X-O Manowar and Ninjak have uncovered a Vine terrorist network that goes farther up the rungs of power than they could have ever expected – and revealing its secrets may have just put everyone Aric holds dear in grave danger! Even Valiant’s two most powerful heroes might not be able to stop what’s coming next…and the countdown is about to begin!

The Kill List hasn’t been my favourite X-O Manowar story. It’s better than okay, but it’s not as good as I hoped. I’ll be honest with you: I wanted to like this issue much more than I did, especially with how this arc just hasn’t grabbed me in the way  the previous arc did.

Spoilers will follow (including the ending).

The political tension of Exodus that carried the story so well is largely absent here, and the Vine seem to have lost their character as they become just another enemy to face. That they don’t immediately wipe out the Visigoths is somewhat of a conundrum to me; the Visigoth’s are armed with spears whereas the Vine seem to be carrying fire arms.  Although probably a minor niggle, and one I would usually overlook if the rest of the story justified it, I couldn’t here.

This is apparently the conclusion to the current story arc, but instead of giving us an ending that leaves you wanting to continue with the next arc, X-O Manowar #46 feel more like the prologue to the next chapter than a finale to a four part arc. It’s not all bad, though. Almost every time you see Aric Of Dacia you can feel the sheer power he wields as an almost palpable force coming through the page. His scenes in the comic are the saving grace to an otherwise lackluster issue, especially a pretty cool fight scene between Aric and Trill that never really seems as though Aric  is trying all that hard.

Remember how I mentioned this felt more like a prologue than a conclusion? That’s because of the final couple of pages that are bound to factor heavily in the series as it wraps up with issue #50. As a conclusion this wasn’t great, but as a prologue? It’s still kind of intriguing, and at the end of the day I never felt the comic wasn’t worth reading.

Story: Robert Venditti Art: Robert Gill
Story: 6.5.0 Art: 7.5 Overall: 6.75 Recommendation: Read

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review.