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

[Shadowras]

Harada is on his way back:

http://www.vulture.com/2018/02/valia...yo-harada.html

So excited for this, but I have to wait a whole year.

[Captain Craig]

Harada is on his way back:

http://www.vulture.com/2018/02/valia...yo-harada.html

Interesting that this is being teased now but still going to come out under the new management.
Proof that they are allowing the publishing side to continue without interference? Cause this sounds like a project Dinesh would've done.


Ninjak vs Valiant Universe #2 - seems clear that Bloodshot now knows Colin is being manipulated. I'd wager issue 3 will spend a few pages getting everyone on board with rescuing Neville's family. Roku's tracking went offline, perfect window to clue everyone in to the situations.

Quantum & Woody #3 - Ah, sad issue. I won't comment except to say it was probably the most un-Q&W issue I've read. Very little of their typical banter and Woody is tolerable somewhat. Issue #4 re resume the trip to Australia to meet Woody's biological dad at which point I expect the characters to more or less return to themselves. So far though issues #1-2 were tonally lower key than other interpretations of the characters to which I could enjoy it somewhat. Let's see if that continues.

[mrbrklyn]

I haven't read the original run yet, but Van Lente's run is great.

it has entertaining qualities but it doesn't have the richness of the original

[mrbrklyn]

I have to admit that of the few books I have read, I enjoyed them which suprised me because I didn't think I would get storylines that were sensitive enough for me to enjoy. I was never a fan of Bloodshot to begin with and how they can do this without RIA is question. Of the Valient books I liked best was A&A, Shadowman, Magnus and Solar... along with Harbengers. The latest A&A book was ok. It was not the quality of BWS but it was a good read. The wine celler idea, I think, was a bit contrieved, and the Time Walker dialog just felt unnatural. But I laughed and that was encouraging. The X-O book was a nice premise. It has little to do with the storylines of years past, but it seems ripe for development and I'm interested in seeing where it goes. I liked the pacing of the story. No Spider Aliens?

[dishpan]

Ninjak#4 was a good comic with a nice twist and I'm curious how it all turns out.

Ninjak has long been one of my top 3 favorite original Valiant characters. So, shock of shocks I agree that Ninja-K #4 was a great read.

I concur with you guys and I actually messaged Valiant on Facebook with some praise. I never heard back but I want more issues like that (including spin-offs).

[mrbrklyn]

I haven't read Shadowman: End Times #1 yet, hopefully this is the Shadowman story that clicks with me.

The original Shadowman was incredible and very hard to duplicate..

[Yohei72]

Harada is on his way back:

http://www.vulture.com/2018/02/valia...yo-harada.html

Two somewhat contrasting reactions:

1) YESSSS! Best comic book news in a long time. I was extremely disappointed when Imperium - one of the great undersung comics of all time - was prematurely axed. I wasn't much excited by other writers' attempts to continue the psiot saga and eventually dropped all of them (though I did enjoy Eric Heisserer's recent Secret Weapons mini and might give it a try if he does more of those characters). I feel like Dysart gets to give his creation more of a proper send-off now.

2) I'll believe it when I see it. We were told for a while that Dysart would write Harbinger Wars 2 and that isn't happening. And as discussed in this thread, recent ownership and managerial changes aren't confidence-inspiring. A year is a long time for the wheels to come off in one way or another.

Dysart really is a remarkable guy, as demonstrated again in the linked article, which mentions his travels for research around some of the developing world's harshest hotspots and his commitment to bringing their stories to the world. Coincidentally, I'm reading the TPBs of his Unknown Soldier, which came out of his time in civil war-torn Uganda. Not for the "comics should be escapist fun" crowd, but really powerful. I'm tracking down and buying some of his other, more obscure stuff online too (Cornboy sounds like a trip).

[Uncanny X-Man]

Dysart writing Harada again is wonderful news. Frankly I have no idea why Marvel and DC haven't snatched up the guy yet - his Harbinger and Imperium are leaps and bounds above most stuff that's coming out from the Big 2.

I'm not very optimistic about Valiant's future given the most recent news but this Life and Death miniseries sounds fantastic.

[Yohei72]

Dysart writing Harada again is wonderful news. Frankly I have no idea why Marvel and DC haven't snatched up the guy yet - his Harbinger and Imperium are leaps and bounds above most stuff that's coming out from the Big 2.

