X-O Manowar #1

Published by Valiant Comics

Written by Dennis Hallum

Artwork by Emilio Laiso

Colors by Ruth Redmond

Aric of Dacia is a 4th century Visigoth Prince who is not out of his own time and in possession of the universe’s most power suit of armer. He is now called X-O Manowar. He seeks to help people in a big way, but just seems to be making life difficult for the populace that he is trying to help. 

The story in this #1 issue is not an origin, but rather an introduction to the character. I feel it does a good job of displaying the hero’s characteristics and you get a good sense of what type of hero that he is. Don’t get me wrong, it does tell a quick origin story about how he came to possess the X-O Manowar armor. This is much appreciated since I was a new reader of this particular property. The story also does a good job of setting up the world around our hero as well as it sets up the looming threat that Manowar will face as this story progresses in the next issues. 

The artwork is very good with colorful scenes in each panel. Each panel is adequately detailed, and the images pop off the screen. It’s very easy to understand what is happening in the action shots. There is no overshadowing and I do not perceive any lack of details that would make me questions what I am looking at. 

Overall, I enjoyed this comic. I think it was a good start and has me wondering what is going to happen to the hero next. I give X-O Manowar #1 8 capes out of 10. It’s not groundbreaking or innovative, but it was fun and interesting. I hope I get to return to this world in the very near future.