Armorines Issue 0

Cover for Armorines Issue 0

Armorines Issue 0
Cover Artists: Jim Calafiori, Tom Ryder, Jorge Gonzalez
Published: February 1994
Writer: Jorge Gonzalez
Penciler: Jim Calafiori
Inker: Gonzalo Mayo
Colorist: Eric Lusk
Letterers: Rob Johnson, Joe Albello
Editor: Mark Moretti

Title: Unite, Corps, God, Country Part 1
Synopsis: Colonel Gardner welcomes Gunnery Sergeant Harold Lewis, Lance Corporals Antonio Cordova, and James Earl Williams to the Armorines project, where they meet Dr. Philip Zahn, who won a Nobel prize for a breakthrough in Microelectronics. The armor he's developed gives enhanced strength, uses ion cannons mounted on gauntlets, vision beyond the human spectrum, force fields, ion-charged blades, laser cutters, and flight. They meet Sergeant Sirot of the N.S.A. (the National Security Agency), who survived the attempt to capture Aric's armor in Antarctica. They fly to Camp Pendleton, where they meet another team member, Major Myra Lane. There they receive their training with the armor, and learn to function as a team. We also learn that Peter Garrett, who oversaw the operation in Antarctica, is still maneuvering behind the scenes, as is Ms. Mandrake from the I.R.S. (Internal Revenue Service), who tried to take over Orb Industries when the C.I.A. (Central Intelligence Agency) believed they had captured Aric.

X-O Manowar Issue 24

Cover for X-O Manowar Issue 24

X-O Manowar Issue 24
Published: January 1994
Cover Artists: Jim Calafiore
Writer: Jorge Gonzalez
Story Assists: Seymour Miles
Penciler: Paris T. Karounos
Inker: Tom Ryder
Colorist: Andrew Covalt
Letterer: Ken Lopez, Rob Johnson
Editor: Mark Moretti

Title: Homecoming
Synopsis: Due to the guilt Randy Cartier feels over destroying the Mujahadin camp in Afghanistan, Aric returns home to find Shanhara, the sentient X-O Manowar armor, has changed. He assures her that, back under his control, the armor has suffered no permanent ill effects. Aric then takes Randy out to a pool hall, where he tells her she's being too hard on herself, and tells her he intends to pursue Reece, the man who massacred the Yanomama indians on behalf of Spectar Enterprises, a subsidiary of Orb Enterprises. When a disagreement with the regular patrons turns violent, Aric visits the hospital, where he reimburses them for their medical costs, and apologizes for their injuries. The issue ends with a sneak peak at the Armorines program, the U.S. military's elite combat unit using their version of the X-O Manowar armor.

X-O Manowar Issue 23

Cover for X-O Manowar Issue 23

X-O Manowar Issue 23
Published: December 1993
Cover Artists: Paris T. Karounos, Tom Ryder & Jorge Gonzalez
Writer: Jorge Gonzalez
Penciler: Paris T. Karounos
Inker: Tom Ryder, Phyllis Novin
Colorists: Andrew Covalt, Mark Pusateri
Letterer: Ken Lopez
Editor: Mark Moretti

Title: White Kings and Black Knights Part 2
Synopsis: Randy's proximity to (and usage of) Shanhara, the sentient armor, has reawakened memories of Wolfbridge, and old foe that tortured her and killed her friend Jean-Luc. Her friend Paul uses his connections to give her current information on the camp in Afghanistan where the incident occurred when they fought the Russians together for the Canadian military. Randy uses the X-O Manowar armor to destroy the Mujahadin base that Wolfbridge once oversaw. But instead of satisfaction, the destruction feels like an abuse of power. Meanwhile, Aric tries and fails to defend the Yanomama village against a white man named Reece, who has threatened to forcibly move them off their land. When he recovers from his injuries, Aric sees that the village has been obliterated, and a sign identifies the land's owner as Spectar Enterprises, a subsidiary of Aric's own Orb Industries. (Also, a sneak peak at the U.S. military's creation of the Armorine armor modeled on Aric's X-O Manowar armor).

