While Scoop’s prior looks at X-O Manowar came from the perspective of a seasoned Valiant fan going back to the original company’s earliest days, critic Mark Squirek comes at it from the perspective a Valiant newbie. And he got a great surprise…

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Step for step, pound for pound, shot for shot, the 2012 relaunch of X-O Manowar by Valiant Entertainment is one of the best series of the past year.

What is funny is that a week ago I could never have imagined myself saying that! You see, up until this week, I had never once read a Valiant title. Yes, I know: my loss, completely. Despite the fact that friends, critics and store owners had raved about the company for years, I just never made the leap into the Valiant universe.

Discovering the character of X-O Manowar as interpreted through the eyes and pens of writer Robert Vendetti and artist Cary Nord has been a great way to end an extraordinary summer filled with some great reading across the board.

The series manages to walk a thin line between multiple genres without once falling into cliché or easy, simplistic solutions. Vendetti and Nord succeed where many others have failed when trying to unite seemingly disparate worlds of myth and story.

It takes real skill and honest to goodness talent to unite fifth century Rome with a spaceship, the future, a hidden dimension of communication, aliens who are using Earth to grow their own off-spring and a ninja spy who is only loyal to his bank account into a cohesive whole.

That is a lot to juggle inside one story line. While I missed the original appearance of the series on the shelves of a comic book store, I was lucky enough to find the first two trade paperbacks that collect the first eight issues of the series. By the time I finished the first issue in volume one, I was completely hooked.

What I love about a good first issue is the way the mythology evolves inside the story. Because of the previews and advance word on the series I had a general idea where everything was going, but I never once lost a sense of mystery or surprise in what I was reading.

This is because Vendetti takes his time setting everything up. After a few pages I began to feel that I was going to be with this series for a long while.

The developments never felt forced nor did they seemed rushed. Each detail flows logically and without effort from the previous set up. While the narrative is easy to follow, the story holds a depth that can occasionally make you stop and wonder who is in the right.

As the young warrior justifies his earlier disobedience when told to retreat, he is told that his impatience has cost the army countless lives as well as the comfort found in their beds. Filled with the brashness of youth he continues to argue his case but despite his self-righteousness we know that the army his paid a terrible price for his impetuous actions.

When an alien takes a single hair from the head of a child we discover over time that the alien is looking to perpetuate their own race. This is a centuries-old conflict on our planet. Just because someone is bigger and stronger does that give them the moral right to treat the weaker opponent as a slave?

This is a path of pure storytelling. What is being told to us moves across ages as it subtly implies larger questions, questions that are there if you want to see them. If not, a lot of people are fighting; there are spaceships and some gorgeous art. It’s a narrative with levels that no matter where you look are always entertaining.

It is the bite of originality inside the familiar that Vendetti adds which will compel you to read on. By the time you reach issue seven inside the second trade, the myths he writes of have taken hold. Questions are answered but bigger ones arrive.

With inking by Stefano Guadiano and coloring by Moose Bauman, artist Nord brings the series to cinematic life.

It doesn’t matter if he is showing us a two-page spread of an army of Visigoths trapped in a valley as the arrows of Roman Legions rain down on them or, in another two page spread, a wounded man falling from space into the Roman Coliseum.

In issue seven – the second arc is illustrated by Lee Garbett – when he closes the issue with a full page look at the headquarters of British intelligence, MI-6, you just can’t help but think that the building looks a lot like a castle from the tenth century… a strikingly original note that pays of spectacularly a bit later.

There is a series of sequences when one of the aliens slips into a blue world where the aliens can communicate in secret that is thrilling. The lack of focus, the different shades of blue that fill this alternate dimension give it a truly otherworldly feel. One where the sinister is easy to understand and narcissism or betrayal is a habit

Back to the first volume: while Nord’s art is highly individualistic there are echoes of the past that slip through his work. The splash page for issue two, “Escaping Eden,” is a gorgeous reminder of Al Williamson and occasionally you can feel the spirit of Russ Manning in some of the panels. The aliens, when revealed could have been an illustration in the first edition of a classic H.G. Wells novel.

The new version of X-O Manowar is a fascinating combination of the known and unknown. It is classic comic book storytelling at its best. Once you join up, you will be in for the long haul.

The first eight issues of Valiant have been collected into their two trade paperbacks. A third one has just been released. It doesn’t matter if you are an old fan or a brand new convert to the Valiant universe, this is the perfect chance to discover the character.