X-O Manowar: My Letter to Shanhara

 

X-O Manowar #1 Cover B by Jeff Dekal

In X-O Manowar #1, writer asked Dennis Hopeless Hallum's asked readers for feedback. Sadly, the proposed Shanhara letter column never arrived. In fairness, a lot of stuff happened after X-O Manowar #1, including a pandemic, the shutdown of the distributor Diamond, and Valiant management shifting to working from home. 

In a very real way, our world changed. Perhaps forever.

It's hard to believe that X-O Manowar #1 came out a year-and-a-half ago! Still, regardless of whatever circumstances prevented Dennis and Valiant from producing it, I thought I'd share my feedback on Dennus Hopeless Hallum and company's debut issue. Enjoy!

 

Dear Dennis of Dacia,

Congratulations on your first issue of X-O Manowar! Emilio’s artwork compares nicely with that in other series like The Visitor and Doctor Tomorrow. You two work in harmony, packing each page with writing and art to tell a compelling story that still leaves more to be discovered in later reads. 

Given how his life among the Visigoths of Earth fell apart, and how Schon betrayed him on Planet Gorin, I’m glad Aric is putting the past behind him and making a new start in New York City.  

 

 

Was he living on the streets of Harlem when the explosion rocked the Japanese Consulate, and all the resultant chaos on Roosevelt Island in The Visitor #1? If so, why didn’t he investigate? 

 

 

With Aric now labeled a vigilante, I’m guessing the way the recent Vine attack went down frayed his relationships with Schon and GATE to the breaking point. At least his relationship with Shanhara has emerged stronger than ever, with the sentient armor overlaying his vision with virtual screens, and transforming his street clothing into armor almost instantly. 

 

 

I can’t help but wonder if his clothing and armor are really what they appear, or if Shanhara is now so integrated with Aric that we could justify call him a shapeshifter (with, you know, a “bulletproof butt”).

 

 

Then there’s the knife he hunts with in the Canadian wilderness. If he doesn’t need money, where did he get it from? And he appears naked, yet he and Shanhara are conversing. We see the knife later in NYC. Is the knife part of Shanhara, like the ring he broke off the armor on the Planet Gorin?

 

 

I like how Shanhara can interpret and relate facts, but can’t immediately home in on those Aric wants. The way Shanhara can’t help Aric suddenly become great at learned skills like Basketball also makes sense. If Aric’s not into Basketball, might he bond with Desmond over 5th century Visigoth games? Or will they take up paintball?

 

I came to the twenty-teens version of X-O with Matt Kindt’s series. Do I need to read Venditti’s run to understand Shanhara’s mention of Aric’s princely fortune back in the 14^th century? Or did the way Aric constantly fought Shanhara during Kindt’s series, even breaking off pieces of it to birth another suit of armor for Schon, have a lasting effect on Shanhara? Perhaps that explains Shanhara’s humorous summary of the history of Basketball. If a Vine soldier can suffer from PTSD, I suppose a sentient being like Shanhara could too.

 

 

I don’t like the idea of a rocket flying over a heavily populated city any more than Aric does. There’s too much chance something could go wrong, and people could be hurt or killed, to justify as a publicity stunt. Who would even approve such an event? 

 

 

As the rocket seems to have been launched from a nearby space center, I’m guessing Troy Whitaker took over a disused Rising Spirit facility not utilized by OMEN. Perhaps “the last five times” Shanhara alludes to refers to other such launches, or tests involving new equipment Whitaker’s companies are developing for General Grayle’s Black Bar organization? If so, I can understand Whitaker’s interest in Aric, and how his interference has “pissed him off.” 

Then again, someone with Whitaker’s resources could influence the new media. He could be behind the portrayal of Aric as a vigilante. 

 

 

Perhaps Whitaker’s even stirred up things between Russia and the Ukraine, and engineered the trouble at the Ukraine airport, as a way to trap Aric. At least, he’s sent his robot (a high-powered version of Sunlight On Snow?) to take Aric down. Don’t leave me hanging! I must learn what happens next! I need X-O Manowar #2! 

 

 

Well, there you have it. My feedback from a year-and-a-half ago on X-O Manowar #1. Some of my musings may have had some merit. 

Were Dennis and Valiant so stumped by my thoughts that they thought: Wow, how can we even begin to respond to that supreme-level of letter-writing? At the end of the day, all I know for sure is that I loved their new take on X-O Manowar. What a fun, refreshing, and thought-provoking debut it was!

Dragon Dave