Convince me: Project Black Sky or Valiant?

[cajun_duck]

I think this will not only help me, but others as well, choose which route to go. What are the pros and cons of each of these superhero lines. What do you like about them and are they noob frienly (yes, i used the way overused noob).

[Dylan Davison]

Project Black Sky is a great "noob" friendly comic line from Dark Horse, not only that there are 3 great ongoing titles (Ghost, Captain Midnight and X) with there own feels, styles and yet they all fit well together during cross over series like 2 Past Midnight. Each character is handled wonderfully both by artists and writers.

And they are 100 % readable to new readers. You don't have to read anything to start at the new series, which are all new issue, Captain Midnight having 12 issue, X having 13 and Ghost having 6. They for sure have plans for new stuff coming out. And they have many wonderful mini series like Brain Boy, The Occultist, Skyman and Blackout.

All the mini and ongoing series have talented writers and artist behind them and they all really care about the stories and characters. Ghost writer Chris is someone I talk to all the time and he really loves writing that title and has some great plans. Dark Horse is doing a wonderful job with this new world they are making.

I have only check out a bit from Valiant, so I can not comment. But Black Sky got me into other indie titles from many different companies. So I thank them for a lot!

If you have any questions about any Black Sky things let me know! I would love to help!

[armlessphelan]

I read all the Valiant books for the year, but don't read any now. I still read all the Dark Sky books. Valiant is good, but they're very dudebro comics (without the overt sexism or racism you'd expect). Black Sky is much more casual and not as continuity heavy. Both lines are really dark and violent, though.

[Dark-Flux]

Valiant imo, just put out higher quality books with a more compelling and interesting mythos. I also found the universe to be a bit more coherent.

The DHs books i just found to be pretty generic for the most part. If youve read Captain America, youve read Captain Midnight. If youve read Punisher, youve read X etc.

Best advice id say is to just get the first trades of any series for cheap and judge for yourself though. Or get the first issues digitally. Most are 99c or free iirc.

[Ying Ko]

it's all a matter of taste, but i'm partial to Valiant myself. great books with nice little shared continuity.

[Tony Stark]

I've read a few valiant books and they have been really good, but it's hard to put into words how excited I am with Project Black Sky books. Captain Midnight has already become one of my all time favorite characters. The world building they are doing is really fun and you feel like you are getting in on the ground floor. Every month I look forward to see what new info will come out of Black Sky and what Captain Midnight will be getting into. I say go with Project Black Sky!

[Geralt of Rivia]

I have enjoyed Valiant for a while now having caught up with their original universe some time ago and following their current universe with interest since it got relaunched. Their core concepts are very much in line with my personal tastes:

Big SciFi such as the alien race The Vine and now the Armor Hunters mixed with a compelling 'barbarian' protagonist on XO Manowar
The Anni Padda brothers are immortal warriors with very distinct personalities and points of view, all of whom have a different take on "the big picture" as seen on Archer and Armstrong and Eternal Warrior
The struggle and mistakes of a young man and his friends vs the establishment in Harbinger
Far future stories with a nice detective twist such as the one currently being told in Rai
Superhero team missions on Unity
Speculative science like nano machines intertwined with individuality struggles for Bloodshot


Not too familiar with Black Sky, what little I know is thats its very much pulp influenced.

[cajun_duck]

Great information all around here. Thanks for all of the opinions. I attempted the New 52 and didn't care for it, so I have a few of those to sell. I tried Marvel, but even jumping on at a "jump on point," i was still lost at what was going on. I found myself going backwards rather than forwards. That's the reason behind this thread. My wife and I are both trying again. I like the more super hero lines as she likes the more violent, gory, and "they didn't just go there, did they." So I am trying to find a middle ground. We determined we will get Rat Queens because it looks hilarious, and maybe Blood Queen. I started Irredeemable and really enjoy it. I love the concept of this book and its mirror Incorruptable.

And Tony Stark, it took me a minute to realize your avatar was winking. Noticed it in the corner of my eye and thought I was crazy.

[BugsySig]

I read everything from VALIANT. There have been some hits and some misses.

I can't recommend Harbinger, Archer & Armstrong, XO Manowar, Unity and Rai enough. They are the cream of the crop and just as good or better than anything at Marvel or DC and can rival many of the top Image books (most of which I read as well).

Quantum & Woody, Bloodshot and Eternal Warrior are middle of the pack. I go back and for with each arc in terms of loving them or feeling so-so.

Shadowman, after a decent first arc, has just gone off the rails and been terrible IMHO aside for a few stand alone issues.

As for PBS, I have only read Brain Boy and Captain Midnight, but I really enjoy both. I tried Ghost and X, but they didn't do anything for me.

There are fewer books in the PBS line (5 now including Blackout plus completed Occultist and Skyman minis) and there is a little less continuity to worry about--though I wouldn't say VALIANT has that much beyond Unity (a super team) and their 3 crossovers: Harbinger Wars, Mission Improbable and Armor Hunters.

