X-O Manowar #25 is Valiant’s 48-page anniversary celebration of the 25th issue, plus the final prelude to Armor Hunters and consists of a number of short stories plus some extras. There’s “The Origin of X-O Manowar” by Robert Venditti, J.G. Jones, and Matt Hollingsworth; “X-O Manowar: The Fate of Kings” by Robert Venditti, Bryan Hitch, and David Baron; “The Armor Hunters: Burial” by Robert Venditti, Bryan Hitch, and David Baron; a Unity pin-up by Barry Kitson and Allen Passalaqua; “Owly and Wormy in…Shanhara’s Day off” by Andy Runton; “Bar Fight” by Justin Jordan and Rafer Roberts; an X-O Manowar database by Sean Chen and John Rauch, “X-O Manowar: Battle for the Ages” by Tom Fowler; an X-O Manowar pinup by Cary Nord; and a segment of the original X-O Manowar series pitch by Robert Venditti. Collectively, it’s a look at the past and present designed to appeal to long-time fans of the series while bringing new readers on board for the upcoming saga.
In the “Origin” story, Robert Venditti, J.G. Jones, and Matt Hollingsworth provide a short, two-page, comic that brings everyone up to speed on Aric’s past, from his time enslaved to the Vine until now. It’s an effective précis, well-told, and readers who came on board after Aric’s escape finally get a look at the infamous Vine.
X-O Manowar: The Fate of Kings” by Robert Venditti, Bryan Hitch, and David Baron provides Aric with a brief moment of introspection as Aric visits his Uncle Alaric’s tomb and thinks on his final burial. He muses on the lessons his uncle taught him about fighting and not fighting. Past and present are portrayed here, with the past violence contrasting with current, temporary peace.
“The Armor Hunters: Burial” by Robert Venditti, Bryan Hitch, and David Baron pairs perfectly with this as it also features a burial, this time the burial of one of the hunters. It establishes the group as a team every bit as connected to one another–perhaps even more connected–as those heroes on Earth. It also shows their determination and gives them a strong, ruthless streak making them creditable foes. The care that has gone into the character designs here is palpable. Each team member is distinctive, and the whole is a convincingly alien group who, nevertheless, read as people with cares and concerns.
“Owly and Wormy in…Shanhara’s Day off” by Andy Runton is a short, amusing tale of Shanhara in Owly’s world while “Bar Fight” by Justin Jordan and Rafer Roberts is a look at what might happen if Aric and the Shadowman exchanged tales.
The pin-ups are, of course, stunning. Venditti’s notes on possible directions for X-O Manowar are a chance to look at what might have been, the seeds from which the current tales grew. The database provides a look at other types of armor the Vine have used and their first appearances in the X-O Manowar books.
All in all, X-O Manowar #25 is the perfect starting point for new readers yet will still make existing fans of the series happy as it expands the story’s universe and provides further character growth.
Writers: Robert Venditti, Peter Milligan, Justin Jordan, Andy Runton
ArtistsRobert Venditti, Peter Milligan, Justin Jordan, Andy Runton
Inker: Allison Rodriguez
Colors: Dave Baron, Brian Reber
Letters:Dave Baron, Brian Reber
Cover Artists: Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic, Bryan Hitch, Arturo Lozzi, Sean Chen, Terry Dodson
No, he developed into a smarter guy, and he even gets a chance to go back to his own time briefly (and ends up cutting off any reason that he’d want to stay there), and the series gets better after a certain point. I know this because I’ve read some of the really later issues (it went for 69), but I don’t know when exactly the quality started to improve.
Wow! Sounds like XO really has changed. The panels you included show someone of near Neanderthal intelligence. Did they stay that way?
Aric now is an intelligent guy & Venditti makes the Visigoth aspect central.
Well original XO starts off pretty poorly, but I think it gets better as it goes on. I’m not entirely sure. I wrote reviews for the first two issues a couple of months back if you’re curious about their failings.
http://nonamesuitcaseman.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/xo-man-o-war-1-classic-valiant.html
http://nonamesuitcaseman.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/xo-man-o-war-2-classic-valiant.html
I’m definitely looking forward to this, although I was expecting a bonus-length story from this rather than a couple of short vignettes and pinups. Although given this is a prelude to Armour Hunters, I can understand why they didn’t have it be 50 pages long, because at that point, they might as well call it Armour Hunters #1.
With XO Manowar, I’ve read about 18 issues, and it’s so much better than the original XO series! There, Aric was an unlikeable dickhead, and to make matters worse, the series completely skipped out on telling us who Aric is, where he was from, and instead started off #1 with Aric escaping from the alien spaceship with the armour. His lengthy Visigoth backstory is still a thing, but its like the series either assumes you already know, or doesn’t think you’d care. In fact, both Harbinger, Bloodshot, and other Classic Valiant series’ lazily started off in media res like that too. That highlights why New Valiant is definitely superior to Classic in many ways.
The short stories were something of a surprise. I was impressed with how well “Fate of Kings” and “The Armor Hunters: Burial” paired; it bodes well for the future confrontation, I think.
It’s interesting to hear that about the original take; I’ve still to hunt down the original XO series, and it’s strange to think they didn’t use his Visigoth story there. The backstory adds such a richness to his character and explains the way he views the world. He’s not just an outsider.