Convince me: Project Black Sky or Valiant?

[Dylan Davison]

I am firmly in the Valiant camp. Valiant is, quite simply, my favorite comic book company ever.

However, after reading some posts on here, I decided to shop around for some PBS stuff. I just purchased a lot on eBay, which includes Captain Midnight 0-14, Skyman 1-4, Blackout 1-4, Brain Boy 0, Brain Boy 1-3, Brain Boy 1-4 (i.e., both minis), and the PBS FCBD comic for $30 plus $5 for shipping. I am looking forward to jumping into this world! I guess I will have to look into Ghost, X, and the others.

A question on how I should approach reading them...should I read in the order they were published, or by series?

Sweet, welcome to PBS! One of the great things about Project Black Sky is they really hold on there own so you can do both. I would say reading them in the order they were published works for me, and would be the easiest to do, at least I think.

But like the Ferg said, series by series works as well. Skyman has Captain Midnight guest star, and if you read Two Past Midnight (2PM) (which, you should, it was great) you should read it before issue 12 of Captain Midnight as it has the villain from 2PM return. But you don't have to read 2PM to understand that arc of Captain Midnight, just know that there was a villain Cap fought before with Ghost and X, and he has returned. But I would recommend reading 2PM.

Please do check out Ghost, its my favorite title, has a kick butt female, great characters, great enemies and a wonderful story each and every arc and the artist have all been great. And the writer Chris Sebela is one of the best writers today, at least I believe he is. Plus he is awesome.

X is another great title, its violent, more so then Ghost and Captain Midnight, but its a fun title. Duane is a great writer for characters like this. And the art really fits well for this title. Like I said it has a lot of violence, lots of blood, so if that is not your thing you might not like it. But its worth checking out.


I love a lot of the Valiant titles too, TheFerg was the one that got me to check out some titles and I really like some of them. Some of them were not for me, but I still loved the writing and art (even if the stories are not for me). But I am enjoying what I am reading and have read, I am still playing catch up with some (Harbinger, Unity for example) and I have finished Shadowman so far. But I am slowly catching up. I am in love with the first issue of Dr. Mirage, and can't wait for Punk Mambo.

But I hope I have helped with your Project Black Sky questions. If you have anymore, feel free to ask.

[Aomalle27]

I am firmly in the Valiant camp. Valiant is, quite simply, my favorite comic book company ever.

However, after reading some posts on here, I decided to shop around for some PBS stuff. I just purchased a lot on eBay, which includes Captain Midnight 0-14, Skyman 1-4, Blackout 1-4, Brain Boy 0, Brain Boy 1-3, Brain Boy 1-4 (i.e., both minis), and the PBS FCBD comic for $30 plus $5 for shipping. I am looking forward to jumping into this world! I guess I will have to look into Ghost, X, and the others.

A question on how I should approach reading them...should I read in the order they were published, or by series?

A few tips, read Cap Midnight before Skyman, midnight is much better, you might not be inclined to read it if you read skyman furst
read Ghost, although her first mini is slow, her ongoing is phenomenal the occultist was uneven, you jump into the story midway with no real backround, a strange way to establish a story brain boys first mini was uneven, but Men from Gestalt was really good Blackout was fun, especially the King Tiger story included with it, unfortunately it was just a mini, cause im digging both heroes BO and KT first 2 or 3 issues were uneven on Capt Midnight but its been phenomenal since And X ( a fave of mine from the Comics greatest world days) has 4 good issues to start the series followed by 4 or 5 bad ones, but around issue 8 or 9 it just Catapulted into the stratosphere and has been truly amazing since I eagerly await this title each month reminding me what a joy comics can be FCBD was a cool story, for a onw shot, and Two past Midnight was EXCELLENT Read that first to get an idea of Midnight, Ghost and X, the three pillars of the PBS universe Writer truly captured all three characters precisely which isnt easy plus it gateways into the current Capt Midnight story thats going on right n
ow

[ksbord]

Anyone reading this thread knows that I am a Valiant devotee. Hands down, they get my vote every time for best comics universe on the market today.

