Valiant Market - X-O Manowar #8 page 13 original art

Welcome to another episode of Valiant Market! The show/blog post series where I chronicle interesting sales of Valiant items (predominantly art so far). In this episode/blog entry we take a look at the recent eBay auction for the original art page from X-O Manowar issue #8 page 13 by Mike Leeke and Tom Ryder.

The page sold for a surprising $311.69 (including shipping). Why so much you ask? Well, this issue is part of the seminal UNITY crossover, is signed by the artists, looks to be in terrific condition/color and features a key scene in the life of our hero - the moment before he gets chomped by a bionasaur!! But those reasons pale in comparison to the big selling point. I mean of course the appearance of X-O butt! Check it out for yourself:

Amorines armor design sheet

Today, I have a treat for you  (don't I always?) - the original pencil drawing by Jim Calafiore & Mike Leeke (signed as Leekafiore) of the Armorines armor with notations, approved by Bob Layton (see the little BL with a star). I'm not sure when this piece was produced but these are the designs that were used in the original version of the Armorines armor. The signatures (Dated 2006) were obtained later by a collector I believe. Check it out:

Very cool to see how much work and detail went into these designs. Every piece of equipment has a purpose.

Mike Leeke X-O Manowar Commission

Found this at ComicArtFans.com today and thought I'd share. I always enjoyed Mike Leeke's work on X-O Manowar. He wasn't outstanding but he was a good and clear story teller. I am not a fan of this piece though. The speed lines feel very out of place. The pose is awkward. The twin blasts are just wrong. The color is too saturated. The choice to use the later redesign of the armor disappoints. But its the cartoon-like Spider Alien head that really brings this down.

UPDATE: I have rightly been called out on how harsh I was to this image. Let it be clear that these are my opinions, based on my taste, and do not reflect the opinions of others (especially those who think I suck!)