Notes on a Series

“X-O Manowar”

First Draft, 9/27/97

Dwayne McDuffie

“Donovan’s Brain,” by Donovan Wylie, chapter six hundred and thirty seven: ”What’s Past Is Prologue.” I’m the smartest man in the world but that’s not the interesting part. This is: my body is fused with the most powerful weapon in the galaxy, an impossibly sophisticated suit of armor known as XO Manowar. At first I was obsessed with learning how it works. Lately I’ve been more concerned with figuring out the right thing to do with it.

Apparently, the suit shares my interest.

X-O Manowar

“Love and Kisses”

Donovan Wylie has been spending a lot of his time trying to figure out a purpose for the XO Manowar Armor. INQUEST thinks it already has one. Inquest commander Diana Hunter sees XO as a tool in her ongoing mission to investigate and catalog super-human activity. Donovan is going along with her for the moment, albeit with increasing reluctance. Frankly, snooping into the private lives of super-powered folk makes him feel like, well, like a rat. In the meantime, Donovan has an important insight into the suit, which will have a number of unexpected consequences.

Donovan and his tech-buddy and platonic friend RENATA (who, unknown to Donovan is crushing on him something fierce), agree that a number of the less-than-optimal actions of the suit (flying away from the action to protect him, tranquilizing him in the middle of a fight, et cetera)are the result of interface problems. The Armor wants to help Donovan but misunderstands his needs. For his part, oftentimes when the Armor makes an adjustment, Donovan has no idea what it just did, and has to deduce what happened (”Oh, it’s tranquilizing me!”). Renata and Donovan decide they need to build a better remote monitor for her, and a new input interface with the suit’s command control for him. As they roll up their sleeves and begin sketching out plans for a new remote monitor console, something odd happens.

Donovan armors up.

He whirls, certain he’s in danger, ready to protect Renata, but there’s no need. The suit ripples, flows and divides, instantly producing a remote monitor workstation based on the same technology as the Armor. Renata will discover that she can monitor and communicate with, but not control, the Armor’s in real time, —wherever the Armor may be. While they test it, they keep its existence secret from both Inquest and Project XO.

As pleased as Donovan is with the monitoring station, the input interface problem appears to be beyond the Armor’s capacity to solve by itself. Donovan decides to give it more thought later.

If he had been paying attention, he would have realized that nothing is beyond the Armor’s capacities. Shortly, Donovan will discover his new interface already exists. He’s not going to like it.

Elsewhere COLONEL LAIDLAW struggles to detach project XO from Inquest. He needs XO to battle the growing threats to National and world security posed by CITADEL and R.A.G.E. He has no idea how right he is. R.A.G.E. is on the brink of civil war. Citadel has been distracted by the threat of Unity, and has lost much of his influence over his army of loosely confederated Militias. More and more of his troops are throwing in with a charismatic new leader, EASU REVERE, twin brother of Jacob, R.A.G.E.’s original leader. Easu knows that Citadel killed his brother, and will have his revenge. Shortly thereafter, he will overthrow the government and “make America safe for white people again!”

Between Inquest investigations and the war for R.A.G.E. XO is tested like never before. Fortunately, Donovan has a little extra help. Remember that new interface? You should, it’s an interactive Artificial Intelligence vocal interface that talks Donovan through Armor command sequences, battle strategies and even ethics and morals. That’s right, Donovan now has an onboard talking computer sidekick, exactly like Deathlok and Hardware did. Well, not exactly. This one has the memories and personality of RAND BANION, XO’s previous pilot, now deceased. Imagine having Captain America as your back-seat driver and you’ll get a sense of the flavor of what’s to come. The by-play between Donovan and Rand in the first issue was priceless —both entertaining and intrinsically thematic. I propose to bring that back in a big way.

Donovan will come to realize that the Armor has again responded to desires he wasn’t even consciously aware of. Yes, Rand is a great interface, and will help Donovan to use the armor better than ever before, but Rand also serves another purpose. Donovan wants to use the suit for good purposes. He’s conflicted about Inquest, and about his right —or any man’s right— to wield so much power. Rand will interactively help Donovan decide what a hero is, and what a hero should do. Donovan’s complex philosophical positions are constantly challenged by Rand’s more direct credo of honor, duty and country, refining Donovan’s positions and mission in the process. On the downside, Rand will also totally screw up Donovan’s personal life, about which, more to come.

Eventually ousted from R.A.G.E. but still obsessed with owning the XO Armor, Citadel retreats, building himself a secret mountain fortress ah, citadel, and refining his goals. He has decided to “take over a little planet I can call my own.” Earth. As the premiere arms dealer in the Milky Way, Citadel decides to call in some favors, and get some help. His new muscle are among the best mercenaries in the galaxy. Individually, each of the four has single-handedly destroyed planets. Together, WAR, DEATH, HUNGER and PLAGUE are known as THE FOUR HORSEMEN. Citadel is confident that they should provide sufficient force to subdue this primitive world.

As Donovan sleeps, Rand takes over his human body and re-introduces itself to DR. TISH BOUDREAU (project biofeedback specialist and Rand’s girlfriend before he died). Tish and Rand make love, but it is Donovan who wakes up in bed with Tish the next morning. Unfortunately it is also Donovan who gets caught with his finger in the cookie jar by his own girlfriend, THALIA. Although Thalia believes his story (!), she’s still mad as hell. “I’m a psychologist! Don’t you think I understand what the Armor did? It knew you wanted to sleep with Thalia, so it arranged it for you! You may be free of responsibility, but not guilt!”

The strain these events cause to the relationship may lead to either its end or to a temporary fling with Renata, or perhaps both, depending on what I can talk you into. Maybe I’ll resort to that old new series writer’s trick of introducing a new girlfriend but I don’t think I have to, we don’t know much about Thalia yet. She’s still a relatively clean slate.

That’s what I have so far. I’d like to do one or two part stories, with subplots running throughout. I want to do a cliffhanger at the end of every issue. Even if the main plot is resolved in an issue, I’ll go to the B-plot to produce a cliff-hanger to suck readers into the next issue. I think this is enough to take us to issue #24, and leave us #25 to do something special.

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