But I'll confess... I've gone back and given some PBS titles another try. Reading Captain Midnight, which has grown on me tremendously. It's by far the best they have put out (that I've read so far). The whole mystery of what PBS is, and how Albright's discoveries are impacting the world is pretty compelling. Just got up to issue 12, but realized quickly I should read the 2 Past Midnight and Free Comic Book Day issues before I continue.

I have also read the first Brain Boy mini and the first arc of X. Both were ok. Good enough that I'm going to read more. Skyman, Blackout, and Ghost are on my list at some point.

Looking forward to reading more, and I sincerely hope that Dark Horse doesn't ditch this line for the shinier better sales penny of another Whedon related title.

[wwise03]

Sweet, welcome to PBS! One of the great things about Project Black Sky is they really hold on there own so you can do both. I would say reading them in the order they were published works for me, and would be the easiest to do, at least I think.

But like the Ferg said, series by series works as well. Skyman has Captain Midnight guest star, and if you read Two Past Midnight (2PM) (which, you should, it was great) you should read it before issue 12 of Captain Midnight as it has the villain from 2PM return. But you don't have to read 2PM to understand that arc of Captain Midnight, just know that there was a villain Cap fought before with Ghost and X, and he has returned. But I would recommend reading 2PM.

Please do check out Ghost, its my favorite title, has a kick butt female, great characters, great enemies and a wonderful story each and every arc and the artist have all been great. And the writer Chris Sebela is one of the best writers today, at least I believe he is. Plus he is awesome.

X is another great title, its violent, more so then Ghost and Captain Midnight, but its a fun title. Duane is a great writer for characters like this. And the art really fits well for this title. Like I said it has a lot of violence, lots of blood, so if that is not your thing you might not like it. But its worth checking out.


I love a lot of the Valiant titles too, TheFerg was the one that got me to check out some titles and I really like some of them. Some of them were not for me, but I still loved the writing and art (even if the stories are not for me). But I am enjoying what I am reading and have read, I am still playing catch up with some (Harbinger, Unity for example) and I have finished Shadowman so far. But I am slowly catching up. I am in love with the first issue of Dr. Mirage, and can't wait for Punk Mambo.

But I hope I have helped with your Project Black Sky questions. If you have anymore, feel free to ask.

Thanks for the tips! Basically everything from PBS looks interesting to me. Ghost will be the next book I pick up to go with that lot I won. One question for you though...I am typically not into gratuitous violence, which X seems to have a lot of. Now I may still try X, but if I don't like it, can I skip it and still enjoy the shared universe aspect of PBS? Or is it essential to the shared universe?

[Tony Stark]

Thanks for the tips! Basically everything from PBS looks interesting to me. Ghost will be the next book I pick up to go with that lot I won. One question for you though...I am typically not into gratuitous violence, which X seems to have a lot of. Now I may still try X, but if I don't like it, can I skip it and still enjoy the shared universe aspect of PBS? Or is it essential to the shared universe?

You can skip X and still enjoy the rest. All I get is Captain Midnight. If you can a very good story to read is a team up between Captain Midnight and Brain Boy that came out for Free Comic Book Day. It takes place right after 2 Past Midnight.

[Captain Craig]

I am firmly in the Valiant camp. Valiant is, quite simply, my favorite comic book company ever.

However, after reading some posts on here, I decided to shop around for some PBS stuff. I just purchased a lot on eBay, which includes Captain Midnight 0-14, Skyman 1-4, Blackout 1-4, Brain Boy 0, Brain Boy 1-3, Brain Boy 1-4 (i.e., both minis), and the PBS FCBD comic for $30 plus $5 for shipping. I am looking forward to jumping into this world! I guess I will have to look into Ghost, X, and the others.

A question on how I should approach reading them...should I read in the order they were published, or by series?

