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

[BugsySig]

Man... BoD: The Fall of Harbinger... holy crap, that was epic. Candidate for best comic they've put out? I think so!!

The revelation of how the Renegades end up, especially Faith. Feels. Major, major feels.

Couldn't agree more. Comic of the year. Any publisher.

[Chief Jon]

Hi folks! I'm late to this party, but I'm giving serious consideration to directing my time and [very limited; thanks grad school] dollars to exploring the Valiant U? I'm also realizing there's enough going on right now, and am feeling a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out where to start. This being the case I'm turning things over to you more long-time Valiant devotees for recommendations on what might click with me.

If it helps guide your recommendations, characters/books I've followed for a long time include Astro City, Usagi Yojimbo, Namor the Sub-Mariner (Imperius Rex!), the X-Men (been pretty disappointed for most of the last few years), classic Doom Patrol, and pretty much anything Grant Morrison, Alan Davis, James Robinson, Kieron Gillen, or Jim Krueger get their mitts on. Help a brother out?

[Anjohl]

Hi folks! I'm late to this party, but I'm giving serious consideration to directing my time and [very limited; thanks grad school] dollars to exploring the Valiant U? I'm also realizing there's enough going on right now, and am feeling a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out where to start. This being the case I'm turning things over to you more long-time Valiant devotees for recommendations on what might click with me.

If it helps guide your recommendations, characters/books I've followed for a long time include Astro City, Usagi Yojimbo, Namor the Sub-Mariner (Imperius Rex!), the X-Men (been pretty disappointed for most of the last few years), classic Doom Patrol, and pretty much anything Grant Morrison, Alan Davis, James Robinson, Kieron Gillen, or Jim Krueger get their mitts on. Help a brother out?

Here is my reccomendation:

Buy "The Valiant" tpb. Nothing else. It's ten bucks, and was designed as a jumping on point. It is written by two of the best writers in the business, one of them in particular, Matt Kindt, who is a national treasure, and writes extensively for Valiant.

If you like what you read, you could then check out "Book of Death", since it largely picks up where TV left off, or you could pick up the material from in between. I would also HIGHLY reccomend "Bloodshot Reborn" which comes right out of "The Valiant", and is just superb. Other great books that are somewhat tangential to the universe are the INCREDIBLE "Divinity" about a soviet cosmonaut who is sent out to the edge of the universe, and brings "something" back, and the quirky "Ivar Timewalker".

Ninjak is also worth a look.

[vickvega]

Chief jon you need to get Harbinger vol 1 or spulrge and get the hc, guaranteed you'll love it.

[xMatt]

Man... BoD: The Fall of Harbinger... holy crap, that was epic. Candidate for best comic they've put out? I think so!!

The revelation of how the Renegades end up, especially Faith. Feels. Major, major feels.

It was so beautifully done. The whole thing was like some trippy, artistic ode to Lovecraft. But those personal elements! The only foundation is our past! WOW! I haven't even read Harbinger or Imperium and I loved it.

[harashkupo]

Man... BoD: The Fall of Harbinger... holy crap, that was epic. Candidate for best comic they've put out? I think so!!

The revelation of how the Renegades end up, especially Faith. Feels. Major, major feels.

Dysart is the master. I absolutely loved everything about this issue. I'll admit that I'm confused how this book fits in with the rest of the BoD timeline like the Fall of Ninjak. Hopefully someone smarter than me can map out these stories and show me how they all fit together?

[harashkupo]

Hi folks! I'm late to this party, but I'm giving serious consideration to directing my time and [very limited; thanks grad school] dollars to exploring the Valiant U? I'm also realizing there's enough going on right now, and am feeling a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out where to start. This being the case I'm turning things over to you more long-time Valiant devotees for recommendations on what might click with me.

If it helps guide your recommendations, characters/books I've followed for a long time include Astro City, Usagi Yojimbo, Namor the Sub-Mariner (Imperius Rex!), the X-Men (been pretty disappointed for most of the last few years), classic Doom Patrol, and pretty much anything Grant Morrison, Alan Davis, James Robinson, Kieron Gillen, or Jim Krueger get their mitts on. Help a brother out?

Welcome to the party Chief!

Well the good and bad news is there are a lot of good books for you to choose from but seeing as how you're ballin on a budget, it might make it harder for you to choose a good place to start. Don't worry, Valiant takes special care being easily accessible for new readers creating a lot of jumping on points.

