X-O Manowar #2: All The Covers And Why You Need Them

 

X-O Manowar #2 Cover A by Christian Ward

While we eagerly await events in X-O Manowar #9, I thought it'd be fun to look back and remember how we got here. After six months' absence due to the pandemic shutdown, Valiant Entertainment issued four beautiful covers to herald the return of Aric of Dacia. If you've come recently to the X-O Manowar party, and need some of these early issues, you'll probably find it easier to purchase the trade paperback containing the first four issues of this X-O Manowar series. But if you admire great art, or want to remember all these gorgeous covers, read on.

Christian Ward's Cover A shows our cosmic defender standing out in space. A interstellar highway winds its way to our planet, reminding us how many alien races, such as the nefarious Vine, have tried to invade our homeworld. Yet Aric stands at ease, like a baseball player awaiting his moment at bat. 

You can understand why Valiant Entertainment chose this powerful cover for their X-O Manowar #2 Gold Edition.

X-O Manowar #2 Cover B by Netho Diaz

Netho Diaz's cover, colored by Candice Han, also shows Aric holding his sword. It's a stunning photorealistic cover, as if Tina and Desmond Morris had marched Aric down to their local photographer to have his portrait taken. Netho and Candice show Aric's sword less resembles a lightsaber than a medieval knight's broadsword.

Aric as a knight riding into battle clad in gleaming plate mail? That may not exactly correlate with Aric's origins as a 5th Century Visigoth, but the association certainly has merit.

X-O Manowar #2 Pre-Order Cover Francesco Francavilla

Francesco Francavilla's Pre-Order Cover may be much more stripped down image, but it shows Aric's determination to protect his adoptive hometown of New York City. The silhouette of the buildings gives the image brings Aric to the front. It's almost as if we can see different layers of the image pushing out toward us, with Aric's sword foremost. Aric, the buildings, the moon, and the evening sky in the back are all spaced a little apart.

Sometimes the simpler images suggest the most depth.

X-O Manowar #2 Sword of Shanhara Cover by Daniel Warren Johnson

Daniel Warren Johnson's Sword of Shanhara Cover, colored by Mike Spicer, shows how versatile Shanhara can be. The alien consciousness inhabiting Aric's armor can fashion whatever weapons Aric needs to meet a given threat. In this case, the sword reminds me of a meteor burning through the atmosphere before it slams into the Earth. A powerful thought, considering that a meteor strike ended the reign of the dinosaurs, and made way for the rise of Mammals, and eventually Humans, on our planet.

The Sword of Shanhara cover was a retailer incentive cover, available only to shops that ordered at least twenty-five copies of X-O Manowar #2. That may make it harder to find, but if you really want it, happy hunting! 

Also, don't forget that Christmas is on the way! Black Friday may be over, but Cyber Monday is just around the corner. That makes now the perfect time to support hardworking comic shops--and your hardworking significant other--with a truly X-O-lent gift.

Dragon Dave