Writer: Matt Kindt
Art: Tomás Giorello and Diego Rodriguez
Publisher: Valiant Comics
Summary from Comixology:
Born under the oppressive thumb of the Roman Empire, Aric of Dacia learned warfare at an early age. It was amid such violence that he was abducted by an alien race. Forced into slavery, he survived where others perished. His escape would come from bonding with a weapon of immeasurable power: the X-O Manowar armor. With it, he returned to Earth…only to find himself stranded in the modern day. But that was a lifetime ago.
Now, far from home on a strange and primitive new world, Aric has begun a new life. Liberated from his past, he tends to his crops. Free from war. Free from violence. Free from the armor.
But the machinery of death marches his way once again. Conscripted into an alien army and thrown into an unforgiving conflict, the fury inside him finds voice as he is forced to embrace the armor once more. With it, he will decimate armies, topple empires and incite interplanetary warfare as he rises from SOLDIER to GENERAL to EMPEROR to VISIGOTH. They wanted a weapon. He will give them war!
Robert Venditti’s X-O MANOWAR (2012) was the title that helped Valiant Entertainment launch itself into the modern era. His take on X-O Manowar was poignant, and over the course of its fifty issue run, he transformed the raucous, Visigoth warrior into a king and peacemaker. It was a fun journey, with all sorts of twists and turns, memorable villains and memorable fights. After Venditti stepped away, I was slightly worried about who would eventually step in and take the reins of Valiant’s flagship character. Lucky for us, Valiant superstar Matt Kindt was announced as the heir to the throne.
If you put all of the Valiant titles up on a wall and threw a dart at them, the chances of your dart landing on an issue Kindt worked on is fairly high. During his time at Valiant Comics, Kindt has written UNITY, which happened to feature X-O Manowar, RAI, NINJAK, THE VALIANT with Jeff Lemire, and DIVINITY. What I am trying to say is Matt Kindt is Valiant’s cleanup hitter.
In X-O MANOWAR #1 we find a more stoic Aric. Tired of war and death, Aric left Earth behind and found another habitable planet where he could live in peace. After burying his X-O armor, he finds solace tending the land and growing a sweet beard. Unfortunately, war finds him even here, and he is forced to serve as cannon fodder in a war he has no interest in.
To me, X-O MANOWAR #1 feels like a mixture of RAI and the fantastic western “The Quick and the Dead”, with Aric playing the role of retired gunslinger forced to fight. Matt Kindt, like we’ve come to expect from his work on RAI, tells an epic science-fiction tale, with plenty of good dialogue and just enough backstory to get you headed in the right direction without bogging you down.
Another high point in this debut is the art. I can’t think of another book off the top of my head that looks quite like what this art team pulls off. It sort of reminds me of the kind of art that in on the cover of old pulp science-fiction novels, and I love it. The line work and colors just mesh together in a really cool way that matches the epic nature of the story.
Ultimately, X-O MANOWAR #1 is one of the most action packed debuts I’ve seen. After the first few pages, the action picks up and keeps on going till the last page. Kindt’s epic story-telling ability is on point, and this art team is just killer. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never read a single Valiant comic before, this book is spectacular – a definite 5 out of 5.
X-O MANOWAR #1 hits the stands March 22, 2017, and you need it in your life. Now here are some preview pages:
