X-O Manowar Volume 1: By The Sword (X-O MANOWAR (VU) TP)

Aric is a 5th century Visigoth warrior fighting the Roman Empire who have driven his people from Dacia, their homeland (modern day Romania). During a fateful battle, he loses his father and wife thanks to his brash, immature tactics and later, while leading a rescue party, he encounters what he believes to be a Roman slave vessel only to discover it's an alien craft. The alien race - known as the Vine - abduct Aric and a number of his people, taking them to their ships to toil as slaves, cultivating their holy plants. And it's here that Aric discovers Shanhara, the legendary sentient X-O Manowar armour, one of the most powerful weapons in the universe, that has rejected everyone who has tried to wear it. Everyone - until it chooses Aric to bond with. Now after years of torture at the hands of alien overlords, suddenly the boot is on the other foot and Aric is one angry dude with one hell of a weapon to exact his revenge! But then Aric returns to Earth to make a shocking discovery...This was the first series in Valiant's 2012 re-launch and is definitely my favourite of the titles I've read so far. I didn't read Valiant back in the 1990s so can't compare this one to the original series, but as it's a total reboot of the series, new readers needn't worry about jumping on with Book 1 - they start Aric's story all over again. This is also my first Robert Venditti book and I'm really impressed with his writing - the story could go a completely different direction under the stewardship of a less talented writer but Venditti's ideas and writing style have made X-O Manowar a hugely enjoyable read and a master-class in comics writing.Conceptually, X-O Manowar is what you get when you give Conan the Barbarian Iron Man armour, though it appears semi-organic in assembly so Manga fans will spot a resemblance between Shanhara and the Guyver armour minus the hilarious breast cannons (but seriously Guyver is a super awesome series when you're a teenager). It's amazing that this book is just four issues because Venditti manages to put so much into them that it feels like you're getting more than you realise. The ambitious story of a Bronze Age character making it into a sci-fi story and becoming a superhero is a complicated one but Venditti breaks it down to the characters and it feels more personal and affecting as a result.I also enjoyed the way he depicted the Vine - rather than lazily writing them as evil alien overlords with one facet to their personality, he gives them depth with multiple layers to their culture and society. For example, the fact that they have a strong religious foundation juxtaposed with their obviously militant approach to their endeavours could be a parody of the 21st century USA, but even if it's not, it makes a change for a writer to tackle the villain as being more than single-minded cartoons. Worshipping Shanhara, plants and fruit, and abducting other aliens and replacing them with their own, all speak to a more complex type of character than simply the arbitrary bad guy.You also get some fantastic space superhero action once Aric bonds with the Manowar armour and takes on the Vine forces. Artist Cary Nord draws some outstanding fight sequences throughout, from the initial basic fighting between the Visigoths and the Romans, to the scenes between Aric and the Vine. Nord has won awards for his artwork on Conan the Barbarian so he's a perfect fit for Conan in space and it really shows in his work on this book.X-O Manowar, Book 1: By the Sword is an excellent first book featuring first class storytelling, writing and art. Aric's story is a compelling one - what will the unsophisticated barbarian do with one of the most powerful weapons in the universe only he can use? I'm definitely on board to find out what he does next. This is an absolutely quality title that's well worth your time.

If you have ever watched Spartacus (The Stars TV series) then you will appreciate this origin story. Basically, imagine if, rather than being captured by the Romans, Spartacus was abducted by Aliens and put to work as a slave. The main character is basically Spartacus, complete with the 'Kill Them All' answer to every problem he is faced with, but it seems to work out well for him.Speaking as a fan of DC and Marvel comics, I can safely say that any fan of the Superhero genre will dig this book. It is apparent that Valiant are really going after DC and Marvel's share of the market, and if they keep up this level of quality then they will be a major player in no time!

an intresting look at the world of myths and with some very good moments and actions and really good ideas but some things really needed to be expanded on

One word brilliant!

I been a Valiant Fan for 15-20 years. I like the remake more than the original. It focuses more on Aric, the Visogoth, and more on his past. If you like the original, than you'll like this TPB. Alot of good action and it keeps getting better each issue. He goes from a powerful fighter to one of the most powerful people in the world.

