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XO-ANNUAL_2016_COVER-A_JIMENEZ
Kareem Ali 4.5

X-O Manowar Annual 2016 #1

 

  • The good

    Touching story with Aric and his mother. The Prisoner opens up an interesting new story line with Colonel Capshaw

  • The bad

    Some stories have already taken place so not much is added in a couple of chapters

  • The ugly

  • X-O Manowar Annual 2016 #1 continues 5 short stories detailing the origin of X-O Manowar as well as the various states of the Vine and their connection to the armor. The short story Heritage details a time when Aric was still young and forced to travel with his people due to the invading Roman Empire. Just like everyone else he’s frustrated that they have to move again and lose their physical home. However, his mother asks him a question in order to ease his mind and his heart. She asks him to look around and reflect on everything he sees and think of the memories. She tells him that home is inside him and will always be with him. However, there are Romans pursuing them even in the midst of this and she doesn’t know that his life as an adult wouldn’t be any different in terms of the desire to protect his home. And as an adult it would be the entire Earth and he would have to face different enemies such as Commander Trill but he would have new allies as well. Such is the life of X-O Manowar.

    X-O Manowar Annual 2016 #1

    I’m iffy when it comes to annuals because some times they can have one-shot stories that aren’t engaging or significant in terms of continuity but there are other times when they could be entertaining. X-O Manowar Annual 2016 #1 manages to be both entertaining and opens up some intriguing new story threads that I hope will be delved into in the future. There are 5 short stories in this annual, a prologue, 3 chapters, and an epilogue. The Prologue summarizes Aric discovering the armor and achieving victory against the Vine for the first time. Heritage details an encounter with the Romans when Aric was a child. The Prisoner is a story focusing on Colonel Capshaw and her potential backstory. Taking A Meeting is about Commander Trill meeting with some Vine plantings who have a plan to use psiots to achieve victory. And the Torment is a short story about the Vine coming to establish themselves on Earth for their final chapter. They were all interesting but some stood out more than others.

     

    The Heritage was a touching story that reflected Aric’s overall situation even as X-O Manowar. When he returned to Earth everything and everyone he knew was gone so in order to establish a new home he had to have the understanding that was shown here as given to him by his mother. I enjoyed how the frustrations were shown in the form of the soldiers protecting the caravans expressing the difficulties in escaping from the Romans and the endless pursuits. So the action was pretty intense and I loved the artwork including the scene with the burning horse (unfortunately for the horse). But I also loved the connection to the Vine who were now in the same situation because of the destruction of Loam and their need to travel to Earth. All in all this was a great read.

    X-O Manowar Annual 2016 #1
    The next story, The Prisoner, was awesome because of the way it created a compelling backstory for Colonel Capshaw. The prisoner was in the midst of a transfer as a favor between some C.I.A. higher-ups since he was a war criminal. However it wasn’t a coincidence that this prisoner would end up on the Love Boat nor was it a coincidence that his psiot abilities wouldn’t be mentioned on any reports received by Capshaw. It wouldn’t be long before he would start manipulating the crew of the Love Boat but his ultimate goal wasn’t to escape. He wanted to reveal some information to Capshaw that would have potentially devastating consequences. I won’t give any of it away but I hope more of this comes into play in the future at some point.

     

    Taking A Meeting was a decent story but still enjoyable to read. If you’ve read the recent Faith series, which you should, then you’ll like the backstory given here about the Vine plantings’ plan to use psiots. And it was good to see Commander Trill involved in part of this plan knowing the effect it had and will have in the X-O Manowar series. However, for me, it felt like it was rehashing events that were already covered in better detail in other series. If you’re new to this or didn’t read the Faith series then you’ll probably feel more engrossed in it because it still was entertaining.

    X-O Manowar Annual 2016 #1

    SUMMARY

     

    X-O Manowar Annual 2016 #1 is an overall entertaining issue that captures the essence of the X-O Manowar mythology by providing a touching story about the meaning of home while also containing plenty of intense action. The Heritage and The Prisoner are the best stories in this issue while Taking A Meeting gives good background on the Vine’s plan in the Faith series. The prologue and the epilogue reiterate Aric’s history with the armor and the Vine’s new perspective on the prophecy leading them to Earth. So I have to say I’m pleased with the result.

     

    Release Date:5/18/16

    Writer: Robert Venditti, Amy Chu, Jody Houser

    Artist: J.G. Jones, Pere Perez, Mike McKone, Adam Gorham, Roberto De La Torre

  • Rating ( 8.5 )
  • Total score 8.5

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