X-O Manowar (2017) Volume 1: Soldier (X-O MANOWAR (2017) TP)

If you have never read the previous X-O Manowar series, all you need to know is: Aric was a Visigoth warrior abducted and enslaved by aliens. He bonded with a suit of super-powerful armor the aliens worshiped and freed the slaves. When he returned to Earth, due to space travel centuries had passed and he was in the modern world. That was all in the first few issues of the original series, and everything that happened afterwards is not mentioned or necessary to this book (in fact, new readers will probably enjoy this series more than old readers like me, who will question how Aric ended up in his current state).Now Aric lives on an alien world seeking a simple life, until native conflicts drag him in and drive him towards using the armor he now seems to hate. Beautiful art and an action-packed story. Obviously a long time and some traumatic events have passed between Venditti's X-O series and this one. At first it was jarring and a little disappointing to see Aric shed so much of his character growth from the previous series, but I am giving Kindt the benefit of the doubt that he will flesh out why this happened in later books. Once I got over that, its a rollicking alien action tale that has some of the best art I have seen in a Valiant book. I just hope that we get some background later on, as one of Valiant's strongest features for me has been characterization and continuity that is much more consistent than Marvel or DC can manage with their bloated number of books and constant crossovers.

Excellent art, great writing. This is like a pulp similar to john of mars novels. It has romance, action, and adventure. Reads like an action movie. Highly recommended.

I began reading X-O Manowar comics back in the early 1990s when Valiant first opened its doors. I loved the concept (ancient warrior in alien armor), enjoyed the stories, and found the art to be great. I can’t say I stuck with the comic through its whole run back then, but I still have several years worth of X-O comics in my collection.Fast forward. X-O Manowar is back (again), so I decided to give this new version a go. And I have to say I liked it. Maybe not as much as the first one all those years ago, but enough that I will probably pick it up again in the near future.Aric of Dacia has retired. Free from his past. Free from the armor. And determined to live a simple, uncomplicated life on a strange, alien world far from earth.But Aric attracts violence, and so he finds himself conscripted into an alien army, marched off to a war he knows nothing about and cares about even less. But his warrior instincts kick in, and soon he comes to the attention of the commander who sees in this alien a means to snatch victory from certain defeat. The suicide mission given to our hero forcing him to turn back to the armor he longed to be rid of.Naturally, this story is heavy on the fighting and combat and light on the characterization. Aric does have a few moments of introspection, but X-O Manowar doesn’t really strive to be thought provoking. Instead the plot is straight forward action. Which is fine, since that is fit Aric’s nature and the situation he finds himself in.As for the art, it was great. I thought it captured the strange feel of an alien world, portrayed the hectic nature of combat well, and was just cool to look at.To sum up. X-O Manowar is a good comic. Entertaining story. Great art. Loads of action and combat. Sure, the plot didn’t stray from the tried-and-true, but it was still a fun scifi romp that I’d recommend others give a try.I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. I’d like to thank them for allowing me to receive this review copy and inform everyone that the review you have read is my opinion alone.

One of the best things about Valiant as a publisher-and believe me, it’s hard to pick just one-are the lengths that they go to constantly create “entry points” for new readers. Admittedly, while one could argue that this practice stems more from a financial impetus than it does a creative one, there’s still something refreshing about a publisher that rejects byzantine continuity in favor of keeping things simple, paired down, and character-focused. Plus, when the entry points are as grandly entertaining as Matt Kindt’s new “X-O Manowar” series is, the whole deal gets that much sweeter.This book rocks-simple as that. Running a spare 3 issues, Kindt and artist Tomás Giorello waste zero time waiting to grab your attention: literally from the very first panel of the first issue, “Soldier” feels engineered specifically to keep your interest, no matter what it takes. While the story does continue the adventures of Aric, the time-lost Visgoth who we came to know and love over 50 amazing issues by Robert Vendetti in his previous series, Kindt is very deliberate in how and when he integrates specific plot elements. The Shanhara armor, allusions to Aric’s past, the broader state of the Valiant universe and Aric's role in it…everything feels very meticulously introduced, very carefully weighed and considered. This all serves to provide readers something that’s becoming rarer and rarer in modern comics: a genuine sense of stakes.It’s obvious that this is a series with a specific destination in mind, and in this day and age where so many series don’t last longer than 3 or 4 issues (cough*cough*Marvel*cough*cough), it’s nice to read a “big” series that, at least for the moment, exists only to fulfill a single goal: to tell a good story.

Hands down my favorite comic out there. This book is pure action, pure adventure, and reminds me of a John Carter for a modern audience. There's not a lot of background depth to the world in the first few issues beyond the stunning art -- some of the best I've ever seen -- but the story is so intriguing and this character's sense of battle and honor make this an incredible book.

Esta nueva versión de manowar es muy buena, recuerda a los cómics clásicos de Conan.Vale la pena si eres fan de los cómics de acción ya que está muy bien el ritmo de esta y aunque no es un cómic muy profundo en historia el fluir de la accion de atrapa.Lastima que Amazon no tiene los siguientes capítulos. Ya me quede picado.

Enredo fantástico com desenhos impressionantes!!! Se você é daqueles que gosta de uma boa história... ou daqueles que aprecia os desenhos... definitivamente você vai curtir muito essa obra.

De lo mejor en cómics en los últimos años.

Lo compré y seguiré comprando los siguientes porque la historia me encanta, pero de éste volumen en concreto tengo varias pegas.La cantidad de contenido que incluye es casi la mitad que otros volúmenes uno de la misma editorial. Al traer menos contenido pensé que el precio sería menor pero es más o menos el estándar para estos volúmenes.La calidad del papel es muy mala e incluso estando ya asentada la tinta, si pasas la mano por encima de la página todavía se extiende en algunas zonas.En el lomo han cometido un error al poner el título de la serie y está totalmente desplazado hacia abajo, desentonando con los demás de la colección.Sugeriría comprarlo sólo a los muy fan de la saga y si es posible que esperen a una re-edición o a la edición en tapa dura.