Harbinger

[choptop]

Is it worth buying?

Bloodshot alone is worth buying.

[thwhtGuardian]

Bloodshot alone is worth buying.

From a business standpoint I don't see it. About the only "acquired" heroes that have ever done well have been Blue Beetle, The Question and Captain Marvel and even those have shown to be of limited success.

[choptop]

From a business standpoint I don't see it. About the only "acquired" heroes that have ever done well have been Blue Beetle, The Question and Captain Marvel and even those have shown to be of limited success.

Maybe but I still think it would work at least Netflix needs something like that.

[Captain Craig]

Is it worth buying?

For a media corporation that doesn't already have a foothold with another comic publisher, yes.
If a media corp understands what it could have in VALIANT and worked both the publishing and visual media side they could see great things.
The VALIANT library of characters is truly great.

DMG didn't fully understand that, they only wanted a hand in the pie of making movies but they managed to botch that. The right company needs someone with the proper vision.

[thwhtGuardian]

For a media corporation that doesn't already have a foothold with another comic publisher, yes.
If a media corp understands what it could have in VALIANT and worked both the publishing and visual media side they could see great things.
The VALIANT library of characters is truly great.

DMG didn't fully understand that, they only wanted a hand in the pie of making movies but they managed to botch that. The right company needs someone with the proper vision.

I've enjoyed a good number of the books over the years, but they've been saying they'd be the next great thing for nearly thirty years now so I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for great things from whoever the next buyer might be.

[Captain Craig]

The irony is that for a 3-4yr stint in the early 90s they were THE next great thing.
Two things then happened. Acclaim and Image. I fully believe that if Acclaim gaining ownership and Jim Shooter staying on had happened the company would've weathered the rise of Image and never hit bankruptcy.

Once they rose from the ashes in 2012, they were already behind the 8-ball because the mid-tier publishers of IDW, Dynamite and BOOM! were fully there.
However, their output from 2012 - 2018 was superb for a interconnected superhero universe. Then Dinesh made a risky move and that allowed DMG to take over who mishandled it and deja vu sets in.

That is why I say a media company with deep enough pockets to not have to worry about making shaky financial moves can make VALIANT what it always was on track of being...the third best interconnected superhero universe. Preferably deep enough pockets to then one day outright purchase the Gold Key characters that helped VALIANT grow in the 90s.

[thwhtGuardian]

The irony is that for a 3-4yr stint in the early 90s they were THE next great thing.
Two things then happened. Acclaim and Image. I fully believe that if Acclaim gaining ownership and Jim Shooter staying on had happened the company would've weathered the rise of Image and never hit bankruptcy.

Once they rose from the ashes in 2012, they were already behind the 8-ball because the mid-tier publishers of IDW, Dynamite and BOOM! were fully there.
However, their output from 2012 - 2018 was superb for a interconnected superhero universe. Then Dinesh made a risky move and that allowed DMG to take over who mishandled it and deja vu sets in.

That is why I say a media company with deep enough pockets to not have to worry about making shaky financial moves can make VALIANT what it always was on track of being...the third best interconnected superhero universe. Preferably deep enough pockets to then one day outright purchase the Gold Key characters that helped VALIANT grow in the 90s.

I just don't see any companies investing that much. Like, why would Netflix be interested in publishing comics? They just want streaming content.

[choptop]

I just don't see any companies investing that much. Like, why would Netflix be interested in publishing comics? They just want streaming content.

Just like Disney buying marvel they didn't care about the comics they wanted the movies I can see Netflix doing the same.

[Captain Craig]

I just don't see any companies investing that much. Like, why would Netflix be interested in publishing comics? They just want streaming content.

Acclaim bought VALIANT with a sole eye to use the characters for Video Games, publishing was an after thought. It showed. They fell into bankruptcy
DMG bought VALIANT with an eye solely to make TV/movies, we got one MEH Bloodshot film. Deja Vu is setting in again.

