This week sees the return of one of the most legendary publishers in comics: Valiant Comics! Originally founded in 1989, Valiant is one of the most storied comic publishers of all time and has featured work by many of the industry’s top creative talents, including Jim Shooter, Bob Layton, Barry Windsor-Smith, Joe Quesada, David Lapham, Bryan Hitch, Steve Ditko and many more. Valiant titles — from X-O Manowar to Magnus Robot Fighter to Ninjak — have always had something of a cult following, and this new beginning for the publisher will give people a place to jump on. 

It all starts with one man…

X-O MANOWAR (ONGOING) #1
VALIANT ENTERTAINMENT

Written by Robert Venditti
Art by Cary Nord

It’s the comic book event a decade in the making! The all-new Valiant Universe kicks off with a landmark, oversized # 1 issue of X-O Manowar by New York Times-bestselling author Robert Venditti (The Surrogates, The Homeland Directive) and Eisner Award-winning artist Cary Nord (Conan)!

Born into battle, Aric of Dacia — heir to the throne of the Visigoth people — has never known peace.  After a brutal encounter with a mysterious enemy known as The Vine leaves him a prisoner on an incomprehensible world, the only hope Aric has of returning to his family and saving them from slavery is to seize a weapon of incalculable destruction and become X-O Manowar! The Vine destroyed Aric’s world. Now he will give them war.

Valiant Entertainment’s X-O Manowar #1 comes out on Wednesday!

It’s a little slower in the Everything Else department this week, though there are definitely still a couple titles worth mentioning. We’ll kick things off with Image Comics and Mind the Gap #1 from comics legends Jim McCann!

MIND THE GAP #1
IMAGE COMICS

Written by Jim McCann
Art by Rodin Esquejo, Sonia Oback

After Elle Peterssen is mysteriously attacked on a Manhattan subway platform, she is left in a coma, the only clues to her attacker trapped inside her mind. No one knows the identity of the person behind this brutal beating or where they will strike next. In this all-new ongoing series, everyone is suspect, and no one is innocent. USA Today calls it an "anxiously anticipated modern thriller…Whodunit? McCann’s done it again."

Eisner-winning writer Jim McCann joins Rodin Esquejo (Morning Glories) and Sonia Oback (SHIELD, The Defenders) unite for a psychological thriller that will leave you guessing at every turn!

This is one of Image’s big titles for the is really boosting for the month of May and it actually does sound cool. Writer Jim McCann has primarily done work for Marvel in the past, but his Eisner Award came for an Archaia-published work called Return of the Dapper Men. So he’s definitely nothing to be scoffed at in the realm of creator-owned works.

Also from Image this week there’s Spawn #219, which marks part one of "Eye of the Storm," written by Todd McFarlne with art by Szymon Kudranski  (Penguin: Pain and Prejudice). Spawn vs. Malebolgia!

Dynamite Entertainment’s The Boys #66 also marks the beginning of a new story arc: "The Bloody Doors Off." I believe it’s the last storyline of the series, which has become one of writer Garth Ennis’ most notorious titles!

Finally, speaking of Dynamite, we’d like to give a shout to The Spider #1!

THE SPIDER #1
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

Written by David Liss
Art by Colton Worley

One of the greatest pulp characters of all time is now re-launched into the 21st century!  The world knows Richard Wentworth as a decorated war hero and the son of a wealthy industrialist – but only a few confidants know the truth.  As New York City slides into violence and despair, Wentworth has transformed himself into a force of justice as The Spider!  With only his wits, his technology, and his pistols to aid him, he fights a one-man man war against crime, but when a mysterious new villain threatens the city with an unspeakable horror, it may be more than even The Spider can handle.  How far will a sane man go to restore order to an insane world?

Click here for a complete list of titles coming out this week!