X-O Manowar vol 3 # 15 2013 Homecoming pg 15 by Lee Garbett

X-O Manowar July 2013
"Homecoming" pg 15
Ink over pencil on Valiant board
Pencils and Inks: Lee Garbett
Writer: Robert Venditti


Valiant is proud to present an advance preview of X-O Manowar #15 – the FIRST ISSUE of all-new story arc from New York Times best-selling writer Robert Venditti (Green Lantern) and acclaimed artist Lee Garbett (X-O Manowar: Enter Ninjak)!

Aric of Dacia has returned to Earth with his mind set on one thing and one thing alone - reclaiming Dacia, the ancestral homeland of his people. Now, the code of a fifth century Visigoth is about to clash with the militaries of the modern world, and the only one who may be able to convince Aric to stand down is someone from his past – Gilad Anni-Padda, the Eternal Warrior!

For his land. For his people. For the future. X-O Manowar's next brutal year in the Valiant Universe starts here on July 10th as two soldiers from another age begin a crash course in modern warfare - only in X-O Manowar #15!

Aric and the Visigoths return to Earth. Aric decides to claim the land in his name, but an old friend, Gilad tells him to get his act together.

Aric returns to modern-day Earth with the Visigoths that were enslaved on Loam. He has quite the sense of entitlement and decides that the piece of land he landed his ship on is now his. Old friend, Gilad, meets up with him to let Aric know he's acting like a spoiled brat.

You know what the best thing about this issue was? Of course you don't, but I'll tell you anyway. I found Aric to be the antagonist in this issue, for many obvious reasons. I loved the fact that I really started pulling for this guy during Planet Death, and even in the opening of the issue, I was right behind him, but as soon as I find out his motives, and after his talk with Gilad, I was completely against what Aric was doing. Yeah, I know. It's a big vague, but you have to check out the issue.

The scene between Gilad and Aric is fantastic. It's two old friends seeing each other for the first time in centuries. Well, centuries for Gilad. The dialogue is super-smooth and writer Robert Venditti really captures both of these character's personalities extremely well. The scene is 8 pages, but you'll fly through it because it flows incredibly well. There's going to be somewhere out there that says "nothing happens in this issue." They're wrong. We see the relationship between Gilad and Aric really play out in this issue. We get a great sense of who they once were and how one of them really grew as the years went by. It's a very suspenseful and intense scene between the two, and it's just dialogue.

Artist Lee Garbett returns to the series, and his work is wonderful. I'm very excited to see him back on this book. He does some great, straight-forward storytelling here, but keeps each panel unique, from a different perspective. It's a very contemporary style that meshes well with Moose Baumann's colors, which are a bit more realistic and muted. It gives the overall art in the book a very down-to-Earth feel.

Planet Death had a pretty long build to it. However, this issue is the place to jump on for new readers. While we do see Gilad from ARCHER AND ARMSTRONG, and this all takes place after a giant battle on another planet, Venditti does a fantastic job at keeping this new reader friendly and making everyone feel at ease, new readers and old, with this issue.