X-O Manowar Part 38: X-O Manowar #22 (November, 1993)

Aric finds a new life for himself.

I have this issue.

Aric is deep in the Peruvian jungle when he comes across four hunters chasing after a man and a small boy. The boy is killed before Aric’s eyes, and he attacks…and kills…all four hunters. The survivor’s name is Elib, a member of a Yanomama tribe that immigrated to Peru from the Brazil-Venezuela borderlands. He explains that the hunters were Hovito, and leads Aric, carrying the deceased Hanewoe, back to the Yanomama village. When they arrive, Elib tells the village shaman what happened, and Aric is welcomed as a friend of the tribe.

That night, Hovitos attack the village and kidnap the shaman. Aric blames himself for this retaliation and tells Elib to gather a small group of men to raid the Hovitos’ camp.

The raid is successful and the camp is destroyed, but Aric learns that the shaman was killed before they arrived.

Back at the Yanomama village, Aric is accepted as one of them and is invited to go on a hunt the following day.

Notes of Interest:

1) Aric’s flair for language comes up again here, as he learns a form of what I assume to be Portuguese in Spanish…some of which he uses less than a day later.

WTF? Moment: The Hovitos. Geez…haven’t heard from them since Raiders.

WTF? Moment #2: Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that every village Aric encounters winds up following him? What makes it even more interesting is that he does so while honoring and following their customs. He doesn’t just walk in and take over like Doctor Doom would. I would love to see Aric meet up with T’Challa.