X-O Manowar #0-6 (VALIANT comics)

Some may know I’m a big fan of VALIANT comics and as I of late I have been rereading the early VALIANT titles, which is not to say - at least not limited to - that I am just enjoying the individual origins and exploits of great characters. No, the creative goal of most companies is only half of the obligation, only a portion of the mandate cast upon a Pre-Unity title. With VALIANT, every title, every arc, every issue has significance and relevance. How do we gauge this? The answer to this question is muddled by how we have come to gauge what is important in comics. Presently, companies view the success of a comics on the complex formula of initial kewlness - if it works when it’s thrown out there and purchased, it’s worthwhile. This, again, is only halfway to optimal storytelling. You see VALIANT is not just an umbrella brand, it is more than a unifying selling point for otherwise an in cohesive product - VALIANT is a true comic universe. Certainly such a product demands more of the readers, and investment, or invitation to walk a world full of lives, not just in one; where one can brush up against others and the effect will still be applicable not just a month after. It is not the history dissected into runs or creative teams - it is the history of the entirety of the universe and the footsteps left by characters.

Stranger in a strange land…

So when we read X-O Manowar#1, part one of Retribution, you, even if unknowingly, are not only introduced, but become a participant not in a single life, but a world through his eyes. What shouldn’t be lost is this: it’s about an ass kicking Visigoth barbarian living in our time with who happens to have sweet, semi-sentient, alien suit of armor that makes one Aric Dacia one of the most powerful men on earth that forgot him. It - like the universe it inhabits - is a measured mixture of reality and pulp sensibilities. The first page looks to be something that could have been discussed at a meeting with the Lovecraft Circle or seen in the pages of 1920’s Weird Tales, something Edgar Rice Burroughs may have enjoyed flipping through; a splash of a single man going toe to toe with spider-like monsters, some of which who carry guns in backdrop from a technological level feels much too advanced for either and has you asking who is being invaded who? You come to find out that the man is a displaced barbarian, abducted from his time by a technologically advanced alien race that are a fixture in the VALIANT universe, present in some fashion for thousands of years in the continuity. Aric Dacia spends several years as a slave most of which in a stasis and when we join him in his attempt at escape, a rush to an alien weapon, an armor and a ring, that he has been told will grant him the ability to leave the prison. The X-O Manowar armor is the pride of the Spider Alien’s military development and thus when taken by the enemy become their greatest fear. It leaves, now in the possession of a man who has a history of violence and upholding vendettas. How long a history would surprise even Aric, as he plummets home, to earth, where it’s now 1992.

These opening issues show us a man trapped out of his time, yet the keeper of an armor that’s technology that is before its time. Aric has gone from a warrior amongst many in the 5th century to arguably one of the most powerful individuals on the planet and that’s before via hostile take over, he achieves controlling interest in a powerful corporation. There is a simplistic quality or plainness to the narrative that in some regard may be overdone, I’d like to think humanity didn’t have a personal train of thought of a retard even in the 5th century, but I think for the most part conveys, before you are even told that his is not you or me - yet he is - in true VALIANT fashion we are thrust into a story that not only has more to come, but is already the culmination of an as of yet untold story. We assimilate the new environment with Aric; to him he is in a foreign land of wizards and magic, where he as if a member of Arthur’s court visited Hank Morgan instead. Aric becomes a target, even as he always perceives himself as the ultimate predator, he is the true wolf, and indeed in wolf's clothing, yet still a perceived sheep in a world that has passed him by. The Aliens on earth - able to disguise themselves - want their armor back and perhaps even more of a threat he garners the attention of other powers in the world.

“What men won’t do for power"

I have said this before but the VALIANT Universe’s continuity - the portion of which that took place in our time - is chronicled in real ‘time’. Toyo Harada, the head of the Harbinger Foundation and one of the most powerful men in the world even if he wasn’t an Omega Harbinger first perceives Aric as a threat then see’s the possibilities of being his ally, we see the cast from the Harbinger title - a group dedicated to stopping Harada also take an interest in Aric due to his communication with Toyo. Solar appears; VALIANT’s most powerful character leaving a warning in true hero fashion. In short we witness convergence of powers, a reaction to another extraordinary element added to the world - X-O Manowar. What must be understood is that the VALIANT Universe is meant to be our own world, where its inhabitants may be reading DC and Marvel comics. What is also a rather unique VALIANT technique, and illustrated in this issue span (issue#4) is the unheralded first appearance of a future major player in the universe. In an era associated with the speculative boom, and certainly VALIANT practiced in some of the more undesirables flair associated with it, this was the best gimmick: When I say unheralded, I mean no crazy banners, no audacious or obnoxious billboard covers advertising it - they give you a reason to read their books, and in the future, the promises revealed occur in-page, not on the cover or final page, and be it days or months later it affords the reader that special, almost now unheard of opportunity to think, "Oh shit, the books I read before really matter", and it was planned, not a retcon, it was creative not clever manipulation. In the case in this issue you literally just have to sit back and enjoy the ambiance and just listen to the music.

