As recently teased, one of Valiant’s flagship hero X-O Manowar is coming back in a new #1 this March. As revealed in EW, the ongoing will be written by Matt Kindt (Divinity, Ninjak, Mind MGMT) with art by a rotating slate of artists including Tomas Giorello (4001 A.D.: War Mother, Bloodshot Reborn), Doug Braithwaite (Armor Hunters, Bloodshot U.S.A.), Clayton Crain (Rai, Carnage), Ryan Bodenheim (The Dying & The Dead), and Mico Suayan (Bloodshot Reborn).
X-O Manowar started life as Aric of Dacia, a Visigoth from the 5th century who fought the Roman Empire. Kidnapped by aliens, he was given the power of the mighty X-O Manowar armor and has had various adventures across various planets since then.
The new story, which comes out on March 22, kicks off with a three-part story arc called “Soldier” in which he’s conscripted into yet another alien army and set off to war.
“Matt Kindt is a genius-level creator and, with X-O MANOWAR, he’s tapping into the essential core of our most iconic character to deliver something more ambitious, more far-reaching, and more fantastic than anything Valiant has ever attempted before,” said Valiant Editor-in-Chief Warren Simons. “This year marks X-O Manowar’s 25th anniversary, but, instead of falling back into nostalgia, we’re taking Aric into uncharted territory – with five of comics’ greatest artistic talents at the helm, no less. This is a premier team that has some truly stunning turns in store – and, when X-O Manowar emerges on the other side, he will be looking at a very different and much larger Valiant Universe.”
In the wake of “SOLDIER”’s staggering assault in issues #1-3, X-O MANOWAR then continues in 2017 and beyond as a superstar cast of Valiant’s most acclaimed artistic talents chart Aric’s path from SOLDIER to GENERAL to EMPEROR to VISIGOTH for a vicious, year-long journey of bone and bloodshed born from the battlefields of a herculean alien empire:
X-O MANOWAR #1 | “SOLDIER” – PART ONE
MATT KINDT | TOMAS GIORELLO
MARCH 2017X-O MANOWAR #4 | “GENERAL” – PART ONE
MATT KINDT | DOUG BRAITHWAITE
JUNE 2017X-O MANOWAR #7 | “EMPEROR” – PART ONE
MATT KINDT | CLAYTON CRAIN
SEPTEMBER 2017X-O MANOWAR #10 | INTERLUDE
MATT KINDT | RYAN BODENHEIM
DECEMBER 2017X-O MANOWAR #11 | “VISIGOTH” – PART ONE
MATT KINDT | MICO SUAYAN
JANUARY 2018
“X-O MANOWAR #1 is not just the biggest book Valiant will be publishing in 2017; it might just be the biggest book we’ve ever published, period,” said Valiant CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani. “With five sets of creators working concurrently across more than a year’s worth of the series, we’re building what will be the bedrock for Valiant’s next phase. But we’re not content to rest there. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be unveiling a simply massive slate of surprises that are going to add extra fuel to X-O MANOWAR’s fire in comics, video games, and even film. 2017 will be the year of X-O MANOWAR not just for Valiant, but for the entire comics industry.”
