X-O Manowar #1 – Retribution Part 1: Into The Fire released by Valiant on February 1, 1992.
Aric of Dacia: Visigoth warrior, slave of the Spider-Aliens, wielder of the most powerful weapon in the universe. Armed with the X-O Manowar armor and trapped in the modern day, Aric will wage war on his one-time captors.
Escaping captivity aboard a Spider-Alien starship, Aric, the Visigoth, steals the aliens’ greatest weapon: the Manowar Class X-O Armor! Returning to Earth, Aric is dismayed to find that 1600 years have passed — it’s a whole new world! Befriended by Ken Clarkson, Aric must learn to cope with a new society. But the aliens are hot on his trail, eager to reclaim the devastating armor known to Aric as the “Good Skin”!
1st appearance:
– X-O Manowar (Aric Dacia)
– Ken Clarkson
– Manowar class X-O Armor
– Lydia (Spider Alien)
The book opens in the middle of the action. We see Aric, a savage human fighting a bunch of spiderlike aliens … naked. He makes his way to the armory where he finds a suit of armor. Passing it up at first as being to small to protect him.
In a moment of desperation and need, he grabs the Armors key ( a ring ) and puts it on. The armor surrounds him, and he easily dispatches his foes. He makes his escape from what we find out is a spaceship in Earths orbit.
When he lands he discards the armor and takes up residents at a near by village. At first he looks upon them with mistrust, but ends up living there and falling for a young woman. After some time away, he returns to find that the aliens had been there, and they killed everyone in the village.
Aric gets a message, that the aliens want the ring. They are in New York, and they want him to deliver it. Promising vengance, he uses the ring to find the armor.
His travels takes him through a south American town. There he is attacked by the spider aliens. After the battle, he meets Ken, a homosexual man, who takes an interest in the naked Aric. Ken brings Aric back to his house and cleans him up.
Joining Aric on his trip they take a plane to New York. When they get off the plane, Ken tries to warn Aric of an attack. Apparently, Ken was at first an agent for the aliens. Yet Arics friendship turned him. During the attack, Ken loses his left hand.
As the battle grows worse for Aric, he hears a voice in his hand, a voice that is seemingly calling to the Armor. At the last second, the X-O Armor arrives, and Aric is able to defeat his enemies. Knowing his armor will protect him, Aric Gathers his wounded friend hoping to save his life.
Source @ Comicvine
