X-O Manowar is a character created by an indie comic book company called Valiant. Valiant comics were born in the late 80s and were a hit in the early 90s, but after facing financial obstacles, the company stopped producing comics, and took a while to restart under new management. Because of this, the Valiant universe restarted in 2012, and the company focused on producing a select amount of high quality comic book series beginning with the legacy characters that made Valiant what it once was. Since then Valiant has been quite successful and X-O Manowar had a spectacular run of over 50 issues led by writer, Robert Venditti. However, I want to discuss the most recent relaunch of X-O Manowar, this time led by all-star writer Matt Kindt.

What makes X-O Manowar so unique is the character’s origin. X-O Manowar is simple the title of a man known as Aric of Dacia, a Visigoth born and raised in the 4^th century where he fought alongside his people against the Roman empire to end his people’s life as nomads and establish a home. In their never-ending journey, Aric engages into battle to find he and his people interrupted by an alien race known as the Vine. They are abducted and after spending much time as slaves, Aric plans an escape that leads him to the Vine’s sacred, religious and sentient armor known as Shanhara. Although countless of the Vine have died attempting to wield the armor, Aric survived and was regarded by Shanhara as worthy. The armor grants Aric a variety of powers and allows him to escape the Vine’s grasps once and for all. The catch is that upon Aric’s return to Earth, he is no longer in the 4^th century. What seemed like years were actually centuries spent on the Vine’s colonies as Aric finds himself in modern day Earth, and faces the countless challenges that lie ahead which include new enemies, new friends, a struggle to adapt to a new era, and save the people he abandoned with the Vine.

That’s the pitch of the character, and I highly recommend reading Robert Venditti’s run on the character as he rebuilds much of what made the character great once and establishes the building blocks to an expanded lore all while exploring themes relevant to our society today. However, Matt Kindt just started his run on the character and takes place after the events Venditti closed with. Without spoiling anything, Kindt intends to take a new approach on the book by placing Aric on a new planet as he tries to retire in a sense, to live a simple life free of conflict. He discussed that the format for the first several months involve showing Aric’s evolution in chapters. Issues #1-3 of the book will be titled “Solider”, followed by the eventual “General”, “Emperor”, and “Visigoth.” I have had the opportunity to read the first few issues released thus far, and have been very impressed.

The book’s style shows a very clear contrast from Venditti’s previous run. It takes Aric back to his roots in a sense, and the books is much more character driven. Not that the previous run wasn’t, but it also focused on a lot of other real-world issues translated into a sci-fi fiction. Kindt shows a clear desire to strip that formula down to challenge Aric above all else and force him to grow. I appreciate the change of pace and willingness to explore new grounds. The dialogue is fantastic, and while Aric has changed noticeably in this book, his wisdom and the lessons he’s learned are still there; it’s nice to see how those values make him someone to look up to despite the setting and situation he is in. Needless to say, there is also a lot of action. The scenes are gritty, up close, and keep you on edge. I’d argue that the action in this run is much more intense than the previous and better illustrated thus far.

Speaking of illustrations, it cannot go without mention that Tomas Giorello’s pencils art is incredibly rugged, tense, and very suited for this book. The facial expressions he draws highlight the burdens Aric must carry and gives great gravity to the environment. While the artists will be rotating, one for each of the four character arcs previously mentioned, it is easy to see why he was chosen for the “Soldier” arc and I’m excited to see how the other talented artist’s work impact the storytelling. I also want to mention that Valiant has been treating this as landmark title. They are packing extra pages into each issue for the same $3.99 price tag readers are used to; the paper quality is high and it feels tough if you are reading physical copies of each issue making book physically feel better to read and even more beautiful to look at; and Valiant is once again clearly showing their willingness to give creative freedom to their writers and of course it is paying off.

There are a few questions the book left me with though. The dynamic between Aric and Shahara are sharply different from when Venditti had reigns on the book even in the method that they communicate, and it seems to be so without much reason or a good transition as to why that’s the case. Also, while Aric retains many of the lessons and values he’s attained on his journey, a lot of his choices seem to be opposite of what his character would do based on what I previously read. That being said, the book is only a few issues in and I will certainly give Matt Kindt time to hopefully elaborate on the events that occurred between now and the conclusion of Venditti’s run. This is not to say the book was less enjoyable in anyway, but the transition was rough and more background is needed for me to appreciate it.

I cannot recommend X-O Manowar enough. While I recommend reading Venditti’s run first if you have the money to spend, it is not entirely necessary. I have not yet read the X-O Manowar comics prior to Valiant’s reboot in 2012, but they are available and I have only heard positive things, so if a more 90s style books suits your taste or you want to get the full history of the character, that’s an excellent place to begin. This newest run led by Kindt has started off incredibly well and stands out far and above many of the comics on the racks. It’s a high quality book I’d recommend to anyone interested and especially sci-fi fans that are willing to try something new.