X-O Manowar: By The Sword gets my highest recommendation! Fantastic story by Robert Venditti along with beautiful art by Cary Nord (enhanced by inker Stefano Gaudiano and colorist Moose Baumann). This book features grand historic battles, frighteningly epic sci-fi and dynamic character development. Add this to your collection, read it immediately and you will not be disappointed. Valiant has captured my attention and I am eagerly awaiting future installments!

Valiant Entertainment has made a few missteps in launching their line of comics. But only very few. Most of their choices have been intelligent, deliberate attempts to market a superior line of comics that, ideally appeals to both old and new readers.X-O Manowar was the first of these smart choices. Arguably the most popular character from the 90s comic line, the Visigoth barbarian who finds himself enslaved by aliens, and then ultimately the wearer of said aliens most powerful weapon - a suit of sentient armor, was exactly the right concept to return the Valiant Universe to life.This arc is the ground floor of both XO the book and the Valiant Universe as a whole. Intelligently written by Robert Vendetti in his first ongoing series, there are elements throughout these four issues that setup story lines and events for the next three arcs at least.Because the writing continues to grow as it progresses, each successive volume in the series has so far been superior to the one before it. Get this one. Read it. Then hang on for the ride and get Vol. 2. You won't be disappointed.

By far my favorite comic book. Aric of Dacia is stolen from his home and enslaved. Follow Aric as he tries to escape and find his way back home. With the help of the X-O Manowar Armour he wages war against his captives. Don't miss out on one of the greatest comic series. Go buy yours today.