Now do not mistake me, these issue don't force you to buy other titles to get a complete story to then decide whether the first one was worthwhile or not - it instead genuinely makes you want to explore the other titles, other corners, to follow that glimpse. It appeals to our curiosity. Who were those crazy kids in taht ugly green careand why did they jump me? If I want to find out I can go read Harbinger - but for now Aric has more important things to do like getting his pimp on at Mardi Gras. It's so not superhero-comic like yet completely rational to us, we don't question it, we just love it.

"House…Broken.."

We also see that Aric is not a ‘hero’ at this point, he certainly has a moral compass and belief system, but it is from his time. Aric may go out and bring back somebody’s head - without the body - you see him make gaffs and his frustration as he assimilates our language and modern customs but he draws apt parallels; muggers are bandits, and again we see those instances that keep us grounded.: In true comic fashion he foils an ambush and promises vengeance but what does he do next? He has to rest - the tranquility of the moment exhibits that this is what Aric has done his whole life - X-O Armor or not. You are able to use panels to showcases this when you are committed to the atmosphere by expressing it in the pages. His rite of passage, his understanding will take him where many of us thought to go in our own youth, in our own exploration of a brave new world, where stage names are given to performers on stage not to men or women in spandex.

The zero issue was actually released around the same time as the 19th issue yet can be read prior to the regular series. Personally, I prefer reading it after the first 6 issues I this case as it takes us to the activities just prior to the first page of the first issue and offers Aric in his own time, the birth of his rage, where in a short turbulent time span, Aric will change faiths, witness Roman demons, and find himself the prisoner of Aliens. It does not answer all the questions, but it attempts to, even finally telling us the fate of the King.

There is this semi-prevalent comparison between Iron Man and X-O Manowar, and I guess the comparison would have some veracity on a very superficial level. X-O Manowar done badly, could have been a catchpenny pastiche of Iron Man, a thought that may have been perpetuated by a crossover between the two characters in 1996. This hypothetical concern, at least in VALIANT’s early years was averted. Creative direction is not all about pushing boundaries and just seeing what can be done, it’s also about knowing what shouldn’t be done - and acknowledging the key word ‘direction’ is as important as the preceding word. On top of that, ‘creative’ doesn’t imply originality, the man lost in time, the man given something beyond him, a suit of kick ass armor, alien invasions, the rise of powerful Global Corporations exerting influence in our world, a barbarian warrior, these are elements any functional semi-aware person has seen or experienced in fiction or in the real world, but much in the way they took two, storied, pre-existing characters in Magnus and Solar to be the foundation of their new Universe, it is the application and the editorial sensibilities that make it work. There is a distinct ‘real science’ flavor to the universe that one would comically think and is contradicted by being ran amok by a mixture of iconic pulp facsimiles’, Conan finding Robotechnology, yet what occurs is this fascinating place - our own world, and the exploration of it from as many diverse perspectives as possible. I feel like the first family on Yancy Street in 1964, stalking down familiar but fictionalized roads, I know where I am, but something else is out there, watching, fighting, and drawing the same breath as me.

I’m holding mine for the hope for more, not just looking up in the sky, but in the corporate board room, the Jazz filled bar, the strip club, central park, N'awlins, stories can come from anywhere, and with the early issue of X-O Manowar, VALIANT tried to take us there.

Jay Tomio
The Bodhisattva

*Just a note: As I noted before VALIANT Entertainment apparently has plans to offer hardcover edition reprinting the early issues of X-O Manowar that will also include a new story by Bob Layton and cover by Sean Chen much in the way they released Harbinger: The Beginning earlier this year. I will next be reviewing Harbinger: The Beginning and for those interested in a recent VALIANT review please check out my thoughts on the RAI TPB that I reviewed earlier this year.

Other Reviews of works by Jim Shooter

Harbinger: The Beginning - Jul 27, 2008