Do you know the secret to creating a really great Sci-Fi apocalypse? Well, if you read X-O Manowar #49 then you’ll find out! I really enjoyed this months issue and can take note of the best elements from the apocalypse genre throughout. This is truly a great read from beginning to end.
The general idea for this issue was fine, but what may amaze readers and make them think about world’s fate in this issue is the chain of events we see. Like links in a chain being pulled through your hands, happening so fast one after the other. I can really only think about Age of Ultron’s final fight to describe the pace of this issue.
Seeing humans and aliens going at it isn’t the newest idea ever, but it’s a classic event in the genre so I wasn’t surprised so see it, especially in a book like X-O Manowar #49. Some would say it was a big cliché, but it didn’t matter to me, and even enjoyed it because it fits really well.
About the characters, there’s a little problem if you haven’t read the past issues. There is a short scene inside that is supposed to be big, epic and all that jazz, but makes less sense for someone fairly new to the series. This sort of thing really can’t be helped, especially with a book on issue number 49. However, there’s still something meaningful behind it, even if you don’t fully understand it and are new to X-O.
I’m just going to say that the final bit of this book was simply astonishing. I actually didn’t realize it was the end of the issue before reaching that last panel, so great was the spell those final pages cast upon me as a reader. Sure, your millage may vary, but it was so impressive that I am recommending this book before the review is even over!
The art managed to surprise me with the colors and the movements we can see in each of the panels working so well together. Everything is accurate and well proportioned, as if these people had actors or models to simulate every scene for the comic. This is some of the best work so far in any Valiant book.
The bigger the images are, the better they look, especially after you pass the first half of this issue, when we start getting nearer to the end, increasing expectations about which way will things take then, and that was something I wasn’t expecting, or at least, not the way they draw it.
And finally, I need to praise the torment’s look. One of the aspects that still shocks me is that for all of the details they have, and how they look on all the pages, they still continue to impress me on return readings, finding new things with them. I’d really love to see them on the big screen (let’s make it happen Valiant!) and even as they are all throughout this issue, not once do you get tired of them.
Having to point to one small grip I would have liked it even more if the romance here were a little more well developed. It works alright, but I had to find something to nitpick as no book/project is ever truly perfect. X-O Manowar #49 it’s definitely one of the best issues I’ve red so far and I’m eager to see what Valiant will bring with the next issue. They have set a high bar and there will be high expectations going into it.
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