I'll try to be comprehensive.This story follows Aric of a Visigoth tribe, formerly of Dacia, as his Uncle's forces are about to attack an army of Roman legionaries who had taken slaves from their tribes, including Aric's wife. They take heavy losses, due to the Romans having siege equipment to support their attack, while the Visigoths have swords, shields, and spears. Aric's uncle tries to sound a retreat, while Aric pushes his men to attack, to avenge the fallen soldiers. They go with Aric's plan, and it doesn't go great. Aric's dad is injured, and a decent portion of the other warriors are either dead or wounded. Aric stops fighting to retrieve his father, and brings it back to their camp. The Romans declare victory, but don't rout the fleeing combatants. They do manage a fair few kills in the process though.Later in the night Aric's dad dies, and Aric sets off with a portion of the survivors on a night raid. They stumble across a space ship being guarded by aliens, who's wargear is similar enough to Roman centurion armour that in the darkness they are mistaken. Aric decides to charge at them, thinking the ship is some sort of prison wagon containing their kidnapped families. Turns out the aliens infiltrate other races by copying and replacing people. Their armour, while good, isn't a match for the numerous Visigoths, and they are overwhelmed. Upon unmasking one of the aliens, the Visigoths declare them to be beasts, still thinking they are employed by the Romans.They don't get to say more, since more troops come from the ship, including their leader in a mech suit (that kinda looks like a Grunt from Halo) Aric charges at it with his father's sword, only for it to shatter on the domed viewport. The Visigoths are beaten quickly, and the survivors are loaded onto the ship. The Visigoth survivors, and other humans that have been kidnapped, are enslaved aboard one of the alien capitol ships, Aric and another survivor briefly escape from their guards, and spy a religious ceremony. The armour that we would come to recognize as the Manowar suit is a floating blue orb, and is being called the Blessed Armour of Shanhara, unfolds into armour around one of the aliens. It then promptly kills the alien, before reverting to it's floating ball state. The two humans sneak back to the rest of the group, then plan an escape. They are forced to work in a giant garden; there is a room where dead bodies are tossed into a compost, to feed plants the aliens (now referred to as The Vine) consider to be offspring. The aliens we have seen look vaguely humanoid, but with spiderlike heads, so this is a thread that they might come back to in the next book. It isn't explained here. When one of the slaves tries to eat one of the fruits, he is attacked by a guard. Aric stops him, but is subdued, and gets his left hand chopped off by one of their glaives. He is dragged back to his cell, and makes a makeshift bandage/tourniquet before passing out.There's a time jump of years, though visually it could have just been weeks or months, Aric and the other guy (he's called Gafti, you only find that out like two minutes before he dies) are talking about the aliens, Aric calls them brutes, Gafti says they are relentless like the plans they have been tending. They decide that night is the day to break free, because sure, why not. I mean, it's a plot convenience, but yeah, there really isn't an inciting incident, it's literally just "I'm tired of waiting" Oh well.At night, the various slaves have smuggled in stuff from around the ship. Parts to make a bow, an old guy made a rough map, etc. They shiv one guard, shoot another in the mouth with an arrow. Aric gets one of their glaives and cuts off a guard's hand. Maybe I'm morbid, but he could have tried sticking it on? I dunno, probably too silly for the story. Anyway, the escaped slave army makes for the armoury/chapel, only to run into a firing line of the aliens, these ones wearing armour. Thankfully the vanguard of the humans have grabbed up the guard weapons, all glaives with stun prods at the other end, which helps them overwhelm the aliens. The priest alien is the only one inside the armoury, next to the Manowar-ball, and Aric approaches it. Outside the aliens are trying to break through the door, one of them calls the armour useless since it only ever kills the wearer, every time.Naturally Aric puts it on just fine. Because plot.To be fair, he gets a headache and a nosebleed, but compared to dying instantly, that's a pretty small payment. The aliens breach the door, to find Aric wearing the suit and shooting energy blasts from it's right gauntlet (the left hand is still a stump at the wrist area, and the suit just covers it) the priest alien falls to the ground in reverence of the suit. Aric does the only thing he apparently knows how to, and goes on a rampage. He starts killing every alien (with the exception of the priest, who hasn't done anything violent towards him) but eventually realizes he can understand what the priest is saying. He describes it as remembering things he didn't know before, and claims that it's the suit's thoughts. Then the suit regrows his hand, instantaneously, claiming the suit to be capable of miracles. The slave army loots the soldier aliens guns, and they assault the hangar deck. Gafti gets shot during this, says something inspirational before he dies, then the soldier alien's leader throws some grenades into the room killing the slave army except Aric. He flies around shooting them with missiles and energy blasts from his right gauntlet (he honestly hasn't noticed he can use his left hand, it's a little silly) until the boss shows up.The alien that kidnapped him from Earth, commander Trill, is in his mech suit, but the fight is very brief. Aric summons and energy sword from his armour in the loose shape of a claymore. He smashes the domed viewport in, and punches the commander in one of his eyes. The commander sticks two grenades to the front of the Manowar suit, then punches him with the mech suit. He explodes, but it's fine. Seriously, not even a scratch. Aric is unconscious for a couple seconds tops. The commander wants to shoot them with the ship mounted guns, but at the last moment, Aric wakes up and starts thinking about escaping. He keeps saying Rome, and the suit teleports him there. The only problem is that it was the year 407 when this started, and he gets back to Earth in the year of NOW. Which I think means loosely 2012, based on when these books were published, but maybe 2011 if we're going by when they were first made. Either way, probably one of those.Aric crashes through one of the walls of the Flavian Amphitheatre, or as most of the world knows it, the Colosseum of Rome. He is initially surrounded by tourists, but then a special forces team points guns at him demanding surrender. There's a brief cutaway to the aliens; Admiral Xylem is mad at the priest and the commander for losing the armour. He forces the aliens to do hasty repairs to the ship, because he either wants to recover the armour or destroy it. Okay back to our main character; Aric shoots all the special forces guys with his energy blasts, then flies up to see Rome in all it's glory. He hasn't figured out the time difference yet, so he thinks that the Emperor Honorius and general Stilicho have done this while he was away. He gets attacked by two Eurofighter Typoon fighter jets. He rips the wing off of one, and pulls the pilot out of the other to interrogate. Upon the pilot telling Aric that Rome no longer has an Emperor, the suit floods his mind with knowledge of history, probably gleamed from the internet. He drops the pilot as he reels from getting loosely 1610 years of summarized history lessons shoved into his brain. He catches/saves the pilot, lowering him safely to the ground, before asking what happened to the Empire of Rome, and the Visigoths. He, naturally, isn't happy that both don't exist anymore (okay mostly just the latter one, he really doesn't like Rome) and flies off.The comic then cuts to a strange man, Alexander Dorian, who apparently is planning on sleeping with a room full of people that he apparently pays to do that with. He gets interrupted by a phone call, telling him to turn on the news. There's Aric in the Colosseum. Alexander chases off all of his clients, before entering a sort of.. mental conference call? It's confusing to explain. He's one of the alien infiltrators, and it's implied in this book (probably confirmed in the next one) that he hires Ninjak to track down Aric.And that's where the book ends. Overall a fun romp, and a nice retelling of the original. Honestly the only two complaints I have are; they are bad at introducing characters by name, and sometimes the art is weird; in a couple panels they can't decide which body parts are coming or going, so you end up with strange proportions where the character looks like they might be coming at you in a U shape, because they couldn't decide if the upper or lower body is moving towards the camera or away from it. These mostly happen with Aric, making him look way too top heavy. Other than that, the art is perfectly serviceable, and there are a few poses in the book that I really like.If you like your superheroes to be simple ideas that grow into better concepts, this one is for you. Aric is kinda dumb, kinda hotheaded, and generally responds to everything with violence at first. He eventually becomes a better all around character, but you can totally understand why he goes with this at first. His wife and kid are kidnapped, his lands taken from his people, his family, friends, and countrymen killed. But eventually he realizes that every time he goes on the attack, people around him die too. He eventually gets smarter and better, but this is a solid origin story, with enough stuff planted in his universe to make him stand out.

