It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another new edition of Kickin’ It Old School, our weekly column in which we look to the past and review books from the original Valiant universe! This week, I’ll be discussing X-O Manowar #6
X-O Manowar #6
Published in July 1992
Written by Bob Layton
Breakdowns by Steve Ditko
Finishes by Mark Moretti
Inked by Tom Ryder
Colored by Jorge Gonzalez and the Siesta Boys
Lettered by Ken Lopez
Edited by Jim Shooter
Synopsis:
The showdown between Aric and Ax continues. Ax realizes that, even with his own X-O armor, he can’t beat Aric toe to toe, so he continually tries to outsmart him, beginning by controlling some F-14s to attack Aric. Ax slips a scrambler on Aric’s armor and tries to avoid his attacks while it slowly shuts down the Manowar armor. Once it does, he thinks he has Aric beat, until Aric removes the armor and continues to take the fight to Ax. Just before Aric kills Ax, his goons show up with Ken. Ken begs Aric to forgive him and let Ax go so that Ken won’t be killed by the goons.
Aric agrees to let Ax go, warning him that the next time they fight, he will kill Ax. When they get back to Orb Industries headquarters, Aric has the X-O armor repair Ken’s missing arm, which will allow Aric to ensure that Ken will not try to betray him again. He knows that he needs Ken to navigate this world that is still so foreign to him. By letting the armor reconstruct Ken’s arm, he can now kill Ken through the armor if he tries to backstab him again.
Review:
I like the new Aric! His dumb Visigoth schtick was getting old. Not only is his character less irritating, but he got smarter by using the armor while still realizing that he is still himself underneath what the armor gives him. I love how badass he’s coming across and that he’s slowly becoming more understanding of the world around him. He was smart enough to realize that he needed the armors help and has continued to utilize all the tools at his disposal to improve himself and accomplish his ends.
Now that he’s a more well-rounded character, it’s about time we see him put it to good use in…
UNITY is next!
Originally from ValiantCentral.com
I’m not saying that he was a bad character, but Ax was definitely an annoying one. This is an instance where I like the current version better than the original.
I’ll agree Brook, and I hope @x comes back, he could be a really interesting character.
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