EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW: Clayton Crain Kicks Off New Arc Starting In X-O Manowar #7

If you've been waiting to jump into Valiant Entertainment's X-O Manowar, then issue #7 is the issue you've been waiting for, and ComicBook.com has an exclusive preview!

Matt Kindt's successful run on the book continues as the X-O Manowar #7 launches the "Emperor" arc of the series. Aric takes the ultimate seat of power on his battle-worn planet, only to have to brace for an oncoming invasion that threatens to tear it all down.

An epic storyline like this needs an epic artist, and X-O Manowar #7 kicks off the run of artist Clayton Crain (RAI, Carnage), who will bring his dynamic pencils to an epic struggle for control of the planet, which you can get a glimpse of in the gallery.

The question will be does X-O continue to act as Emperor, or does he take the bull by the horns and lead his armies into battle? That remains to be seen of course, but it should be a fun ride regardless of which choice he makes.

While Kindt has revealed small pieces of Aric's journey from Earth, the next arc will dive even further into that. Kindt recently spoke to ComicBook.com about taking X-O Manowar from his normal environment.

"It's given me sort of free license to sort of, not reimagine him, but just sort of find his voice again and sort of give him a new voice that's true to the old character, but he's already gone through something so he can be a little bit different. I think it'll make sense continuity wise to do that, and part of the fun then is to, like that gap between what Rob did and where he starts in my run, there's a gap there on purpose, because there's a lot of things that happened that we didn't see yet, that we'll get to see over the course of the year, and that's going to be sort of fun to revisit."

You can find the official solicitation text for the book below, and the exclusive preview can be found in the gallery.

X-O MANOWAR (2017) #7 (NEW ARC! "EMPEROR" – PART ONE)

Written by MATT KINDT
Art by CLAYTON CRAIN
Cover A by LEWIS LAROSA (JUL172252)
Cover B by ADAM POLLINA (JUL172253)
Interlocking Variant by JUAN JOSÉ RYP (JUL172254)
X-O Manowar Icon Variant by BEN TEMPLESMITH (JUL172255)

ALL-NEW ARC! ALL-NEW JUMPING-ON POINT! "EMPEROR" – PART ONE!

The ultimate turning point! A war has been won, a victory has been decided…and, now, an entire alien world kneels before the throne of their new leader: the unstoppable X-O MANOWAR! He has traded his armor for a crown and a new age now begins…even as an extraterrestrial invader readies an interplanetary attack that could pull Aric of Dacia from the newfound safety of his imperial palace and back into the blood-sodden battlefields where his conquest began.

Comics superstar Clayton Crain (4001 A.D., RAI) joins New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (RAPTURE, Mind MGMT) to summit the next pinnacle of 2017's best-selling independent superhero series – and unleash a blistering, new interstellar opus chronicling the most powerful moment yet in the history of Valiant's unrelenting icon!

$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | VALIANT PREMIUM | On Sale SEPTEMBER 27 (FOC – 9/4/17)

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