X-O Manowar #21 review: Superman syndrome strikes again

Superman Syndrome (comic book definition): When a writer is incapable of writing a story because the lead character is virtually invincible.

I’m convinced that writer Matt Kindt has Superman Syndrome. I’m a fan of Kindt but I really need someone else to take over X-O Manowar because I’m just tired of Aric having to be made weak to make a story move forward. This has been the common thread since issue one of this series. How else can the armor be removed, crippled, made powerless so that a story can move forward where Aric cannot utilize his full power?

I get it, the armor is powerful but making it a non-factor over and over has become old at this point. In this case, a massive bear can topple Aric, granted he does something ghastly to end it, which didn’t really seem to fit the character either. Then a blast from an energy rifle knocks out Aric’s armor via a shot to the helmet. What? Why???

This current series started out really interesting but now, too many tangents have entered into the panel and we have Aric and Atom-13 vs The Cartographer, who stole a weapon and Atom-13’s wife. Meanwhile, a police force from somewhere else is looking for the weapon. They run into Colonel Capshaw, who I was hoping would be more of a central character here, but in this issue, really isn’t. To top it all off, the art by Juan Jose Ryp and colors by Andrew Dalhouse just looks strange here.

The entire page has way too much going on, to the point where panels blend together too much. Some characters look really good and then others look anatomically off. The colors seem fuzzy here too. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not really bad art but it just doesn’t work here very well. The letters by Dave Sharpe are nice though.

Wrap Up

This is still a good book, I just think it needs a new writer and a new direction so we can really see Aric being X-O Manowar.

Last Updated on February 3, 2021.