymore. While nine doesn’t absolve it of these problematic thematic undertones, it at least illustrates flaws with that trope. Despite his best efforts, Aric makes for a terrible emperor. His ignorance of the planet’s history and cultures dooms every decision he makes to failure, causing even his allies to turn against him. This is the true heritage of “White Man’s Burden” and if Kindt hadn’t gone this route, I don’t think I could continue reading this series.
I may still drop it, because of the other ways the story falls flat. I’ve mentioned this in previous reviews, but this comic squanders the rich secondary characters and unique setting. The story moves so fast that no one but Aric gets a moment to shine, and that kills the narrative impact of allies turning against one another. The supporting cast has names, but I couldn’t tell you what they are, and that’s after having read nine issues. Shortchanging the supporting cast takes away depth and complexity from the overall story and cheats everyone, writer and reader alike.
I’m not saying that Kindt should go into Bendis-levels of decompression, but slowing down even a little bit would help this work immensely. It would give the other characters time to become actual characters, it would make Aric more interesting, and it would add some much-needed tension.
It’s funny that a comic that’s almost exclusively about war is so bereft of tension. The story moves so fast and Aric is such a Mary Sue that there are no stakes, no doubts as to whether he’ll triumph. As odd as it sounds, it all comes too easy for Aric, and that’s even taking into account he spent five or six issues not even wearing his armor.
The art saves this comic. Clayton Crain, Renato Guedes, and Khari Evans create one hell of a book. Their approach is more painterly than straight up cartoon and they excel at creating vast, engrossing, realistic alien worlds. They also do a fantastic job of cramming the big shots with loads of visual information without making it cluttered or confusing. I don’t know if this was their intent, but it seems like they’ve drawn inspiration from some of the great speculative fiction artists. Their work is reminiscent of Paul Lehr, Stanley Meltzoff, and even John C. Berkey. Visually, this comic is spectacular, and I would love to see individual prints offered for sale.
In Summary:
I’m trying very hard to not make a “chink in the armor” joke, but that’s what’s happening. Each issue shows more and more flaws, or, perhaps a better way to put it is that now the momentum and novelty has worn off, the flaws are more evident. Regardless, X-O: Manowar moves too fast, doesn’t develop the characters or world enough, and lacks any real tension or suspense. It also works within the highly problematic “white savior” archetype—something that should really be jettisoned from our stories. Again, the art is what makes this worth the price of admission. Dr. J gives this a…
Grade: B-
Age Rating: T+
Released By: Valiant Comics
Release Date: Issue #7: 09/27/17; Issue #8: 10/25/17; Issue #9: 11/22/17
MSRP: $3.99 apiece
