Volume 4: X-O Manowar Issue #4

Volume 4: X-O Manowar Issue #4
Cover A by Lewis Larosa & Brian Reber

Volume 4: X-O Manowar Issue #4
Published: June 2017

Writer: Matt Kindt
Artist: Doug Braithwaite
Colorist: Diego Rodriguez
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Assistant Editors: Charlotte Greenbaum & Robert Meyers
Editor: Warren Simons

Title: General
Synopsis: Aric leads his strike team to a desert wasteland ruled by the Burnt. These people have been persecuted and used by both the Azure and the Cadmium races. Aric humbly asks permission to pass through their lands so he can capture the Cadmium President, who fled the Capitol when the Azure army conquered the city. Although he is not inclined to trust anyone outside his own people, he is swayed by Aric's humility and assurances.

Aric's team captures a party of miners in the Helio fields. After he captures their mining machines, one of the miners lets slip the location of the Cadmium President. They find him in a hidden bunker. As they prepare to return, the team notices suicide gliders heading their way. Despite his instructions otherwise, the ring he forged from the X-O armor protects Aric amid the eruptions in the Helio fields caused by the suicide glider attack.

When he returns to his camp, the Azurian General explains that once they learned he had captured the Cadmium President, the suicide gliders were sent to ensure victory. Under no circumstances could the Azure risk the President escaping their party. Once again, the Azure army leadership demonstrates that the achievement of its goals is all that matters.

Observation: On reading this story a second time, I am once more struck by the similarities in the conflicts on Planet Gorin and the recent conflict in Iraq. The three warring tribes, the valuable natural resources of the Helio fields, the high level of distrust of others, and the willingness to win at any price, should resonate with anyone who watched the events of "war of liberation" and "the rebuilding of Iraq" unfold. It would be interesting to talk with American soldiers who fought in that conflict, and compare Matt Kindt's story with their observations and experiences.

Two World War II films last year were won Oscars this week. Perhaps I'm wrong, and Matt Kindt isn't using X-O Manowar to talk about Iraq. But people still write stories about the war in Iraq, as they do about any conflict that wreaks death, destruction, and misery on an unimaginable scale. And, sadly, they always will.