Bob,

I had a question about X-O Manowar #68 and the new VALIANT owners. I read once that the reason this story was done was to set up the VALIANT universe for Nicieza's re-launch (I'm assuming at the time the idea of a reboot hadn't been discussed). Clearly it wasn't used as such. I was wondering, if the new owners gave you the chance to pick up from where you left off and you accepted, what kind of follow up could we expect?

A resolution to the idea that everything after X-O Manowar #1 was a dream, a confirmation of it, or something else altogether?

Thanks!

Mike Sacal

Mike,

I have said, on more than one occasion, that I would definitely be interested in re-addressing X-O Manowar in some capacity.

For the record, let me make one thing clear: I have NOT committed to ANYTHING with the new owners. Nor, have I been approached by them.

If I were to go back to doing X-O, I would hope that it would be scripted by me, if nothing else. I wrote the majority of that character's early (and most popular) adventures.

I'd rather not discuss what I would do at this particular moment. However, I assure you that I would stay as true as possible to the character's origins and root concept.

I have also stated in the past that my story for X-O Manowar #68 was a HUGE mistake. I was upset by the plans that the company had to revamp the character, so I concocted that dumbass story that negated my contributions to the legacy of X-O--more or less returning it to a blank slate.

I know it was stupid--but I had had enough of Acclaim and their petty meddling. I apologize to all X-O fans for that unfortunate storyline.

Bob Layton

http://www.boblayton.com/Archive/August%2006/aug06letterspage.htm

I've asked Layton about it many times and he told me that the reason he went with that ending was to set up Fabian Nicieza's then-upcoming VH 2 line of titles.

Apparently, when Layton wrote the story the reboot still hadn't been decided on or something (which is weird since X-0 68 contained an editorial written by Nicieza that had images of the VH 2 characters and his comments on the premise).

Hey

Actually, Aric went back to his era because of Solar, who whisked everyone out of the Lost Land before Erica's reactor destroyed it.

Basically, Solar infused people with his energy to send them to where they wished to go, or where their subconcious minds would send them (which is why most people ended up in 1992 while Aric ended up in 408 and Turok and the Skarmms arrived in 1987 - in the latter's case, it was their interaction with future technology that influenced their subconciouss and caused them to end in 1987 instead of their times of origin).

On the page, Aric's trip was a result of his wondering what he could have done with the X-O Manowar in 408 AD, but if we were to analyze it further, it could be said that the real reason he went back was because he still hadn't found his place in the 20th Century and still considered 408 his true era.

It still wasn't very good, alas...

If we ever do a ‘Top Worst Cover’ list I’m nominating X-O #1…ugh…talk about mediocre and undynamic…

Yeah, it IS pretty weird how bad the cover of X-O #1 is.

It's a fine drawing, but, like you said, totally undynamic.

Strange.

I really enjoyed Bart Sears' work on this title...its a shame he had such an allergic reaction to the graphite and ink like that...:-)

Er, just realized the CA part is redundant when you mention the Conan part lol! Still, a fun title before Marz.

One other thing, the reason it was called Manowar was because there were different levels of armors, and the Manowar class was the most powerful. One of his enemies, a guy called Ax (who was also a Harbinger character) also had his own suit, but it was a lot less powerful...I'll never forget when Randy had the Manowar armor, she formed her fist into a mace and bashed Ax in the face pretty hard with it. Sigh, strong female characters are never allowed to last, are they?

Ok, enough rambling.

I really liked the way Aric didn't speak English at first; how he interpreted our modern world in his 5th century frame of reference; how time travel was handled (Aric ended up in the XXth century from his native Vth because the alien ship he was one travelled at relativistic speed; he was then sent back to his native era by way of the Lost Land, which connects all times simultaneously; and he finally came back to our time by hibernating in his armor for 1500 years).

I didn't know about Layton's final retcon; I usually hate that kind of thing, but given the mess that was the post-Gonzales X-O, maybe it wasn't unwarranted.