Disney bought Marvel and Star Wars but someone there seems to understand there is an importance to maintaining publishing of the books.
Not sure what Discovery thinks of DC.
That said there is value, more than intrinsic, of cranking out storyboards monthly of which to then pull from and adapt into other media. It is also the better long term "recruitment" tool. Get collections into public/school libraries. They are in our County schools.

[thwhtGuardian]

Just like Disney buying marvel they didn't care about the comics they wanted the movies I can see Netflix doing the same.

Acclaim bought VALIANT with a sole eye to use the characters for Video Games, publishing was an after thought. It showed. They fell into bankruptcy
DMG bought VALIANT with an eye solely to make TV/movies, we got one MEH Bloodshot film. Deja Vu is setting in again.

Disney bought Marvel and Star Wars but someone there seems to understand there is an importance to maintaining publishing of the books.
Not sure what Discovery thinks of DC.
That said there is value, more than intrinsic, of cranking out storyboards monthly of which to then pull from and adapt into other media. It is also the better long term "recruitment" tool. Get collections into public/school libraries. They are in our County schools.

Marvel as a publishing firm wasn't in such dire straights(though it was bad) that it was canceling books mid-story because they literally wouldn't be able to pay their talent, that's where Valiant is right now. So if, and it's a big if, another company bought Valiant because they wanted an IP to farm it most likely wouldn't mean new comics simply because as a business it doesn't generate enough income to keep moving. And Netflix isn't a publishing company, so it's not like they could get better deals with printing or materials that would make books more profitable like Disney and Discovery/WB can.

The recruitment thing is just a joke, Disney and WB don't keep Marvel and DC around for story boards and recruitment they are kept around because they are still functioning businesses that generate profit. Cartoons, TV shows, action figures and even kids underwear keep the copyright satisfied(until that runs out in the next 20-30 years) so they don't need the comics for that, and they hire all kinds of talent on their own that are more than creative enough to come up with their own stories so they're not kept around to "create content" either. These publishers aren't loss leaders being propped up by mega-corporations for arcane reasons, if they stopped being solvent on their then they'd be dropped in an instant.

Trying to compare Valiant to Marvel or DC isn't even close to a one to one comparison. It's not even apples to oranges as those are at least both fruit...it's like trying to compare apples to a moon rock.

I love X-O Manowar,Bloodshot, Rai and Shadowman, but they aren't huge sellers any more and haven't been for a while which means they aren't that profitable for outside businesses. Marvel and DC aren't going to buy them because they aren't big enough draws on their own to be worth it when they could just do more comics with their own heroes that don't have a sunk cost attached to them. Dark Horse isn't likely to buy them because they tried to shop their company out already and have failed at starting super hero universes multiple times in the past. And the same goes for Boom! and Dynamite, they've gone for buying the rights for characters in the past to mixed to poor results so why try again? And although IDW hasn't tried a shared superhero universe there isn't an incentive to try.

So that leaves you with media companies, and as I said above if they aren't into the print business already I doubt they'd get into it now just because they acquired some superheroes.

We just have to accept that the Valiant heroes, if they remain relevant at all, will most likely be in shows or movies only(if we're lucky) from here on out as the publishing arm is pretty much dead.

[Captain Craig]

SIGH, I'll agree to disagree with you and leave it be.

[choptop]

Acclaim bought VALIANT with a sole eye to use the characters for Video Games, publishing was an after thought. It showed. They fell into bankruptcy
DMG bought VALIANT with an eye solely to make TV/movies, we got one MEH Bloodshot film. Deja Vu is setting in again.

Disney bought Marvel and Star Wars but someone there seems to understand there is an importance to maintaining publishing of the books.
Not sure what Discovery thinks of DC.
That said there is value, more than intrinsic, of cranking out storyboards monthly of which to then pull from and adapt into other media. It is also the better long term "recruitment" tool. Get collections into public/school libraries. They are in our County schools.

I thought the blood shot movie was pretty good.