Valiant is a company that has rarely missed a step since its return to publishing a few years ago.  Releasing its properties slowly with top-notch creative teams, and with very few exceptions, every single book has been a winner.  Then the company decided to dip its toe into crossovers with Harbinger Wars and it was one of the best stories the company had seen up until that point.  This year, the big book, the big crossover, was Armor Hunters and it is one of the most action-packed and well-crafted big events from any company being released this year.  This is due in no small part to series writer Robert Venditti as he creates a story that is just as long as it needs to be without being drawn out.  No filler, all killer as they say.

Continuing from the pages of the regular X-O Manowar title, the miniseries finds a group of hunters from another galaxy come in search of the X-O Manowar armour, believing it to be a curse upon any planet it comes into conflict with.  As it is, we do learn that the armour is somewhat of a symbiote, as it eventually starts to replace the body of its wearer over time, but only when that wearer comes to harm, such as Aric when he lost a hand and the armour replaced it.  The hunters are few in number as they have been at their task for many, many years, yet they will complete their mission no matter the price for the alternative is a cost they are not willing to pay.  There is only one thing standing in their way, the people and the heroes of Earth.

Armor Hunters might be a crossover, but we do take away quite a bit from it and it also manages to set up a new status quo for the Valiant Universe at the same time.  We learn more about the armour than ever before, such as it not being the sole suit in the entire universe, not simply being an object of the Vine and existing throughout countless galaxies.  There is also the fact that the armour is more dangerous than anyone had ever thought previously, having caused the deaths of thousands of planets.  At least according to the hunters that is.  As the story moves forward and the hunters do what they feel they need to do, the people of Earth are less inclined to listen, especially as Mexico City and its millions of inhabitants are wiped off the map.  In fact there is quite a bit of damage to a number of cities across the planet and that new status quo will see Unity becoming more prominent, and public, to assumedly make the world feel safer than it does.

For a set of brand new characters, Venditti does an amazing job of fleshing them out over the course of the series and making them quite personable.  You feel for them, even Primary who seems obsessed at times, but is simply just tired after having done this job for so long and wishes it to finally be over.  Lilt is interesting, but gets the least amount of screen time in the book which is a bit of a shame, but there are many more scenes featuring Quartz and Helix who are just as intriguing.  It is also a little surprising that after all is said and done, a couple of these so-called ‘villains’ make it out alive.  The star of this team though, is GIN-GR, the gigantic robotic ship that also happens to be sentient.  There is little said about GIN-GR though she is in action for much of the series and is seen as very formidable.  The ship design is utterly unique and is a large part of the reason why you find her so compelling.  Having her look like a humanoid instead of a regular old spaceship plays upon your empathy and makes her relatable, combining that with the mystery of where she comes from and what else she can do makes her utterly fascinating.

Of course, this would not be a Valiant title unless it featured some of its heroes and they are present in the form of Ninjak, Gilaad – the Eternal Warrior, Bloodshot, Livewire and X-O Manowar who is front and center and all of them delineated wonderfully by Doug Braithwaite.  While the book does change the current state of affairs in the Valiant Universe, Venditti also uses it to advance Aric’s character and it sees our barbarian hero finally accepting his place in the current time, realizing that he must be a part of the world instead of continually clinging to and living in the past.  Armor Hunters is a wonderfully, perfect crossover event and has everything you could ever want to see in a big event book.  Kudos goes out to Robert Venditti, Doug Braithwaite, Laura Martin, CAFU and Valiant for bringing readers such a fantastic story.

4.5 out of 5