Visigoths Only Live Once.

We continue our discussion of the entire run of X-O Manowar with Robert Venditti.

(If you haven’t listened to Part 1, go listen to it!)

We pick up where we left off in the first part of our discussion, and jump right in to the next arc.

In Homecoming, Aric meets Gild, the Eternal Warrior. Rob tells us about the origins of some of the scenes in this book, from history to surfing trips. This arc played a very important role in establishing future stories, and we discuss the ways that this arc accomplishes that.

After that is Unity! Rob tells us how the Unity story in X-O Manowar mirrors the story of Unity, but with Aric as the hero, rather than the villain, and the work that went in to crafting the story in this way. Plus, we discuss some of the secrets of the armor that begin to be revealed in this arc.

Prelude to Armor Hunters is next. Rob tells about what we learned about the X-O armor in the prelude, and how it played out on the page. Plus, we talk about the issue 25 milestone, and what that issue meant to Rob.

Of course, that leaves us at Armor Hunters itself. We talk about the secrets of the armor, what the Manowar Virus is, how it behaves, and how Aric’s suit is different than the rest of the viruses. This arc saw Aric go through a major change and growth of character, and we talk about how his world view, and galaxy view has both changed and not changed through this story.

There are also the Armor Hunters tie in issues to talk about, or as we call it, The Tragedy of Primary Reebo. We discuss the story of Reebo, and the inspiration for it. We also talk about Sven, who he is, and who he might work for, and the challenges of the Aftermath issue.

We end our discussion at the very beginning, and discuss X-O Manowar issue zero, the latest issue to come out. We discuss how this book contrasts with the zero issue from the classic run of X-O, and why this contrast exists.

All of that, plus:

• Find out which arc is Rob’s favorite of his entire run of X-O Manowar.
• What is the origin of M.E.R.O.?
• Harada, main character or supporting character? V-Ditti sets the record straight.
• Why, specifically, did Aric and the descendents of the Visigoths settle down in Western Nebraska?
• The armor used Gafti instead of Aric to destroy the invasion fleet for a very specific reason. Find out why.
• Why did Mexico City get the GIN-GR love? What city was originally planned to get the GIN-GR Headache?
• Rob describes his strange instructions he gave to Joe Harris.
• The video game that inspired GIN-GR.
• There is a villain from the past working secretly in the shadows, Rob hints at who this might be.
• Get a major tease for what is coming up, not just in X-O, but across the Valiant Universe.
• …and we finish it off with quite possibly the most important Ask Chiclo question of all, from Rob himself.

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