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X-O Manowar (1992) #0-30
X-O Manowar Classic Omnibus
Relive the complete adventures of Valiant’s original armored hero with Valiant’s next essential omnibus collection – clocking in at a massive 800+ pages!
Aric of Dacia, a fifth century Visigoth warrior abducted and enslaved by the brutal Spider Aliens, fights his way free of his captors and steals their ultimate weapon, the X-O Manowar armor. But 1,600 years have passed while the Spider Aliens held Aric captive and the time hereturns to is not his own. Trapped in the modern day, Aric is now the last of his people, a savage warrior out of time in a world of corporate treachery and casual deceit. But, armed with the power of the X-O Manowar armor, Aric will rule… and he will make the Spider Aliens pay. Featuring work from comic book legends Bob Layton (Iron Man), Barry Windsor-Smith (Wolverine: Weapon X), Joe Quesada (Daredevil, Amazing Spider-Man), and many more, get the complete epic of Valiant’s flagship hero starting here with this massive oversized volume collecting X-O MANOWAR (1992) #0–30, ARMORINES #0, X-O DATABASE #1, as well as material from SECRETS OF THE VALIANT UNIVERSE #1
Aric of Dacia, a fifth century Visigoth warrior abducted and enslaved by the brutal Spider Aliens, fights his way free of his captors and steals their ultimate weapon, the X-O Manowar armor. But 1,600 years have passed while the Spider Aliens held Aric captive and the time hereturns to is not his own. Trapped in the modern day, Aric is now the last of his people, a savage warrior out of time in a world of corporate treachery and casual deceit. But, armed with the power of the X-O Manowar armor, Aric will rule… and he will make the Spider Aliens pay. Featuring work from comic book legends Bob Layton (Iron Man), Barry Windsor-Smith (Wolverine: Weapon X), Joe Quesada (Daredevil, Amazing Spider-Man), and many more, get the complete epic of Valiant’s flagship hero starting here with this massive oversized volume collecting X-O MANOWAR (1992) #0–30, ARMORINES #0, X-O DATABASE #1, as well as material from SECRETS OF THE VALIANT UNIVERSE #1
- GenresComicsGraphic Novels
800 pages, Hardcover
First published November 26, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 8, 2018
This was an okay nostalgia read, but it did not live up to my memories of the series. The idea of an ancient, out-of-time warrior gaining powerful armor, then getting sucked into the modern world was still a good one, but the art and story were merely serviceable, nothing else. Don't take all that to mean I'm saying it is a bad comic collection by any means, just that it wasn't really for me at this point in my life. Hope others enjoy it more than I did.
May 25, 2015
I was largely enthralled with X-O Manowar when it was first released. The idea of combining Conan and Iron Man was terrific, and Aric was a wonderful character. As with all of the original Valiant books, I don't think that X-O Manowar entirely holds up to the modern expectations of comic writing, and it gets wobbly when the author changes halfway through the volume, but it's still an interesting story with strong characters, and there are several nice heights throughout.
Birth (0-6). "Retribution" (1-2) is a great arc because it shows Aric at his best, as a barbarian outsider. And I'm astounded that we really knew nothing about his past until the zero (0) issue, which feels like a vital part of his chronology nowadays (and such beautiful art, and I loved the original chrome cover!). The Harbinger crossover (3-4) is fun because it puts Aric firmly in the VH1 Valiant universe, but beyond that it's more cliched and standard, so not nearly as good as its predecessor. Fortunately the Ax issues (5-6) are a return to form, and another very nice connection to the VH1 universe [7+/10].
Unity (7-8+9). Great crossover issues (7-8) that show Aric at his barbarian best and almost make sense even without the rest of the Unity Saga. The climax is rather shocking, though sadly the repercussions aren't what you'd expect. The "Homecoming" issue (9) is then a great coda to Aric's voyage through time that really underlines how he's a man without a home [7+/10].
Seed of Destruction (10-13). There's a lot to love in Arik's second Homecoming (10), particularly for the light it sheds on Ken's character. The subsequent story (11-13) with the origin of the X-O is also quite beautiful, then Arik goes back into full barbarian mode and things become scary. Unfortunately things peter out in the last issue, first because Valiant sadly can't include the Solar crossover (though kudos to them for summarizing it), then because the last issue is largely a pointless fight. Still, this is an intriguing arc that increases the scope of the X-O story [7/10].
Turok (14-15). A nice way to bring Turok to the modern-day, through Aric. In theory, this is a nice team, but to a certain extent they're too similar to really be exciting together [6+/10].
Guns & Mobsters (16-17). New author Jorge Gonzalez comes aboard, and his first two issues just aren't the most exciting. He plays up the barbarian angle too much, and his threats are too mundane. The result is the worst of X-O to date, sadly [5/10].
Operation Deep Freeze (18-20). Fortunately, in going to a bigger story, Gonzalez strikes upon a more interesting plot, taking X-O out of its months of doldrums. The fight with the American government is a good one, though it seems dealt with a little simply at the end. Bringing up Randy as another supporting cast member is also well done. My only issue is that Aric doesn't seem quite barbaric enough. I have big troubles with how he dealt with the hostage situation at the end of #18, for example. Still, this is a good read [6+/10].
