REVIEW: 'X-O Manowar' #5 by Dennis Hopeless, Emilio Laiso, Raffaele Forte, and Ruth Redmond

An all-new adventure starts here in Part 1 of "Upgrade the World!"

X-O MANOWAR #5

Writer: Dennis "Hopeless" Hallum

Artist: Emilio Laiso

Publisher: Valiant Comics

Release Date: August 18, 2021

Cover Price: $3.99

Harvey-Nominated Writer Dennis Hopeless and breathtaking artist Emilio Laiso return to continue the epic saga of Aric of Dacia, aka X-O MANOWAR, as he battles an unknown nanite monstrosity that is devouring the earth.

Will our classic hero out of time finally evolve into the warrior of the future or will X-O Manowar drown with their past?

Score:

★★★☆☆ (3/5)

It's always tricky to get attract new readers entering a new arc. It shouldn't be for a flagship title like 'X-O Manowar' from Valiant but each arc is a new jumping-on point for someone and creatives have to serve the overarching storyline while also making it accessible to new readers. Issue five may not be the attraction it needs to be to draw in people. It feels like you've walked into a movie theatre a third into the feature. 

The story picks up with Aric stuck underwater in the ocean. Battered and bruised from an attack by a nanite swarm, he's able to escape certain death by detonating a sunken ship enabling him to rise to the surface. His sentient X-O Manowar armor named Shanhara is damaged and the A.I. is trapped in Minecraft-like purgatory. With help from his billionaire friend with the Texas drawl, they set out to find out why he was attacked and how to help Shanhara. 

Having read 'X-O Manowar' in the past, this latest take is a little jarring because the Visigoth warrior we know to be a fearless man of action and a great tactician, Aric comes off as a bystander in his own story leaving it up to his tech billionaire buddy, Troy, to reveal the possible motives behind the attack. Shanhara's situation is a little puzzling as she is given a physical form in this cyber world where she's trapped fighting off faceless attackers. She's supposed to be highly advanced and intelligent but becomes a damsel-in-distress under this scenario. It's just a weird confluence of two characters seemingly being dumbed-down for some reason. 

What's undeniable is the brilliant art by Emilio Laiso, Raffaele Forte, and Ruth Redmond. Most of the action takes place in the opening sequence and it's the highlight of the issue. The murkiness of the water, the magnitude of the nanite swarm, the dense color scheme, giving way to an eye-popping bright explosion of orange and red is composed strikingly and executed perfectly.  

It's hard to judge 'X-O Manowar fairly when two other Valiant titles have been so stellar by comparison. Both 'Shadowman' and 'Ninjak' have brought new and exciting storylines to the Valiant label. 'X-O Manowar' suffers from a convoluted plot that keeps Aric from shining. Despite this, I wouldn't count this series out just yet.