The only "other" is Occultist.
Brain Boy as a straight read through is self contained. He's Professor X with a G card basically.
Blackout is as well. Think Scott Lang/Ant-Man II type origin. The King Tiger backup stories in there are also enjoyable(a 2-for-1)!!
As noted read Captain Midnight before Skyman. I don't recall the issue(s) but Skyman pops into Captain Midnight for about 2 issues after the events of his mini series AND the rogue prior Skyman is mentioned/shown doing a vile act. So reading it straight through is likely the best bet, then Skyman.

I am a big fan of X & Ghost. I'd say I'm even liking X now more than I did in the 90s. X is a down and dirty vigilante whose motives are still murky but have had little reveals. I still wouldn't be shocked to find out that he was experimented on and is maybe a bit "extra" human due to the way he seems to recover from beat downs.
Ghost is now fully rolling on a monthly schedule and is a great para-normal read with demons as backdrop.

If you enjoy all the above that you've bought might I suggest as an intro to Ghost & X you get the 2 Past Midnight TPB that team the Captain w/the other two. It was an online exclusive that only saw print as a TPB but can be gotten for less than $10 at most online outlets.

The Occultist is along the lines of a young Dr.Strange or Dr.Fate(mix perhaps). They should really get an ongoing of him done.
For $35 you got a great deal so bravo on your willingness to dive in.

I'm also a VALIANT guy, I buy their whole line.
That said I'm also a PBS, evolving CGW 2.0, guy as well.
If DH made Brain Boy and Occultist ongoings I'd commit to those. I'm looking forward to Barb Wire returning as well sometime in the coming year!

I'm PRO stories and comic universes that are evolving w/o the need for a "company wide event" every 6 months that "rocks the universe to it's core" and resets the status quo.

[ksbord]

I'm PRO stories and comic universes that are evolving w/o the need for a "company wide event" every 6 months that "rocks the universe to it's core" and resets the status quo.

Amen to that, brother!

[RLAAMJR.]

A few tips, read Cap Midnight before Skyman, midnight is much better, you might not be inclined to read it if you read skyman furst
read Ghost, although her first mini is slow, her ongoing is phenomenal the occultist was uneven, you jump into the story midway with no real backround, a strange way to establish a story brain boys first mini was uneven, but Men from Gestalt was really good Blackout was fun, especially the King Tiger story included with it, unfortunately it was just a mini, cause im digging both heroes BO and KT first 2 or 3 issues were uneven on Capt Midnight but its been phenomenal since And X ( a fave of mine from the Comics greatest world days) has 4 good issues to start the series followed by 4 or 5 bad ones, but around issue 8 or 9 it just Catapulted into the stratosphere and has been truly amazing since I eagerly await this title each month reminding me what a joy comics can be FCBD was a cool story, for a onw shot, and Two past Midnight was EXCELLENT Read that first to get an idea of Midnight, Ghost and X, the three pillars of the PBS universe Writer truly captured all three characters precisely which isnt easy plus it gateways into the current Capt Midnight story thats going on right n
ow

If Captain Midnight, Ghost and X are the three pillars of PBS, how about Valiant?

[Aomalle27]

That would be XO manowar, Harbinger, and Archer & Armstrong ( though they tried Bloodshot and Shadowman at the onset to be the table legs ie. four main titles, but Bloodshot teetered and then got mixed up with Hardcorps, and Shadowman has been a catastrophe) But XO is the cog that drives the VEI universe, whereas Harbinger is a VERY strong 2nd And while A&A is my fave title, its going on hiatus according to future VEI monthly solicits

[Captain Craig]

If Captain Midnight, Ghost and X are the three pillars of PBS, how about Valiant?

I can agree w/Aomalle27 on XO & Harbinger as two of the indisputable pillars of VALIANT. I would say the third is Bloodshot though.
I can't say I don't see that argument for A&A, I just see it more as Bloodshot.

[ksbord]

I'd say all four... X-O, Harbinger, Bloodshot and A&A. The original summer of Valiant, the four titles they relaunched with. Each extremely different from the other.