First rearing his mighty head back in the early 90s, X-O Manowar became recognized as being on the most important, if not the flagship character, of the Valiant titles. The premise was simple: A Visigoth Warrior kidnapped by aliens and forces to toil for them, he escapes confinement and is able to steal their most powerful weapon- A sentient suit of battle armor. He escapes with it and returns to Earth, only to find that time has advanced significantly, and he is now in the current era.X-O Manowar relaunched in 2012 as the first of the Summer of Valiant books. Valiant has enjoyed success in keeping with the common themes in their new books that made the original runs so endearing. This first volume of X-O Manowar, By the Sword, does an amazing job of reintroducing the world to Aric of Dacia. Thankfully, more time is spent on Aric’s plight at the hands of the aliens, making them much more three dimensional as foes, and truly worthy of Aric’s wrath.Robert Venditti weaves an excellent introductory tale, and Cary Nord’s pencils have defined the look followed by all other artists who have worked on the title. Trust me; this is just the first part in what has become a long and epic story. Looking back, I am amazed at how far things have gone, and the threats Aric has had to endure. Give this a read, and I think you’ll want to find out exactly what I’m talking about.

X-O is by far my most favorite Valiant title in its relaunch of the 1990's series. In its first incarnation, X-O was not my favorite title. I picked up the early issues, but the others kept my attention. I totally missed the 2nd incarnation, which I understand was to promote a video game franchise. In my opinion, this run is the best, and I can't imagine it could get better.This book collects the first 4 issues of the monthly series. We see the title character, Aric a barbarian from Roman times. He's an angry young man hacking away at Romans. Then...he's abducted by aliens called the Vine. The Vine enslave Aric and his fellow compatriots to do manual labor in the gardens (why robots can't do that, I don't know). Aric, still an angry young man, is insolent, and has his hand cut off by the Vine. Not enough to deter him, he fights on until he obtains the X-O armor, technology that the Vine worship but cannot utilize.What makes this different than the first series? In a word, depth. Vendetti unfolds the story in a pulse pounding fashion, coupled with Cary Nord's amazing art. I highly recommend this read and this is the origin book you want to start with.

I liked it, it was very much a greater fleshed-out re-telling of X-O's beginnings from the Valiant comics volume 1 of X-O Manowar.Cary Nord's artwork for the flashback sequences of dark times was really good. I found the story very engaging!

