FREEX-O MANOWAR: VOLUME 5: AT WAR WITH UNITY EBOOK Vincente Cifuentes,Cary Nord,Robert Venditti,Warren Simons | 112 pages | 22 Apr 2014 | Valiant Entertainment | 9781939346247 | English | New York, United States 40+ Best x-o manowar images in | valiant comics, comics, comic art The eponymous comic book series published by Valiant Comics has sold more than 8 million copies to date. X-O Manowar began as an original character by Valiant Comics with issue 1 with a cover date of February Less than a year after it began, with the Unity crossover and quality storytelling bringing attention to Valiant books, back issue prices rose dramatically due to limited early print runs. With comic book speculators buying multiple copies of each issue, sales reached as high ascopies X-O Manowar: Volume 5: At War with Unity X-O Manowar 0 August before dropping off. This original series ran for 68 issues before being canceled after the Sept. Issues 1—4 of the original X-O X-O Manowar: Volume 5: At War with Unity series were reprinted in a trade paperback, X-O Manowar: Retributionwhich sold overcopies. Issues 7 and 8 were reprinted as part of the Unity Saga trade paperbacks. The publication of the second series ceased along with all of Acclaim's non-core business in due to Acclaim's financial difficulties in their video game division. The collection was digitally recolored and "remastered" from the original material and included a new story, "The Rise of Lydia," by Bob Layton, one the title's original artists. A press release from Valiantfans. This digitally re-colored and re-mastered special edition collects the full X-O Manowar origin story from issues 0—6 for the first time ever, and includes an all-new epic "The Rise of Lydia" story by comics legend Bob Layton and a new cover by Sean Chen! Aric of Dacia is a Visigoth barbarian captured by spider aliens and enslaved aboard their starship until he steals their ultimate weapon — the X-O Manowar armor. Aric returns to Earth only to find that years have past. Now the most primitive man on the planet wields the most technologically advanced weapon in existence! Valiant Entertainment began publishing new comics based on the Valiant Comics universe of characters in May The first issue sold through its initial print run of 45, copies. X-O Manowar: Volume 5: At War with Unity into battle, Aric of Dacia, heir to the throne of the Visigoth people, never knew X-O Manowar: Volume 5: At War with Unity. Raised under the oppressive thumb of the Roman Empire in 5th century Europe, his entire life was a never-ending series of campaigns against Rome, until a far more terrifying enemy came into play: the brutal race and alien colonizers known as the Vine. Abducted during a midnight scouting raid and taken to the far reaches of space, Aric and his fellow Visigoth captives lived their lives X-O Manowar: Volume 5: At War with Unity slaves to the Vine, with no hope of escape. After several years of captivity aboard a Vine colony ship, Aric led a revolt against his alien captors, storming the hallowed temple of the Vine and stealing their most powerful relic, Shanhara, the sentient X-O Manowar armor. Aric bonded with the armor—the first being in living memory to survive the process—and turned the Vine's most powerful weapon against them. But a crushing counterattack by the Vine left many X-O Manowar: Volume 5: At War with Unity Aric's allies dead or dying. Inexperienced with the armor himself, X-O Manowar: Volume 5: At War with Unity barely escaped the Vine fleet before rocketing back to Earth. Upon his return, Aric learned that due to the effects of time dilation, 1, years have passed since his abduction and he was now stranded in the 21st century. Distraught by the loss of his family and people, Aric secluded himself in the Peruvian jungle, but the Vine were unwilling to leave their most sacred relic in X-O Manowar: Volume 5: At War with Unity hands. Vine legend told that their greatest champion would one day wear the armor; news of a human controlling the suit could spell massive civil unrest for their empire. To recover it, covert Vine agents called "plantings", left on Earth hundreds of years ago and modified to appear human, recruited the super-spy Ninjak to kill Aric and return the armor. But with the help of Alexander Dorian, Aric turned Ninjak against his alien masters and led an attack on the Vine's secret headquarters inside Britain's MI-6, virtually eliminating the plantings' operations in England. The Vine responded with a full-force invasion, one that proved to