X-O Manowar Issue 22

Cover for X-O Manowar Issue 22

X-O Manowar Issue 22
Published: November 1993
Cover Artists: Paris T. Karounos, Jorge Gonzalez
Writer: Jorge Gonzalez
Penciler: Paris T. Karounos
Inkers: Tom Ryder, Rodney Ramos
Colorists: Andrew Covalt, Stu Suchit & Knob Row
Letterer: Ken Lopez
Editor: Bob Layton

Title: White Kings and Black Knights Part 1
Synopsis: Aric chooses to live with the Yanomama people in a remote village in Peru. Randy Cartier, his head of security, uses her power to wield Shanhara, the sentient armor, to solidify her position as head of Orb Industries in Aric's absence. While he uses his natural fighting skills to defend them against the attacks of a nearby tribe, Randy flies through space, and into the heart of a volcano, to learn the test Shanhara's limits.

X-O Manowar Issue 21

Cover for X-O Manowar Issue 21

X-O Manowar Issue 21
Published: October 1993
Cover Artists: Jim Calafiori, Bob Layton, Jorge Gonzalez
Writer: Jorge Gonzalez
Penciler: Paris T. Karounos
Inker: Tom Ryder, Phyllis Novin & Peter Palmiotti
Colorist: Jorge Gonzalez
Letterer: Ken Lopez
Editor: Bob Layton

Title: Strange Bedfellows
Synopsis: Aric's old foe Ax has recently broken out of custody at the Harbinger Foundation. When he learns that Aric has left Orb Industries, he ambushes Ken, Aric's second-in-command, and then Randy Cartier, his Head of Security. Randy has been troubled by the easy affinity she's formed with Shanhara, the sentient armor. But when Ax shows up wearing his less powerful Hunter Armor, she dons the X-O Manowar armor, and shows him she won't give it up without a fight.

X-O Manowar Issue 20

Cover for X-O Manowar Issue 20

X-O Manowar Issue 20
Published: September 1993
Cover Artists: Paris T. Karounos, Tom Ryder & Jorge Gonzalez
Writer: Jorge Gonzalez
Penciler: Paris T. Karounos
Inker: Tom Ryder
Colorist: Jorge Gonzalez
Letterer: Rob Johnson, Ken Lopez
Editor: Bob Layton

Title: Operation Deep Freeze Part 3: The Consequences
Synopsis: Aric's been buried before, but this time he's not content to lay down and die. While he blasts his way out of the ice, snow and debris, and takes on the U.S. Government forces outside the Amundsen-Scott research station, his Head of Security, Randy, takes on the troops inside. The two return to the states, where Aric calls in a favor from Harada, the head of the powerful Harbinger Foundation, to call off the military. Aric uses the information Shanhara, the sentient X-O Manowar armor, gleaned from the computer systems in Antarctica to insure that the Internal Revenue Service keep out of Orb Industries' affairs. Then, disgusted with our "modern" world, he hands the X-O control ring to Randy, and tells her he's going away. Maybe forever.

X-O Manowar Issue 19

Cover for X-O Manowar Issue 19

X-O Manowar Issue 19
Published: August 1993
Cover Artists: Jim Calafiore, Tom Ryder, Jorge Gonzalez
Writer: Jorge Gonzalez
Penciler: Jim Calafiore
Inker: Tom Ryder
Colorist: Jorge Gonzalez
Letterers: Tony Bedard, Ken Lopez
Editor: Bob Layton

Title: Operation Deep Freeze Part 2: Gentlemen's Agreement
Synopsis: When the Feds surround Aric, and point a gun at Randy's head, Aric surrenders his X-O Manowar armor to save the life of Orb Industries' Head of Security. The Feds then transport them to the Amundsen-Scott research station at the South Pole. The Feds plan to test the armor inside a fortified bunker. What they don't realize is that Aric still possesses the control ring. When he and Randy are locked inside a cell, her life is no longer in jeopardy, and they realize the Feds still plan to kill them, Aric calls the armor to him. But then, in the process of escaping his cell and battling the Feds, Aric sets off an avalanche that buries him beneath snow, ice, and debris.