I suspect it has more to do with Dysart's being less interested in pursuing such opportunities. It sounds like he's got other priorities and he doesn't strike me as the kind of artist who'd want to get tied down for any length of time to the overbearing editorial mandates and other pressures of huge corporate properties.

But yeah, agreed... leaps and bounds.

[scribbleMind]

I've gotta say, X-O has really grown on me these last two or three issues. This last issue in particular addressed my gripe about Aric seeming less capable of leading than Venditti's run. Thing is, it really didn't have to at this point because Kindt already pulled me back when he introduced these new antagonists. I will go ahead and say, imo, X-O is my favorite project he's worked on at Valiant. Hopefully Harbingers War 2 doesn't crash the momentum. I'm not expecting it to, as Valiant has been better than most at event tie-ins and crossovers, but you never know.

[NoFuneral]

I like the current XO Manowar story and I buy pretty much all of the current/active Valiant series but my favorite is Faith. I guess Faith will play a big part in the Harbinger Wars 2 but I want Valiant to continue with her monthly series. I really like that book.

[scribbleMind]

Any thoughts about Bloodshot Salvation #7? I thought what they did was really interesting, and it worked for me. It felt more thrilling to me than if I had seen it happen. I thought it was a very successful experiment. The kind of fluid borders really added a lot with very little.

[TheFerg714]

I like the current XO Manowar story and I buy pretty much all of the current/active Valiant series but my favorite is Faith. I guess Faith will play a big part in the Harbinger Wars 2 but I want Valiant to continue with her monthly series. I really like that book.

I've heard that Jody Houser will be coming back with something else Faith-related at some point. Not sure how soon that will be. To be honest though, it might be a while. Faith's latest outings sold very poorly, so I don't see Valiant jumping on the Faith train again in 2018. Have you read absolutely everything Faith-related? In case you've missed anything, here's a master list of everything starring Faith, in chronological order.

Harbinger Vol. 1- Omega Rising (specifically #3)
Harbinger Vol. 2- Renegades (specifically #9)
Harbinger Wars
Harbinger Vol. 3- Harbinger Wars
Harbinger Vol. 4- Perfect Day
Harbinger Vol. 5- Death of a Renegade
Harbinger: Omegas (Faith plays a very minor role)
Armor Hunters: Harbinger (starring Generation Zero, Faith, and Torque)
Harbinger: Faith #0
Unity Vol. 4- The United (that time when Faith joins Valiant's Avengers. It doesn't go well. The trade includes #0)
Faith Vol. 1- Hollywood and Vine (this is the mini-series: 1-4)
Faith Vol. 2- California Scheming (this begins the ongoing series: 1-4)
Harbinger Renegade Vol. 1- The Judgment of Solomon (doesn't really matter when you read this, as long as it's before HW2)
Faith Vol. 3- Superstar (5-8)
Faith Vol. 4- The Faithless (9-12)
Faith and the Future Force (mini-series. Faith is chosen to save the universe from time-destroying shenanigans)
Harbinger Renegade Vol. 2- Massacre
Faith's Winter Wonderland (one-shot)
Harbinger Wars II (presumably)

Any thoughts about Bloodshot Salvation #7? I thought what they did was really interesting, and it worked for me. It felt more thrilling to me than if I had seen it happen. I thought it was a very successful experiment. The kind of fluid borders really added a lot with very little.

I hated it. It was a fine idea, but was poorly executed. If the comic was $2, I would have been down, but $4 was asking way too much for a comic book without art. Also, nothing happened! This whole arc is feeling really dumb and pointless. If Salvation doesn't pick it up soon, it may be the first ongoing Valiant comic I take off my pull list since Gen. Zero and A+A.

[scribbleMind]

I can understand a lot of that. I honestly think the book is still well written, just not as well plotted as its previous incarnation. I think a lot of that comes from the split timeline thing slowing down the overarching story, because really flash forwards aside, it feels like the overarching story just started an issue ago.

[Captain Craig]

Any thoughts about Bloodshot Salvation #7? I thought what they did was really interesting, and it worked for me. It felt more thrilling to me than if I had seen it happen. I thought it was a very successful experiment. The kind of fluid borders really added a lot with very little.

I also was pissed. Not only is there not enough story to be engaging in this issue but I just paid $4 for 95% black semi-gloss pages+ one with actual 4 color art.