Media Release -- As revealed today at ComicBook.com, Valiant is proud to announce the X-O MANOWAR #1 Brushed Metal Variant – an innovative, all-metal cover adorning the FIRST ISSUE of the EPIC NEW ONGOING SERIES from visionary creators Matt Kindt (Divinity, Ninjak, 4001 A.D.) and Tomas Giorello (Bloodshot Reborn)! Available to retailers who place qualifying orders on X-O MANOWAR #1, this ultra-limited edition of Valiant's most important first issue of all time comes printed via a special process on an actual brushed aluminum metal sheet and features artwork by rising star Monika Palosz (Divinity III: Stalinverse)!
"This just might be our craziest idea yet," said Valiant CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani. "As a publisher, Valiant is always looking for new ways to engage fans and retailers. The new X-O MANOWAR #1 is a milestone moment for Valiant and our biggest character, and we knew we had to put as much magnitude behind it as possible to ensure this series' place as a centerpiece of the industry in 2017. Rest assured, Matt Kindt and Tomas Giorello are preparing a story that is just as bold and just as enduring as this cover."
Attention retailers: One copy of the X-O MANOWAR #1 Brushed Metal Variant Cover can be ordered by retailers who place a qualifying order of 500 copies or more. The X-O MANOWAR #1 Brushed Metal Variant Cover is strictly limited to one copy per qualifying store. For instructions on how to qualify for the X-O MANOWAR #1 Brushed Metal Variant Cover, please see the Diamond Retailer Site under order code: JAN172118.
As recently unveiled at Entertainment Weekly, the all-new X-O MANOWAR #1 will be Valiant's first landmark new series of 2017 and features New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (Divinity, Ninjak, Mind MGMT) alongside an all-star arsenal of the most formidable visual storytellers in comics today – including Tomas Giorello (4001 A.D.: War Mother, Bloodshot Reborn), Doug Braithwaite (Armor Hunters, Bloodshot U.S.A.), Clayton Crain (Rai, Carnage), Ryan Bodenheim (The Dying & The Dead), and Mico Suayan (Bloodshot Reborn) – that together will span the series' first year in 2017 and beyond!
A stunning new beginning for Valiant's most enduring icon starts here on March 22nd, 2017 with part one of "SOLDIER" – a punishing, three-issue introduction that will push Aric of Dacia beyond the farthest limits of our galaxy…and into the brutal opening salvo of the ultimate X-O Manowar tale ever told!
Born under the oppressive thumb of the Roman Empire, Aric of Dacia learned warfare at an early age. It was amid such violence that he was abducted by an alien race. Forced into slavery, he survived where others perished. His escape would come from bonding with a weapon of immeasurable power: the X-O Manowar armor. With it, he returned to Earth…only to find himself stranded in the modern day.
But that was a lifetime ago.
Now, far from home on a strange and primitive new world, Aric has begun a new life. Liberated from his past, he tends to his crops. Free from war. Free from violence. Free from the armor.
But the machinery of death marches his way once again. Conscripted into an alien army and thrown into an unforgiving conflict, the fury inside him finds voice as he is forced to embrace the armor once more. With it, he will decimate armies, topple empires and incite interplanetary warfare as he rises from SOLDIER to GENERAL to EMPEROR to VISIGOTH. They wanted a weapon. He will give them war!
In the wake of "SOLDIER"'s staggering assault in issues #1-3, X-O MANOWAR then continues in 2017 and beyond as a superstar cast of Valiant's most acclaimed artistic talents chart Aric's path from SOLDIER to GENERAL to EMPEROR to VISIGOTH for a vicious, year-long journey of bone and bloodshed born from the battlefields of a herculean alien empire:
X-O MANOWAR #1 | "SOLDIER" – PART ONE
MATT KINDT | TOMAS GIORELLO
MARCH 2017
X-O MANOWAR #4 | "GENERAL" – PART ONE
MATT KINDT | DOUG BRAITHWAITE
JUNE 2017
X-O MANOWAR #7 | "EMPEROR" – PART ONE
MATT KINDT | CLAYTON CRAIN
SEPTEMBER 2017
X-O MANOWAR #10 | INTERLUDE
MATT KINDT | RYAN BODENHEIM
DECEMBER 2017
X-O MANOWAR #11 | "VISIGOTH" – PART ONE
MATT KINDT | MICO SUAYAN
JANUARY 2018
Plus: Valiant is also rewarding fans who reserve copies of X-O MANOWAR's complete opening story arc in advance with their local retailer with the X-O MANOWAR #1-3 PRE-ORDER EDITION BUNDLE!
Available only as a pre-order set, the X-O MANOWAR #1-3 PRE-ORDER EDITIONS must be ordered as a complete bundle at your local comic shop by the initial order date of January 26th, 2017! Released monthly from March through May, featuring exclusive covers by series interior artist Tomas Giorello and clocking in a colossal 48 pages each, every PRE-ORDER EDITION comes packed with trade paperback-style extras and bonus content, including creator commentary, behind-the-scenes looks at the creation of the comics, process character designs and artwork, and first looks at upcoming issues.
The only way to reserve these exclusive copies is by pre-ordering all three issues at your local comic shop by January 26th, 2017. Further copies will not be available beyond that date and subsequent issues will not be offered in later solicitations, so don't miss your chance! Simply copy one of the pre-order coupons included in this month's Previews catalog or in every issue of Valiant's January-shipping comics releases and present it to your local comic shop to reserve your X-O MANOWAR #1-3 PRE-ORDER BUNDLE.
For more information, visit Valiant on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and ValiantUniverse.com.
For Valiant merchandise and more, visit ValiantStore.com
X-O MANOWAR (2017) #1
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by TOMÁS GIORELLO
Cover A by LEWIS LAROSA (JAN172113)
Cover B by KENNETH ROCAFORT (JAN172114)
Interlocking Variant Cover by MICO SUAYAN (JAN172116)
X-O Manowar Icon Variant by J.G. JONES (JAN172117)
Brushed Metal Variant Cover by MONIKA PALOSZ (JAN172118)
$3.99 | 40 pgs. | T+ | On Sale MARCH 22nd
X-O MANOWAR #1-3 PRE-ORDER EDITION BUNDLE
Written by MATT KINDT
Art & Covers by TOMAS GIORELLO (JAN172115)
X-O MANOWAR #1 PRE-ORDER EDITION | On Sale MARCH 22nd
X-O MANOWAR #2 PRE-ORDER EDITION | On Sale APRIL 26th
X-O MANOWAR #3 PRE-ORDER EDITION | On Sale MAY 24th
$11.97 [three issues] | 48 pgs. each | T+