The Short Version: Under the guidance of a solid creative team and strong editorial direction, X-O Manowar Volume 1: By The Sword emerges as a great story-driven tale propelled by a strong lead character, good writing, and the solid, expressive linework of Cary Nord. If this is an example of the level of quality we can expect from the "new" Valiant Comics, we have great things to look forward to.The Review: The comic book industry has long been dominated by DC and Marvel, with a multitude of companies appearing over the years to try and challenge the crown of "The Big Two." Some, like Dark Horse and IDW, have carved out their own niche in the industry, Others have come and gone...and a few even then come again. Valiant Comics is one of those companies. Founded in 1989 by former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter (after he and a group of investors unsuccessfully tried to buy Marvel), Valiant was known for roping a number of young, fiercely creative talents from Marvel and producing a line of comics that were fresh and innovative at the time. Valiant was a titan, selling over 50 million copies and leaving the industry with some "new classics" all its own. Its momentum was lost not creatively but from the business side when the company was sold to a video game company, more interested in producing console games with the characters than comic books.Flash forward to 2012; after a number of false starts Valiant Comics lives again under a spirited editorial team and a group of solid comic book creators. Their first offering, X-O Manowar: By The Sword, which collects the first four issues of the rebooted title, brings back Aric the "barbarian" who is kidnapped by an alien race, only to escape them wearing a suit of armor that is also the most powerful weapon in the universe. It is an expected choice; the title was among Valiant's most popular (and recognized) when the company first launched, and a superhero in armor attracts more interest than it used to thanks to the Iron Man and Avengers movies. It also turns out to be an excellent choice; the character, as re-conceived by writer Robert Vendetti, Aric is a Visigoth whose village was sacked by Rome and who now seeks revenge upon those who have enslaved and slaughtered his people.Vendetti writes a brash and impulsive Aric, a man of bold (and sometimes foolish) action whose motives are understandable and whose plight even evokes sympathy in the reader. When the Visigoths are faced with overwhelming opposition in the first issue, the Visigoth leaders call a retreat, but Aric rallies them to a charge that ends in the slaughter of a number of the Visigoth soldiers (including Aric's own father). Later, Aric must make another attempt to engage the Romans, as they were able to get close enough to the Visigoth camp to seize a number of the women and children, including Aric's own wife. Mention is not made of the fact that, had Aric likely not led the earlier charge, the Romans would not have been able to get close enough to kidnap anyone.As the story continues Aric and a band of his men are captured by an alien race called the Vine, who are shown "seeding" humans with Vine babies (essentially replacing human babies with ones imprinted with human DNA). Events happen quickly from there, as Aric and his fellow captives plot their escape, which results in Aric being bonded with the Manowar armor, which - longtime readers know - is the most powerful weapon in the universe. I will leave the reader to discover the rich story points that lead the reader to the conclusion of the tale.I've enjoyed the Valiant material in the past, and as much as I love DC (and like a lot of Marvel) I'm always looking for fresh alternatives to those well-known and traveled universes, so I was well-read on what to expect (or at least what the editors and creators at Valiant wanted me to expect) and I found that X-O Manowar fit my expectations perfectly: it is a story-driven comic with solid writing and art that at least matches (and even exceeds) a number of the B-level books being produced at DC and Marvel. Vendetti's style is straightforward; his dialogue is realistic and doesn't ever sink to cliche. These Valiant books are focused on being more "story-driven" than "character-driven" so none of the supporting characters really emerge in three dimensions, such as in the work of Scott Snyder or Jeff Lemire or Ed Brubaker, but Aric is a well-rendered character of driven purpose. Though he is from another time and of another, more violent, attitude, the reader still will enjoy following him and sympathize with his plight.Supporting the writing is Cary Nord, whose pencils remind me of Aaron Lopresti, are usually detailed with good compositions and well-defined figures - a must when handling action scenes. Unfortunately the inks by Stefano Gaudiano are sketchy at times, which muddies and even clashes with Nord's clean lines. The color work and lettering are of the same excellent quality as can be found at a much larger comic company.All-in-all, X-O Manowar is a strong reinterpretation of a modern classic and sets a high bar for the Valiant books to come. There is much to admire in Valiant's story-driven approach; X-O Manowar feels like a comic in which the creative team was left alone to do strong work with minimal editorial interference (unlike a number of the DC New 52 books or the Marvel NOW! books), and we all benefit from it. at a $9.99 introductory price point, this is a definite must buy for fans of strong, story-driven superhero comics.