Welcome OTV-heads to another edition of “Chromium Corner.” This marks the first of a regular series of reviews by your favorite foil-enhanced, card-stock, “Uncle Fester”-looking fanatic! Keep in mind that there be spoilers ahead, mateys, so if you have not read these books before, you may want to do so before going ahead 
Without further ado, let’s get into this months new Valiant reviews!
X-O Manowar #6
Part 2 of the pivotal arc that introduces Ninjak to the Valiant Universe, this issue is full of action, intrigue, and suspense not found in too many comic releases of today. The artwork by Lee Garbett and Stefano Gaudiano is steller; my favorite page being the shot of X-O running full blast at Ninjak on pg. 11, with energy sword drawn! Also, I loved the dialogue by the incomparable Robert “V-Ditti” Venditti! I don’t know if this is intentional, but I swear that the sound effect on pg. 13, panel 2 (ZRRCHR) is a shout out to the artist extraordinaire of the upcoming “Shadowman” book. Love it!
The storyline moves along very quickly in this issue as X-O and Vine-planting Alexander escape the capture of Ninjak. The scene in which Ninjak falls out of his plane while X-O pursues him blasting away had my blood pumping; this is seriously some well-executed almost cinematic sequential storytelling at its’ best! I greatly await the next issue to see how the story continues, and how Ninjak will react to the revelations as they continue to unravel!
NOTE: The Aja variant homage cover to this issue (seen in the beginning of this post) is stellar! I do not throw down cash on variants very often, but needed to for this one!
Harbinger #5
The conclusion to the “Omega Rising” story arc, this issue of Harbinger brought some concrete answers to Pete’s plight (the images of Chris being created by Ingrid, and Joe being murdered by the Harbinger Corporation), while also adding some breath-taking twists to this chilling storyline (see last page of the issue, which I will NOT spoil here :)). And Faith…what a cute and lovable character! Her future development is something that I am excited to see in upcoming issues!
I have said it before and have to say it again, but Joshua Dysart is creating such a comic book masterpiece that it really has the potential of being on the level of Neil Gaiman’s much loved “Sandman” series by DC/Vertigo. He takes the basic ideas of superheroes and villains, and shoves them into our reality in a believable yet still fantastic way. You may not like the characters, you may be unsure of who is the “good guy” or the “bad guy,” but dag-nabbit…you fall in love with them more and more with every issue released!!!
Harbinger is my favorite Valiant book at the moment and I cannot WAIT to read the next story arc beginning in issue #6, “Renegades.” HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Namaste,
Jonesy