Honestly, you can't go wrong with either.

[Tony Stark]

Great information all around here. Thanks for all of the opinions. I attempted the New 52 and didn't care for it, so I have a few of those to sell. I tried Marvel, but even jumping on at a "jump on point," i was still lost at what was going on. I found myself going backwards rather than forwards. That's the reason behind this thread. My wife and I are both trying again. I like the more super hero lines as she likes the more violent, gory, and "they didn't just go there, did they." So I am trying to find a middle ground. We determined we will get Rat Queens because it looks hilarious, and maybe Blood Queen. I started Irredeemable and really enjoy it. I love the concept of this book and its mirror Incorruptable.

And Tony Stark, it took me a minute to realize your avatar was winking. Noticed it in the corner of my eye and thought I was crazy.

Glad I could help. Power Torch said the same thing about my avatar lol.

[Bslythegamerguy]

Project Black Sky = A small contained universe of characters that range from pulpy to dark & edgy with some brilliant stories and fun art. It's the perfect non Marvel/DC universe to get into.

Valiant = A group of fun books that range from light hearted to serious that feels like the second coming of Image from the 90's to me. It's fun but not as fun as Project Black Sky is, and they seem to be restarting a lot of their series...which is odd...but they're fine.

[ksbord]

The Valiant line has been my favorite brand of comics since the early 90s, and though I tried reading Marvel and DC in their absence, nothing ever really got me jazzed up till I saw that a new Valiant was going to publish again in 2012. I've tried dipping my toe into PBS (and DynaKey, too), but it just doesn't take for me. No offense to anyone who is a fan of PBS, but (IMO) they appear to just be trying to imitate Valiants success.

The beautiful thing about Valiant is that you would be jumping on at an ideal point - not too late so you have an impossible task of getting caught up, but not too early where material is scarce and they are trying to find their footing. They have been very deliberate in trying to keep things as noob-friendly as possible, including providing easy jumping on points all summer long and keeping the number of titles down to a manageable nine. And in the run-up to SDCC, Valiant has been dropping some pretty big announcements (the Archer & Armstrong movie, The Valiant mini-series, etc.) so it really is an exciting time to be a Valiant fan!

A couple of options for you to explore Valiant further... for the rest of July, all the first issues of their titles are free on Comixology, and would be a nice start. Also, Valiant has priced all initial trade paperbacks of their titles at an attractive $10.00, which is a very cheap way to check out the beginning arcs!

[ksbord]

Great information all around here. Thanks for all of the opinions. I attempted the New 52 and didn't care for it, so I have a few of those to sell. I tried Marvel, but even jumping on at a "jump on point," i was still lost at what was going on. I found myself going backwards rather than forwards. That's the reason behind this thread. My wife and I are both trying again. I like the more super hero lines as she likes the more violent, gory, and "they didn't just go there, did they." So I am trying to find a middle ground. We determined we will get Rat Queens because it looks hilarious, and maybe Blood Queen. I started Irredeemable and really enjoy it. I love the concept of this book and its mirror Incorruptable.

And Tony Stark, it took me a minute to realize your avatar was winking. Noticed it in the corner of my eye and thought I was crazy.

Sounds like your wife already like comics... one of my challenges was getting my fiancee to try them out. Thankfully, she really liked Archer & Armstrong and Harbinger from Valiant, and that helped gateway drug her into enjoying the universe overall. Now she is anxiously awaiting more Armor Hunters and Doctor Mirage!

[Dylan Davison]

Someone had talked about free first issues, well here you go.

https://digital.darkhorse.com/profil...ck-sky-bundle/

A Project Black Sky Bundle for free! Includes X Issue 0, Ghost Issue 0, Brain Boy Issue 0, Occultist Issue 0, and Captain Midnight Issue 0.

Its a great and free place to start!

[RLAAMJR.]

Project Black Sky is a great "noob" friendly comic line from Dark Horse, not only that there are 3 great ongoing titles (Ghost, Captain Midnight and X) with there own feels, styles and yet they all fit well together during cross over series like 2 Past Midnight. Each character is handled wonderfully both by artists and writers.

And they are 100 % readable to new readers. You don't have to read anything to start at the new series, which are all new issue, Captain Midnight having 12 issue, X having 13 and Ghost having 6. They for sure have plans for new stuff coming out. And they have many wonderful mini series like Brain Boy, The Occultist, Skyman and Blackout.

All the mini and ongoing series have talented writers and artist behind them and they all really care about the stories and characters. Ghost writer Chris is someone I talk to all the time and he really loves writing that title and has some great plans. Dark Horse is doing a wonderful job with this new world they are making.

I have only check out a bit from Valiant, so I can not comment. But Black Sky got me into other indie titles from many different companies. So I thank them for a lot!

If you have any questions about any Black Sky things let me know! I would love to help!

True!

Project Black Sky is awesome! You should check out either Brain Boy, Captain Midnight, Ghost and X. X is my favorite and if your wife loves violent stories, then X is the answer.