X-O MANOWAR #7 – Review

In X-O MANOWAR #7, available from Valiant Entertainment on October 20th, 2021, Aric and Troy enact a desperate plan to stop a falling trash moon while Shanhara’s glitches spiral out of control.

The Details

• Written By: Dennis Hopeless
• Art By: Emilio Laiso, Raffaele Forte
• Colors By: Ruth Redmond
• Letters By: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
• Cover Art By: Rahzzah (cover A)
• Cover Price: $3.99
• Release Date: October 20, 2021

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Was It Good?

This was not a great issue. To put it bluntly, it’s a confusing mess.

Let’s take a look at the story first. When last we left Aric, Shanhara underwent a catastrophic failure and Aric crashed into Paris, leveling several city blocks and killing several people. Now, Aric is simply wandering around Paris naked and acting mildly annoyed at his current predicament. He seems completely unconcerned about the damage he just caused and makes no move to help. Are people alive underneath the rubble? Could he maybe lend a hand (no pun intended)? Could he show just a little concern for what he’s just done? All this is just in the opening.

The big conflict in this issue revolves around stopping the trash moon from falling to Earth after Aric’s encounter with it in the last issue. The series of steps Aric and Troy go through to address the conflict is so frantic and seemingly random that it was hard to tell what was going on without rereading several pages. Aric is underwater when the trash moon is falling from the sky with no transition or explanation until after he arrived at his destination. Then he shoots a green thing that turns into a brown thing that turns into a giant cylinder, and why are they attacking a floating island, and when did the giant cylinder turn into a brown ball, and on and on and on.

If that last sentence reads like several random thoughts streaming into each other, that’s what it was like reading this issue. It’s difficult to know if this lack of flow and logical progression is a flaw in the writing, the art, or both, but the net result is plain messy.

At least the art is generally fine. That may not sound like a rousing endorsement, and that’s because it’s not. There’s an inconsistency about the art in this issue that’s hard to quantify. Some scenes have clean lines and excellent color shading. Other scenes look roughed up like you’re looking at the scene through a dirty window.

And if that wasn’t enough, there’s a surprising down point on the lettering, specifically the sound effects. Throughout the series, Otsmane-Elhaou has used a rough paintbrush style for the bigger noises. It’s a fine creative choice, partly because it adds some flair and partly because it doesn’t interfere with the main art. In this issue, the sound effects are more front-and-center and rougher than in the previous issues, and it doesn’t look good. Your mileage may vary, but in this reviewer’s opinion, the sound effects look rushed and cheap, marring an already troubling issue.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]

To find out how Aric wound up naked in Paris, read out X-O-MANOWAR #6 review.

We pick up with Aric wandering around Paris naked when he stops in a store to get a bottle of water. Suddenly, glitchy Shanhara comes back online declaring it’s “f-f-f-f-fine”. Later, Troy holds a press conference claiming full responsibility for the destruction and loss of life in Paris. During the press conference, the trash moon Aric was investigating in the last issue is seen falling (slowly) from the sky.

Later, X-O is in the water (it took a few rereads to figure out how he got from A to B and why). We eventually figure out Shanhara is going to reactivate a previously defeated nanite swarm to use it as a weapon… somehow. The intent green mass turns into a swirly brown mass that turns into a muddy tornado column. Suddenly Shanhara’s “face” projects itself to Aric, screaming for his trust, as the suit comes apart while he’s on the ocean floor. The extreme pressures nearly killed Aric while he was in the suit a few issues back, so it’s unclear how the suit could come apart at the same location without killing him.

Suddenly, Aric is flying through the sky carrying a giant cylinder. There’s no mention of the prior scene or any transition. We’re simply looking at one dangerous event, and then, we’re somewhere else. For some reason that isn’t clearly explained, Aric is trying to ram the giant cylinder into one of the floating islands glimpsed in a prior issue. What are they trying to do? Who knows?

Hitting an island with the cylinder doesn’t work. Suddenly, we’re in NYC and Aric is flying towards the falling moon with a brown ball. Is it the same thing as the cylinder? Did Aric and Troy accomplish what they intended with the floating island? What is happening?!?!? We conclude the issue with a twist reveal of the force behind the nanite swarms that were never explained.

Final Thoughts

X-O MANOWAR #7 is a mess. Inconsistent art. Strange lettering. And a story that jumps from one page to the next with scenes that start out of nowhere, don’t resolve, and simply move on to another event.

Score: 5.5/10

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