X-O Manowar #1 Review (Spoilers, I guess)

[Shiv'kala]

One of my favorite concepts of the 90's is back! As a kid, around the time of the "Death and Rebirth of Superman," I picked up X-O Manowar #0 for two reasons: (1) I was interested in trying Valiant Comics at the time and the concept intrigued me and (2) the chromium gimmick cover (which, in my opinion, still rates as one of the best examples of a gimmick cover).

It's very hard to review the book without resorting to the cliches, one of which is giving a brief history of Valiant Comics and the other is going with the standard "Conan meets Iron Man" metaphor for X-O. Chances are, if you're reading this thread, you're familiar enough with the concept and Valiant's history, so I'll skip it.

This was a great first issue, really fleshing out the character of Aric. In the original, he was a barbarian, through and through, but I get the sense that this time around, even though he will be a man out of time, he won't be so rough around the edges. This Aric is more headstrong, though what he gains in some areas in characterization, he loses in others. A great bit in the 0 issue was a discussion of how Aric adopted his wife's god. Though, here, it seems to indicate he is Christian, given the Visigoth's anger at being attacked on Easter. I don't want to get into a religious debate, but his previous characterization did make him more of an outsider, worshipping a god that isn't really worshipped anymore.

I enjoyed the battle and the casting of Aric as a character who is quick to act, though this leads to tragedy later on. I also liked how the Spider-Aliens (unnamed at this point, but that's why they were called originally) have the armor and are looking for someone worthy. Originally, Aric just took the armor and it worked for him. Going otherwise risks them repeating the current Blue Beetle's constant arguing with his armor, which is troublesome, given that the Beetle armor resembles Shanhara in a lot of ways. I always find it funny, though, when an original concept, which has fallen out of favor, is accused of copying a new, more popular concept.

I was worried going on. Not only are they rebooting a character, but an entire line. The stakes are higher than they were for DC, which if the New 52 failed, could always go back to what they were doing and scrap the new origins. For Valiant, this is do or die. They got me interested, though I'll have to see about the other titles. I was never a fan of the other titles they have, but who knows...

[RJDiogenes]

Wow, Valiant is back? They were a pretty good company back in the day, thanks to Jim Shooter-- who, despite his oddness, is a great writer and editor. Valiant did a fantastic revival of Magnus, Robot Fighter, one of my favorite books back in the 60s-- at least it was fantastic for a while.

I didn't really catch on to X-O Manowar, but good luck to them. Is Shooter involved in the revival?