Robert Venditti And Cary Nord To Relaunch X-O Manowar

[Rich Johnston]

On May the 2nd, Valiant Entertainment will launch X-O Manowar, a revamp of the Valiant/Acclaim character, from Surrogates creator and Iron Man writer Robert Venditti and artist Cary Nord.

This is how they describe the character.

Born into battle and raised under the oppressive thumb of the Roman Empire, Aric of Dacia is a beloved figure among his men and a leader of the Visigoth people. But when he's taken prisoner after a brutal encounter with an alien strike force, he must capture the X-O Manowar armor - the most powerful weapon in the universe - if he's to save his family and return to his people. But when he arrives he finds 1,600 years have passed and the most primitive man on Earth - a man out of time - now wields a weapon capable of incalculable destruction

"Some may consider him a barbarian, but Aric is a seasoned battlefield tactician and a warrior capable of taking down some of the world's greatest adversaries with only his wits and a broadsword," said Venditti. "So what happens when you hand this so-called primitive the universe's most powerful weapon and drop him in the modern day? It's a recipe for one of the most compelling action stories you'll see on the stands in 2012."

Basically, Conan in Iron Man's armour. Let's have a look at some sketches.

[Assemble!]

Dammit! At this rate, I'll have to add all of the new Valiant releases to my pull list! Good on them for putting together compelling teams on these titles. They may have a bright future, indeed.

[thekeith82]

Well, there's one Valiant book I'm 100% sold on. Next?

[misterdestructo]

Prophet, Glory, X-O Manowar and Bloodshot. I started reading comics in 1990, the kid in me is doing back flips, the grown-up in me is nodding approvingly at the creative teams.

[Wallabee Champ]

I'll definitely be buying this and, so far, Bloodshot. I'm really hoping this succeeds, but the creative teams will need to be allowed to bring their own voices to really make this work.

[Dave Elliott]

Iron Man, Conan, Green Lantern mash-up? Hell yeah and looks great!

[tralfaz]

please don't let this be a cluster fuck

[ShinAkuma666]

I'll definitely be buying this and, so far, Bloodshot. I'm really hoping this succeeds, but the creative teams will need to be allowed to bring their own voices to really make this work.

Well said, and I hope that the books will be mostly on time with the crative temas staying longer than the first 4 or 6 issues.

The preview looks amazing, Cary Nord is a fantastic artist and made a big impact on Conan, cant wait to see this coloured.

[thekeith82]

I'll definitely be buying this and, so far, Bloodshot. I'm really hoping this succeeds, but the creative teams will need to be allowed to bring their own voices to really make this work.

I doubt that'll be too much of a problem. Solid and fun to read as old Valiant was, there was very little in the way of truly iconic story moments that nu Valiant will want to repeat. Hell, with no Solar a big chunk of the old continuity is out of the window anyway (unless we see the debut of Dr Sunbeam, Man Of Quantum!). Obviously I don't know for sure what's happening behind the scenes, but I would guess (and hope) that having a major hand in crafting a new universe was a big selling point for getting these creators inboard.

[Arthur Gordon Scratch]

Hmmm... I seem to remember Rich making a point of citing sources, so why haven't this CBR "scoop/exclusive" been referenced as such?