THE PENCILERS OF X-O MANOWAR

Valiant is on the move again, with new stories in the works, trade paperbacks on the way, a new website soon to launch, and a new logo! With this in mind, I decided to do something Valiant related...

During your time at Valiant as editor, penciler, and inker, you worked with a number of talented artists on the first volume of X-O MANOWAR, a title that ran 68 issues and included a #0, a #1/2, and one Yearbook (annual). This month I'd like you to discuss the five artists with whom you worked that I feel have made a lasting impression on Valiant and X-O fans.

Thanks, Bob.

1. BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH. He penciled the very first issue of X-O, along with supplying cover pencils for #'s 2, 4, and 5. Meanwhile, you supplied the cover pencils and inks on #1, inked issue #'s 1 and 2, wrote issue #4, and co-plotted and edited issue #5.
 

Now while Windsor-Smith's total contribution to the title was minimal, he supplied much of the initial push needed to get X-O MANOWAR noticed in the comic world. (I remember excitedly buying issue #1 on the day it came out, at Wilson's Book Store in St. Petersburg, Florida, while visiting my aunt.)
 

One thing's for sure: BWS draws the world's creepiest humanoid spider aliens!
 
QUESTION CLUSTER 1: Who at Valiant initially hired BWS, and was the plan to use his popularity to help launch X-O, as well as a number of additional titles at Valiant? How would you describe him as a storyteller and co-worker? How big of an overall impact did he have on the various Valiant comics he worked on in terms of sales and popularity with fans? What special oomph did BWS bring to

X-O MANOWAR?

1. Mike, at the time of the formation of Valiant, Barry and I had become very good friends on a social and professional level. We had worked together briefly at Marvel on the conclusion to the Armor Wars saga and maintained our camaraderie after that. Once I had become firmly entrenched as part of the hierarchy at Valiant, I began to slowly work on Barry to convince him to come onboard and work with me on Solar: Alpha & Omega and X-O Manowar. I think Barry was intrigued by the different approach that we were taking with the comic book line and got  somewhat caught up in my enthusiasm. Ultimately, it was Shooter's decision to hire him, but he would have been an idiot not to, eh?

Obviously, Barry was the biggest star working at Valiant, hands down In fact, it's very easy to say that he was the only person of superstar status in the company. Like me, Barry wanted to lend his considerable talents to projects that would have an impact on the industry, not just drawing an odd issue of this-or-that. He felt that his contributions to the Valiant Universe could make a real difference in making the company was successful or not. And in truth, he was right.

I won't lie to you about working with Barry. Most people found it a little difficult... at times. Barry is very strong-willed and highly-opinionated. To me, it's akin to a superstar football player talking trash about another team. Barry had the goods to back it up, so you better listen to him when he speaks. Although some people found it stressful to deal with Barry's forceful personality, I never had a problem with him. Since we were friends as well as co-workers, we always had the ability to communicate what we felt was necessary without our egos getting in the way.

I believe his contributions to Valiant were unparalleled and he definitely put X-O Manowar on the map in the comic market.

2. MIKE LEEKE with inker TOM RYDER. What a team! By far, my favorite creators on X-O. And without a doubt, issue #'s 7-10 -- a Unity crossover story arc -- are some of the greatest comics ever written. Written... by you! I URGE fans to seek out these issues, especially if they dig the two Iron Man vs. Doc Doom Camelot mini-story arcs. Also, issue #12, although unrelated to #'s 7-10, is a fine book and well worth seeking out.

The artwork supplied by Leeke and Ryder on these comics is incredibly realistic -- adult human beings LOOK like adult human beings, the X-O armor LOOKS like real, shiny armor. The panels are clean and well rendered. My gosh, this truly is ART!

Ironically and coincidentally, Leeke's art reminds me of the old Gold Key comic books, such as MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER, TUROK, and DOCTOR SOLAR.

QUESTION CLUSTER 2: Who discovered and hired Leeke and Ryder? Overall, on a scale from 1 to 10, how well did they render the visuals for your X-O scripts? How were these guys to work with from a co-creator's point of view? How much did you personally help them hone their craft as storytellers, particularly Ryder, whose inks were sensational, and dare I say, at times seemed to rival your own -- a sign of a good mentor? What special oomph did Leeke and Ryder bring to X-O MANOWAR?

2. We use to keep two large cardboard boxes on Knob Row where we threw the copious amounts of xerox art samples that came in the mail into the offices on a weekly basis. One box contained the rejected samples (destined for a rejection letter) while the other contained those submissions that showed promise. After unsuccessful try-outs with a couple of artists on X-O, I went digging through the "promise box" and found samples sent to us by Mike Leeke. Mike had been doing a comic series called "The Elementals," for Comico. I saw a lot of potential in those pencil Xeroxes and gave him a call.

And the rest is history.

Tom Ryder came to Valiant from the Kubert School as did many of the occupants of Knob Row. Tom worked as a background assistant and colorist for me in the formative stages of his career. As soon as I felt that he was ready to take on a book full-time, I groomed him to replace me on X-O Manowar.

