Reviews»Comic Books»X-O Manowar #34
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Kareem Ali 4.5

X-O Manowar #34

 

  • The good

    Dead Hand's purpose is very intriguing. Armor Hunters making a brief appearance.

  • The bad

    Aric's sudden change in behavior towards his wife. Doesn't tie in to last issue's flashbacks?

  • The ugly

    • X-O Manowar #34 has Aric rushing to Loam to defend the planet against an unknown threat. Ever since Shanhara led Aric to the planet to warn him of a rising threat he’s been preparing to head there. It’s related to the Armor Hunters and the contingency plan their leader, CONTROL, put together in case all the Armor Hunters were wiped out before the mission was accomplished. And their last known stand was at their stronghold on the planet Gennin waiting for an army of Armors to arrive. They would enter into battle without any fears and the assumption is the Armors eventually wiped them out. This is all unknown to Aric, who prepares to leave Earth and makes sure his people are taken care of before he races to defend Loam. What can Aric do against a force that was designed to compete against an army of Armors? And should he even attempt to defend Loam considering everything the Vine inflicted on his people?

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    Last issue got me really excited about this story arc with the way the story used Aric’s past and Shanhara to introduce a rising threat to Loam. It made me really intrigued about this new enemy called Dead Hand and in what way it was tied to Aric’s past. Despite that story angle being interesting, this issue didn’t even seem to acknowledge that nor was there even a slight hint that the current chain of events was connected to that story from Aric’s past. It was directly connected to the Armor Hunters, and it was good to see them in action against a horde of Armors again. That was a great start to this issue, and I was hyped when I saw this sequence. The purpose of the Armor Hunter’s contingency plan consisted of sending robots, which appeared as a massive eclipse to Loam. And I won’t give away the activities of these robots but I appreciated that it wasn’t just some extermination mission with Aric defending the entire populace. It actually made me curious as to what these robots intended on accomplishing and what this all meant. There would be plenty of action involving Aric, and Diego Bernard’s artwork was more than capable of making it exciting. And with the ending of this issue I’m really looking forward to seeing more of what Dead Hand is capable of doing.
    So overall this was a solid issue but something felt slightly off about Aric. It wasn’t how I didn’t see a connection between the story from his past last issue to the current events but how loving he has been to his wife yet this issue he was strangely dismissive. This sudden change was actually jarring especially in light of how much last issue and the last story arc showed how much this was part of his character. Considering he’s out of space now this doesn’t appear to be something that will occur again next issue but I hope this doesn’t become  a recurring story thread.

     

    SUMMARY

     

    X-O Manowar #34 is an exciting issue that ties the recent Armor Hunters event to the survival of Loam, the Armor’s homeworld. It was pretty cool to see them back in action briefly, even if it was just a flashback. It made the arrival of Dead Hand on Loam even more foreboding, and its activities more intriguing. And once Aric got involved the action was even more entertaining. However, Aric’s portrayal regarding his wife was really perplexing nor did this issue clarify any connection to Aric’s past like Shanhara was attempting to show him. But I’m looking forward to next issue and seeing more of who or what is Dead Hand, and I can’t wait.

     

    Release Date: 3/4/15

    Writer: Robert Venditti

    Artist: Diego Bernard

  • Rating ( 9 )
  • Total score 9.0

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