Anjohl's suggestion of buying the mini series The Valiant is a good suggestion. Cheap and gives you a nice little picture of the greater Valiant universe while being told with an engaging story that's illustrated beautifully by Paolo Rivera. It also serves to transition the reader between Phase One and Phase Two. The really nice thing about Valiant here is that Phase 1 only began in 2012 and Phase 2 just started in January. There won't be any insane mountains of back log to search through if you find yourself in completionist mode.

With you're mentioning of X-men, I can't help but recommend Harbinger. Dysart takes the "being born with powers" concept and throws it into a real world setting. The idea of how these people would be exploited through weaponization and experimentation and how a person should wield their abilities. The characterizations are incredible. The protagonist is a broken individual that makes horrible decisions at the beginning and from there he struggles to do right by the people he's hurt most and those like him. The antagonist on the other hand is a brilliant and charismatic idealist who works behind the scenes to find and train those born with powers so he can secure a utopia for the future. The type of world he envisions eliminates poverty, disease, and war, but the only catch is that he will do whatever he deems necessary to accomplish his goals. His dream being drenched in blood, some of it innocent, doesn't stop the reader from wondering if he isn't right. Really good stuff.

Sorry, I just realized I wrote like wayyyy too much. There are plenty other books that I would recommend but I'll leave a link right here: http://community.comicbookresources....=1#post1209331

It has a little write up of the phase 2 books and what they're about. Seeing as how they all started sometime early this year, you'll only have a few issues to collect of each. Also there's a couple links in my signature that will give you a basic reading order of the Valiant universe. Valiant may be small, but there's great variety that doesn't lack in quality. I will pretty much always recommend starting at the beginning. But that's certainly not required and if you choose to work your way backward you will still enjoy yourself. Take your time and there are plenty of people here that will answer any every question.

You might also want to try out http://www.valiantfans.com/. Quite a few people there that also know every thing Valiant and it's a friendly place.

[ksbord]

Seconding/thirding the recommendation to check out The Valiant. Great jumping on point at $9.99 designed as an introduction to the universe for the new reader, tells a compelling story, and then sets up several stories going forward (i.e. Bloodshot Reborn and Book of Death)

Also seconding Harbinger as another option if you would like to start from "the beginning." 25 issues, a couple of minis, and then a transition to Imperium marks the beginning of Chapter 2 of the overall Harbinger saga.

[Chief Jon]

Thank you Anjohl, vicvega, harashkupo, and ksbord! I'll start with The Valiant the next time I have a slow week (which might actually be this week) and go from there. Can't wait to read it and share my thoughts.

[Anjohl]

I'd support a Dark Horse PBS/Valiant crossover event at some point!
X/Bloodshot
Ghost/Dr.Mirage
Captain Midnight/X-O
King Tiger/Ninjak
Brain Boy/Imperium
Occultist/Shadowman
Skyman/HARD Corps
Barb Wire/Archer&Armstrong

Kinda reaching on the last two, similarities & styles not lining up.

With how mismanaged Captain Midnight and Skyman have been, I would be all for Valiant purchasing both characters outright.

[Shadowras]

NYCC Exclusives: http://t.co/nWcqBs5SjN

[Anjohl]

How so you guys feel about the "Legends of the Geomancer" fiasco? I get the impression its going to be printed in the deluxe HC, but it's a bit if a dick move that kills a lot of the goodwill they have generated with me.

[BugsySig]

Dysart is the master. I absolutely loved everything about this issue. I'll admit that I'm confused how this book fits in with the rest of the BoD timeline like the Fall of Ninjak. Hopefully someone smarter than me can map out these stories and show me how they all fit together?

Sure! Lol...I believe the Ninjak issue takes place about 100 yrs in the future, while this issue takes place around 200 years in the future. So still pretty far from 4001 and leaves open a lot of possibilities.

[BugsySig]

With how mismanaged Captain Midnight and Skyman have been, I would be all for Valiant purchasing both characters outright.

No need to. They are public domain characters if they want to use them. But they don't need them. They have plenty of IPs yet to be used, and can always just create new characters.

[BugsySig]

How so you guys feel about the "Legends of the Geomancer" fiasco? I get the impression its going to be printed in the deluxe HC, but it's a bit if a dick move that kills a lot of the goodwill they have generated with me.

Seems like it's worked out for VALIANT since BoD has hit really high numbers across the board, even into the second and third issues. And from those I've talked to on the valiantfans.com forum, almost everyone who wanted the book hasn't had any trouble getting them.

As a digital only reader, who has bought every VALIANT issue digitally since the company relaunched, I feel a bit jilted. I understand they need to do what they need to do to get the books in stores and into readers' hands. I just don't want that to be at the expense of another group of readers who then feel alienated.

I do believe the LotG issues will end up in the HC, which I would have likely bought anyway.