Valiant Comics’ X-O Manowar #8 arrives with a dynamic climax to the series through the titular armor’s mind, Shanhara. Her story of privacy and rights violations is surprisingly compelling for an alien AI.
Background
Aric of Dacia (X-O Manowar) spent the last several issues finally getting a handle on a nanite swarm. Only to turn out his benefactor, Troy Whittaker, has been using him.
X-O Manowar #8: The Story of Shanhara’s Sentence
Dennis Hopeless makes X-O Manowar #8 all about Shanhara. By calling back to a few other issues, readers see how insidious Troy’s deceptions are. Through Shanhara, readers feel the data collection that evokes the real world fears of losing freedom. The fact the reader gets this through an AI is a rather interesting angle. It’s why when Shanhara recounts her tale, it feels like she’s in the process of regaining her autonomy.
City Of The Singularity
The art of X-O Manowar #8 offers a chilly presentation of this series’ threat. Jim Towe shares penciling duties with Emilio Laiso and inking with Raffaele Forte to present how invasive the nanite swarm is, in crystalline form. The green hues by Ruth Redmond make the crystals twice as menacing. The side characters have thick outlines but don’t show their faces, instead their body language shows their fright.
Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou brings some top-notch lettering to X-O Manowar #8. In addition to some highly expressive and distorting word balloons, a few captions highlight Troy’s presence. Including the captions of Shanhara’s doppelgänger shifting into speech balloons.
Connect to X-O Manowar #8
X-O Manowar #8 sets up a pretty intense stage for the coming conclusion. The villain isn’t just established, Troy Whittaker makes the gravity of his threat apparent. His violation of Shanhara is just the tip of an epic climax. This will leave readers ready and itching for the next issue.
