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Post by Icctrombone on Feb 4, 2017 15:52:34 GMT -5
Hmmmm, a comic pro in our midst...  |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 4, 2017 18:05:57 GMT -5
I'm going to have to scour through those this weekend. Didn't realize until now that I owned anything of yours. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2017 18:47:19 GMT -5
 (2012) Script by Robert Venditti. Art & Cover by Cary Nord. 402 AD. Northern Italy. The Romans vs the Visigoths. The battle is brutal. Aric's father is killed & his mother & wife taken by the Romans. At night Aric leads a squad to rescue those taken by the Romans. They see a strange ship with Romans in a strange armor. They are overcome & taken aboard the ship. The spaceship launches into deep space to go a Vine Colony. Aric escapes & kills an alien. He comes upon a ceremony. One of the aliens is in front of a metal orb it calls Shanhara. The orb expands & encases the alien in a blue & gold armor. The alien dies, the armor lifts off the dead alien & reforms into an orb. Then Aric is recaptured. From his cell he plots to get the armor somehow & use it to kill the aliens. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2017 19:02:25 GMT -5
 (1997) Written by Mark Waid & Brian Augustyn. Art by Sean Chen & Tom Ryder. The American military has enlisted Dr Donovan Wylie to be in charge of Project X-O. Major Rand Banion has been picked to be the Manowar. The man in the armor. Wylie has been figuring out how it works. He has tested the armor & uncovered many of it's abilities. Banion has the X-O medallion placed on his chest, the medallion expands encasing him in armor & bonding to his nervous system. Rand as Manowar & Wylie are sent on a mission to take down a terrorist group named RAGE. Wylie is bothered that Banion shouldn't be wearing the armor. While on the mission Banion is killed because the armor protects the wearer from harm by the responses from the wearer's nervous system. However Banion is fearless so the armor registers no danger & fails to protect Banion. Meanwhile RAGE next target is a town. Wylie stands over Banion's body as the airplane passes over him... |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2017 19:20:41 GMT -5
 (1992) Script by Jim Shooter and Steve Englehart. Art by Barry Windsor-Smith, Bob Layton and Jon Holdredge. Cover by Bob Layton. A man fights a spider like creature. He finds his way into a room where he finds an armor. He pulls a ring off the armor & becomes encased in the armor. He uses it to kill the alien creature & destroy the spaceship he is in before falling to earth. He leaves the armor behind but keeps the ring. In NYC people that look like human/alien hybrids plot to get the X-O armor back. Aric is found by another alien who he kills. Then a man named Ken hides him & helps him navigate this world. It is obvious that Aric is from another place on earth. He is called a barbarian by the aliens. Since the concept was called Conan in a can maybe he really is a barbarian. Anyway aliens continue to attack him everywhere he goes. He calls out to the "good skin" & the ring brings it to him. It encases Aric & he goes on an alien killing spree. Aric realizes he needs the armor on this "changed" earth to protect him. In the last panel he thinks "...with this new skin, Aric Rules!" |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2017 19:35:31 GMT -5
The Origin of X-O would be told in 2 issues in 1992 & 1997. It would take 4 issues to tell his origin in 2012. In 1992 he crosses over with multiple characters by #3. In 1997 he crosses over with Magnus in #6. In 2012 Ninjak in #5.
1992 the story jumps right into the action & fills the backstory in as the story progresses. In 1997 the story starts off with a fairly standard story & has a surprise ending. In 2012 we see the slow burn story told for the trade (IMO).
All were good. I enjoyed all 3. All 3 had stellar art. 1992 was different from other superhero books on the stands at that time. It was sort of a What If story. What If Conan stole Iron Man's armor.
1997 was more standard superhero fare but had a neat twist at the end. It was a mix of Iron Man & Green Lantern.
2012 was the same story as 1992 with some variations. In this version Aric doesn't steal the armor. Instead the armor sort of deems him worthy.
Art: 1992 Barry Smith worked on Conan. Bob Layton had a legendary run on Iron Man. 1997 Chen would go on & do Heroes Return Iron Man with Kurt Busiek. 2012 Cary Nord worked with Busiek on Dark Horse's Conan launch. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2017 19:38:05 GMT -5
I'm going to have to scour through those this weekend. Didn't realize until now that I owned anything of yours. #53-59. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 4, 2017 20:42:20 GMT -5
Has anyone here even read the 1997 series?? This one is tough for me. I would choose the 1992 series up until around the time Aric started taking on the mafia, at which point he lost the entire outsider appeal that had been my entry point to the series. The current series is well done but simply doesnt draw me in. I honestly couldn't tell you why. It does everything right. I don't really remember much at all about it but I definitely read the Acclaim(1997) version for a while. The 2012 version was pretty good, but for some reason the Valiant books just don't hold my attention long term... I'm not sure why, as I've enjoyed the bits and pieces I have, but I'm just not motivation to actually buy them. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2017 20:50:46 GMT -5
Interior Art: 1992  1997  2012  |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 4, 2017 22:10:58 GMT -5
I'm going to have to scour through those this weekend. Didn't realize until now that I owned anything of yours. #53-59. Never read that far in, but I DO have them. This was after the Acclaim take-over, right? |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2017 22:21:45 GMT -5
Never read that far in, but I DO have them. This was after the Acclaim take-over, right? Yes. It was after Birthquake but before the 1997 relaunch (as Acclaim Comics/Valiant Heroes). |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2017 8:58:41 GMT -5
Two other issues to mention. One is X-O (1992)#44. After Acclaim bought Valiant they did a soft reboot of the books. They called the change Birthquake. X-O was by Ron Marz, Bart Sears & Andy Smith. The main books were twice a month (sound familiar?). The description of #44 by mycomicshop.com:
Birthquake. Part 1 of 4. Everything you thought you knew about X-O is wrong! Aric wakes up in a Roman prison in 409 A.D. to find his 43 present-day issues of adventure never happened! The X-O armor is just a figment of his imagination. Is Aric going mad, or is this the plot of a villain more deadly than any he's ever faced?
The second starts next month (Mar 2017). Matt Kindt & Tomas Giorello relaunch X-O. Here is the description of the new series from the solicits:
Deep within the far reaches of space, the dogs of war have found Aric of Dacia. Conscripted into an alien army and forced into combat, Aric must enter an alien battlefield unlike any he’s faced before. His only hope for survival is also the source of his greatest rage – the living suit of armor known as X-O Manowar.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2017 9:02:43 GMT -5
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Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Feb 5, 2017 10:20:29 GMT -5
X-O (1992) had been a great title up to the point the powers that be decided to "revitalize" (I guess) the mag by tearing everything down and killing all the supporting characters. That's rarely, if ever, a good idea.
The early issues had been very entertaining, however, especially with the added bonus of some Barry Windsor-Smith art. I loved that time dilation was considered when alien ships travelled at almost the speed of light; I loved how Aric managed to return to the present when stuck in the past; I loved how the original Valiant timeline was already known and how past, present and future all meshed beautifully. (That last aspect was dropped in the latter years of the line, alas).
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Post by MDG on Feb 5, 2017 12:08:34 GMT -5
The main books were twice a month (sound familiar?). The twice-a-month decision came from market research that showed the vast majority of the books were sold the week they came out or the week after. I don't think that necessarily translated to readers wanting a new issue every two weeks. |
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