As far as Mike and Tom interpreting my scripts on X-O; those boys were flawless. In fact, I don't think I ever sent back a single panel to be redrawn. Fortunately, since we all worked closely together at Valiant, it was very easy for me to convey to them what I wanted in each individual storyline. I give them a 10.

Tom has gone on to have a terrific career in comics, working for Marvel, CrossGen, and others, while Mike and I continue to work together to this day. In fact, as I write this, I am completing  a brand new X-O story for Valiant with Mike Leeke as the penciller. Keep in mind--when I was publishing Future Comics, I hired Mike, once again, as the penciller on our flagship title, Freemind. Does that answer your question?

I think the most special contribution Mike and Tom made to the X-O Manowar series was their immeasurable enthusiasm for the character and desire to help me bring my vision for that series to life.

3. BART SEARS. X-O issue #'s 14 and 15 pairs X-O with Turok, as the duo team up in Columbia, South America, and New York City for a little dinosaur hunting. You wrote the heavily-violent two-issue arc as well as inked Sears' covers (although the cover image for issue #15 was unsigned). Sears penciled both issues, and Randy Elliot supplied the inks. Notes... Sears provided an homage of the now-famous X-O #15 cover image for John Taddeo¹s four-issue ZOOM SUIT project in 2005. Sears would later pencil issue #'s 44, 45, 48, 50, 51, 53, and 63.

QUESTION CLUSTER 3: Sears' work is very dramatic and powerful; perfect for X-O MANOWAR -- both Aric and Turok are depicted as big BRUISERS. In your opinion, could any other artist have equaled or bettered Sears' effort on issue #'s 14 and 15? Was he an easy guy to work with?

.

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3. I think Bart was the perfect choice for the series at that juncture in its history. I was looking to go in a slightly different direction and his dynamic style lent itself perfectly to what I was trying to achieve. Keep in mind that those two stories were written specifically for Bart, as I knew he was coming onto the book and I wanted to play to his storytelling strengths.

Everyone at Valiant was fairly pleasant to work with and Bart was no exception.

4. JIM CALAFIORE. You edited issue #'s 17, 18, and 19. All three were penciled by Calafiore, who also provided the cover illustrations. You, in fact, inked Calafiore's cover pencils for issue #17. Tom Ryder made a good thing great by inking Calafiore in issue #'s 18 and 19. I find Calafiore's pencil work to be much like Mike Leeke's -- realistic and solid. Finally, you and Calafiore produced the cover illustration for X-O #21, an homage to Barry Windsor-Smith's X-O #5 cover.

QUESTION CLUSTER 4: Being the editor, you most likely hired Calafiore for these three issues; why was he given the assignment? What special oomph did Calafiore bring to X-O MANOWAR? Note... Calafiore's subsequent penciling on Valiant's ARMORINES, an X-O spinoff, was masterful, along with Jorge Gonzalez's scripts! (Gonzalez, come to think of it, is, to me, one of Valiant¹s Unsung Creative Heroes. We should do a Q & A on him sometime.)

4. To be honest, I don't recall the exact circumstances as to how Jim became the penciller on X-O Manowar. He had worked on Magnus: Robot Fighter and a few other titles prior to that assignment, so he had already become a mainstream penciller for the company.

Jim was a very dynamic storyteller and that was evident in each and every comic he drew. I did take issue with him, from time-to-time, on some of the aesthetic aspects of his drawing, but as I preached incessantly, storytelling and dynamics are much more important than pretty pictures.

5. BUTCH GUICE. The final X-O story arc to close out the title's run, issue #'s 66, 67, and 68 were, appropriately, written by you. Issue #'s 67 and 68, featured the pencils of Jackson 'Butch' Guice, who had worked with you and David Michelinie on IRON MAN.
 

The X-O series ended with the final page -- a splash page -- being identical to the one to lead-off issue #1 by Barry Windsor-Smith.

QUESTION CLUSTER 5: With Acclaim's acquisition of Valiant and an editorial change on the horizon, X-O's final three issues must have been important to you for various reasons. How did Guice's work compliment your scripts in bringing X-O to a close? What kind of guy is Guice as a co-creator? Finally, how big of a challenge was it for you to write the upcoming, all-new X-O story, knowing what happened at the end of issue #68?

5.  Butch and I had worked together at Marvel on various projects, including the launch of X-Factor and on George Romero's Copperhead. So, when he made the move to Valiant, we already had a lot of experience in collaborating together. Jackson, besides being a terrific illustrator, was a good friend of mine in those days. So, working together on anything was always a lot of fun for both of us.

As I've stated in several interviews, I wish I could take back issues #67 & 68 of X-O. At the time I wrote them, I was at odds with the company and was totally against the direction that Acclaim was planning to take X-O Manowar towards. Since I had created the series, I decided that I would end the series in such a way that they couldn't screw with Aric of Dacia in the future. Looking back on that, it was not the greatest idea I ever had. I have already apologized to the hardcore Valiant fans for that error in judgment.  So, the less said about it, the better.

I made the conscious decision to ignore the continuity after Birthquake and concentrate my efforts on this new X-O story and the continuity leading up to issue #1. As far as I'm concerned, no X-O story took place after Birthquake.