X-O Manowar vol 3 # 45 2016 The Kill List: A Better Way Forward pg 12 by Robert Gill

X-O Manowar volume 3 # 45 March 2016
"The Kill List: A Better Way Forward" pg 12
Inks over pencil on comic art board
Pencils & Inks: Robert Gill
Writer: Robert Venditti

Commander Trill comes down on “THE KILL LIST”!

The leader of the Vine insurgency has turned the tables on X-O Manowar and Ninjak in a way they never saw coming! By safeguarding a nation of alien refugees on his own sovereign soil, has Aric unwittingly invited a Trojan horse into his kingdom? And just when everything seems darkest…the Armorines return with a surprising new mission…

In this issue (are you ready for the crazy) Trill’s followers cold-bloodedly kill a bunch of their own kind to blame it on the humans (mainly X-O Manowar). Meanwhile, X-O himself is slaughtering dozens of enemy Vine, so you can see how easy it would be to pin mass murder on him. Even Ninjak was impressed. With Trill successfully taking command of The Vine, the war is on and the human stabbing begins.

So just a truckload of blood and violence in this issue. But you can see the point Venditti is trying to make with it all, so it doesn’t feel gratuitous. As a neo-superhero action book, Venditti continues to do a good job. This is some solid plot-driven action. The only things that struck me as odd were: Why are a large number of Vine fighters, with no chance of hurting X-O, dumb enough to attack him over and over again, and why does The Vine only have a bunch of spears to revolt against the humans with? Methinks that revolution won’t last long.

New artist Robert Gill, who has worked on a bunch of Valiant titles and a few issues of New 52 BATGIRL, draws his second issue of X-0 MANOWAR here. While I find some of his layouts a bit boring, his overall work is quite good. He does well with all the action and the large body count.

Venditti’s X-O MANOWAR continues to impress as a solid action comic with enough special sauce to keep it all interesting. I am curious if X-O can put a stop to Trill’s plan without killing every last single Vine.