X-O Manowar #46 Review: Facing A Riot At Home

As Valiant’s X-O Manowar heads towards the landmark issue #50, “The Kill List” comes to a conclusion.

X-O Manowar #46
Written by Robert Venditti
Art by Robert Gill
Published by Valiant Entertainment

X-O Manowar #46 doesn’t go on sale until April 20, so this advance review may contain spoilers!

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For the first three issues of the latest arc, “The Kill List,” X-O Manowar and longtime frenemy Ninjak have been hunting down sleeper agents of the alien race The Vine. Noble warrior Aric of Dacia was initially disgusted by Ninjak’s use of violence but when he learned his enemy Commander Trill was alive and organizing the agents into an uprising, he invested in the spy mission. This was abandoned at the end of the last issue when tensions between the Vine refugees and their Visigoth neighbors erupted into riots.

Cover by Stephen Mooney

This week, former villains The Armorines have to protect the Visigoths, including Aric’s wife and the one Vine member who wants peace, from the aliens stirred into murderous frenzy by Commander Trill. X-O Manowar quickly ditches Ninjak and has to use what he’s learned from his week of assassinations to talk Trill into an agreement of peace, and even if they’re able to stop killing each other, a giant threat in the last page reveal may take everyone out as X-O Manowar enters the final march toward issue 50.

Cover by Chriss Cross

X-O Manowar is known for sweeping space opera with an alien Iron Man swinging swords through monsters, but I have always preferred the stories that focus on what Aric of Dacia learns about being a good king. The riots of this issue have been building with tiny pages of escalating racial tension in the last three issues, and reading the book this week summons the fear and violence of the past year’s social injustice across our country. Neither side is simplified – the aliens are grieving the loss of their home planet and under the sway of a demagogue who uses their fears to promise them safety through genocide, and the humans are the first generation to escape slavery under Vine rule, making decisions without the guidance of their king. Readers could easily fall to one side, but Venditti crafts the tougher, more honest puzzle. Peace is the obvious answer, but each side risks annihilation if they show that kind of vulnerability. Bringing in a bigger threat feels abrupt and like a cop-out. The loss of Ninjak this issue feels unfair, too – the bad bromance was great, and I don’t understand why you’d have a prominent guest on your covers for seventy-five percent of the issues but finish the arc without him. Venditti can get a lot out of setting the human and Vine species in a similar awkward union in the next arc, but I wish we’d had another issue to develop that transition.

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The Bottom Line: “The Kill List” hits a bit of a hitch in the final issue, but the collection of this arc will still be an exciting, thought-provoking addition to the shelves of Valiant fans. X-O Manowar #46 goes on sale Wednesday, April 20, from Valiant Entertainment.

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