Creative Staff:
Story: Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum
Art: Emilio Laiso
Colors: Ruth Redmond
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
What They Say:
A new threat emerges from the fires of X-O’s latest battle!
Can X-O save the day, or does the world need a new kind of hero?
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
It’s been a while since the last issue but this issue is still picking up steam. Aric continues in the middle of the Ukrainian Civil War as he is attacked by a robot. The robot provides a challenging battle and toys with Aric. It becomes a game of cat and mouse as the robot dances around the battlefield and transitioning into a yacht. It shuts down as it gets to the yacht. The robot’s true purpose is to lead him to the yacht of Troy Whittaker.
The issue of whether a being of supreme being can save a country by themselves is handled wonderfully here. War is never so simple and there are many shades of grey as mentioned by Troy Whittaker. He is a genius billionaire who dreams of saving the world through financial, environmental means and the most important is superheroes. He wants to enlist Aric in his plan. Aric has a blissful way of how the world should operate and seeks to protect everyone but Troy brings a heavy dose of reality to his eyes. War is a natural part of history and people die. Aric can bring a stop to the war in Ukraine but will he stay there long enough to cause a change in society or will he leave for the next battle.
It’s brilliant how this issue is a reflection of modern times. There should have been more done with this aspect. It should have slow down and taken a moment to analyze the effects of this event. The two police offers from last time show up at the Morris house to arrest Aric with guns blazing to go. They have doubts about whether it’s a good idea to behaving like bad cops in front of superheroes but they still have their guns ready to go. They didn’t learn their lesson last time and want to go at it a second time. Who in their bright mind brings a gun to a superhero fight?
In Summary:
Having an ultrarich person step into the world of superheroes can layout the groundwork for a fascinating tale. Maxwell Lord from DC Comics is such a similar character to Troy Whittaker and I hope to see how Troy is distinguished from Maxwell Lord and what impacts he has on the world. Dennis Hallum touches upon a strong moral question of what can be considered fundamentally right and how does a person walk upon to achieving justice. It so easy to have overwhelming power and decide other’s fate but the consequences of those decisions are the path of a hero’s journey.
Grade: B
Age Rating: Teen+
Released By: Valiant Comics
Release Date: November 25, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