X-O Woman (21-24). The passing of the ring is really well done and creates a great new dynamic. I also feel like it really let Gonzalez define his own era of X-O, rather than causing continuous comparisons with the former Aric eras. However, Ax is way overdone by now as a recurring villain [7/10]. White Kings (22-24). This is a nicely-paired diptych with Randy in the armor and Aric featuring setbacks of his own. It's the sort of personal character piece that was too often missing from comics of past generations [7/10].
Armorines (A0 + 25). Sadly, the intro of the Armorines is subsumed by an artificial let's-fight set up by some guy and a scorned IRS agent. The main Armorine seems interesting enough, but the identical suits are dull and none of the rest of the cast really rises up to notice [5/10].
The Gift (26). A great story about Ken's character and Aric's honor; a very nice done-in-one that also ties back to older continuity [7+/10].
The Spiders (27-30). Gonzales definitely seems to have come into his own with this final arc. The return of the spiders is a nice plot, but it's really the death and rebirth of the X-O armor that knocks this story out of the park. As always with these X-O stories from the '90s, the pacing seems off, with things sliding by way too fast, but this is nonetheless one of the stronger stories in the omnibus [7+/10].
Birth (0-6). "Retribution" (1-2) is a great arc because it shows Aric at his best, as a barbarian outsider. And I'm astounded that we really knew nothing about his past until the zero (0) issue, which feels like a vital part of his chronology nowadays (and such beautiful art, and I loved the original chrome cover!). The Harbinger crossover (3-4) is fun because it puts Aric firmly in the VH1 Valiant universe, but beyond that it's more cliched and standard, so not nearly as good as its predecessor. Fortunately the Ax issues (5-6) are a return to form, and another very nice connection to the VH1 universe [7+/10].
Unity (7-8+9). Great crossover issues (7-8) that show Aric at his barbarian best and almost make sense even without the rest of the Unity Saga. The climax is rather shocking, though sadly the repercussions aren't what you'd expect. The "Homecoming" issue (9) is then a great coda to Aric's voyage through time that really underlines how he's a man without a home [7+/10].
Seed of Destruction (10-13). There's a lot to love in Arik's second Homecoming (10), particularly for the light it sheds on Ken's character. The subsequent story (11-13) with the origin of the X-O is also quite beautiful, then Arik goes back into full barbarian mode and things become scary. Unfortunately things peter out in the last issue, first because Valiant sadly can't include the Solar crossover (though kudos to them for summarizing it), then because the last issue is largely a pointless fight. Still, this is an intriguing arc that increases the scope of the X-O story [7/10].
Turok (14-15). A nice way to bring Turok to the modern-day, through Aric. In theory, this is a nice team, but to a certain extent they're too similar to really be exciting together [6+/10].
Guns & Mobsters (16-17). New author Jorge Gonzalez comes aboard, and his first two issues just aren't the most exciting. He plays up the barbarian angle too much, and his threats are too mundane. The result is the worst of X-O to date, sadly [5/10].
Operation Deep Freeze (18-20). Fortunately, in going to a bigger story, Gonzalez strikes upon a more interesting plot, taking X-O out of its months of doldrums. The fight with the American government is a good one, though it seems dealt with a little simply at the end. Bringing up Randy as another supporting cast member is also well done. My only issue is that Aric doesn't seem quite barbaric enough. I have big troubles with how he dealt with the hostage situation at the end of #18, for example. Still, this is a good read [6+/10].
X-O Woman (21-24). The passing of the ring is really well done and creates a great new dynamic. I also feel like it really let Gonzalez define his own era of X-O, rather than causing continuous comparisons with the former Aric eras. However, Ax is way overdone by now as a recurring villain [7/10]. White Kings (22-24). This is a nicely-paired diptych with Randy in the armor and Aric featuring setbacks of his own. It's the sort of personal character piece that was too often missing from comics of past generations [7/10].
Armorines (A0 + 25). Sadly, the intro of the Armorines is subsumed by an artificial let's-fight set up by some guy and a scorned IRS agent. The main Armorine seems interesting enough, but the identical suits are dull and none of the rest of the cast really rises up to notice [5/10].
The Gift (26). A great story about Ken's character and Aric's honor; a very nice done-in-one that also ties back to older continuity [7+/10].
The Spiders (27-30). Gonzales definitely seems to have come into his own with this final arc. The return of the spiders is a nice plot, but it's really the death and rebirth of the X-O armor that knocks this story out of the park. As always with these X-O stories from the '90s, the pacing seems off, with things sliding by way too fast, but this is nonetheless one of the stronger stories in the omnibus [7+/10].
July 9, 2022
This was pretty good for the first 40% and then it started to become less consistent and really wacky. It felt like for every good issue you got at least 3 bad after the 50% mark.
June 4, 2023
The ultimate edition, the Golden stories of one of the greatest comic characters created, what happens when mixing Iron Man with Conan, the barbarian you have the ultimate bad-ass known as X-O Manowar, a man who lost everything only to gain everything different.
September 14, 2025
Sci Fi Superhero Opera
Finds the perfect balance of action, superheroics and drama. What appears at first to be a Conan the Barbarian/Iron Man pastiche turns into quite the enthralling character
Finds the perfect balance of action, superheroics and drama. What appears at first to be a Conan the Barbarian/Iron Man pastiche turns into quite the enthralling character
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews