X-O Manowar Redux: An Interview With Valiant's Fred Pierce

Valiant Entertainment is set to relaunch the legend of Aric and the X-O Manowar armor on a whole new world, with a new cast of supporting characters and new threats. Valiant Publisher Fred Pierce, took time out of his busy schedule to give us a few details about where writer Matt Kindt and his art team will be taking the mighty Visigoth warrior and what impact this new series will have on the rest of the Valiant universe…

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PREVIEWSworld: When and where will the new series of X-O Manowar take place?

Fred Pierce: When X-O Manowar #1 (JAN172113) begins, several months will have passed in the Valiant Universe since we last saw Aric. We open up with Aric on an alien world, separated from the X-O Manowar armor, and keeping with a new cast of characters. Where Aric has been in these missing months — and how he wound up waging a war on a strange new planet — will be a central plot point to this series.

PREVIEWSworld: What new challenges and threats await X-O Manowar in this series?

Fred Pierce: Right off the bat, we’ll see Aric at odds with the X-O Manowar armor, which I’ve found to be a compelling new challenge for him to face. Of course, this conflict couldn’t come at a worse time, as Aric is quickly conscripted into a war waging across his new home world. How he’ll navigate through these unprecedented battlefields — with or without his armor — will really change his stature as a warrior and hero. 

PREVIEWSworld: Describe the tone and scope of this series. Just how big will X-O Manowar’s story get?

Fred Pierce: It’s going to be massive! This is the most epic, widescreen adventure that we’ve ever attempted in the Valiant Universe. There is no limit to Matt Kindt’s scope, and what he has planned for this series will certainly redefine what people expect from a superhero story. Simply put: This is the ultimate X-O Manowar tale ever told.

PREVIEWSworld: How are you structuring this series? Will see long-form stories, shorter arcs, or a mix of both?

Fred Pierce: Matt already has his entire first year of X-O Manowar mapped out, and it’s going to be divided into four three-issue arcs, plus a single issue interlude, charting Aric’s path from SOLDIER to GENERAL to EMPORER to OUTLAW. Each arc will chart the next major step of X-O Manowar’s development on this new planet, and will reveal new facets at the core of the character that we’ve never seen before.

PREVIEWSworld: You’ll be joined by a roster of exceptionally talented artist on this series. Who are they, and how are their different styles shaping the scope and direction of this series?

Fred Pierce: We have a true “murderer’s row” of talented artists lined up for this series, and I couldn’t be more excited by what they’ll bring. New Valiant exclusive superstar Tomas Giorello will kick the series off with the first arc, followed by three-issue runs from some of our best artistic talents, including Doug Braithwaite, Clayton Crain, and Mico Suayan, with a special single issue story drawn by the impeccable Ryan Bodenheim. Each of these artists are going to open a new frontier within Matt’s already expansive story, and will really tap into the series’ blockbuster scope.

PREVIEWSworld: How will you further X-O Manowar’s status as one of Valiant’s flagship heroes, and why can no Valiant fan afford to miss this series?

Fred Pierce: 2017 marks X-O Manowar’s 25^th anniversary, and this is going to be our biggest series of the year, quite possibly of all time. X-O Manowar is going to set the spine for the entire Valiant Universe. If any Valiant fan — new or old — wants to see where our universe is heading for the next several years, they don’t have to look any farther than X-O Manowar.