The Good
Aric is called back to Loam to help its people as a robotic alien army advances on the Vine to take samples of the planet, but for what reason?
Longtime readers of this book will love how this opening issue comes together. It has a deep connection to the mythos of this new volume and builds on the first couple arcs of the series. Aric is now the protector of the Vine and Loam, so when Dead Hand, this robotic, hive-mind, invader heads to Loam, it's Aric's duty to go there. It's actually nice to see Aric off Earth again. As a fan of the series, I like seeing the connection back to Loam and the fact they're not forgotten.
As for Dead Hand, it's been a while, in comics, since we've seen a threat that is essentially a hive mind, in addition to being a this ridiculously large threat. Dead Hand has this real Ego, the Living Planet feel to it as well, with a bit of a mixture of the Borg, minus the assimilation. Writer Robert Venditti provides a pretty great opening issue to this story and a villain that's really intriguing.
Diego Bernard, with Ryan Winn on inks, and Brian Reber on colors, provide some great visuals on this issue. There's a two page spread, early on, which has a bunch of different beings in the armor about to go to war. Each alien species is completely different and the armor adapts accordingly. The art team just delivers some great looking, consistent art work from start to finish here.
The final page of this issue is nuts. No spoilers here, but it completely changes how this whole story is going to play out. Aric has a lot more to deal with than just Dead Hand. After seeing his face on the final pages of this issue, I'm extremely curious what his next move is going to be because he has a big decision to make.
The Bad
New readers will be lost and the final page will have no impact on them compared to someone who has been reading the series since issue one. "Dead Hand" is for the long time reader more than anyone else as it really plays with the outcomes of earlier storylines.
The Verdict
Looks like Robert Venditti has another hit on his hands. The opening of Dead Hand is pretty fantastic and a great start to a story for people who have been reading X-O MANOWAR since the start. Sadly, this book won't play too well to new readers because they're going to miss out on a bit of the emotional connection with some of these characters. However, X-O continues to be Valiant's top book, month after month, and that's saying quite a bit especially with DIVINITY, THE VALIANT, and IMPERIUM being fantastic series as well. This may not be the best place for folks to jump in, but I say if you're interested in this series, give it a shot.