be no match for the X-O Manowar armor. However, Aric realized that there would be no peace with the Vine until they were destroyed. Commandeering a Vine ship, Aric mounted a one-man invasion of the alien race's homeworld, Loam, toppling the empire and freeing thousands in the process, including a population of enslaved Visigoths X-O Manowar: Volume 5: At War with Unity from Aric's own people. Returning to Earth with his new kinsmen in tow, Aric decided to reestablish an ancestral Visigoth X-O Manowar: Volume 5: At War with Unity in its present-day location within Romania, a decision that quickly drew the ire of the neighboring Russian government. After warding off a X-O Manowar: Volume 5: At War with Unity of coordinated military strikes, Aric was faced with his greatest threat yet, the super-team known as Unity. Aric's defense of Dacia did not go to plan. In exchange for asylum for him and his people, Aric, now reunited with the X-O Manowar armor, works as an agent of M. According to legend, the sentient X-O Manowar armor known as Shanhara grew from a secret plant eons ago on the alien empire's home world of Loa. During the Vine's persecution at the hands of a mysterious race known as the Torment, it bonded with its first Vine Host, who went on to use its might to single-handedly repel the invasion force and win freedom for his people. The armor is living, composed of organics and exotic metals—a mutualistic symbiote, bonded to its host. For centuries, the Vine high priests searched for a wearer that could bear the power of Shanhara, but all such candidates were killed in the process. When Aric of Dacia attempted to escape the Vine captivity, he bonded with Shanhara as a last resort and was deemed worthy. Aric and Shanhara share a unique relationship—one that continues even when they are separated. Shanhara can translate foreign and alien languages, tap into a world's historical and geographical records, interface with complex forms of technology, and even heal life-threatening injuries and illnesses. Even though the bond between Aric and the armor is strong, it can be severed. Recently, the Harbinger Foundation teletechnopath Livewire was able to override the armor's connection to Aric and wear Shanhara for a limited period. Despite its impact on earthly affairs, the armor's true origin and purpose remain a mystery—one that the beings known as the Armor Hunters will soon expose. As a young boy, Aric witnessed the slaughter of his parents at the hands of Roman soldiers. Henceforth, he dedicated himself to destroying the Roman oppressors, with the help of his Uncle, Alaric I. Some years later, Aric took a Celtic slaveDeidre, to be his consort. He grew to love her, and worshipped her god, Lugh. One evening, he saw demons attacking members of his tribe. Aric attacked them, but was quickly subdued and taken aboard X-O Manowar: Volume 5: At War with Unity alien spacecraft. For the next seven years, Aric was held prisoner in the slave pens of the spacecraft. At a refuelling station several light years from Earthhe befriended a man known as the "Map X-O Manowar: Volume 5: At War with Unity who looked similar to Elvis Presley. The "Map Giver" used a discarded bone shard to carve a map into Aric's palm that would lead him to the alien's armory. Aric fought his way to the X-O Manowar class armor and donned the control ring. It later became clear that the "manufacturing" process of the X- O Manowar armor, which not only self-repaired, but also reproduced, involved the absorption of a sentient intelligence that then became the armor's own sentience. With this living armor he was able to escape from the alien ship and return to Earth. Due to time dilationas Aric had been traveling at the speed of lightalthough only a few years had passed on board, sixteen centuries had passed on Earth. Aric thus found himself in the unfamiliar world of the 20th century. At first, Aric struggled to adjust to lateth-century Earth. He encountered a number of Valiant Universe heroes, befriending some and alienating others. He eventually gained control of Orb Industries, a multi-national corporation formerly controlled by the Spider Aliens. X-O Manowar played a major role in Valiant's successful Unity crossover event. In this storyline, Aric chose not to help the other Valiant heroes defeat Mothergod Erica Pierceand instead built a small empire in the "lost land. Aric was eviscerated by a cyborg- tyrannosaurus and became trapped within the X-O Manowar armor for ten years X-O Manowar: Volume 5: At War with Unity heal.