The streak of quality series from Valiant Entertainment continues.
X-O Manowar #15 was definitely exciting, as well as providing some intriguing food for thought for the reader.
Aric, and his tribe of Visigoths, imprisoned by the Vine, an oppressive alien race, eventually escaped. The problem is, 1,600 years have gone by in Earth time while the old tribe was captured. They now have no place on Earth to call their own because they had no legacy or people to leave behind.
Aric, the leader of the Visigoths, is extremely determined to find a good piece of land where the Visigoth’s can settle, and will finally be able to continue and grow their tribe after a very long imprisonment. Unfortunately, to be successful in making a Visigoth nation, they will have to take that land from somebody else.
The tension rises high in this issueGilad, the Eternal Warrior, who knew the Visigoth’s back in the time of the Roman Empire, welcomes the Visigoth’s back to Earth. However, Gilad warns Aric that he will not tolerate a Visigoth invasion. This creates massive animosity between the two, as Gilad tells Aric the modern world will not put up with an invasion.
This issue was left with a great cliffhanger as Aric refuses to listen to Gilad, and their encounter turns violent. This left me very excited for the next issue.
The themes of this series are very deep and interesting. Feeling lost in time, and feeling like one has no place to go are universal feelings which are captured very well in this series. The Visigoth’s may be a threat, but they have a reason for thinking the way they do. The tribe has been through a terrible experience, and have come back to a world that has forgotten them, and may not embrace them. While Aric is immature, he has a point, his tribe has been forgotten, and their old land is now used by somebody else.
The writer, Robert Venditti, did an exceptional job in my opinion. This storyline is great, and the dialogue comes across as natural despite the characters being from older times. The artist Lee Garbett did a fine job as well. The storytelling was crisp, and all the characters looked good.
This is a great series. I was on the edge of my seat at the end. I do not think Aric is going to back down easily, and neither will Gilad and the various governments on Earth. It will be fun to see what happens.