[Dylan Davison]

Thanks for the tips! Basically everything from PBS looks interesting to me. Ghost will be the next book I pick up to go with that lot I won. One question for you though...I am typically not into gratuitous violence, which X seems to have a lot of. Now I may still try X, but if I don't like it, can I skip it and still enjoy the shared universe aspect of PBS? Or is it essential to the shared universe?

Ya, you can for sure not read X. Dark Horse has made it a point to where you don't have to read everything to understand everything. So you can not read X and still understand and enjoy everything in the universe. But feel free to check out the first issue, like you said, and give it a try. But if you don't like it thats alright, its not for everyone and you won't be lost at all I am sure.

Some people, like the user Tony Stark (he already stated this) he only gets Captain Midnight and he has never been lost.

So ya Dark Horse has made a point to keep the three main titles apart, while still being in the same universe. They had the 2PM cross-over, but it explains X pretty well, so if you never read X (or even Ghost or Captain) you will understand everything. I feel like thats is how all cross overs will be for PBS.

[TheFerg714]

Let's have it Capmid and X vs Quantum and Woody and Brain Boy vs Bloodshot. Who will win? Hahahahaha

Neither of these fights are fair at all. Cap and X would mop the floor with Q&W, and Bloodshot would tear Brain Boy's head off. I mean seriously, Bloodshot got very close to killing Toyo Harada. Brain Boy doesn't stand a chance.

Looking forward to reading more, and I sincerely hope that Dark Horse doesn't ditch this line for the shinier better sales penny of another Whedon related title.

As much as I like PBS, I would rather have 10 Whedon comics a month if possible. Dark Horse has to be begging him for a Serenity ongoing to make up for the lack of Star Wars.

I'm PRO stories and comic universes that are evolving w/o the need for a "company wide event" every 6 months that "rocks the universe to it's core" and resets the status quo.

To be fair, DC is pretty good at NOT doing that, but yea, this is exactly why I'm into smaller universes, like Valiant, PBS, DynaKey, and Top Cow. Marvel has all the money in the world and they still use these vulturous marketing tactics on us. Just focus on making a good f***ing story!

If Captain Midnight, Ghost and X are the three pillars of PBS, how about Valiant?

Probably 4 pillars: X-O, Harbinger, A&A, and Bloodshot.

[Dylan Davison]

Looking forward to reading more, and I sincerely hope that Dark Horse doesn't ditch this line for the shinier better sales penny of another Whedon related title.

As much as I like PBS, I would rather have 10 Whedon comics a month if possible. Dark Horse has to be begging him for a Serenity ongoing to make up for the lack of Star Wars.

PBS is not going anywhere anytime soon. I have talked with all the staff members at least once, sometimes more then once depending, and they are all committed to keeping this going for as long as they can. They have the first 3 years planed out and they are working on the next 3 years after that. They are fully committed to PBS, so I would be shocked if they ended it any time soon.

[MidnightHour]

A few tips, read Cap Midnight before Skyman, midnight is much better, you might not be inclined to read it if you read skyman furst
read Ghost, although her first mini is slow, her ongoing is phenomenal the occultist was uneven, you jump into the story midway with no real backround, a strange way to establish a story brain boys first mini was uneven, but Men from Gestalt was really good Blackout was fun, especially the King Tiger story included with it, unfortunately it was just a mini, cause im digging both heroes BO and KT first 2 or 3 issues were uneven on Capt Midnight but its been phenomenal since And X ( a fave of mine from the Comics greatest world days) has 4 good issues to start the series followed by 4 or 5 bad ones, but around issue 8 or 9 it just Catapulted into the stratosphere and has been truly amazing since I eagerly await this title each month reminding me what a joy comics can be FCBD was a cool story, for a onw shot, and Two past Midnight was EXCELLENT Read that first to get an idea of Midnight, Ghost and X, the three pillars of the PBS universe Writer truly captured all three characters precisely which isnt easy plus it gateways into the current Capt Midnight story thats going on right n
ow

You mentioned that you felt that the Occultist jumped into the story midway. I'm thinking that you may have only read the second miniseries that DH released. If this is the case, then I recommend it.