X-O Manowar #50 Review: The King Is Dead, Long Live The King

X-O Manowar finishes Robert Venditti’s long-running tenure on Valiant’s premiere hero with a satisfying conclusion pulling in action and political tension.

X-O Manowar #50
Written by Robert Venditti
Art by Joe Bennett and Roberto De La Torre
Published by Valiant Entertainment

X-O Manowar ships its fiftieth issue this week, closing Robert Venditti’s run on the title that launched Valiant’s 2012 rebirth. This work has been celebrated, including printing over a million copies. Under Venditti’s guidance, Visigoth Aric of Dacia has flown to outer space. He’s freed his people from alien enslavement and merged with a sacred sentient armor. He’s teamed with and fought against the biggest heroes in the Valiant line, like Ninjak and the Eternal Warrior. His battles against alien forces have saved the planet many times over. And this week, he comes to a rest.

X-O Manowar #50 by Philip Tan

For the final arc, Aric has established coexistence between his Visigoths and the refugee Vine species. Unfortunately, the wicked Commander Trill won’t accept peace. Only the appearance of the Torment, a race of outer space death gods, can calm the fires. And at the end of last issue, one of the Torment swallowed Aric up, seemingly killing the king of two nations.

This issue details the battle between Valiant’s heroes and the monstrous giants while a score of guest artists (including Cary Nord, Doug Braithwaite, and Clayton Henry) help X-O Manowar relive his history and escape capture, finally making the only decisions a good king can to end this destruction.

Venditti’s work on this book has always excelled when it can back off the space opera and emphasize the uniquely political in its hero. This issue delivers that, including impossible truces and speeches that raise goosebumps. Bringing so many of the book’s artists back for one last collaboration (including the unprecedented jam cover) fits perfectly with the book’s themes of legacy and unity. Backup stories by Fred Van Lente, Jody Houser, and Matt Kindt lovingly nestle this character in the greater Valiant universe and hint at his future.

X-O Manowar #50 by Marcos Martin

The Bottom Line

X-O Manowar #50 fits perfectly, summarizing the best of Robert Venditti’s work on this character. Long live the king.