X-O Manowar #12
Written by Robert Venditti
Pencils by Cary Nord
Colors by Moose Baumann
Letters by Dave Lanphear
Cover by Mark Djurdjevic & Juan Doe
Editor: Warren Simmons, Josh Johns
Valiant Entertainment
Release Date: April 17, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

X-O Manowar #12 is packed with goodness. Unfortunately, it’s a little on the confusing side. Granted, I haven’t been reading this book, but even with the recap page, I found myself a little lost.

Robert Venditti writes a pretty solid comic. But, as I stated before, I found myself a little lost with this issue. On the plus side, I did enjoy the issue and will now go back and grab the trade and get caught up on the title so that I can have a better understanding as to what’s going on. This issue has75% a lot of reveals in it, which is nice to get so much payoff in one single issue. The writing is good, in fact, really good. I just wish there was a little more recap in the story itself. However, it is packed packed with action, mystery and general great super hero action.

Cary Nord sure has changed his style for this book. In fact, if I didn’t know it was him, I wouldn’t recognize him at all. The art isn’t bad, but compared to his other work, it’s not quite up to that level. To his credit, he does some fantastic designs for alien worlds, tech, and the aliens themselves. It just goes to prove that even Cary Nord not doing his best work, is still better than about 75% of artists out there today.

I say give this book a try, with one condition. IF this is your first time reading the title, grab the trade and some back issues, just so you know what’s going on and who’s who and what’s what. Doing that will make the book 100% better than if you jump into this title cold.