X-O Manowar Vol. 2: Enter: Ninjak: Enter Ninjak (X-O Manowar (2012- ))

As always spoiler warning, I won't go in depth on details, but I will comment where I see fit, consider that before reading the review.X-O Manowar is off on a new set adventures in this new TPB as a followup to Vol. 1 by Vendetti and Nord. This time Vendetti has a new art time in tow for Aric's second arc in the form of Lee Garbett and Stefano Gaudino. And thankfully the differences aren't too jarring to the reader going from one artist to another, but as a fan used to consistent art teams month after month with the occasional fill in issue, thankfully the art looks same-y enough that it didn't disctract from the story itself. So this time we find Aric sitting in a field in northern Italy where his fellow Visigoths fell in battle centuries ago and he fills like a man lost and out of his element. When a young girl approaches, unaware of who or what he is (I was shocked Aric knows fluent, current Italian when speaking to this girl) she is startled by her frightened mother and military who show up out of nowhere to confront Aric and his mysterious alien suit. Wary of battle and of the revelations he has seen Aric flees to South America to rest, reflect and collect himself. He remembers a better time with his wife before everthing that had transpired before he was abducted and is rudely torn from that fleeting memory by a group of soldiers who are intent on capturing him.Now let me stop here for a moment, as with my last review, I still am waiting for Aric to become master of the X-O and more than just a barbarian. One thing that has bothered me about this series compared to the original is I don't get the feeling that Aric is learning from the X-O, how does he control it (I've not seen a control ring), we know it communicates with him, but how, as I mentioned earlier does Aric know all current languages, if so when did he learn them so quickly, I would assume he would know latin, but fluent Italian? English? I can understand knowing the language of The Vine as the suit would translate that for him, but most of my comments are based when he is not wearing the armor or without the helmet on. A reader could get stuck on these details, but when they were addressed in the original series and not here, one tends to wonder why....Also the characterization, Vendetti seems to have created a fully formed, already filled out Aric, but without showing the reader who he is and how he's gotten to where he is, we as readers get brief glimpses into the man as Visigoth solider, husband, slave and now warrior out of time, but very little on the man himself and I think that is a shame. X-O is not the only book with this issue, Shadowman falls into the same trap, with the new Jack Boniface looking for an identity from outside sources instead of having those sources inform who he is and add to his existing character and not help create it.Back to the story we find out that the Vine Hybrid Alexander has his own plans unbeknownst to the Vine heirarchy, and as Aric is so quickly finding out with his new found ally. (as Vendetti has been creating Alexander, he is fitting him into the slot that Ken from the original series filled, but not as cliche' and drama laden as Ken) at this point the mysterious Ninjak comes on the scene to secure the Manowar armor, while working for The Vine, which is unknown to him at this time. This leads to a brief fight (a super hero book mainstay) between the two heroes, a realization that they are being manipulated and a team up. They take the fight to the real enemy and in the process destroy a major infiltration of Vine in the British Intellegence Community, and as a aside to this Vendetti does a brief cameo with Neville Alcott from the original valiant books, in this case he is a former head of some branch of British Intellegence who was disgraced for his wild theories about alien invasion and other conspiracy theories, whom however is informed by Colin King (who Alcott does not know in this version of the Valiant Universe) to get ready to make a power grab and make sure MI6 is not infiltrated by aliens again.As that part of the story wraps up, Vendetti brings us back to the Vine mothership where the alien commander is training his troops (in their newly procured X-O Commando armor) to be able to take Aric down, and essentially ends with the Vine getting ready to strike back at Aric for stealing their most powerful weapon, and humanity for defiling the planet they were going to keep for themselves, which leads us into the next story arc called Planet Death. (ominous sounding huh?)So what are my final thoughts on this second volume, well it's better than the first, (hence 4 stars this time) however it is still lacking in the character building aspects I've mentioned. I see Vendetti is asking the reader to allow him to do a slow burn with the character and allow him to grow in an organic manner, but I think Vendetti could create a stronger link with the readers if they had a better connection with Aric through learning more about Aric than he's a Visagoth warrior, who misses his people and now has the most weapon on earth. There was something endearing about the original X-O who was essentially Conan in a alien armor, but the character evolved before he went off the rails before being cancelled in the original series and I'd like to see more of that here as well.Is the story still building to something grander and more complex? Yeah. Does the characterization need more work? Yeah. Are the issues basically the same as my last review? Yeah. So while I did like the story and am still interested in seeing where it's going, I still would like to see some of my criticisms addressed in the future, otherwise I see the book having a complex and compelling storyline, but a shallow main character with no depth or personality (which is what he basically is right now a sad barbarian in a alien suit, who's not dealing with the situation placed before him very well)Onward to Planet Death to see where this adventure leads from here.

