X-O Manowar #9 Penciling & Inking

 

X-O Manowar #9 Cover B by Michael Cho

In X-O Manowar #9, penciler & inker Emilio Laiso shows us how the Singularity can transform our world. While the nanite swarms typically manifest like foliage or crystals, these hordes or invasive microscopic machines can take on any form. This includes viewscreens that can carry Troy Whitaker's message to every corner of New York City.

If you can zoom into this picture, do so. Compare Whitaker's face on the various viewscreens. Some of them look a little different to me, as if taken from a slightly different camera angle.

Emilio certainly drew a lot of observers into the above scene. Most don't show any shading. Yet the man who is closest to us, over to the right, has been inked in.

In the next panel, I like the body language of the police officer on the left. Leaning back, with his hand on his hip, you can guess what he thinks about Troy Whitaker.

 

Perhaps I'm wrong about the nanites forming TV monitors on the crowded street and in the police station. Still, I don't remember a big flatscreen TV hanging on the side of the building (and over an apartment window) in the basketball court.

I don't know if the idea of showing the basketball court came from Emilio Laiso or writer Dennis Hopeless Hallum. But as this is where this series began, with Aric and Desmond playing basketball, it's nice to see it again.

I'm glad to see that the basketball board Aric wrecked, and the metal supports he bent in X-O Manowar #1, have been replaced. (Yes, even if those funds came from Troy Whitaker).

Lastly, I thought I'd share with you the way the Singularity has transformed Whitaker's robots. Formerly they sported a sleek design and gleaming blue paint. What do you think of them now?

On the one hand, they look somewhat crystalline, and look kind of cool. At the same time, they also remind me of a fruit or nut that has been attacked by an insect or disease, and warped its original appearance. I'm particularly fixated on the hands, which now resemble claws.

Attack of the Robot Crabs! 

X-O Manowar Versus MechaCrabzilla!*

The Day the Earth Stood Still...and the Giant Robot Crabs Took Over!!!

 

"No, don't be silly," Troy Whitaker would doubtless say. "They're only here to protect you all."

Dragon Dave

*Or should that be MechaCrabOWar?