Valiant Universe: Harbinger, Unity, Rai, A&A; current state & future prospects

[xMatt]

For Bloodshot, I loved the 100-year story. I think it carries a more melancholic tone, which works well with the immediate threat that is the main Book of Death series.

[thewarning]

I agree, and it also made sense to me why the character lived that long.

[xMatt]

I think I'll interpret these [u]Book of Death[/i] one-shots as potential futures. "What If... Ninjak lived this long?" Because while it is cool to see some things happen, I really don't think Valiant are using this series as a concrete template for the future of their comic series.

[thewarning]

I feel like they've said just the opposite in interviews. That these aren't alternate futures that can be diverted – this is how it's going to go down.

Then again...it's comics!

[ian0delond]

Even if it's "official" they don't risk a lot by telling that in 200 years of publication they might choose to send the psyotics colonized space.
We currently have the year 4000 that has been explored in many titles. Adding more official temporal localisations to have story in could be a cool thing for Valiant.

[PiercedMonk]

I feel like they've said just the opposite in interviews. That these aren't alternate futures that can be diverted – this is how it's going to go down.

Then again...it's comics!

I'd love it if that was actually going to be the case; one of the things I like most about Valiant is that most of their time travel stuff, up 'til this point has been handled by Fred Van Lente, who obviously has put in a lot of effort to presenting the concept in a way that is consistent and makes sense, as opposed to the more slapdash approach that comics and movies generally take.

However, I'm not going to get my hopes up. As you say though, it's comics. FALL OF BLOODSHOT already implicitly contradicts a future event; when Archer freed Ivar from his prison in the Faraway, one of the questions Ivar asked to gauge when in the timestream he's freed is whether or not Archer has killed Bloodshot yet. Of course, it would be simple for Archer to still kill Bloodshot at some point and have him brought back due to nanite shenanigans, but that feels a bit like a cop-out.

I'm hoping that FALL OF HARBINGER at least makes reference to a relationship between Archer and Faith, seeing as that was another point Ivar brought up. I suppose there could be a different Faith that is "the love of [Archer's] life," but again, cop-out.

[xMatt]

That's the thing, Ninjak will live until ~2100. If he dies, we know he'll come back because a) it's comics and b) it says so in the Book of Death. I do, however, love the idea of having certain events planned. The Second Armor Wars sounds awesome. Can't wait to read that when I'm a hundred!

[Brandon191]

Groupees is having a bundle sale on Valiant Comics.
https://groupees.com/valiant

[BugsySig]

That's the thing, Ninjak will live until ~2100. If he dies, we know he'll come back because a) it's comics and b) it says so in the Book of Death. I do, however, love the idea of having certain events planned. The Second Armor Wars sounds awesome. Can't wait to read that when I'm a hundred!

Let's face it...how many lead characters have actually died (or stayed dead) in comics? Though in the VALIANT universe "dead is dead", the fact that we know some characters live far into the future doesn't take away from any sense of danger for the character or enjoyment in reading (at least for me).

[xMatt]

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to say! Any 'immediate' threat is gone. I know that's the case with a lot of comics and none will stay dead. It's a matter of 'when', not 'if'. With comics it's more about the journey than the destination.

[ksbord]

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to say! Any 'immediate' threat is gone. I know that's the case with a lot of comics and none will stay dead. It's a matter of 'when', not 'if'. With comics it's more about the journey than the destination.

Indeed. It's what happens between now and then thats the question mark!

One of the things that made the original Shadowman so compelling is that Jack Boniface knew he was going to die in 1999. As a result, an already unstable character began pushing his limits and getting even more reckless. Mistakes were made, people got hurt, and in the back of his mind was always that lingering doubt about how set in stone that 1999 date could be.

[Captain Craig]

Dead Drop is over...long may it rest in peace.
I wasn't one who overly enjoyed Q&W or Shadowman, had gripes with both. Dead Drop made both look that much better.
That was a wasted 4 months of a publication slot.

[Geralt of Rivia]

Is Kindt off of Unity after #22?

Asmus is doing a two-parter for 23-24 but then Kindt's back for what is assuming to be an oversized #25.

Is it just me or has Unity lost a lot of steam lately? The one offs focused on each character from the team were the watershed moment and IMO the current arc is kind of a mess in terms of writing and art.

Hopefully Kindt comes back in force for the anniversary issue... I'm not a fan of Asmus

[blackbolt396]

Dead Drop is over...long may it rest in peace.
I wasn't one who overly enjoyed Q&W or Shadowman, had gripes with both. Dead Drop made both look that much better.
That was a wasted 4 months of a publication slot.

I agree 110% I was so disappointed .

[wwise03]

I agree 110% I was so disappointed .

I agree Dead Drop was bad. But let's not forget that at least 75% of what Valiant is putting out is good and at least 50% of it is brilliant. Valiant gets a pass from me on this one.