Ninjak attacks!Manowar is back!Second book rocks!Not a bit shocked!Valiant school DCon how to do a rebootIt's quality not quantityArt over lootNinjak and Manowar team up to fight the Vine`cos aliens invading is crossing the line!A ninja with a k, a warrior out of timeThem fools don't stand a chanceIt's alien stomping time!You sick for a comic?This is your tonic!Keanu Reeves was in Johnny Mnemonic!Time to read the next one`cos Manowar is awesomeI gotta read `em all like it's Pokemon season!

The direct sequel to book one, which was a retelling of Manowar; Retribution, this one has the Vine aliens retaliating for Arik's assault on their ship. The Vine have secret agents all over Earth, one of which calls in Ninjak to take Arik out, for crashing into the coliseum and killing the military response to that event. This is clever, because in a normal fight, Ninjak has no chance (sorry Ninjak fans, but let's be real) so he waits for Arik to be out of his armour, and uses tranquilizer shuriken. They end up teaming up after catching a Vine defector, who changed sides when it was revealed the Vine fleet is coming to destroy Earth. To paraphrase Guardians of the Galaxy, they all team up to protect Earth because they live there. It's honestly pretty good, it's just a little light on anything.. other than what i just typed. The original run of XO Manowar was honestly more characterful, this version of Arik is pretty flat. He doesn't seem to notice or care that like, 1500 years have passed, beyond mild annoyance, there's no comparisons to past events or things, so most of the time he's just standing around silent.

When Aric returns to Earth in modern time with the most powerful weapon in the world it gets the attention of a weapons expert, ENTER NINJAK!Writer Robert Venditti (The Surrogates, Green Lantern) and artist Lee Garbett (Batman, Batgirl) continue the awesomeness of this series with great action and the introduction of Ninjak to the new Valiant Universe. We're also introduced to Alexander Dorian who may be a good friend or foe to Aric. We also get to learn much more about the aliens known as the Vine who kidnapped Aric in volume 1 until he escaped with the armor.This is a seriously fun read, highly recommended.

In the early 90s, during the original Valiant’s heyday, one of the most anticipated characters/books was Ninjak. Billed as the world’s smartest man, main character Collin King was one part Bruce Wayne, one part Tony Stark, plus a whole heaping helping of James Bond mixed in, and his surprise first appearance in an early issue of Bloodshot became one of the most sought after comics of that time.Beginning with the revived X-O Manowar’s second arc, the new Valiant wasted no time in reintroducing the man known as Ninjak into this new Universe.Where things are at: Aric of Dacia has returned to present day Earth in the X-O Manowar armor. His alien captors are doing everything they can to recover him, but for naught. Realizing their heavy handed approach isn’t working, they opt for something a little stealthier…Enter: Ninjak.This was a great arc that succeeded in showing that Valiant Comics were not going to be following the typical comic book tropes. None of the all too familiar “two heroes start fighting due to a misunderstanding, only to eventually figure out they share a common foe, so they become friends” theme. Rather, each has their own motivations putting them in conflict with each other, and though they may be forced to collaborate for a greater good, they do so begrudgingly and certainly do not part on good terms… an uncomfortable status quo that will again come into play much later on.As with all Valiant comics, this trade paperback represents only part of a much larger story. Consider this “Act 2” of X-O Manowar’s first season, and definitely not the only appearance of Ninjak. He has a larger role to play in the Valiant Universe, and still has a score to settle with X-O Manowar!