As children, we play at war. When adulthood is reached there are those who use weapons to destroy. And with all the knowledge, strength and ingenuity that abounds in both humanity and alien forms alike in issue 46 of X-O Manowar the question remains will there be anyone left to learn from their mistakes?
In all the rhetoric of this battle between the Vine and the New Visigoths writer Robert Venditti seems to be raging at the wind. Aric of Dacia who was chosen by the X-O armor did not ask to be kidnapped and enslaved by an alien race. He did not ask to fuse with the embodiment of this same species’ religion and above all else he certainly never asked to be taken from his planet. But he found a way home and all this time later is attempting to broker a peace with the same enemy that forcefully took him from everyone and thing he’s ever known and loved. One may say many things about Aric, but they should not forget compassion or forgiveness in their description of him. In battling commander Trill, perhaps his greatest enemy Aric implores him to end this vendetta. But it’s too late for that and the opportunity and hope seen by two boys of different species playing becomes lost.
What resonates in this comic thus far is the destructiveness of obsession. The ending of peaceful coexistence, unnecessary slaughter and the possible extinction of a race is all because Trill is unable to let go of the fact that the armor doesn’t want him. It’s as if he’s a rejected lover who in stalking the armor decided to eliminate everyone in his wake. In Trill’s case he not only blames Aric for “stealing†his birthright, he now blames the earth itself. But there comes a point where the universe has to correct the situation. In the Marvel and DC universes this correction would involve a miniseries and nearly every major character. All hands would be on deck. For Marvel, it would be Wolverine, Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange and throw in Adam Warlock to help defeat Thanos. And of course you would have to have Spider-man, no one wisecracks as well as the web slinger in a crisis. However, in the Valiant reality, it’s just another Tuesday in July. Aric has help in Ninjak and the Armorines, but don’t expect Bloodshot or the Eternal Warrior to show up. Instead, expect someone to die who is of vital importance. It may or may not be the man who wears the X-O armor.
Still, in this unforgiving existence known as the Valiant Universe one never knows.
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