Bounty hunted!

Long ago, Aric of Dacia left the life he knew on Earth behind to start afresh in a distant galaxy… Now the mistakes of his past have come home to roost, causing untold devastation on the planet Aric first called home! Clad in the X-O Manowar armor he once renounced, the former Emperor of Gorin has a choice to make: Does he take on this band of intergalactic warriors alone, or does he trust the mysterious woman warrior in black who’s come to his aid?

If you read the last issue then you’ll know who the mysterious woman alluded to above is, but if for some inexplicable reason you haven’t (yet) done so after following the series so far then expect a spoiler or two going forward.

Matt Kindt‘s reintroduction of Schon reflects upon the opening arc of the series where Aric sought peace and refuge on an alien planet, forgoing the violent life he had lived until that point – only instead of avoiding war and searching for peace, Schon came to Earth looking for a fight, and embracing the battle that came. It is a brilliant way to circle back to the beginning of the series, bringing Aric’s story full circle.

Tomas Giorello is an utterly phenomenal artist, and he once again shows why with this issue. Regarding last issue, I wrote that “each and every page is packed with more detail, emotion and life than some comics have in their entirety,” and the same is equally as true with X-O Manowar #25. I’m running out of superlatives to use to describe the visual impact of this series, which is a good problem to have at this juncture.

X-O Manowar has been one of the most consistent series in terms of quality over the past two years, and has understandably garnered some pretty high expectations issue after issue – expectations that the series has met (and often exceeded) with each and every issue. The series may be coming to a close with XO Manowar #26, but Kindt’s story will be among one of my favourite runs for a long time to come (unless of course something happens in the final issue to change all of that, which is entirely possible – though unlikely at this point).

Story: Matt Kindt Art: Tomas Giorello
Colourist: Diego Rodriguez Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Story: 9 Art: 10 Overall: 9.5 Recommendation: Buy

Valiant provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review. I purchased the comic anyway.