Broken Frontier

Coming off of the New York Times bestselling graphic novel The Homeland Directive in 2011 and having made a name for himself with two excellent The Surrogates volumes before that, Robert Venditti is traveling where he hasn’t gone before: into ongoing series territory on X-O Manowar.

A revamp of the popular early Nineties flagship character of Valiant Entertainment, Venditti is upgrading X-O for the 21st Century together with artist Cary Nord of Conan fame. The first issue of the series arrives in stores this May and effectively marks the rebirth of Valiant as a comics publisher. No pressure, right?

BROKEN FRONTIER: This book is a departure from your previous projects in the sense that a) it’s an ongoing series, and b) the sci-fi element is much more hardcore than what you did on The Surrogates. What are the challenges treading all of this new ground?

ROBERT VENDITTI: As far as this being an ongoing series, the challenge is planning the story far in advance—not just in regards to what happens within the pages of X-O Manowar, but also taking into account how this book will impact the rest of the Valiant line (and, in turn, how the rest of the Valiant line will impact X-O Manowar). That’s the fun of it, though. We’re helping to shape a universe. And I can tell you as someone who’s watching the process from the inside, there’s an enormous amount of strategizing taking place.

In terms of sci-fi, it’s true X-O Manowar is different from The Surrogates, but all of my projects have been different from each other, so I’m used to that. In fact, it’s something I look for when I’m deciding to take on a project. I want things to be new. It keeps me engaged as a writer.   

BF: Since X-O Manowar also marks the start of a new era for Valiant, how much of your story will be built on the old Valiant/Acclaim material?

VENDITTI: In the original Valiant run, Aric of Dacia is a 5th Century Visigoth who’s captured by aliens, comes into possession of the universe’s most powerful weapon, and returns to Earth in the modern day.

We’re definitely building on that original foundation—it’s such a rich core concept—but we’ll be expanding on it and taking the story in plenty of new directions as well. Early in the series, we’ll be introducing readers to the alien race known as The Vine, delving into their motivations and exploring what their existence means to the universe.

We’ve come up with some new abilities for the Manowar armor, too, including one that will be the key to the entire first year of the series.      

BF: As you reread the previous X-O volumes, were there any specific things that jumped out to you that Jim Shooter, Mark Waid, Bob Layton, etc. put on paper?

VENDITTI: There are so many great moments, but the one that stands out to me the most is in Volume 1, issue 9. Having lost hope and been betrayed by his fellow Visigoths in the 5th Century, Aric uses the Manowar armor to bury himself deep in the ground. Then, as issue 10 opens, he’s unearthed in the present day. I think that’s a pretty ingenious way to make a character travel through time.  

BF: What can we expect from Cary Nord? I’m sure Valiant picked Cary because of his experience drawing warriors on Conan for Dark Horse. Is the style he’ll use on X-O comparable to what he did on that series?

VENDITTI: While Cary’s work on Conan with Kurt Busiek and Dave Stewart helped introduce that classic character to a new generation of readers, I don’t think he was chosen because of his association with one project in particular. He’s a first-rate draftsman and storyteller, and you can be sure he’ll put his unique stamp on any character he takes on.

BF: Cary’s experience drawing lush, historic landscapes and settings seems to open the door for flashbacks to Aric’s past in the Roman Empire. Is that something we can look forward to, or will the series focus very much on alien/outer space action?

VENDITTI: The series will be set primarily in the present day, both on Earth and among the stars with The Vine. We wanted to provide more context for Aric’s character, though, so the first issue will open with Aric and the Visigoths battling the army of the Roman Empire in the 5th Century. Cary has done an amazing job rendering all of those disparate times and places.

BF: How much of the book have you mapped out at this point? Are there any more details you can spare about the opening arc?

VENDITTI: The first five issues are already written, and I have a firm idea of what the next two arcs will be after that. Long term, the opening arc plants a ton of seeds (hint!) that will grow and spread throughout the series and maybe even into the rest of the Valiant Universe.

There’s so much you can do with a character like Aric; I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. It seems every other day a new plotline occurs to me and I can’t wait to write them all.

X-O Manowar #1 goes on sale May 2 from Valiant Entertainment.