After a tease last week, Valiant Entertainment made a new series of "X-O Manowar" official this morning, debuting on March 22 from the creative team of Matt Kindt and artist Tomas Giorello, with Doug Braithwaite, Clayton Crain, Ryan Bodenheim and Mico Suayan all slated to contribute to the series in its first year.
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Following the initial news, CBR has an exclusive look at 11 of Giorello's character designs for the series, along with three early concept designs by Kindt himself, who has written and illustrated series including "MIND MGMT" and "Dept. H."
In Valiant's official press release, the company's CEO & Chief Creative Officer Dinesh Shamdasani stated that the new "X-O" series will also set the stage for the publisher's "next phase." The new "X-O Manowar" series will see the title character on a "primitive new world" start with a three-issue arc titled "Soldier," illustrated by Giorello, followed by the three-issue "General" arc illustrated by Braithwaite, the three-issue "Emperor" arc illustrated by Crain, an interlude illustrated by Bodenheim and then a new arc titled "Visigoth," with art by Suayan.
"With five sets of creators working concurrently across more than a year's worth of the series, we're building what will be the bedrock for Valiant's next phase," Shamdasani said. "But we're not content to rest there. Over the coming weeks, we'll be unveiling a simply massive slate of surprises that are going to add extra fuel to X-O Manowar's fire in comics, video games, and even film. 2017 will be the year of X-O Manowar not just for Valiant, but for the entire comics industry."
Here's an exclusive look at 11 of Giorello's character designs:
And here's three of Kindt's concept sketches, along with commentary from the writer:
"X-O Manowar" #1 is scheduled for release on March 22, 2017.