X-O Manowar 2: Enter Ninjak

Comic Info

X-O Manowar #7

Reprints X-O Manowar (3) #5-8 (September 2012-December 2012) Auric is trapped in the present day and targeted by agents of the Vine who have infiltrated all aspects of governments all over the world.  When MI-6 targets Aric with their coveted assassin Ninjak, Aric and the X-O armor might have met their match.  Ninjak is a master at killing and is unaware of the Vine’s activity.  An Earthborn Vine agent named Alexander Dorian switches sides and  he might the only hope for Aric and Earth.

Written by Robert Venditti, X-O Manowar Volume 2:  Enter Ninjak is a Valiant Comics superhero comic book collection.  The entry is the second trade paperback in the new Valiant relaunch of the ’90s series following the premiere collection X-O Manowar Volume 1:  By the Sword.  X-O Manowar continues to have positive reviews and this collection features art by Lee Garbitt.

X-O Manowar continues to be a fun comic with great art and a great story.  The comic is pretty high end action but doesn’t feel like panel after panel of fighting like some comics (especially some of the early ’90s comics that gave birth to the original series).  X-O Manowar Volume 2:  Enter Ninjak is a solid second outing.

This collection’s big premiere is the revealing of the new, modern Ninjak.  Ninjak first appeared in Bloodshot (1) #6 (July 1993), and soon gained his own series which had a rather large fan base (and even a rumored movie in the ’90s).  Here, the character is back and continues to go for super-spy cool feel.  It is pretty obvious from this collection that Valiant is hoping for a possible Ninjak spin-off series or at least some sort of limited series to show Ninjak’s battle against the Vine.

X-O Manowar #8

With the whole shift to the future and Auric now learning new ropes, it is kind of fun to have a barbarian fighting with technology that doesn’t fit his time period.  It was a good idea to pair him with Ninjak who is much more high tech and stealthly as opposed to Auric’s big brawling approach to battle.

The art for the series also continues to impress with some solid rather classic style comic book art that doesn’t try too hard to be flashy but continues to be good.  Lee Garbett is a great artist for this and the series really does have a nice space opera on Earth feel (he does have the problem of following in the highly stylized version of Barry Windsor Smith who helmed the start of the original X-O series).

I really like how Valiant is handling their relaunch and their series and X-O Manowar is a prime example.  Unlike a lot of upstarts, the comics are timely and the art and writing is high quality.  I hope that X-O Manowar has a long life and that the company also prospers.  X-O Manowar 2:  Enter Ninjak is followed by X-O Manowar 3:  Planet Death.

Related Links:

X-O Manowar 1: By the Sword

X-O Manowar 3:  Planet Death